Jules-

for all i can tell the Plasmon-cookies that Twain not only ate but
apparently also tried to market in the States are more or less in the
original form still available from the surviving Italian branch of the
company. I am attaching a pic of the box. Couldn't find a proper address,
but they seem to belong to the Heinz multinational octopus ...
During the late 19th c., many companies were trying to sail in the wake of
Justus Liebig's Fleischextrakt broth-cubes, so gruesome stuff like "Torpon"
(made from offal and other meat leftovers from slaughterhouses) got on the
market ... Nutritionally enriched cookies and other foods were also
experimented with. "Plasmon" seems to be / have been edible, but the company
branch in the US apparently collaped through mismanagement:
http://www.twainquotes.com/19071221.html.

Hope this helps -

wolfgang

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hochbruck
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 24 Feb 2006 08:51:01 -0800
Reply-To:     Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender:       Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From:         Gregg Camfield <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Twain recordings & cursing
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Kevin,

If you could send me a copy of the cassette, I can digitize it and post
it to the list.

Gregg
=========================================================================
Date:         Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:14:11 -0600
Reply-To:     Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender:       Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From:         "Kevin. Mac Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Twain recordings & cursing

I digitized it for a friend some years ago and will put you in touch with
them offlist (since I'm not sure they'd want to be publicly identified and
burdened with numerous requests for copies). Also, there are copyright
uncertainties. Neither of us if sure if sound recordings are protected by
the same term as books (75 years), and there is the added complication that
the recording may date as early as 1920 or as late as 1935. But it would be
great if it could be made widely available, at least in this Forum. After
all, Clara's endorsement of Hal Holbrook (no disrespect to his wonderful
performances intended) was by an elderly lady who had, to put it nicely,
lost her focus on reality, and she had not heard her father's voice in
nearly fifty years (moments after she pronounced his impersonation of Twain
dead-on she told him he should impersonate Jesus). But Twain himself, while
still focused and with no thoughts of Jesus to get things crosswise, thought
Gillette nailed him (Twain, not Jesus)..

Kevin Mac Donnell
Austin TX
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Date:         Fri, 24 Feb 2006 13:45:16 -0800
Reply-To:     Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
Sender:       Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]>
From:         James Edstrom <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Twain recordings & cursing
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A copy of Gillette's recording is available at Michigan State University
in the Vincent Voice Library, where it appears to have been digitized
(not available online, however, as far as I can tell). To get more
information about their copy, here is the direct link to the
bibliographic record:

http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/record.cfm?recordid=7456

Jim Edstrom, Harper College, Palatine, Illinois