On August 5, 1899, an American newspaper published a humorous anecdote about a poetry reading that Paul Laurence Dunbar gave in England.
When Paul Laurence Dunbar was in England two years ago, he was invited to read before a distinguished company at the house of a certain Lord. The poet chose the poem, When the Co'n Pone's Hot. Just before he began, a guest arose and said: "I fancy that Mr. Dunbar's poem may be a bit unintelligible to those who have not traveled in the States. The Co'n Pone is a peculiar American dish in which the Southern Negroes bake their cakes." Then he sat down. The poet was too polite to correct the traveler, and to this day many who heard him believe pones are Yankee skillets.
"A New American Dish." The Chicago Post (Chicago, Illinois). August 5, 1899.
Paul's poem is about a type of cornbread, not a baking pan.
Tek away yo' sody biscuit,
Tek away yo' cake an' pie,
Fu' de glory time is comin',
An' it's 'proachin' mighty nigh,
An' you want to jump an' hollah,
Dough you know you'd bettah not,
When yo' mammy says de blessin'
An' de co'n pone's hot.
Excerpt from "When de Co'n Pone's Hot" by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Published in Majors and Minors (1895).
Paul went to England in 1897 for a recital tour and to find an English publisher for his book Lyrics of Lowly Life. During the trip, Paul carried a pocket calendar in which he kept track of travel expenses and jotted down notes. On one page, he wrote a list of concepts that English audiences might need to have explained.
Explanations
What a Co'n Pone is
Temptation: The Negroes backsliding on the sin of dancing
The Black Mammy
Possum Trot a locality
Jump Back
Our Thanksgiving DayPocket calendar, February 1897. Paul Laurence Dunbar Papers, Ohio History Connection (Microfilm edition, Roll 3).
Paul had worked as an elevator operator in Dayton, but in the British press he was described as a "lift attendant."
Paul Laurence Dunbar, who recently made his first appearance before a London audience as the reciter of his own poems, was born in Dayton, Ohio, of slave parents. He has already published two volumes of poems, which have been written in his moments of leisure, for Mr. Dunbar's everyday occupation is that of a lift attendant in one of the public buildings of the town in Dayton.
"About People." The Church Weekly (London, England). March 5, 1897. Page 189.
There is a pertinent illustration of the difference between British and American English in the London Chronicle's introduction of Paul Dunbar as "an elevator boy - Anglice, a lift attendant."
"Personal and Pertinent." The World (New York, New York). March 7, 1897. Page 6.