Hi everyone! I’ve decided to start off 2016 with something fun and interactive. You all read my stories (thank you!); now I’d love the chance to read yours.
As you may know, much of my primary research comes from the 19th century newspaper archive, Chronicling America. I often stumble upon fun little gems that I didn’t anticipate.
Here’s the last line from a newspaper article in The Dalles Daily Chronicle (April 4, 1894). Can you write the story preceding it?
If you meet a party of eight young men with a barber pole, don’t arrest them. They own it.
Isn’t that a great ending? What do you think happened before that? Let your imagination run wild.
Some guidelines:
- Just because the original is historical doesn’t mean yours has to be. Set it in any time and place you want.
- No more than 500 words, and as short as you’d like.
- Post your story in the comments section of this post.
What will you win?
In addition to the satisfaction of entertaining your audience, each storyteller (up to 30 participants) can select either an ebook from my Concordia Wells mystery series (choose from books 1 through 4), or an audiobook version of book 1 or 2!
So, start creating! This will be open until the end of January, when I will post the original story for your amusement. Those 1890s college kids were a mischievous bunch….
What stories have inspired you lately? I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time,
Kathy
What a great idea Kathy! I can’t wait to read the final story.
(If I get time, I’ll swing back later in the month and post my thoughts. Today I have edits screaming at me to finish them.)
I hope your 2016 is off to a great start.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
I can completely sympathize with screaming edits, Patricia. Hope you come back and tell us a story!
Cool idea! I’ll give it some thought and see what kind of story I can come up with. Happy New Year, Kathy!!
Can’t wait to see it, Kass!
Okay, here we go:
Barber Pole Skulduggery
Jim Fowler, the owner of Fowler’s barber shop, announced last month that he was holding a contest. He offered a $100 prize to the best barbershop quartet and scheduled a sing-off for the following Saturday.
Quite a few young men in our town began fantasizing about what they could do with an extra $25. One gathered together three of his friends and they started practicing songs. But one of them (we’re not naming any names) decided they needed a prop.
In the dead of night he went to a nearby barber shop and uprooted the barber’s pole in front of it. But while there he encountered another young man with a similar errand in mind. The two men quarreled over which of their quartets would be the new owners of the heisted barber pole. Then one of them suggested that the two groups could share the pole, since they wouldn’t be performing at the same time.
The two young men shook hands and then carried the cumbersome pole to the first one’s home to hide it in a shed.
Mr. Booker, a friend of Mr. Fowler’s and a music teacher, was asked to judge the contest. He quickly eliminated several quartets but then could not decided between two of the groups for the grand prize. He praised them for their voices but also for their costumes and the barber pole they had propped in the middle of the group to set the mood.
“Wait!” Mr. Fowler said. “Someone stole my barber pole last week. I believe that one is it.”
After some hemming and hawing, the two young men who had purloined it confessed. The judge declared them ineligible to win the grand prize and awarded it to the third best group.
Mr. Fowler examined the pole and discovered it was damaged at the bottom and could not be reinstalled. The sheriff stepped forward, and asked the barber if he wished to press charges. Mr. Fowler stated that he would not, as long as the young men made restitution.
“And what is the cost of a new pole?” the sheriff asked.
“Fifty dollars,” the barber declared. So the young men who had stolen the pole ended up losing $25 each instead of gaining it. But both groups decided they would store the pole until next year’s contest.
If you meet a party of eight young men with a barber pole, don’t arrest them. They own it.
Love it! Awesome story, Kass. If they win the next two years in a row, it will be worth the investment!
What a great line! I’m dying to know the real story behind it, and I’ll kick around ideas for my own. Don’t know if I”ll get a chance to work on it, but if I do, I’ll come back and post it.
That would be super, Jen! Hope we get to see your tale. 😉
LOL They better do a lot of practicing then. 😀