Why's it dubious? I'm just curious. I imagine it's possible to trace the earliest texts of the ballad to somewhere or other?

By "dubious" I don't mean implausible necessarily, I just mean it's unsupported by hard evidence.

When I see statements like "tradition has it," that always strikes me as dubious, especially when the local chamber of commerce has an interest in the commercial benefits of increased tourism. My hunch is that if there was stronger evidence than "tradition has it," the sign would have conveyed that.

It would be interesting to know if there is evidence of an historical John Hardy who did--or did not--live in the right time and place, and I might even look into that. But it could very well turn out that John Henry is a mythical allegorical creation, like Paul Bunyan.

But knowing no more than I know right now, I think "dubious" is the right word for the time being. To put it another way, I am highly skeptical.

Having just read it, I'd say the wikipedia entry really is an interesting place to start, Pinz.

Thanks, that's interesting. I think the researchers needn't worry about determining which tunnels introduced steam drills by any particular date. John Henry can be a real person without the steam-drill contest, just as he can be a real person without weighing 33 pounds at birth with a hammer in his hand.

And I certainly would not want the town of Talcott to have to cancel their annual rubber-ducky race.

The Smothers brothers created their own version of John Henry, and ended the song this way:

"Before I die with a hammer in my hand,
Gonna buy me a steam drill too, lord lord,
Gonna buy me s steam drill too."