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Greetings!
I thought I'd mix up with some quirky Peninsula history today. Have you ever heard the Abalone song? The legend is that poet George Sterling and friends began collecting abalones at the beaches in Carmel - and to prep abalones to eat, you need to pound the tough meat. While George Sterling, Opal Heron Search, Sinclair Lewis, Mary Austin and others sat on the beach, they sung abalone poems to the thump of pounding the meat. Some of the verses of the song were later memorialized by author Jack London in the book Valley of the Moon. However many different people contributed verses to the "Cafe Ernest" restaurant guestbook in Monterey run by Ernest "Pop" Doelter. The first verse in the Valley of the Moon goes:
Oh! some folks boast of quail on toast,
Because they think it's tony;
But I'm content to owe my rent,
And live on abalone.
George Sterling, Cafe Ernest Guestbook, 1913
(Attributed to Opal Heron Search)
What would your abalone song be? Typically, the second line should rhyme with the final word in the fourth : abalone...however, there are others who find other ways including rhyming each line:
Abalone, Abalone
You are a treat to me
We greet you, then we eat you
May you grow in every sea!
H.A. Wiley
Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy
June 27, 1924
Our abalones in Monterey have had a wild journey over the past 125 years, if you'd like to know more check out this 13 minute video on our City of Monterey YouTube page. If you're interested in the full eleven verse of the Abalone Song just reach out to me and I'll send you the verses. Oh, and if you need a way to hum along to the poem - sing to the tune of Yankee Doodle.
Warmly,
Brian
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