# Literary reference in regards to cold snow **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 19, 2002, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literary-reference-in-regards-to-cold-snow/137596 "2002-11-19T19:45:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literary-reference-in-regards-to-cold-snow/137596/1 "2002-11-19T19:45:34Z")
While I certainly appreciate **bibliophage** ’s [mention](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msnow2cold.html) of “where the cotton blooms and blows”, shouldn’t that properly be Plumtree, TN, not Nashville? > [@](#): > > Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it’s the first that I’ve been warm. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2002, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literary-reference-in-regards-to-cold-snow/137596/2 "2002-11-19T23:53:47Z")
Darn, you beat me to it. But the other line is > [@](#): > > Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows so technically the cotton could bloom and blow anywhere in Tennessee, right? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literary-reference-in-regards-to-cold-snow/137596/3 "2002-11-20T03:24:21Z")
No, the cotton blooms and blows in the part of Tennessee where Sam was from. Which the later line reveals was Plumtree. 😉 It’s nice to see other Service fans here. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2002, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literary-reference-in-regards-to-cold-snow/137596/4 "2002-11-20T05:15:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Telemark \* > \*\*so technically the cotton could bloom and blow anywhere in Tennessee, right? \*\* That was the general idea, yeah. I was thinking along the lines of Nashville happens to be in “Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows.” I guess it didn’t come out as clearly as I expected. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literary-reference-in-regards-to-cold-snow/137596/5 "2002-11-22T00:19:47Z")
😃 I’ve seen pictures of the wreck of the _Alice May_, and when I was wee small, my parents had a fish camp on the marge of Lake Laberge. _They have cradled you in custom, they have primed you with their preaching, They have soaked you in convention through and through; They have put you in a showcase; you’re a credit to their teaching – But can’t you hear the Wild? – it’s calling you. Let us probe the silent places, let us seek what luck betide us; Let us journey to a lonely land I know. There’s a whisper on the night-wind, there’s a star agleam to guide us, And the Wild is calling, calling . . . let us go._ Anyone with me? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2002, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literary-reference-in-regards-to-cold-snow/137596/6 "2002-11-22T01:58:26Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve seen pictures of the wreck of the Alice May, and when I was wee small, my parents had a fish camp on the marge of Lake Laberge. You’re kidding, right? I thought he just made those names up! ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2002, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/literary-reference-in-regards-to-cold-snow/137596/7 "2002-11-23T00:12:17Z")
Nope, ain’t kidding. They are very very real. As a matter of fact, if you call the Yukon Archives, you may be able to order a picture (or several) of the wreck of the _Alice May_. In fact, I vaguely recall seeing a picture of the steamer before it wrecked. The Yukon River goes through Lake Laberge - it happens to be one of the most deceptively deadly lakes in the North. You can see all the way across it, but damn, when that wind comes up, there’s no way to make it…depending on your boat, of course. The wreck of the _Alice May_ IIRC, happened just before Robert Service went to Dawson from Whitehorse. The boiler was kind of a landmark for a number of years - can’t remember if it was eventually removed as a hazard to navigation or if it was salvaged. And yes, the Ice-Worm Cocktail is still a prized initiation rite amongst us, although you still have to have a Sour Toe Cocktail to be a True Sourdough. Yeah, it’s a real toe.