I’m All About Paul

Before another Independence Day celebration completely fades into the July of last week, I want to visit a story from early early American history. In 1973 I began middle school at Palisades-Brentwood Junior High, so named because it straddled the limits of both towns just outside of Los Angeles. But I never knew it as “Palisades-Brentwood”. A year after opening in 1955 it was rebranded Paul Revere Junior High. So Paul and I have a little something in common.  It’s like we’re compatriots, only separated by two and a half centuries. 

If you know nothing else about Paul Revere, you’ll recall his courageous “midnight ride”.  In the months leading up to the Revolutionary War in 1775 Revere took to his horse outside of Boston to alert “minutemen” of the approaching British troops.  Minutemen were residents of the American colonies trained to defend “at a minute’s notice”.  Revere himself was the notice, at least for what would become the early battles at Lexington and Concord.

Longfellow’s impression

Were it not for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow a hundred years later, Revere’s legacy would’ve faded as quickly as last Friday’s fireworks.  Instead we have the poet’s “Paul Revere’s Ride” as the chronicle, with these well-known opening lines:

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive…

Thanks to Longfellow’s poetic license (lots of it), we have a skewed version of what Revere did and did not do in April, 1775.  For starters, he was one of three riders spreading the news that “The British are coming!  The British are coming!” (so why didn’t the other two riders get any poetic love?)  Further, Revere never said the words “The British are coming!” but rather some disguised version of the warning to fool the Redcoats already hiding in the countryside.  And the famous “one-if-by-land, two-if-by-sea” lanterns were put in place by Revere, not for him.

Boston, MA

Revere didn’t even own a horse.  He had to borrow a neighbor’s steed  (named “Brown Beauty”) to make the ride.  And instead of galloping all the way to Concord as the poem suggests, Revere and his horse were captured by British troops somewhere along the way.  Lucky for Paul, the capture turned into a release when the Brits realized they were about to be overwhelmed by the locals.  So they took Paul’s horse and fled instead.

Enough of the history lesson (real or poetic).  Why a West Coast middle school would go with “Paul Revere” is beyond me, but the campus culture certainly embraced the name.  A select number of boys (including me) were the “Minutemen” who raised and lowered the American flag each day.  A select number of girls – “Colonial Belles” – were responsible for some similar task.  The school yearbook was known as the “Patriot”, while the newspaper was labeled the “Town Crier”.  And students called “Silversmiths” did something-or-other, but it certainly wasn’t casting fine products in Metal Shop.

Our school even plagiarized Longfellow (and not very well), as in:

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
of the growing pride of Paul Revere.
On the twelfth of September in Fifty-Five
Our middle school began to thrive.
 
If all I can point to is my middle school’s name, it’s a weak argument to claim Paul Revere and I have something in common.  We have nothing in common.  Revere was a Jack Paul of all trades, dabbling in roles from military leader to dentist, artist, and silversmith, before finally settling on copper caster.  Revere became the best caster of church bells in all of young America before his midnight ride became his signature accomplishment.
 
You’d be better off saying Revere and I were polar opposites.  I never served in the military.  I’ve only been the patient of a dentist (too often at that), I have zero art skills, I don’t make the silver (I just polish it), and the only casters I’m familiar with are the ones under a couple of my rolling chairs.
 
“Revere Ware”
Thanks to the church bell thing, Revere Copper Company became a successful business which still exists to this day.  You may remember their “Revere Ware” products, most of which are considered collectibles today.  Maybe I should collect a few pieces myself.  They’d remind me of the guy I seem to think I have something in common with.  Or at least, they’d remind me of junior high school.
 

Some content sourced from the Paul Revere Charter Middle School website, the History Channel article, “9 Things You May Not Know About Paul Revere”, and Wikipedia, “the free encyclopedia”.

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Author: Dave

Five hundred posts would suggest I have something to say… This blog was born from a desire to elevate the English language, highlighting eloquent words from days gone by. The stories I share are snippets of life itself, and each comes with a bonus: a dusted-off word I hope you’ll go on to use more often. Read “Deutschland-ish Improvements” to learn about my backyard European wish list. Try “Slush Fun” for the throwback years of the 7-Eleven convenience store. Or drink in "Iced Coffee" to discover the plight of the rural French cafe. On the lighter side, read "Late Night Racquet Sports" for my adventures with our latest moth invasion. As Walt Whitman said, “That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” Here then, my verse. Welcome to Life In A Word.

21 thoughts on “I’m All About Paul”

  1. My mother had Revere Ware products in her kitchen. They’re long gone but I remember she thought they were quality. Paul Revere rode on “Brown Beauty”! That makes me smile, a wonderful bit of trivia.

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  2. Thanks for your intro to all things Paul Revere!

    I wondered why Longfellow penned that poem when he did. This is what I found at University Cube: “Longfellow’s ‘Paul Revere’s Ride’ may not align perfectly with historical fact, but its impact cannot be overstated. Written on the eve of the Civil War, the poem served as a rallying cry for the Union, drawing parallels between the fight against British tyranny and the struggle to end slavery.”

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    1. Eve of the Civil War – interesting! I can accept Longfellow’s poetic license but you have to wonder how the facts of the actual ride were passed down over the centuries. Should we really believe this tale or is it simply an effort to romanticize the events of the Revolutionary War?

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  3. I’m all about Paul, too, but in my case, it’s my husband, Paul. And, not that I want to outdo you, Dave, but my HIGH school was called Revere. I figure it was named after our buddy, Paul, as there were no towns named Revere nearby. There also weren’t any cutesie … wait wait wait… you’re making me remember. Yes! It was after Paul Revere. Our football team were known as the Minutemen, I’m pretty sure. And I’m sort of seeing the classic PR face on the back of lettermen jackets–I think. Maybe I’m imagine that. Anyhow. That sort of (weakly) makes a connection between US, and what more matters, really, amiright? 😉

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    1. Does your Paul ride a horse? I don’t (but my wife is still “all about Dave”). I wanted to claim Revere as a better middle school mascot but I don’t have a leg to stand on, because my high school mascot was a dolphin. I’d definitely choose minuteman instead. You should’ve seen me sporting my cool green minuteman sash back in middle school, as if I was male pageant material. Are you sure you want to have a connection with me? 😉

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    1. It’s an equally compelling mascot. I can think of all kinds of spinoffs for club names and such. At least you can claim association with an NFL team. I’m wondering if today’s middle schoolers even learn about Paul Revere.

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  5. That was interesting, but I’m a history lover. I was of course familiar with Paul Revere, but only the first stanza of the poem, so I googled it and read the whole poem. Paul Revere was mentioned briefly in a book The Frozen River, which my book club read in Jan. as it was set in the post-revolutionary years, when there was barely a judicial system. And for some reason I do remember Revere Ware as being a line of good quality pots. My St. Pat’s high school team was the Fighting Irish, because that’s what the Irish do best! In 1974 they won the regional football championship which was a big deal when you’re in senior year.

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  6. Well that was interesting Dave and I must admit that my knowledge of American history is lacking. I used to tell people that we’d get to the end of the school year, no matter if it was middle school or high school, then we crammed a lot of chapters into a few day’s time, resulting in a lousy education in American history, world history, or, to be honest, any subject for that matter. Our school system was not great in my city. So, I didn’t know the tale and as to Paul Revere, well I think of the musical group “Paul Revere and the Raiders” which statement just served in dating myself bigtime. 🙂 My mom liked to cook and claimed the Revere cookware would not burn and what wasn’t copper-bottomed cookware, was trusty cast iron skillets in our kitchen cupboard. I would likely be more discriminating with my cookware, but I am no cook, unless you count making a mean crockpot meal.

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    1. I shudder to think of what today’s “U.S. History” class curriculum looks like; that is, if there’s even the subject anymore in grade school. I’m thinking they gloss over the Revolutionary War and Civil War to spend more time on 20th century events. It’s a shame because I think every American should be versed in the events of the beginning of our country. We can learn a lot from our forefathers.

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      1. Sadly, I agree that this is the way school curriculums work now Dave. I see a lot of statements by this nation’s forefathers appearing on social media these days, so the “older kids” paid attention.

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  7. We are still cooking on the Revere Ware pans we got when we got married, so we may have the best connection to Paul Revere of anyone here!

    I went to a middle school where we were vikings. But we never bought a Viking refrigerator, so we’re Minuteman now. At least in the kitchen.

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    1. I have enough admiration for what Revere did for his (future) country but it’s also nice to know he makes a quality product. You can bet I’ll be on the lookout for Revere Ware the next time we’re in need of pots/pans.

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  9. As a former teacher, I love the way your school embraced your name and fostered interest and pride in at least one American hero. My hometown named its elementary schools after American poets (including Longfellow), and our two junior highs after inventors–Franklin (my alma mater) and Edison. I wish administrators had incorporated more particulars about Franklin into the culture of the school. Our mascot was a tiger cub, because the high school’s was a tiger. We could have been Lightning!

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    1. My high school mascot was a dolphin, Nancy (our school was minutes from the beach in CA). Now I’m wondering why high schools go with animals while elementary and middle schools go with Americans of note? Seems to me it should be the other way around!

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