Althouse: In 1878, Robert Louis Stevenson invented his own sleeping bag.

April 23, 2013

In 1878, Robert Louis Stevenson invented his own sleeping bag.

"A sort of long roll or sausage, green waterproof-cart cloth without and blue sheep's fur within."

From an illustrated collection of snippets about famous writers and the walks they took.

13 comments:

edutcher said...: He also met Wild Bill Hickok and was vastly impressed.

Then again, he was vastly impressed by most things American and Western.

Too bad he never wrote one.

Westerns, I mean.; 4/23/13, 12:06 PM
Darrell said...: Years before, Karl Marx used to cut open a large person with a knife and sleep inside, when on camping trips. It is seldom talked about.; 4/23/13, 12:42 PM
ricpic said...: Did Marx do that after first lecturing and improving said person? If so the means justified the end (of said person). Said Marx. And slept like a baby.; 4/23/13, 1:10 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Walking sets in motion a cascade of events, among these the pumping of more blood to the head... which in turn, stimulates... something I don't have a name for because I've never been to a light house so there is no way I'm going to get lighthouse facts wrong and whatever I do know about it is very little compared to what it is that a lighthouse is supposed to do... keep large boats from running aground?
But now that we have satellites, the light houses are mostly kept up for nostalgic purposes and to grace the covers of club books like Oprah's.; 4/23/13, 1:20 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Walking sets in motion a cascade of events, among these the pumping of more blood to the head.

That's one of those things that, you know, sound right when you hear them on television.

But, I have no idea if its true.; 4/23/13, 1:26 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Good thing nobody was awake to check me on it.; 4/23/13, 1:27 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: You know what happened... I'll tell you what happened.

I saw that headline "In 1878," and involuntarily, my eyes started to glaze over... but then I just made it to the last word in the sentence... bag... Bingo, I was hooked.; 4/23/13, 1:36 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: So then I thought I got to do something with this bag... after reading all the snippets and trying to bag a critical eye on the water colors...

Nothing... I sat and nothing popped up...

So I got up went to the kitchen... did a few items - its my turn to do the dishes today - I came back and just thought just start writing something.; 4/23/13, 1:43 PM
ricpic said...: One of the few liberating things ever said to me was "I don't like hiking, it's boring" by an attractive fit woman. Permission was being granted, and by a first rate piece to boot. A true the emperor has no clothes moment. No more hiking. What a relief.; 4/23/13, 2:20 PM
Larry J said...: There's a curious family named Stein.
There's Gertrude, there's Ep and there's Ein.
Gert's prose is bunk,
Ep's sculpture is junk,
And nobody understands Ein.

Robert Resnick
RPI Physicist, Limericist; 4/23/13, 2:28 PM
Michael said...: He had a donkey to carry his stuff; 4/23/13, 3:40 PM
Bob said...: Stevenson's donkey was uncooperative at first, until an innkeeper gave him a goad. After that the donkey was much more cooperative.; 4/23/13, 4:47 PM
john said...: When in Vailima, where my wife-to-be lived for a time, hike the popular hike up the mountain to see his last sleeping bag, as well as a nice view of Apia, the harbor, and the Pacific. On the way down wash the sweat off with a nice dip in a stream with one of the few real freshwater diving pools on the island.; 4/23/13, 9:56 PM