In Search of Watty Piper: The History of the “Little Engine” Story

Abstract

The tale of the little locomotive that takes on a task that other locomotives refuse and succeeds due to determination is one of the most popular children's stories of all time. The locomotive's earnest repetitions of “I think I can” when performing its goal, followed by a triumphant “I thought I could” when the goal is achieved, are familiar worldwide. The best known version of this story is The Little Engine that Could, first published in 1930, with the authorship attributed to Watty Piper (a pseudonym), and with credit given to Mabel C. Bragg for the 1916 version The Pony Engine. In the 1950s a fierce effort was made to instead give credit to Frances M. Ford, who wrote a version in 1912. In actuality, the roots of the story date at least to the beginning of the twentieth century. The first uses of the iconic phrases appear in 1902–1903 and a recognizable form of the story was published in 1906. The basic tale was in wide circulation before 1920, often used in the context of a sermon or a presentation to a trade group, rather than as a children's story. The identity of the original author remains unknown.

Keywords:

• Little Engine that Could
• Pony Engine

Acknowledgments

Numerous individuals and institutions have provided support for this project. The late Elizabeth M. Chmiel painstakingly documented her efforts and sent me copies of her letters and related material prior to her death in September 2002. Much of this article is based on this material. Ed Ball sent copies of the After School Letters and Rev. Thomas Boates obtained a copy of Wellsprings for Young Children. Joan and Max Fenton confirmed that Arnold Munk was “Watty Piper.” Stan Zielinski has a wonderful site on identifying variants of the Little Engine that Could, in particular indications of copyright and trademark: http://1stedition.net/blog/2007/04/the_little_engine_that_could_i.html). Providing helpful information or comments were Donald L. DeWitt, (Curator, Western History Collections University of Oklahoma); Roland Baumann, Joan Levinson; Karen R. Mayer (Putnam Berkeley Group), the Oberlin College Archives; Google Books; librarians at the Library of Congress; Stan Zielinski, and Deb Stewart.