Warning: the following blog post contains homework for readers. Turn away now should you wish to not do any work.
It occurred to me that there are probably people who visit historic towns like mine and poke around in the various shops that would be willing to pay for quirky local color. And since that notion popped into my brain while I was walking my dog, it turned into an idea for a series of histories of little towns with some dog-centric angle. And so was born "The Adventures of JoJo the Small-Town Hound".
This is where the homework comes in. The following is the draft text of "Volume 1: Leesburg, Virginia and the Curious Case of Dog Money". Your job is to critique it and tell me how I can make it better. My wife has given me some notes, including adding more JoJo-specific adventuring. I'd welcome yours. In exchange, I'll credit you in the Acknowledgements and buy the first round at the publishing party.
The Adventures of JoJo The Small Town Hound
Vol. 1, Leesburg, Virginia and the Curious Case of Dog Money
This is JoJo. She’s a friendly pup with a unique hobby. She loves touring small towns, meeting their people and learning their history. (Her humans think she just likes to eat treats, but that’s just how she gets them to take her places.)
JoJo was born in Mississippi, but she lives in Virginia now. She asked me to write this book so she could share one of her favorite places with you.
Leesburg, Virginia is in the northeast part of the state, near both the Maryland and West Virginia borders, and about 40 miles northwest of the Nation’s Capital. It’s the county seat of Loudoun County, complete with a courthouse. JoJo wants me to tell all her canine friends that the Law Library in the courthouse complex always has dog treats available for four-legged visitors.
The town was established officially by the Assembly of Virginia in 1758, meaning that there are more than 250 years of smells for good dogs to sniff. It also means that the town has experienced American history in a number of interesting ways.
During the American Revolution, Loudoun County was home to the largest militia in Virginia, with more than 1,700 residents taking up arms. Later, as the British threatened Washington, D.C. in the War of 1812, the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence were hidden in Leesburg to keep them safe.
JoJo was happy to learn those things about the town, but she really perked up when she heard about Dog Money.
Because of its location on the border between the South and the North, the U.S. Civil War was a complicated time for Leesburg. As a town in Virginia, it was a part of the Confederate States of America, but like much of America, the townspeople’s loyalties were divided, with some serving in the Union Army and others in the Confederate Army.
Leesburg changed hands more than 150 times between 1861 and 1865 as the warring armies battled against each other. Among other things, this made it very complicated for townspeople to know which kind of money to use, depending on who was in control of the town. So the town got creative and made up its own money.
Eventually, more than $93,000 worth of Dog Money was printed and distributed in Leesburg during the Civil War. If you ever make a trip to the town, you can see actual Dog Money bills at the Loudoun County Museum or the Thomas Balch Library. Both of those places are really close to Jock’s Exxon, another place in town JoJo likes to go to get dog treats from the friendly proprietor.
And that’s the story of the Curious Case of Dog Money. JoJo’s pretty sure your hometown has some fun stories for her to discover - so keep the treats out and maybe she’ll come for a visit!
If you’d like to learn more about the Town of Leesburg and its history, visit these websites (or better yet, visit the town itself!):
https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=tbl/viletbl00069.xml
https://www.leesburgva.gov/departments/thomas-balch-library/research-reference-services/research-guides-book-indices/history-of-leesburg
https://historyimagined.wordpress.com/2018/03/09/leesburg-vas-dog-money/
What say you, Gheorghies? How would you make this better?
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8 comments:
Cool idea. I'll noodle this more later, but off the top of my head, is there clip art of dollar bills that you can substitute JoJo's head for Washington, Jackson, Franklin, and caption: this is what Leesburg Dog Money might look like today.
See if you can get Junior Mafia and Weird Al involved to make “Get Money” into “Dog Money.”
obx dave writes about freemasonry. nj dave podcasts about freemasonry and conspiracy theories. coincidence? i think not. i smell something.
great minds conspire alike.
you should write from jojo's POV. she is a dog of color, and she is very annoyed by the habits of her honky owner. he's always stopping for "craft IPAs." she'd prefer a watermelon margarita or grape soda. and she'd often be perplexed by human stuff, especially when you brought her into a candle shop and it blew up her olfactory senses. and she should end every chapter: "but what do i know? I'm just a woke-ass bitch totally dependent on a short little unemployed white man with glasses."
on it
i think jojo would also be into crypto-- dogecoin of course-- which is pretty much modern-day dog money. she would also have some thoughts about gold-backed currency-- she would like bling. i think the key to the writing is the character of the dog, and all the shit that annoys her 9especially about you). this would elevate it from mere travelogue.
You did ask him for ideas
*for a children's book.
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