A Rock Solid Ethos
May 22, 2016 4:29 AM   Subscribe

The Babson Boulders of Dogtown were one man's endeavor to leave a mark... by carving brief mottos in the large boulders in a vacant field he owned.
posted by oneswellfoop (25 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
It's early, so it took me a few minutes to get that NEVER TRY NEVER WIN probably isn't meant as a set of two rather discouraging commands.
posted by duffell at 4:47 AM on May 22, 2016 [6 favorites]




Gotta admit, there's a few folks I know I'd like to hurl BE ON TIME at.....
posted by easily confused at 6:24 AM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


If I came across a bolder exhorting me to "HELP MOTHER" in the middle of nowhere with no context, I would be deeply unsettled.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 7:19 AM on May 22, 2016 [14 favorites]


THINK DON'T CARVE
posted by Segundus at 7:49 AM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


The project was undertaken during the Great Depression and it was Babsons intent to help out the unemployed stonecutters of Gloucester by giving them work. Perhaps a sense of responsibility also led him to this act of charity – he had, after all, predicted the crash with alarming prescience.

A slightly different spin on things, from later in the article. Interesting guy.
posted by Zonker at 7:50 AM on May 22, 2016 [3 favorites]


Prehistoric image macro memes.
posted by Nelson at 7:56 AM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


There are further details about Babson and his war against gravity in the first Related Post.
posted by zamboni at 8:26 AM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]



A slightly different spin on things, from later in the article. Interesting guy


Indeed! Founder of Babson College, et cetera, et cetera.
posted by notyou at 8:27 AM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


BEON
TIME
posted by Splunge at 8:29 AM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


It's hard to not want to deface these:

BEyONd TIME

HELP!
--MOTHER

STAY OUT OF, DEBuTtantes!

PROSPERITY FOLLOWS SERVICE in bed
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:15 AM on May 22, 2016 [2 favorites]




NO KILL I
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:30 AM on May 22, 2016 [2 favorites]


King Ashoka did a similar thing, except that in his case the "vacant field" was a significant expanse of the Mauryan polity.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:13 AM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Surprised this isn't something that Charles Olson wrote about at some point. I'll have to check my concordance when I get home.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 10:44 AM on May 22, 2016


I've visited some of these boulders. Creepy place, highly recommended.
posted by superior julie at 11:07 AM on May 22, 2016 [2 favorites]


THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE
UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES
posted by flabdablet at 11:16 AM on May 22, 2016


Actually Dogtown is not that easy to find, it's not a formal public park, just an area mostly undeveloped with not well marked trail heads. Perhaps I'll make the effort sometime this year, one of these boulder would be cool to run across.
posted by sammyo at 11:53 AM on May 22, 2016


In re: Charles Olson:

The boulders are not mentioned in The Maximus Poems but Olson cites the Babson family several times, along with Roger once directly and his Institute of Business Administration. The family line goes way back to 17th century, around the time when Gloucester was founded---this is mentioned in the article cited. One of Roger Babson's ancestors, John, even wrote a book called History of the Town of Gloucester in 1860.

The existence of the boulders was revealed in Roger's autobiography and likely Olson would have read that as part of his endless research on Gloucester history. He may have simply not considered them to be of interest in the context of The Maximus Poems, focused on fishing and the rich off-shore fisheries which resulted in the establishment of the town.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 12:25 PM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


Been there, rode that. Good trails, and you go home feeling ... enriched.
posted by Dashy at 12:40 PM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]


The first Babsons in New England were Isabel Babson and her sons Richard and James. They arrived in 1637. Isabel's husband Thomas died during the crossing.
posted by notyou at 1:20 PM on May 22, 2016


TOTI
EMUL
ESTO
posted by The otter lady at 5:50 PM on May 22, 2016


Really the funny part is like other rock carvings these are likely to outlive almost every other sign of this civilization should humanity die out. Imagine a million years hence a new species rises up and puzzles over these symbols and the face-like carvings on a mountain to the west.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 10:04 PM on May 25, 2016 [1 favorite]


BEON
TIME

That's a pretty decent takeaway for any century.
posted by notyou at 11:02 PM on May 25, 2016


Sounds a lot like Freedom Rock in Southern Ontario
posted by NotAlwaysSo at 6:23 AM on June 2, 2016


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