May's Fibre Club Letter

Back to a slightly earlier date of the month, I'm getting whip-lash, but May's fibre club letter has landed.

The letter reads:

Your fibre this month has a double inspiration because the colour themes fitted together so nicely. One hundred years ago, on the 6th May 1919 L. Frank Baum died, he was an American novelist, most well known for writing the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This was first published in 1900, after selling out of it’s first print run of 10,000 copies it was quickly made in to a Broadway musical in 1902, which was in turn made in to a film in 1936 staring Judy Garland (incidentally June 22nd is the 50th anniversary of her death). According to the Library of Congress it’s the most seen film in history. The book was notable for its time due to the large number of lavish illustrations. The story might regarded as an American fairy tale, and Baum himself acknowledges the influence of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. 

The Emerald City is the capital of Oz, and is found at the end of the Yellow Brick Road. In the book the walls of the city are described as being green, but the city itself is not. When the characters enter they are made to wear green glasses, supposedly to protect their eyes from the “brightness and the glory” but in reality it just makes the city appear green. This is what’s known as a “humbug”, meaning a person or object that behaves in a dishonest way. The phrase originated in the 1750’s as student slang, but eventually enters common usage, most notably by Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. 

As with much classic literature there’s been a great deal of analysis about the political analogies that can be drawn from the book, and the reasons for the Emerald City being green. Baum himself never confirmed any such theories in his lifetime. 

The second inspiration comes from the foundation of the National Women Suffrage Association, established by Susan B Anthony on 15th May 1869. The group was formed after a split from the American Equal Rights Association. This disagreement occurred due to a dispute about whether to support the Fifteenth Amendment, which would allow all citizens the right to vote regardless of “race, colour or previous condition of servitude” This gave black men the vote, but not women. The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified on March 30th 1870. It took until 1920 for the Nineteenth Amendment to be ratified giving women the right to vote. The colours of suffrage are white, green and purple, so I’ve added a purple streak to your Emerald City green. In March 2015 we had a fibre that was inspired by the Suffragette movement, and in the inspiration letter I urged you to vote. I’m going to say exactly the same thing again, European elections are being held this month, they might seem minor and unimportant, but they’re not, and you deserve to have your say in who represents you in the political system.

So, it going to be green and purple, that's pretty obvious, and presumably a strong green as opposed to a subtle, soft green.  Hmmm, I'm not sure I will like this one.

From the spoilers chat she has revealed that it has a high percentage of long staple fibres so will be best spun worsted, smooth and sleek and will work at different thicknesses.