Elbert Hubbard (19 June, 1856-7 May, 1915) was an eccentric American writer, publisher, artist and founder of East Aurora, NY – an artisan community.
Fun Facts about Elbert Hubbard:
1. Elbert Hubbard was born in Bloomington, IL. His father, Silas, was a doctor who moved his wife, Juliana Frances Read, and the rest of the family to Hudson, IL. because there were already established doctors in Bloomington.
2. Mr. Hubbard and his siblings attended a two-room local public school. He remembered those days favorably, but his sister remembers him as the school’s chief troublemaker.
3. Before changing his trajectory towards the arts, Elbert Hubbard was a successful salesman for the Larking Soap Company, out of Buffalo, NY. This occupation was very lucrative, and he is credited with pioneering such techniques as including free gifts, and mail order clubs.
4. Facing mid-lite crisis, Mr. Hubbard sold his shares (making a small fortune while he’s at it) to pursue a life in arts, literature, and higher education. He even briefly attended Harvard.
5. In 1984 Mr. Hubbard embarked on a walking tour of England. While traveling he met the leader of the British Arts and Crafts movement, while vising William Morris of Kelmscott Press. Morris’ hand-bound books made a huge impression on Hubbard that he was determined to mimic the model Once back home.
6. Upon coming back from his trip, Elbert Hubbard opened Roycroft Shop, a small printing press. The company was named after the 17th Century English publisher, Thomas Roycroft. Very quickly East Aurora became a massive utopian artist community, employing over 500 artisans.
7. Always the promoter, Mr. Hubbard adopted the persona of Fra (brother) Elbert to lead the community. He wore capes, wide-brimmed hats, baggy corduroy trousers and grew his hair long.
8. Like all of us, Elbert Hubbard was full of contradictions. While encouraging personal freedoms, free love, and vegetarianism. On the other hand, he admired the titans of industry like Rockefeller and Henry Ford, believing that efficient corporations were a form of social art.
9. In 1913 Mr. Hubbard was convicted of distributing obscene material via the U.S. Mail. As a result he was fined $4,000 (about $135,000 at the time this post was published) and stripped of some of his civil rights, such as having a passport. President Woodrow Wilson gave him a full presidential pardon to go to Europe and cover World War I.
10. Elbert Hubbard, and his second wife Alice Moore, board the RMS Lusitania Europe bound. On 7 May, 1915 a German U-boat torpedoed the Lusitania off the Irish coast. Refusing to fight other passengers for spots on the lifeboat, the couple locked themselves in a nearby deck cabin to meet death together.
Zohar — Man of la Book
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Sources:
Elbert Hubbard | Wikipedia
Hubbard,Elbert, Letters | NYSL
