Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

How Charles Lindbergh came to be called Lucky Lindy

And why San Diego did not become part of plane name

Dear Matthew Alice: I’ve always wondered why Lindbergh's plane was called the Spirit of St. Louis. It was built by Ryan in San Diego, so why didn’t he call it the Spirit of San Diego? Seems to me the Chamber of Commerce missed a great opportunity. — Wondering, El Cajon

When the plane was named, Lindbergh hadn’t yet made it to France in one piece. Maybe our city boosters were happy to let St. Louis take the rap in case Lindy disappeared from aviation history at the bottom of the Atlantic —just one more flight junkie with one more harebrained idea.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Actually, the plane’s name was inspired by one of the oldest and most often honored American muses — cash. It should have been called the Simoleons of St. Louis or the Moolah of Missouri. The “spirit” Lindbergh found in that city was investment money. (Before his transatlantic hop in May of ’27, Lindbergh was a pilot in the new air mail postal service, flying between Chicago and St. Louis.)

While we’re at it, we should clear up another Lindbergh fact. “Lucky Lindy” was perhaps fortunate to make it, but since when do we memorialize a guy because he caught a few breaks? When Lindy landed in Paris, the press dubbed him “Plucky Lindy” for that Midwest can-do attitude. A songwriter changed “Plucky” to the more alliterative and musical “Lucky,” and the tune was so popular that the name stuck.

A few more plucky factlets from the Lindbergh bio. When he landed at Le Bourget, a joy-crazed fan mugged Lindy for his leather aviator’s helmet before he was even out of the cockpit. When the cheering mob saw the guy with the helmet, they thought he was Lindbergh and carried him off on their shoulders. Several days later, Lindy came back to the U.S. from the Normandy coast on the Navy cruiser Memphis. The plane came back from England, dismembered, in a crate. The Spirit is displayed in the Smithsonian. The crate is displayed in a barn in Maine.

June 27 update

To: Matmail: The crate that the Spirit of St. Louis was shipped back in is displayed “as” a barn in Maine, not “in” a barn in Maine. — A Transplanted Maineiac, San Diego

As a transplanted brainiac, I concur with your transpositional preposition proposition. “As” it is. To correct that point from last week’s festival of Lindbergh trivia, a private individual acquired the pine crate and converted it into a small guest cottage. The building was later moved to Canaan, Maine, and is now a compact Lindbergh museum.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Flycatchers and other land birds return, coastal wildflower bloom

April's tides peak this week
Next Article

National City – thorn in the side of Port Commission

City council votes 3-2 to hesitate on state assembly bill

Dear Matthew Alice: I’ve always wondered why Lindbergh's plane was called the Spirit of St. Louis. It was built by Ryan in San Diego, so why didn’t he call it the Spirit of San Diego? Seems to me the Chamber of Commerce missed a great opportunity. — Wondering, El Cajon

When the plane was named, Lindbergh hadn’t yet made it to France in one piece. Maybe our city boosters were happy to let St. Louis take the rap in case Lindy disappeared from aviation history at the bottom of the Atlantic —just one more flight junkie with one more harebrained idea.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Actually, the plane’s name was inspired by one of the oldest and most often honored American muses — cash. It should have been called the Simoleons of St. Louis or the Moolah of Missouri. The “spirit” Lindbergh found in that city was investment money. (Before his transatlantic hop in May of ’27, Lindbergh was a pilot in the new air mail postal service, flying between Chicago and St. Louis.)

While we’re at it, we should clear up another Lindbergh fact. “Lucky Lindy” was perhaps fortunate to make it, but since when do we memorialize a guy because he caught a few breaks? When Lindy landed in Paris, the press dubbed him “Plucky Lindy” for that Midwest can-do attitude. A songwriter changed “Plucky” to the more alliterative and musical “Lucky,” and the tune was so popular that the name stuck.

A few more plucky factlets from the Lindbergh bio. When he landed at Le Bourget, a joy-crazed fan mugged Lindy for his leather aviator’s helmet before he was even out of the cockpit. When the cheering mob saw the guy with the helmet, they thought he was Lindbergh and carried him off on their shoulders. Several days later, Lindy came back to the U.S. from the Normandy coast on the Navy cruiser Memphis. The plane came back from England, dismembered, in a crate. The Spirit is displayed in the Smithsonian. The crate is displayed in a barn in Maine.

June 27 update

To: Matmail: The crate that the Spirit of St. Louis was shipped back in is displayed “as” a barn in Maine, not “in” a barn in Maine. — A Transplanted Maineiac, San Diego

As a transplanted brainiac, I concur with your transpositional preposition proposition. “As” it is. To correct that point from last week’s festival of Lindbergh trivia, a private individual acquired the pine crate and converted it into a small guest cottage. The building was later moved to Canaan, Maine, and is now a compact Lindbergh museum.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Lang Lang in San Diego

Next Article

Gonzo Report: Kavana takes the stage at Navajo Live

Sparse crowd doesn’t lessen metal magic
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.