The Pooh Expotition’s Birthday Wishes!

Did you know that Caroline’s journey to Melanesia was written in her book as the “Expotition”?  I loved the reference in Caroline’s 2 published books. So what was the meaning when author A. A. Milne so brilliantly told a whimsical story of a teddy bear on adventures?

“Pooh tells Rabbit about the Expotition (which he says is a sort of boat, which might not be exactly right, but we shall have to wait and see), and about the fact that they are going to discover a Pole, or it might have been a Mole.”                Chapter 8 by A.A. Milne

Caroline and Margaret spent 3 birthdays away on their “expotition” and on several supply vessels, which were sort of boats with no luxury other than the cockroaches chewing on the cuticles of their toenails as their pedicure. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAROLINE!  Born on March 6, 1897, she was destined to be the adventurous woman she always wanted to be.

   Caroline’s first baby photo provided by Carol & Roger Stoughton

Not only did she and her pal Margaret venture from one location to the next via boat, they also traveled by foot, by canoe and even by horseback. Invited to stay at some early 20th Century plantations, they were generally gazed at by the male owners with questionable doubt. Where am I going with this? Not only as a birthday celebration but it’s WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH.

Caroline & Margaret in the Solomon Islands, circa 1927.

Excerpt from Headhunting in the Solomon Islands:

“It made us weary to have to do it, but there did not seem to be any other way out.The Expotition, an independent female expedition, had to let a man help. We had spent two days carefully snubbing and another day trying unsuccessfully to unsnub at the village when the Planter came to dinner. He listened and laughed and said he knew all the answers. He could get us a model in five minutes, God bless him, if we would meet him at the village not a minute later then six-thirty in the morning. We were to wear skirts instead of slacks so that there would be no doubt about our gender and we were to tether Friday with the horses some distance from the village, for the villagers were afraid of horses. But why tether Friday? And when the Planter explained, I didn’t see why we couldn’t go on from there alone after all.”

I’m also headed to chilley New York City to a sold out screening hosted by Wings WorldQuest, an organization that celebrates women of science and exploration. I had the esteemed pleasure of carrying their first flag on expedition when the organization was founded.

Watch for upcoming announcements as the word spreads for the film! Also, new items will start appearing on the website for your shopping pleasure. If you don’t have your personal copy of the film, order yours soon. I will be traveling on assignment and don’t want you to have to wait for delivery.  Just go to “shop” on this website.