Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Yankee Doodle Frame

You guys know I do a frame project for just about every holiday and the 4th of July is no exception!
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I have this awesome book that I bought forever ago.  I love it for three reasons.  First, I love the 4th of July!  Second, I love woodcut prints.  I don't know why, but I've always been attracted to them.  Third, I love the song, "Yankee Doodle Dandy". 
This book is so awesome.   The woodcuts are by Ed Emberley.  The type was hand set and printed on a small hand press by the artist.  It is the same type (Caslon Old Face) and was cast by the same foundry in England that was quite popular with American colonial printers, including Ben Franklin.  It was also used in, of all things, the Declaration of Independence.  How cool is that?!  The original words sung by the English are generally attributed to Dr. Richard Shackburg, but the authors of the American version have never been determined.

This book "Yankee Doodle" tells the back story of the song which is such a great story.  I'll share a few facts with you at the end of this post, but for now......back to the project.

Obviously, I was not going to tear up this precious book to make a craft project, so I made a copy of the page I wanted along with some of the text.
I wanted it to look old, so I got out my antiquing gel and watered it down a little and brushed some on.

  I will say, if you do this, you should practice a little on another page because it can be too dark.
Here is a close up of the page I selected after I used a glue stick to attach the text and put one coat of gel on it.
Here it is after a second coat.  I did let it dry between coats.
I just love the little dog chasing the soldier!

I put it in one of my favorite frames and "called it macaroni".  (Okay, I just had to say that....sorry!)

So I promised you a few facts about the song......

The song was not written by an American....it was written by a surgeon in the British army.

The British troops sang it during the American Revolution to taunt the rebel American troops who had no proper uniforms and of course did not look nearly as snappy as the Brits with their flashy red and white uniforms!

It was sung by the British as they marched to the Battle of Lexington where they were sure they would be giving the Americans  a good whipping.  However, the Americans outsmarted them and it was they who ended up singing Yankee Doodle as they drove the Brits back to Boston.  It has been a treasured American song ever since.

The word DOODLE, in those times, meant "a silly person".

MACARONI meant very fancy trimming, i.e. gold braids, ribbons and plumes.

General George Washington was called CAPTAIN Washington in the song because at the time the song was written, he had not yet been promoted to General.

If you are interested....look up both the American version and the original British version.

Linking up to these great parties:



13 comments:

  1. I really like that! I even like the corny joke -- but I'm from the midwest too.

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  2. I love learning something educational in a post. I love a doodle post as well :). So is that the same Ed Emberley that does the finger print art? That book is so interesting looking. Love that you included it in your frame. Happy 4th of July decorating :)

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  3. Love the History Lesson!! And I love the antiquing technique.

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  4. Gorgeous! the wood cut is really beautiful, and i love how you made the picture.

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  5. Love the vintagy look you created! And I never knew til now the history of the song. One of my fav childhood songs of course lol.

    Paula
    lifeasweknowitbypaula.blogspot.com

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  6. Your aging process looks really authentic. You always have a cool little trick up your sleeve. Love that dog too!

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  7. I love the way it turned out. And the "history" behind it. I learned something new tonight! Thanks for linking up to the All Star Block Party!

    Holly

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  8. What a fun history lesson. And, I love the aged look you gave your project. It looks fantastic. Thanks for stopping by and leaving your kind comment. I'm following back.

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  9. That is adorable. I love how you made it look old. What a great idea.

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  10. Ooh I really like that antiquing technique Danni - love how this turned out xxxx

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  11. what a smart idea..well done my friend..

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  12. Danni,

    How fun! Since moving to New England I've learned all kinds of fun history facts.

    Laura

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  13. Great job with the aging process! It really looks authentic.
    Thanks so much for linking up at I Gotta Create!
    <3 Christina

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