How to Celebrate Benjamin Franklin's Birthday

Of all the mythic figures of America's infancy, none has remained more intriguing than Ben Franklin. Of the founding fathers, only Thomas Jefferson can begin to match the breadth of Franklin's interests or the scope of his accomplishments as a writer, philosopher, statesman, scientist, inventor, economist and printer. Who couldn't find fodder for celebration in a life like that?

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Glass Harmonicas
• Colonial-era Cookbooks
• The Autobiography Of Benjamin Franklin
• Biography Of Benjamin Franklin By Carl Van Doren
• Guidebooks To Philadelphia
• Local Guidebooks To Boston
• Party Drinks
• Party Food
• Glass Harmonica CDs
• Airline Tickets
• Postage Stamps
• Fountain Pens
• Writing Papers

1. Read Carl Van Doren's classic biography of Benjamin Franklin (known to his contemporaries as Dr. Franklin). If your grade-school recollections have grown hazy, prepare to be caught up in a story you can't put down.

2. Treat yourself to a vacation: Visit Boston, where Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, and lived until he was 17. Or explore Philadelphia, where the young printer set up his first shop and spent most of his adult life.

3. Explore Franklin's life online at Benjamin Franklin: Glimpses of the Man (see sln.fi.edu/franklin/rotten.html).

4. Take a dip. Franklin was a champion swimmer as a boy, and - two centuries before Jacques Cousteau came along - he created his own swim fins.

5. Write a letter. Franklin was an enthusiastic correspondent, Philadelphia's first postmaster and the country's first Postmaster General.

6. Throw a birthday party for Ben. Serve the finest food and drink of his era, and set the musical stage with glass harmonica recordings. Franklin invented the instrument in the 1740s (he called it the armonica); it became the rage of Europe, and both Beethoven and Mozart composed music for it.

7. Curl up in front of a wood stove (another Franklin invention) and read the good doctor's autobiography. But don't stay curled up too long. Remember his advice: "If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth the writing."

Tips & Warnings

• In both Boston and Philadelphia - 21st century or not - you'll find the spirits of Ben and his Revolutionary compatriots leaping out from every turn in the old brick streets. Buy a good guidebook, put on your walking shoes and follow along. For further guidance about where to stay and what to do, contact the cities' tourism offices.
• The glass harmonica consists of a set of glass bowls in graduated sizes; each produces a different note when you rub your moistened finger over its rim. The instrument has enjoyed a revival in recent years, and you can find some excellent recordings. Better yet, buy your own armonica and start practicing.

[grouch]

on 3/27/2008 Thanks for the interesting tips.