2018
will celebrate the anniversary of the most prominent resident of the
Catskills who actually never resided there. Rip Van Winkle. It was in
June 1818 that Washington Irving penned the classic short story. It
was published a year later in a book which is a collection of short
stories called “The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.”
Although
the story is set in the Catskill Mountains, Irving later admitted,
"When I wrote the story, I had never been on the
Catskills”?Irving’s first trip up the Hudson wasn’t until 1832.
In
the opening of the story of Rip Van Winkle, Irving makes
reference that the tale was found among the papers of the late
Diedrich Knickerbocker. A fictional character made up by Irving as
narrator of the story. The word Knickerbocker later became
synonymous with Dutch Americans living in New York State.
The
story of Rip Van Winkle itself is widely thought to have been based
on Johann Karl Christophe Nachtigal’s German folktale "Peter
Klaus”. This story, set in a German village, tells of a goat herder
by the name of Peter who goes looking for a lost goat. Peter finds
some men drinking in the woods and after drinking some of their wine
he falls asleep. When he wakes back up, twenty years have passed.
Sound familiar? Nonetheless it was a hit.
The
story of Rip Van Winkle gripped the imagination of nineteenth century
America and it seemed that no matter what part of the Catskills you
visited, Rip Van Winkle had been there ahead of you.
Although
Irving wished to keep the location a secret, it didn’t stop local
towns from laying claims that they were the home of Rip Van Winkle.
Palenville, at the base of Kaaterskill Clove, was a popular
19th century hamlet and taken as the village where Rip’s
adventures began. But Irving himself wished to keep the exact
location a mystery.
Another
contender to Rip’s whereabouts was the old Mountain Turnpike
leading up to the Catskill Mountain House. It had its own fame
regarding Rip Van Winkle. Irving mentions a deep mountain glen in his
story and, Sleepy Hollow; a horseshoe bend on the old Mountain
Turnpike, took claim to fame as the exact location of Rip’s famous
sleep. There was a boarding house at the horseshoe bend by the name
of The Rip Van Winkle House and a boulder claiming to be the exact
place that old Rip slept for twenty years.
When
Irving himself was asked to help solve the exact location of Rip’s
home he only made sure the mystery did not fade. In a letter dated
February 5, 1858 Irving writes the following in response to a letter
inquiring the location of Rip’s hometown:
“I
can give you no other information concerning the localities of the
story Rip Van Winkle, than is to be gathered from the manuscript of
Mr. Knickerbocker…perhaps he left this purposely in doubt. I would
advise you to defer to the opinion of the very old gentlemen with
whom you say you had an argument on the subject. I think it probable
he is as accurately informed as anyone on the matter”
Some
other fun “Rip” facts:
Route
23A leading from Catskill West was known as “The Rip Van Winkle
Trail”
In
1930 Tannersville had their very own airport – the Rip Van Winkle
Airways Airport
Actor
Joseph Jefferson made a lifelong career acting as Rip Van Winkle and
would continue acting in his show for 40 years. Jefferson was able to
take an American play and characters to places like Australia and
England with great success. Jefferson also starred in a
number of films as the Van Winkle character starting in the
1896 Awakening of Rip. Jefferson's son Thomas
followed in his father's footsteps and played the character in a
number of early 20th century films. Joseph Jefferson made several
recordings, all of material from "Rip Van Winkle". The
success of Rip Van Winkle was so pronounced that he
has often been called a one-part actor.
When
Rip wakes from his twenty-year slumber his world has changed. Many of
his friends are dead. The image of King George III over the tavern
has been replaced by one of General Washington. Rip has missed out on
the entire era of the American Revolution. Some critics have pointed
to this as evidence that Rip Van Winkle is a symbol of America
itself, baffled by rapid political change and freed from tyranny.
Rip
Van Winkle is full of symbols. The most noteworthy is the
relationship between he and his antagonistic wife, Dame Van Winkle.
She symbolizes the relationship between America and Britain prior to
the revolution.
In
1954 “Rips Retreat” opened in Haines Falls on the East side of
North Lake. The retreat was essentially commercial but also based
upon historical and educational features. Rip was always on hand to
greet visitors. It operated through 1960 and the land was then sold
to New York State.
There
was a short-lived amusement park called Rip Van Winkle Park built in
1908 on Catskill Creek in Leeds. It was built to increase trolley
ridership from Catskill Landing to help the financially troubled
Catskill Electric Railway Company. Both ventures later failed.
Rip’s
Lookout was a souvenir stand, a small building, just past the
horseshoe turn on 23A as you drive up Kaaterskill Clove (on the Rip
Van Winkle Tail). They had a viewing glass to see where Rip Van
Winkle slept on the side of the mountain. There was a wishing in the
front and the small building which operated as a refreshment stand
and gas station. It was a popular motorist stop with spectacular
views of the Clove. (This location is now the parking lot for those
wishing to hike to the lower Kaaterskill falls.)
The
infiltration of Rip Van Winkle on the Catskills is profound. Rip Van
Winkle Tours once ran from NYC to Sullivan County, one may cross the
Hudson at Catskill over the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, or fill your gas
tank at the Rip van Winkle Gas Station, drive along the Rip Van
Winkle Trail, sleep at the Rip Van Winkle Lodge on a mattress by the
Rip Van Winkle Bedding Company or rest on a Rip Van Winkle Recliner.
So
as we approach the 200thanniversary of Rip Van Winkle, let us not
forget how this fictional resident of the Catskills has played a
significant role in the identity of the region. To this day we see
his name associated throughout the Catskills and even throughout the
US.
However, it is Greene County that remains identified as the Land
of Rip Van Winkle.
