# Hemmingway and the six word story **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2001, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemmingway-and-the-six-word-story/87411 "2001-10-14T23:39:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemmingway-and-the-six-word-story/87411/1 "2001-10-14T23:39:51Z")
I remember hearing once that Ernest Hemmingway won a contest for writing the best story in six words. Alas, I have forgotten his winning entry, despite its brevity. Could someone please post this for me? Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemmingway-and-the-six-word-story/87411/2 "2001-10-14T23:56:26Z")
For sale. Baby shoes. Never used. ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemmingway-and-the-six-word-story/87411/3 "2001-10-15T00:19:23Z")
Yes! That’s it. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemmingway-and-the-six-word-story/87411/4 "2001-10-15T00:39:32Z")
I don’t have any idea if this is a true story or not. Can anyone give a cite that truly certifies that it is true? ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemmingway-and-the-six-word-story/87411/5 "2001-10-15T00:44:25Z")
From what I’ve heard, it was a challenge or a bar bet; to see if he could write a story in six words. I don’t think it was an actual “contest.” ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemmingway-and-the-six-word-story/87411/6 "2001-10-15T01:16:23Z")
[http://www1.abs-cbnnews.com/abs/inews-sep2001.nsf/specials/20010911223](http://www1.abs-cbnnews.com/abs/inews-sep2001.nsf/specials/20010911223) > [@](#): > > Still, it’s hard to deny simplicity’s appeal. In a new collection, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke relates the story of some young newspaper reporters who once made a bet over who could write the best story in six words. > > The winner was a fellow named Hemingway. > > He wrote: “For sale. Baby shoes. Never used.” > > “Heartbreaking,” says Clarke. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemmingway-and-the-six-word-story/87411/7 "2001-10-15T03:01:39Z")
Fer cryin’ out loud! That link from ABC news is from Sept 3, 2001. The same info in Google at least takes it back to a column in The Maui Time, Feb 15, 2000. And who knows how much farther. Can anyone give me a cite/site that will **conclusively** prove to me that Hemmingway said/did this, and that it is not just apocraphal, as I believe? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemmingway-and-the-six-word-story/87411/8 "2001-10-15T03:39:04Z")
Sam–I think you’re on your own here. This is the kind of tidbit that appears only in those big fat biographies, so I think you’ll have to go down to the library and look it up. It doesn’t necessarily have to be apocryphal–just because it’s not “officially” on the Web in a Hemingway website bio doesn’t make it an UL. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemmingway-and-the-six-word-story/87411/9 "2001-10-15T08:09:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sue Duhnym \* > \*\*For sale. Baby shoes. Never used. \*\* Uh oh. I hope that story wasn’t copyrighted. We have rules about that sort of thing, you know. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sorrel554](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@sorrel554](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sorrel554)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemmingway-and-the-six-word-story/87411/10 "2001-10-15T12:13:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > \*\*Sam–I think you’re on your own here. This is the kind of tidbit that appears only in those big fat biographies, so I think you’ll have to go down to the library and look it up. > > It doesn’t necessarily have to be apocryphal–just because it’s not “officially” on the Web in a Hemingway website bio doesn’t make it an UL. \*\* I’ve got one of those big fat biographies here, but I haven’t read it yet. Does anyone have an approximate date or an idea of something I could check the index for to verify this? ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2001, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hemmingway-and-the-six-word-story/87411/11 "2001-10-15T13:52:15Z")
O. Henry did once a one light story that read “For Sale: One slightly used baby buggy.” It’s pretty famous, and for this reason I think the Hemmingway anecdote is bogus.