Queen of the North – Alexander Botts and the Earthworm Tractor
Author: William Hazlett Upson
Published by: Octane Press
ISBN: 978-16423-410-03
As a complete contrast to the previous book this entertaining read is Volume 4 of a series of reprints of stories that appeared for many years in the American weekly, The Saturday Evening Post. They were written by William Hazlett Upson, who was a service mechanic and troubleshooter for the Caterpillar tractor company. From 1927 he wrote some 100 lighthearted short stories accompanied by amusing illustrations about an Alexander Botts, a strange character who worked for the fictitious Earthworm Tractor Co.
In this volume Mr Botts has achieved the position of sales manager and roving tractor salesman for the company, whose increasingly entertaining and comedic escapades are recounted in a series of letters and communications to and from his boss, the president of the Earthworm Tractor Co, Mr Gilbert Henderson. It seems that Botts assumed his position when Henderson was promoted to president. Botts’ efforts to sell his company’s products, in particular tractors, are often unconventional, sometimes downright peculiar, though usually they are ultimately successful.
Given that the written exchanges between Botts and Henderson were decades before the advent of emails, they consist of transcripts of letters and telegrams between the two men that get increasingly touchy, frustrated, convoluted and hilarious as each story unfolds. Clearly Botts has little time for his boss, who thinks his predecessor was poor at his job. Botts believes he can do much better. In turn, frequently hassled Henderson is usually away from the company, either dealing with major financial matters which brings him into conflict with the IRS and federal government departments, or on vacation. This leaves the energetic but renegade Botts to deal with the sales-related problems virtually without interference. Botts himself is 100% behind his company’s products and will take any necessary steps to sell them to all and sundry, often by nefarious means. The stories have now been collected together, complete with the original illustrations. This is an entertaining read and great fun.