When what became known as “The Great War” began in Europe, Elbert did not think much of it, referring to it in the November 1914 Fra as “a family feud. . . . all the crowned heads of Europe are related.” And then, as time went on, he began to accuse his biggest supporters, saying, “Big business has been to blame in this thing.” This accusatory tone continued as shown by his reference to the Pennsylvania Railroad as “beginning to look like an old man who shaves once a week with a dull razor, who has forgotten how to use a toothbrush. . .a railroad without a heart, so big it is going down by the head.” 1
But Elbert Hubbard believed in his self-made image of importance and influence, created in part through the adulation and respect previously bestowed on him by businessmen and politicians. So much so that he decided to go to Europe in the spring of 1915 with the objective of investigating and reporting on the war, even planning to go to Germany. He told reporters that if the Kaiser would be willing to meet with him, that might lead toward peace. In his hubris he imagined himself a diplomat, which is odd when one considers how he went out of his way to be controversial.
Next week in this series, one of Hubbard’s jokes gets in the way of his travel plans.
- Sue
Join us in East Aurora during the month of May as we observe the centenary of the sinking of the Lusitania with a series of lectures and events about this tragic event which, in an instant, changed the direction of the town’s largest enterprise, the Roycroft.
1 Art & Glory: The Story of Elbert Hubbard by Freeman Champney, p. 193.
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