Sunbeams: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Sunbeams, credited to George Wilbur Peck, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Sunbeams by George Wilbur Peck. Read by Arnold Banner and Melora Campbell. George W. Peck was at times a writer, newspaper publisher and politician. Many of the Sunbeam essays had been published in Peck's paper, "The Sun", as amusing and often critical comments on social and political subjects, typically current in the beginning of the 1900's. Topics are often 'small town' United States, and Peck's gentle sarcasm or portrayals much resembles that of Twain. Listeners must be aware that the Spanish American War was a recent event, leading to the "Yankee" involvement in the Philippines. Admiral Dewey, who figures in several of the writings, had the Olympia as his flagship. The Dwight, mentioned in 'A Bear with a Jag', may have been Charles Dwight Sigsbee, Captain of the Maine in 1898. At this time the British Empire was in conflict with the Boers under Kruger, all topics of or mentioned in the early essays. In the slang of that time a "drummer" was a traveling salesman, while a trust was a financial combine with monopolistic powers. The essay title term "bimeatallic" likely is a take-off on the "bimetallic question", which referred to arguments over having gold and silver both as legal tender. Peck suggested, tongue in cheek, that there could be a 'standard' under which horsemeat should be disclosed as an ingredient of sausage. Indeed, many of the essays deal with questionable ingredients for foods, and were probably of high relevance to consumers who were without the regulatory protections and labelling requirements of today. In the same vein, the 'embalmed beef' served as rations to U.S. soldiers became notorious. (Summary by Arnold Banner)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Sunbeams
• Author credits: George Wilbur Peck
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 20
• Listed recording duration: 5:35:05

Catalogue topics

• essay
• sarcassm
• Admiral Dewey
• drummer
• traveling salesman
• trust
• bimetallic
• horsemeat

Track guide

1. 01 - The Dude and His Pajamas; The Boers and the Filipinos; The Soldier and the Branding Iron — 16:25
2. 02 - — 13:57
3. 03 - When Dad was Scared; The Yellow Shoe Period — 16:31
4. 04 - Unusual Hunting Experience; The Woman and the Cocktail; The Dakota District Attorney; Bi-Meatallic Sausage — 14:35
5. 05 - Red-headed Boy Angel; Interrupted Wedding Trip — 19:19
6. 06 - Clock Watcher and Whistle Jumper; The Woman Behind the Gun; An Experimental Turkish Bath — 13:39
7. 07 - Spare the Child and Spoil the Rod; Hair Cut Curly; The Country's Bride and Groom — 17:11
8. 08 - The Goat Meat Habit; New War Explosives; The Man Who Asked Questions — 15:45
9. 09 - The Hen in Politics; Dreyfus and Embalmed Beef; The Deadly Pistol Pocket — 19:00
10. 10 - Guest on a Coal Carrier; Calling an Audience with a Fire Alarm; American Jew Baiter Dead — 18:14
11. 11 - The Horseless Carriage; Burning a Tar Barrel; Salt Water Baths for Hives — 16:37
12. 12 - Elephant Hunting in Wisconsin; The Outing and the Mosquito; Why They did not Enlist — 18:16
13. 13 - The Sultan Drowns Wives; How Uncle Charley Made an Apple Pie — 15:55
14. 14 - The Chaplain and the Bull; Abolishing the School Recess; The Turkish Bath at Home — 16:54
15. 15 - Free Postal Delivery to Farmers; The Barefooted Farmer Boy; The Drummer and the Farmer — 19:05
16. 16 - Wants to be a Hero; Another Deer Murder Case; Should Woman be Eaten? — 15:42
17. 17 - The Clerk Who gets Drunk; The Old Kicker Kicks; The Vacation Season — 16:59
18. 18 - Surgical Operations in Public; Terrible Encounter Single Handed against a Biscuit — 14:50
19. 19 - How the Fireman Fell Over the Cow; Learning an Easy Trade; A Bear with a Jag — 17:34
20. 20 - The Terrible Root Beer Jag; Queer Case in New York — 18:44

Listen to this recording

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.