Frick

I was just introduced to Henry Clay Frick in The Age of Acquiescence: The Life and Death of American Resistance to Organized Wealth and Power, by Steve Fraser. I’ve heard of The Frick Collection, but never paused to think that it was named for someone. It’s obvious, but still never occurred to me.

It turns out, “frick” appears a lot in my sketchbooks.

It’s no secret that I make a lot of mistakes. But I had no idea how much I write “frick” near the goof… until I noticed I did it on the same page as Mr. Frick! See? Where I effed up Rockefeller’s quote? I didn’t realize I did that until I finished writing the word.

Wouldn’t it be so cool and kind of serendipitous if the use of “frick” as a pseudo swear (minced oath) could be tracked back to Henry C. Frick, a happy little coincidence?

Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with him. If you really want to get in the weeds, check out this article… but maybe not on your work computer.

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Henry Clay Frick

Gilded Age industrialist and financier. Named for Henry Clay, who:

• Sold his own kids when he his wife discovered he was acting “more lovingly than suited her feelings” toward the enslaved woman he had a “relationship” with. Sold the woman, too

• Got into a duel with Humphrey Marshall because he was hot-headed

• Ran for president and lost more times than anyone else — even perma-candidate William Jennings Bryan!

• Defended Aaron Burr and realized (too late!) he was mistaken about Burr

I mean, who wouldn’t want to be named for this guy?

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Becoming Queen Victoria: The Unexpected Rise of Britain’s Greatest Monarch, by Kate Williams 

Head shaped like a pineapple

Weird burn from about the King, who got mad about a “dam’d bad” pen: “What can you expect from a man with a head like a pineapple.”

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Two fricks

My doodles from An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, by Doris Kearns Goodwin had not one, but two fricks:

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More fricks?

Probably. If I unearth any more, I’ll be sure to add them to this collection — my personal Frick Collection.

PS

Two mere days after posting my Frick Collection, Henry Clay Frick showed up in a Stuff You Should Know episode. (He did not like Andrew Carnegie!) The Baader–Meinhof phenomenon strikes again!

PPS

Mere days after adding the PS, Henry Clay Frick popped up again!