Elbert Hubbard wrote the following comment about his Message to Garcia
article on December 1st, 1913, telling us the unbelievable circulation
reached by such a small inspirational piece.
I happen to think
that the article is now more relevant than ever or, put in a different
way, we are in greater need to read it now than the Hubbard
contemporaries. The lack of initiative and responsibility that Hubbard
complained about is now more evident than in his day.
Here is what Hubbard had to say:
Comments by Elbert Hubbard in 1913
This
literary trifle, A Message To Garcia, was written one evening after
supper, in a single hour. It was on the 22nd of February, 1899,
Washington's Birthday: we were just going to press with the March
Philistine.
The thing leaped hot from my heart, written after
a trying day, when I had been endeavoring to train some rather
delinquent villagers to abjure the comatose state and get radioactive.
The
immediate suggestion, though, came from a little argument over the
teacups, when my boy Bert suggested that Rowan was the real hero of the
Cuban War. Rowan had gone alone and done the thing - carried the
message to Garcia.
It came to me like a flash! Yes, the boy is
right, the hero is the man who does his work - who carries the message
to Garcia. I got up from the table, and wrote A Message To Garcia. I
thought so little of it that we ran it in the Magazine without a
heading. The edition went out, and soon orders began to come for extra
copies of the March Philistine, a dozen, fifty, a hundred, and when the
American News Company ordered a thousand, I asked one of my helpers
which article it was that stirred up the cosmic dust. "It's the stuff
about Garcia," he said.
The next day a telegram came from
George H. Daniels, of the New York Central Railroad thus, "Give price
on one hundred thousand Rowan article in pamphlet form - Empire State
Express advertisement on back - also how soon can ship."
I
replied giving price, and stated we could supply the pamphlets in two
years. Our facilities were small and a hundred thousand booklets looked
like an awful undertaking.
The result was that I gave Mr.
Daniels permission to reprint the article in his own way. He issued it
in booklet form in editions of half a million. Two or three of these
half-million lots were sent out by Mr. Daniels, and in addition the
article was reprinted in over two hundred magazines and newspapers. It
has been translated into all written languages.
At the time
Mr. Daniels was distributing A Message To Garcia, Prince Hilakoff,
Director of Russian Railways, was in this country. He was the guest of
the New York Central, and made a tour of the country under the personal
direction of Mr. Daniels. The Prince saw the little book and was
interested in it, more because Mr. Daniels was putting it out in big
numbers, probably, than otherwise. In any event, when he got home he
had the matter translated into Russian, and a copy of the booklet given
to every railroad employee in Russia.
Other countries then
took it up, and from Russia it passed into Germany, France, Spain,
Turkey, Hindustan and China. During the war between Russia and Japan,
every Russian soldier who went to the front was given a copy of A
Message To Garcia. The Japanese, finding the booklets in possession of
the Russian prisoners, concluded it must be a good thing, and
accordingly translated it into Japanese.
And on an order of
the Mikado, a copy was given to every man in the employ of the Japanese
Government, soldier or civilian. Over forty million copies of A Message
To Garcia have been printed. This is said to be a larger circulation
than any other literary venture has ever attained during the lifetime
of an author, in all history - thanks to a series of lucky accidents.
Elbert Hubbard - December 1, 1913
Next issue: Epilog to "A Message to Garcia" by Humberto Rodriguez, Part 4 of 8
article on December 1st, 1913, telling us the unbelievable circulation
reached by such a small inspirational piece.
I happen to think
that the article is now more relevant than ever or, put in a different
way, we are in greater need to read it now than the Hubbard
contemporaries. The lack of initiative and responsibility that Hubbard
complained about is now more evident than in his day.
Here is what Hubbard had to say:
Comments by Elbert Hubbard in 1913
This
literary trifle, A Message To Garcia, was written one evening after
supper, in a single hour. It was on the 22nd of February, 1899,
Washington's Birthday: we were just going to press with the March
Philistine.
The thing leaped hot from my heart, written after
a trying day, when I had been endeavoring to train some rather
delinquent villagers to abjure the comatose state and get radioactive.
The
immediate suggestion, though, came from a little argument over the
teacups, when my boy Bert suggested that Rowan was the real hero of the
Cuban War. Rowan had gone alone and done the thing - carried the
message to Garcia.
It came to me like a flash! Yes, the boy is
right, the hero is the man who does his work - who carries the message
to Garcia. I got up from the table, and wrote A Message To Garcia. I
thought so little of it that we ran it in the Magazine without a
heading. The edition went out, and soon orders began to come for extra
copies of the March Philistine, a dozen, fifty, a hundred, and when the
American News Company ordered a thousand, I asked one of my helpers
which article it was that stirred up the cosmic dust. "It's the stuff
about Garcia," he said.
The next day a telegram came from
George H. Daniels, of the New York Central Railroad thus, "Give price
on one hundred thousand Rowan article in pamphlet form - Empire State
Express advertisement on back - also how soon can ship."
I
replied giving price, and stated we could supply the pamphlets in two
years. Our facilities were small and a hundred thousand booklets looked
like an awful undertaking.
The result was that I gave Mr.
Daniels permission to reprint the article in his own way. He issued it
in booklet form in editions of half a million. Two or three of these
half-million lots were sent out by Mr. Daniels, and in addition the
article was reprinted in over two hundred magazines and newspapers. It
has been translated into all written languages.
At the time
Mr. Daniels was distributing A Message To Garcia, Prince Hilakoff,
Director of Russian Railways, was in this country. He was the guest of
the New York Central, and made a tour of the country under the personal
direction of Mr. Daniels. The Prince saw the little book and was
interested in it, more because Mr. Daniels was putting it out in big
numbers, probably, than otherwise. In any event, when he got home he
had the matter translated into Russian, and a copy of the booklet given
to every railroad employee in Russia.
Other countries then
took it up, and from Russia it passed into Germany, France, Spain,
Turkey, Hindustan and China. During the war between Russia and Japan,
every Russian soldier who went to the front was given a copy of A
Message To Garcia. The Japanese, finding the booklets in possession of
the Russian prisoners, concluded it must be a good thing, and
accordingly translated it into Japanese.
And on an order of
the Mikado, a copy was given to every man in the employ of the Japanese
Government, soldier or civilian. Over forty million copies of A Message
To Garcia have been printed. This is said to be a larger circulation
than any other literary venture has ever attained during the lifetime
of an author, in all history - thanks to a series of lucky accidents.
Elbert Hubbard - December 1, 1913
Next issue: Epilog to "A Message to Garcia" by Humberto Rodriguez, Part 4 of 8
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