August 22, 2025 and on this day 103 years ago in 1924, Edgar Rice Burroughs and his sons began a ten-day fishing expedition in the Sierra Mountains. the DOODAD was created on this trip. The Doodad is the symbol, the colophon, on the spine of books published by Edgar Rice Burroughs Incorporated and the name Burroughs gave his personal airplane.
Burroughs described the trip in the unpublished memoir, “Notes on Trip to Mono Creek and Porpoise Lake." Ed sketched the doodad out in the sand on a riverbank. This symbol was to become the famous colophon which appears on most of the ERB books. Each family member, however, had his own special variant of the doodad: Ed's circle was to the right of the "spear," Hulbert's circle was below, and Jack's was to the left.
Information about the DOODAD is available at: https://www.erbzine.com/mag3/0335.html
The drabble for today, “Spine Tingling Adventure, “ was inspired by the creation of the Doodad.
“Honey,” asked Emma Burroughs. “Did you and the boys catch any fish?”
“We didn’t catch enough to bring home. The most exciting thing is that the boys and I designed a symbol. We call it the doodad.”
Emma looked at the sketch. “Interesting, but what’s it for?”
“It will be the colophon on the spine of the books that will be published by my publishing company.”
“Dear, I know you’ve formed a corporation last year , but you don’t have a publishing company.”
“Not yet. The doodad is too good to waste, so I suppose I’ll have to start one.”
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