My Daily Bread Crumbs 27 Aug 2022

It is unclear why August 27 was chosen by the unknown creators of this unofficial holidays to honor Hungerford, but some people speculate that the day is called the Duchess Who Wasn’t Day because of the anonymity in which Hungerford spent her life as a writer.

Anonymous Female Writers

History is full of women writers who spent their lives writing and publishing books and novels anonymously. This was because in the past, it was believed that women could not write. Books published under a female name were either rejected for publication or did not do well in the bookstores. This forced talented writers like Hungerford to publish under pen names or male sounding names.

Some examples of now famous authors who wrote under pseudonyms because they were women are: the Brontë sisters, who wrote under the names Currer Bell (Charlotte), Ellis Bell (Emily), and Acton Bell (Anne); Jane Austen, who wrote as The Lady; and Mary Ann Evans, who wrote Middlemarch as George Elliot. The Dutchess Who Wasn't Day also celebrates these and many other women authors who were unable to be themselves because of societal constraints.

How to Celebrate?

Celebrate the day by reading some of Hungerford’s work. In addition to Molly Bawn, her other works include A Little Rebel, Phyllis and Faith and Unfaith.
Read books by other anonymous women authors and read about their lives as women trying to break societal expectations of what they could and could not do.

Did You Know...

...that Hungerford is attributed for making the phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” famous?

***

At the nudist colony for communists, two men are sitting on the front porch. One turns to the other and says, "I say, have you read Marx?"

The other replies, "Yes … I believe it's these wicker chairs."

***

It had been a long time—seven years to be exact—since my friend Brian had been to see his doctor. So the nurse told him that if he wanted to make an appointment, he would have to be reprocessed as a new patient.

"Okay," said Brian, "reprocess me."

"I'm sorry," she told him. "We're not accepting any new patients."

***

Ever wonder what medical personnel scribble on those clipboards attached to the foot of the bed? Here are some incredible comments taken from hospital charts:

"The patient refused autopsy."

"The patient has no previous history of suicides."

"She has had no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night."

"She is numb from her toes down."

"Patient has two teenage children but no other abnormalities."

"Discharge status: Alive but without my permission."