$27.95
Containing in one place as many of the thousand bits and pieces about speaking (as opposed to reading or writing) common, colloquial “street” French, intended for English-speaking tourists and other casual users, especially those who have never taken a French course before, and balm to those suffering post-français-101 PTSD. Also containing a possibly revolutionary insight into how to learn French that will outrage every French teacher on the planet, especially the experts. With 17 French songs, travel and cultural info, fun stuff, and plenty of snark.
WARNING: Not for high school use. Contains a chapter on X-rated French profanity. A high school edition is available.
First published in 1984
Launches and Yachts is a reprints in its entirety the original Elco120-page catalog put out by one of the world’s outstanding boatbuilding organizations, the Electric Launch ̵ better known as Elco. From its debut at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago to its World War II production of 399 PT boats, Elco led the fleet in its production of some 6,000 pleasure boats and more than 1,500 military craft. The famous PTs were commanded by the likes of Medal of Honor recipient Lt. John Bulkeley, who evacuated General Douglas MacArthur from Corregidor in the Philippines (portrayed by actor Robert Montgomery in the movie They Were Expendable), and PT-109’s Lt. John F. Kennedy portrayed by Cliff Robertson in the movie PT-109), whose PT was cut in half by a Japanese destroyer.
The list of other Elco customers reads like a Who’s Who: Czar Nicholas II of Russia, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Charles Lindbergh, Bernard Baruch, John Jacob Astor (Elco’s very first customer), Hiram Walker, Mrs. George Westinghouse, the De Beers family, Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild, comedian Ed Wynn, and Adm. John Dewey.
Launches and Yachts opens a window to another age, when gasoline cost 11 cents a gallon and families took the trolley to the end-of-the-line for a “trolley party” aboard an electric launch at a lakeside amusement park. A fully equipped 63-foot yacht could be purchased for $13,000, complete with wicker furniture, silk window curtains, and berths for two paid crew. Battery-powered electric launches were the wonder of the turn-of-the-century circa 1900 ̵ they had no “bad breath” unlike the new-fangled combustion engines, and didn’t explode like steam and naphtha launches did.
In addition to the complete 1902 catalog, Launches and Yachts includes a brief history of Elco from 1892 to its closing in 1949 as well as notes and commentary. There are 110 photographs, plans and drawings, most not seen in a century, that introduce the reader to the Golden Age of yachting, when Ragtime was new and the Wright Brothers only repaired bicycles.
Only a few dozen copies of this 1984 reprint are available directly from the Other Kind of French Press at $10.95 plus mailing. Use the contact information page to order directly.
ISBN 0-930597-00-1