Misquote: Ben Franklin on Beer
Monday September 15, 2008
A tip of the glass to Dick Stevens, owner of the Elevator Brewery & Draught Haus in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Stevens has announced the recall of a batch of promotional t-shirts featuring a witticism frequently, but erroneously, attributed to founding father Benjamin Franklin.
According to a report from eNewsChannels.com:
My colleague and fellow beer drinker Bryce Eddings reported over a year-and-a-half ago that Skilnik, author of Beer & Food - An American History, was out to challenge the quote's authenticity. These things take time.
For the record, here, in a letter addressed to André Morellet in 1779, is what Benjamin Franklin actually did say:
Keep up with Urban Legends on Facebook!
According to a report from eNewsChannels.com:
Beer-themed web sites, brewing organizations and even “beer writers” are fond of quoting Franklin and his supposed love of beer -- “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”"I hope that we can set the record straight about this little white lie that has been repeated for years," Stevens said in a press release. "I have no doubt that ole Ben enjoyed a tankard or two of beer with friends and associates, but this beer quote, while well-meaning, is inaccurate."
But after recently hearing a lecture by Chicago-based brewing historian, Bob Skilnik, that convincingly asserts that Franklin was writing about rain, its nourishment of grapes, and ultimately, its conversion into wine, Stevens decided to do his part in correcting this historical inaccuracy.
My colleague and fellow beer drinker Bryce Eddings reported over a year-and-a-half ago that Skilnik, author of Beer & Food - An American History, was out to challenge the quote's authenticity. These things take time.
For the record, here, in a letter addressed to André Morellet in 1779, is what Benjamin Franklin actually did say:
Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine, a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.(Source: Isaacson, Walter. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003. p.374.)
Keep up with Urban Legends on Facebook!
Comments
HOLY COW!!!!! Saturday, September 13 (two days ago), I got a birthday card from my colleages at the office with the alleged mis-quote from Franklin regarding beer.
I only came to this site to look up the validity of something I’ve been saying for years, but suddenly realized it was probably just another urban legend (this was was that Bob Marley died with ___ (7,18, 300, etc., depending on who tels the story) different species of previously un-identified species of head lice.
This blog entry on the Franklin quote being on the from page of urbanlegends.about.com really freaked me out. Spooky.
At any rate, the original quote sounds better!
Okay, just re-read my previous comment and I see all of the typos. Didn’t have time to proofread. Doh! All apologies, hope you can understand what I was trying to say.
Yah I think I heard it somewhere that Ben Franklin did enjoy that sort of stuff…..