"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated January 22, 1911:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (MARCH 15, 2021):
It's funny how memory works. Reading the Montreal strips today, I'm much *less* impressed with it then I was in the past. - 1/29
Of course, I remember the brilliant penultimate panel from last week (and the wonderful view of Quebec City today), but I misremembered much else. - 2/29
For instance, I remember the group VISITING many locations in Montreal, not just talking about them… that does not occur here. - 3/29
Instead, we get a lot of talk about what they should see as they snow shoe and toboggan through the city. - 4/29
For reference, here are some of the places they talk about. - 5/29
The Lachine Rapids: - 6/29
Victoria Bridge: - 7/29
Mount Royal Funicular Railway (inverted railways are super fun; we have one in Niagara Falls, as well! My friends and I took it whenever we had the chance back in the day): - 8/29
McGill University (as well as all the associated buildings like the Redpath Library and Victoria Hospital): - 9/29
College de Montreal: - 10/29
Now, of particular interest here, is the Montreal kids mention of the Ice Palaces, which were a famous attraction of the city in the late 1800s: - 11/29
Though some attempts were made to continue the tradition into the 1900s (and ice sculpting is still incredibly popular there even today), the practice of constructing massive palaces fizzled out before #LittleNemo even began! - 12/29
It makes sense, however, that an architectural mind such as McCay's would know of/marvel at the creation of such wonders. It doesn't surprise me that it was alluded to it here. - 13/29
Truthfully, the only location that we actually *see* (and that's really only from a distance) is Nelson's Column: - 14/29
Of course, by extension, we also get a really beautiful depiction of Jacques Cartier Square: - 15/29
All this to say that, at least in my memory, there was a whole lot more "visiting" and less "talking"… that said, while the readers of 1911 couldn't see/visit the places they were reading about, we have the internet today! - 16/29
Huge win for the internet and social media here! Woo! - 17/29
Narratively, there are some quirky things happening too. - 18/29
First… why doesn't Impie accompany the boys on the Montreal toboggan trip? I get why the owl stays back; I get why the Captain stays back… but why Impie? - 19/29
Flip seems to have forgotten what a toboggan is in panel 4… when we *know* that he has most certainly been on a toboggan before (#71 - February 7, 1907): - 20/29
The third tier depicts Nemo and the airship taking part in the risky recreational white-water boating pastime known as "shooting the lachine": - 21/29
I've heard the term before, but neve really knew what it meant so this was really fascinating to me. - 22/29
Apparently (and, again, this is recent research; not expertise in any way), it was common for First Nations Canadian pilots to take boaters out for these "exhilarating" trips. - 23/29
I couldn't find a ton about the practice, but I did find this image of Baptiste Taiaiake, a Lachine Rapids pilot: - 24/29 [insert image]
Finally, the transition from tier three to tier four is (again) quite abrupt… they go from literally being *in* the rapids to being on the frozen St. Lawrence: - 25/29
Which does gives us another beautiful image of the city at a distance. This time, it is Quebec City; the only remaining fortified city north of Mexico! - 26/29
I'm sure we'll talk more about this tomorrow, but Quebec City is a really fun place to visit and part of it's charm is, in fact, the many fortifications (and cobblestone roads) that remain throughout the city. - 27/29
Overall, this is a really informative and interesting strip! There's a lot here and, especially when we can "visit" all these places virtually, it's exciting! - 28/29
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #276. What's yours? - 29/29
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