Lefty Lewis says that Bud has a head like a peanut. He says Bud looks like "one of George Washington Carver's experiments sprouted legs and run off." He then asks Bud if he's from Tuskegee, Alabama. George Washington Carver was a famous African-American scientist from Tuskegee, Alabama who studies peanuts. He found hundreds of uses for the peanut plant. Here's a picture of George Washington Carver in his lab, the peanuts he experimented with, and what Bud might look like ... according to Lefty Lewis.
Later, Mrs. Sleet explains that her Mr. Sleet is a redcap for the railroad, while her husband is a Pullman porter. Redcaps loaded the trains, and Pullman porters took care of passengers on the train. Here is what a a redcap's red cap looked like and a photo of a Pullman porter.
In Chapter 6, Bud's pretend father said he would use a capper to punish him. I did some research online but didn't find any capper picture relates to this conversation. What on earth does " a capper" look like?
ReplyDeleteThis comment threw me for a moment. I wasn't home to check my copy of the book, but an online search brought up a PDF copy of the book. The PDF says, "Boy had to go use the capper . . ." This is a misprint.
DeleteThe man was lying, pretending that Bud was his son so that Bud could get in line for food. His excuse for Bud showing up late should read, "Boy had to use the crapper . . ." CRAPPER, not capper. Bud's fake dad is telling the man that Bud took too long in the bathroom!