The story of Plymouth Rock is amusingly told by George Willison in Saints and Strangers (1945) - one of the better parts of an unreliable book. There's a long book about the imagery of Plymouth Rock, called America's Memory (I think). And for a relatively short (compared to that book) explanation of why people's expectations are disappointed, read my contribution to the book The Art of Family (ed. Brenton Simons and Peter Benes, NEHGS, 1999). My article is called "The Triumph of the Pilgrims." The basic reason is that in the 19th century, stereotype depictions of Plymouth Rock often gave it the shape associated with the Rock of Gibralter. That's a habit that even shows up in the background of Sargent's painting of The Landing (at Pilgrim Hall). But it's not the case that the rock gets replaced every so often with other rocks. Jeremy Bangs "David C. Richardson" <chuck.richardson@mindspring.com> wrote: > The guide speech usually has a line indicating that they don't >really know for sure that the pilgrims actually stepped on this >particular rock. The fact is that this isn't even the same rock that >was there 50 years ago. Yup the rock is so heavily vandalized that >every once in a while they haul it away and drag in a new one. In >between times they have to do some heavy maintenance on it regularly. >The last time in was rotated out was in the 60s that I know of however I >haven't been there since the early 80s so t may have had some work done >in that time. If a guide is asked why it doesn't look quite like the >old post card they have they are told to blame it on the vandals. > Don't be shocked. Some things are historical and others are about >tourist dollars. Even if some of our traditional symbols are not as >real as we would like we can't have one with out the others and on the >whole Plymouth is a great destination and the historical aspects far out >weigh the commercial. > >Janean Ray wrote: >> Reminds me of when we went to Mount Rushmore. Every turn around the >> mountain I was expecting the sky to open up to this amazing ROCK of >> presidents and say WOW. You could barely catch a glimpse of it from the >> parking lot and you walk through this entrance way out to a lookout deck and >> up in the hill there it is. It seemed so small in comparison to how they >> portray the photos of it on postcards and in your Rand McCanlly road atlas >> or something.... so majestic looking with the lights blazing on it at night >> etc. We walked up to the lookout point and stood there like.......... OK??? >> LOL >> >> I felt like Chevy Chase in the vacation movie where they walked to the Grand >> Canyon and nodded their heads and turned and walked away. LOL........ but >> it's when you think of how these icons came to BE....... is what makes it >> worthwhile. >> >> I checked out Plymouth Rock on line when I originally joined this list and >> was amazed at the size of it myself. I think we are given the impression >> that it's this massive thing that they climbed upon declaring "We have >> arrived" >> >> What we don't know or realize too is only 1/3 of it is visible and weighing >> about 4 tons and the bottom which is under the sand is about 6 tons. As the >> website states the rock as it is today is estimated to be only about 1/3 to >> 1/2 of it's original size. The top half has been dragged around town, >> broken, chipped away at by 19th and 19th century souvenir hunters. >> >> www.pilgrimhall.org >> >> So that's our culture for ya. Let's destroy ancient artifacts so we can >> have a piece of it. >> >> Even out in SD in the Badlands..... you get arrested if found taking rocks >> from there and the park is wide open for your personal travel and pleasure >> and full access. But you pick up a rock....... you're done! So I guess >> it's a blessing we still have at least some of the original Plymouth Rock. >> >> Janean >> >> >> Frequently-asked questions may often be answered by visiting the FAQ page for this list at: http://www.craigrich.net/mayfaq.htm >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MAYFLOWER-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> >Frequently-asked questions may often be answered by visiting the FAQ page for this list at: http://www.craigrich.net/mayfaq.htm >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MAYFLOWER-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >