Thank you Dillon
Holly Irisness... err awesomeness! Today a letter from arrived here which had been slowed down by a wrong digit in the postal code but the contents of which made me go
It came down to four presents. First there was the letter itself of course which I will keep with my other letters from the hands of friends and fellow LBT fans.
Then there was this present which counts twice for being at the same time a very, very beautiful handmade figure and also a funny joke which made me laugh out loud (and laughter is a very beautiful gift):
Shorty Bonaparte has found a place of honor on the topmost board of my LBT collection in front of the snow-globe Iris. Here is another picture:
The joke which Iris has picked so properly (aware as she is of my interest in history) is that the name "Shorty" relates so well to the many stories about Napoleon Bonaparte being allegedly a small person who was named "little corporal" by his men.
By the way Iris, I'm wondering if perhaps when you were at my place you noticed the books about Napoleon on my boards and if this may have influenced your Shorty Bonaparte? In any case I found it proper to take some more pictures of him with a "special background"
And with the joke also comes the fourth of the gifts namely this most awesome chance for a short history lecture which anyone who knows me is sometimes involuntarily exposed to... sorry about that (for the involuntary part)
The truth is that Napoleon Bonaparte was by no means particularly small. With 169 centimeters he was slightly above the average size of 167 in France around that time. There are some reasons for the rumors about Napoleon's shortness. One is of course the nickname "little corporal". However, the "little" in that name is more of an expression of affection rather than actual commenting on his size (by the way, "corporal" is also a rank Napoleon never held as after his military school education he was taken to the army as a lieutenant right away rather than being promoted from any non-commissioned officer rank). Another reason for Napoleon being taken for small is that on many pictures showing him with soldiers he looks distinctly smaller than most other people. However, these pictures usually depict him with his guard and in order to be admitted to that elite force a man had to reach a minimum size way above the average (I think 180cm). Beside all these over-sized men beside whom he is most frequently depicted Napoleon cut a small figure. Propaganda from other countries too may have strengthened the idea of him being undersized to ridicule him (there are many British cartoons of the time in which a giant John Bull faces a Napoleon the size of a mosquito or a little dog).
Thank you for all this Iris, you really made my day!
