The Owl Wagon

Hello and welcome to the Owl Wagon.  I’m the proprietor, Clara Lys Matson.  My name’s always been pronounced “Claire Elyse”, by the way, which makes one wonder why the heck my parents didn’t just name me Claire Elyse instead of the needlessly cryptic and unspellable Clara Lys.  Yeah, I’ve often wondered about that myself.   Let’s just say that it’s a family thing.  And a Norwegian thing.  That oughta tell you boatloads.

So anyway, why “Owl Wagon”?

It’s a term used in the great Preston Sturges film  Sullivan’s Travels referring to the open-all-night diner where Hollywood director John L Sullivan (Joel McCrea) first meets The Girl,  which is all the name Veronica Lake’s character ever gets.   I kind of like this conceit, actually.   Maybe because of the whole Clara Lys awful name situation,  who knows?

Anyway, here’s a picture of a typical owl wagon which I doctored up a little to make it look like it’s actually called The Owl Wagon:

You may recall that in the film, director Sullivan who has previously only made comedies but now wants to make a serious, social-commentary drama  based on the altogether rather depressing bestseller O Brother Where Art Thou? realizes that he knows absolutely nothing about poverty, so disguises himself as a hobo and goes out on the road, determined to experience the grim reality and despair of being destitute and homeless in circa-1941 America.

Our Owl Wagon masthead quote is a paraphrase of Sullivan’s description of the kind of film he wants O Brother Where Art Thou? to be:

John L. Sullivan:   I want this picture to be a commentary on modern conditions. Stark realism. The problems that confront the average man!

LeBrand (the producer):   But with a little sex in it.

John L. Sullivan:   A little, but I don’t want to stress it. I want this picture to be a document. I want to hold a mirror up to life. I want this to be a picture of dignity! A true canvas of the suffering of humanity!

LeBrand:   But with a little sex in it.

John L. Sullivan: [reluctantly] But with a little sex in it.

And with that, I’ll close by saying again:      Welcome to the Owl Wagon.    Stay as long as you like.

– Clara Lys Matson

December 20, 2009