“Even Old New York was once New Amsterdam.”
-from the song Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
lyrics by Howard Ashman
——————–
Thailand was Siam.
The Czech Republic was Bohemia.
Even Turkey is now Türkiye.
Names change.
And that’s the story of the small Pennsylvania town I visited this weekend.
Its original name was Mauch Chunk. (pronounced “mawk chunk”)
In the Algonquin language, it means “sleeping bear.”
There’s a mountain next to the town that looks like a sleeping bear.
When coal was discovered, the town was born, boomed, and prospered for 60 years.
Then — bad news for the town — oil and natural gas started to replace coal.
They were cheaper and cleaner.
Jobs dried up; locals moved away; shops closed.
But the town’s leaders were not quitters.
They loved their town.
They wanted to see it not only survive but thrive.
They did not want to see it turn into another ghost town.
So they took action!
They decided to make their town a tourist destination.
But to attract the tourists, first they would need an attraction.
So, of course, they bought a dead body.
But tourists don’t want to visit just any dead body, they want to be around rich and famous dead bodies.
So the town bought the body of the famous athlete Jim Thorpe, buried him in the town, stuck a monument over his grave, and renamed the town “Jim Thorpe.”
Did it work?
Well, when I visited last weekend, the sidewalks were full and there was even a small traffic jam on the road heading into town.
But were they there to see old Jimmy Thorpe, or to cool down in the river and get more pictures to share on Instagram?
Cheers,
Mr. Vig
P.S.
I’m finally going to tell the story behind this picture tomorrow – I promise!
P.P.S.
Listen to today’s Vitamin V to improve your understanding, pronunciation and grammar.
Plus, learn these valuable words and use them in your next conversation to sound like a native speaker:
reveal
thrive
prosper
dry up
jam
Today’s vitamin V: Extra Strength is wrong. The link goes to the first of August. Yesterday I was able to listen to yesterday’s and this week’s episodes. Somewhere there is an error.
Yes. It is an error
I can’t find week 33.I can’t understand why.I listened to one episode and after it the 4 last days dissapeared.PLEASE HELP.
I changed my code.Is this problem?
“0toteman” in a algonquin dialectical language means ” he is my relative” and tells about very old ancestors animals mammals, birds, insects, plants that it’s better to honour and celebrate for the good of the community.( say The dictionary of mithology ). So, in my opinion these Indians have a totemic believe and the totemic animal was the bear.So far it’s nice!
About this strange habit to sell, buy and walk with a dead body, well is not really my cup of tea, I don’t like it.By the way, who sells the famous dead body, his relatives maybe to become rich….and it was legal???
9
Hi,
What a revelation. I like the idea the town’s leaders were not quitters. Even though the idea of buying Jim Thorpe ‘s dead body was quite strange and the idea of renaming the town was sort of a challenge and a lightbulb at the same time.
Apparently it has been possible, they got the permissions, it worked… and Jim Thorpe is not a ghost town.
Taking action is always a good move.
There are no audio files for the entire week 33. The last audio is from last Friday