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iBoston.org is your site for Boston history and architecture. In addition, you can find
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This Day in Boston History

July 14th, 1889

Erle Stanley Gardner

You may not know the name, or the face, but chances are you know his work, and can guess his identity from this theme song.

On this day, pulp fiction legend Erle Stanley Gardner was born in Malden. Trained as a lawyer, Gardner began writing fiction. He got his break when along with a rejection letter he received notes which were accidentally included about what was wrong with his manuscript. He quickly revised his work, and began selling novels.

Gardner quit law, and created a "fiction factory" which included a pool of young secretaries that he would shuttle into the desert for dictation sessions cut off from the rest of civilization for weeks at a time. The factory produced more than a million words per year, and quickly produced 80 Perry Mason novels. When Hollywood called, Gardner started his own production company, and cast film and television players, exercising creative control over the franchise.


 


England's Prime Minister never expected this tea tax to cause an outcry, let alone revolution. In 1767, England reduced its property taxes at home. To balance the national budget they needed to find a mechanism for the American colonies to pay for the expense of stationing officials in them. The officials would generate their own revenue by collecting taxes on all imported goods, and once paid affixing stamps on them. This Stamp Tax generated more in the way of protests and smuggling than added revenue.

Religion. Politics. Rebellion. Boston’s pedigree was forged back in England in the midst of religious dissension, where Puritans and Pilgrims sought religious reform, and Cavaliers and Roundheads vied for political power. The question isn't where did Boston get its name – but how.


Requiem for a Short Visit

Visiting Boston, but only have a short time?
Check out our
Itinerary for a Short Visit.


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