Murphys Clampers

(Click on the photo for an easy read.)

One side benefit of the trip to Murphys last weekend was perusing a curious wall on Main Street that paid tribute to a group known as "Clampers." The wall itself was called the "E.C.V. Wall of Comparative Ovations." That alone had me feeling that further investigation was necessary.

This one plaque alone was worth my time, just based on the fact that Sir Francis Drake "was a Clamper, but not in good standing because of his propensity to be piratical." (I'm going to mention someone's "Piratical Propensity" real soon.) The Great Hi Ho, on the other hand, who exhibited exemplary Clamper-like tendencies while living, had to wait 300 years after he was dead to achieve recognition. Isn't history great?

Sir Francis Drake and Hi Ho with his fishy offering.

Google helped me find this nice article about the history of the Clampers, written in 2004 by Francis P. Garland. To sum it up, "The plaques pay homage to an eclectic band of men and women who've left their mark on California. Even the saber-tooth tiger is honored." 

My second favorite had to be Elmer "Tusch" Tuschhoff. They just don't make 'em like him anymore...

Tusch graced Clamper gatherings for more than 40 years...I like that. I'll bet that even though his tuba was loud, he'd make up for it somehow with the lilting tones of his tin whistle...I'm guessing that Elmer was hard to miss.

There's another great article about this group that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. I like this quote at the end, about an infamous Clamper, Joshua Norton, who dubbed himself the nation's first Emperor and got away with it:

"He marched to his own drummer," Sweeney said, "and everybody else pretended they could hear the music, just because they wanted to be part of the band."

That tune seems oddly familiar...