More Fiends

Alfred W. Lawson Commemorative Coins/Medal

I included images similar to those below in Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines with little explanation, other than noting they had been produced by followers of Lawsonomy.

 

I've been trying find out more about these, but without much luck. What little I know about them I learned from Jim Newman. There were two dies of different designs made to produce the elongated pennies, dated 1970. These were made using a rolling die similar to those found at tourist gift shops at landmarks and museums. The initials "VJSP" refer to the person who commissioned the coins, Vivian Smith. I've tried to get in touch with Vivian Smith via email, without success.

The silver medal is beautiful. There is an unconfirmed story that 100-200 bronze versions were cast, 10-20 silver, and one gold.

Both the penny and the medal have the number "678" on the wings of the airliner, which is not a number I have ever seen associated with the plane. Perhaps it had a special significance to Vivian Smith.

The Most Elusive Lawson Relics

Before describing any more Lawson artifacts that are known to exist, allow me to present a short list of what I would consider to be the most sought-after objects related to the Lawson family:

1. Audio recordings of Alfred W. Lawson speaking. AWL did make at least one recording: a short 4-minute pre-vinyl record of the editorial "Finance-Capital-Labor" that first appeared in Direct Credits for Humanity (Lawson's first news sheet). Copies of the recording were advertised for sale at $2.00 each.
2. George H. Lawson's flyer entitled "Whitewashing Crooked Organized Baseball," which he advertised in March, 1921 editions of the Chicago Defender. Not only would this be the sole surviving ephemera of GHL's Continental League venture, it would also be significant to the story of the Black Sox scandal. Moreover, it would apparently be the only piece of material that GHL wrote for publication.
3. Robert H. Lawson's system of stenography. It must have been written down; AWL must have made copies of it when he was teaching it in Buffalo.
4. Knowledgian Degrees. It is not known how many exist, but earning one required 30 years study of Lawsonomy. I would have to assume that none were given out in AWL's lifetime. I know of one person that purchased one that was being sold.
5. A baseball uniform from one of Lawson's teams.
6. Any components of Alfred Lawson's airliners.

Alfred W. Lawson Artifacts

With the publication of Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines I did my best to help drive up the value of AWL collectibles, but it looks like I made no dent at all. In fact, the prices I see on eBay tend to be going down. I suspect that as old DCS members die off and their effects are sold, more items have come on the market. Additionally, the sale of the University of Lawsonomy Farm property in Wisconsin seems to have moved some ephemera onto the market. ...and there aren't many of us out there collecting this stuff...

I've had two artifact collections: the first, gathered between 1979-1985, had Lawson books, Benefactor issues, pamphlets, and a commemorative poster. None of it was rare (though copies of Fifty Great Speeches are expensive). That collection resided in a cardboard box that had followed me through three relocations, and I started to worry that they would deteriorate in my basement or attic. So in 2002 I donated them to the Wisconsin Historical Society.

When my interest in Lawson was revived by newly digitized historical newspapers, I started collecting anew. Thanks to eBay, some of the stuff is rare. Over the next few posts, I'll exhibit photos of these items. Most recently, I scored a DCS cap and sash which, worn with a white shirt and pants or dress, comprised the Direct Credits Society uniform. [I know Allan Janus has one of the caps, too.] I'm embarrassed at how little I paid for these wonderful pieces of arcane Americana.

If I wore these duds to a Tea Party gathering, would anybody notice?

Beyond the Lawsons

My next book, A Pair of Shootists: The Wild West Story of S. F. Cody and Maud Lee, is scheduled for publication in September. My interest in Cody was sparked by Alfred W. Lawson's mention that an event that turned his mind from baseball to aviation was seeing an airship fly over London in October, 1907. I looked into this airship flight and learned that it was piloted by S. F. Cody, an extremely colorful character. When I contacted the preeminent Cody scholar, Jean Roberts, she mentioned that little was known about Cody's first wife, Maud Lee. Not knowing anything about her, I started digging...and found a wonderful story.

The first product of my Cody research was an article on his arrest in Reading, Pennsylvania, that I wrote for the Historical Review of Berks County (Pa.). "The Cowboy and the Schoolgirl: An Incident in Reading" appears on pp. 35-40, Winter 2009-2010.

Auden, Hemingway, Dos Passos, Cummings, Hammett, and...Colin T. Lawson

...all were ambulance drivers. In Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines, I portray Colin Lawson, the youngest Lawson brother, as a pathetic figure. He was lured by a patriotic call to arms to enlist in the volunteer army that fought the Spanish-American War, but was stricken with disease in the Chickamauga, Georgia mobilization station, Camp Thomas. The effects gradually worsened and deafened him, forcing him into a Michigan Soldiers Home at an early age. However, he may not have been as sad a character as I thought.

 Colin Lawson was profiled twice, in1905 and in 1906, in the Detroit Free Press. One article emphasized his claim of relation to Thomas W. Lawson (see earlier post). But the other article focused on his experiences as a breakneck ambulance driver. From the Feb. 3, 1906 article:

 

Just two years later, in Feb., 1908, Colin was admitted to the Michigan Soldiers Home suffering from catarrh of head and stomach, and with kidney stones. If the above article is a true characterization of Colin's motives, he may have gone into the Soldier's Home not only because of his own debilitation, but also to help care for the other patients. At any rate, his career as a horse-driven ambulance driver would have been short-lived. Motorized ambulances were first used in Chicago in 1899, and in 1909 they started being mass-produced.

If Colin did devote his life to the service of the sick and injured--despite his own problems--he may have been the noblest of the Lawson siblings.

Alfred Lawson, Juvenile Delinquent?

Proquest has digitized the Detroit Free Press run from 1831-1922, and while it misses the Direct Credits Society years, it does span the dozen or so years that the Lawson clan lived in the city, 1872-circa 1885. No mention of Robert Henry Lawson, other than a short note that he once fell down near the Russell Hotel and sliced off part of his nose. No mention of George Lawson at all, which was a disappointment to me. Two articles about Colin T. Lawson--which I'll mention in a future post. One mention of Robert, Jr., who while living across the river in Windsor, ran up some debts to merchants and had some furniture seized by the bailiff. And then there was this one little gem from April 30, 1882:

Here's a little background on the reform school:

So the Alfred Lawson who was sent to reform school in 1882 had to have been between 10-16 years of age. Alfred W. Lawson had just turned 13. The 1880 census has no other Alfred Lawsons of that age in Detroit. Moreover, in the play Childhood Days of Alfred Lawson, scene 4 has the young Alf Lawson talking with his best pal, Arthur.

The timeline of Lawson's teen years is not clear. In that same play script, it mentions that between 12-17, Alf worked as a bellboy, coat-maker, farm-hand, blacksmith's assistant, carpet weaver, and salesman. In the book Children, Lawson states: "The mother of Alfred Lawson persuaded him to go to an industrial school to learn a trade when he was about thirteen years of age. While there he learned to make coats and design clothing. He left school for about a year between times but returned when about sixteen and completed the trade when about seventeen years of age."

I believe Lawson's account of his teen years is vague enough to allow a stay of 1-2 years in reform school.

Were the Lawson Brothers Related to Thomas W. Lawson?

While researching Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines, I came across a clipping in which George H. Lawson claims he was a cousin of Thomas W. Lawson. Though few recognize his name today, Thomas W. Lawson was the Ted Turner/Richard Branson of his age (during the period 1890-1920). Thomas W. Lawson was a Boston millionaire, a financier who made a fortune in copper markets and stock manipulation. He spent his fortune freely on racing yachts, a lavish country estate replete with a folly tower, dog breeding for shows, racehorses, and writing books.

Coincidentally, one of T. W. Lawson's first books was a glossary of baseball slang, The Krank, His Language and What It Means. However, I have not come across any mentions of T. W. Lawson being active in organized baseball. Lawson's later books repudiated the shady Wall Street deals that had made him rich. His wealth dissipated, and he died in 1925 in debt.

I dismissed George Lawson's claim to being a blood relative of Thomas W. Lawson as spurious--an obvious ploy to associate himself with a rich and famous namesake. But I have recently come across an article in which George's brother, Colin T. Lawson, makes the same claim, i.e. that he was a cousin of Thomas W. Lawson. Colin specifically states that his father, Robert Henry Lawson (1829-1896) was a brother of Thomas W. Lawson's father.

This prompted me to do a little genealogical digging. Thomas W. Lawson's father was also named Thomas Lawson. He was born in 1828 in Sackford, Nova Scotia and died in Charleston MA in 1865. Robert Henry Lawson was born a year later, in 1829, in Bethnal Green, London. Census records from England indicate he had three younger siblings (none named Thomas), but no older brother. Moreover, RHL's own father was a lifelong Bethnal Green resident. It seems almost impossible that he could have sired the Thomas Lawson born in 1828 in Nova Scotia.

So I think it's safe to debunk this claim by the Lawson brothers; they were not first cousins to Thomas W. Lawson.

Liberty Engine at NASM's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

While visiting Washington DC this week, I had a chance to visit the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles airport. The Center opened in 2003, but this was my first visit. In many ways I think the collection of artifacts is better than NASM's facility on the National Mall--and the experience of visiting was certainly more enjoyable. It helps that the place feels like a hangar.

There is a whole section devoted to aviation engines. I was glad to see the 400hp Liberty motor on display, since it played a crucial role in the history of U.S. aviation from 1918-1928--and was a significant element of Alfred Lawson's aviation plans. I gave a page or two in my book to the story of the Liberty engine.

Alfred Lawson's Other Patent

I didn't mention it in Baseball Fiends and Flying Machines, but Alfred W. Lawson was granted a patent previous to his one in the mid-1920s for the double-tier seating compartment. While working on his military trainer planes in Green Bay WI in 1917-1918, Lawson developed an aid to airplane controls. At that time, many planes had a foot control the pilot used to move the tail rudder. It was a wood bar that the pilot would slide forward either on its left side or right side, similar to this rudder from a reconstructed Curtiss plane:

Apparently one problem with the rudder bar was that the pilot's boot heels might drag against the floor, and cause a sudden jerk to the rudder, resulting in wild motion. Lawson's invention was a boot heel that included a ball in a socket joint. The ball would roll on the floor preventing any uneven drag:

I have no information on whether this was ever used or manufactured. The rudder bar continued in use, but in many planes it was replaced with two separate foot pedals.

"Constitutional Liberty" platform and George Lawson's Health tip

As mentioned in the previous post, George Lawson and his wife fielded a slate of candidates in the 1925 New Jersey election season. Their Constitutional Liberty ticket espoused the following tenets:

• Opposition to the Ku Klux Klan
• Repeal of Sunday Blue laws prohibiting recreational activities such as baseball games, football games, golf tournaments, or movie theater screenings.
• Repealing Prohibition to allow sale of light wines and beer.

Lawson was quoted: "I favor light wines and beer because every working man deserves a stimulant after laboring by the sweat of his brow. The bloated plutocrats of the country enjoy their champagne and scotch highballs in Cuba and on packet boats, so I think the honest toilers should be allowed to have 4 per cent beer and wine, which I think are essential to health and longevity."

George's idea of healthy diet was quite different than the tee-totaling vegetarianism regimen proscribed by his brother, Alfred Lawson.

However, they both shared an obsession with overcrowded public transportation. Alfred's answer was a seat compartment patent. George took a more practical approach: one of his election slogans was 'No Seat, No Fare.' George explained: "The practice of common carriers of packing men and women like sardines in conveyances is detrimental to common decency and should be made contrary to law."

George's platform also mentioned:

• Suspending taxes on abandoned farms and unprofitable tracts in order to encourage young farmers
• Abolition of capital punishment
• Equal hours and pay for women and men doing the same job and producing the same
• More laws favoring labor unions
• Harsher penalties for hit-and-run drivers

Personally, I think I'd take up the banner of George's Constitutional Liberty party before I'd join Alfred's Direct Credits Society!