Monthly Archives: December 2011

December 19, 2011

Arrival of the ’49 Hudson (video)

Posted by Brandon

Topics: On the Road Movie,Visitors to the Museum

Garrett Hedlund (portraying Neal Cassady in the upcoming film adaptation of Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’, directed by Walter Salles) drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco on December 7th, 2011 to deliver the 1949 Hudson used in the movie to The Beat Museum. Accompanying Hedlund were John Allen Cassady (son of the real Neal) and Al Hinkle (‘Big Ed Dunkel’ in the book, and the last living man to have accompanied Jack & Neal). The 1949 Hudson is now on ongoing public display at the Beat Museum

December 13, 2011

The ’49 Hudson Comes to the Beat Museum

Posted by Brandon

Topics: Exhibits,On the Road Movie

Neal Cassady’s legendary ‘49 Hudson, made famous in Jack Kerouac’s novel On The Road, is lost to posterity. Other than Jack’s description of it in the novel (to the point where it is almost a character in the book) and the memory of it in the minds of Neal’s wife Carolyn Cassady and his friend Al Hinkle (‘Big Ed Dunkel’ in the book) there is nothing tangible that can prove it ever even existed. There is no bill of sale, no vehicle identification number, no license plate—not even a photograph. It’s memory is kept alive in the mind of the reader. And perhaps this is the way it should be. The ‘49 Hudson represents a dream, and dreams are malleable. The Hudson represents Freedom and Desire and “Go, go, go…” as Neal would say, so perhaps it is fitting that you can’t really touch it. The Hudson represents anticipation, the joy of being alive in the world and heading towards that next horizon. It’s an inner journey that is experienced in the external world. In other times the vehicle for this exploration might have been a sailing ship, a white horse in the Cowboy West, or in the future, Hans Solo’s Millennium Falcon. So none of us can really see the actual ‘49 Hudson that Jack & Neal drove across America. Because there is no tangible record of it, some car collector might be showcasing it as the pride of … Read more »

December 5, 2011

New Exhibition: Paris and the Beat Hotel, 1957 – Photographs by Loomis Dean

Posted by Brandon

Topics: Exhibits

The Beat Generation was the quintessential American literary movement. From Kerouac’s accounts of youthful odyssey against the backdrop of a splendorous landscape of prairies, mountains, endless highways, and cities crackling with energy; to Burroughs’ satirical, absurdist danse macabre of addiction, control, and human debris; to Ginsberg’s naked verse, celebrating candidly and unapologetically the beauty and terror of an authentic life, the Beats not only reflected life in 1950s America with extraordinary honesty—they defined it. Strange then, it seems, that many of the most important works of the Beat Generation were completed—in Paris. Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky first arrived in the Latin Quarter, on the left bank of the Seine, in 1957, and made a run-down roominghouse at 9 Rue Gît-le-Cœur their home, colloquially calling it the ‘Beat Hotel’. They were followed soon after by Gregory Corso and William S. Burroughs, and there met writers Harold Norse and Brion Gysin, with whom they would collaborate for many years to come. This proved to be a very productive period; out of it came Ginsberg’s Kaddish, and Burroughs’ Naked Lunch. Corso penned ‘Bomb’, The Happy Birthday of Death, The American Express (novel), Minutes to Go with Sinclair Beiles, Burroughs, and Gysin, and Long Live Man The Beats were not alone, however. During the late 50s/early 60s, many students, artists, poets, and various travelers flocked to Paris, attracted by the bohemian tradition of the Left Bank. In decades past, the same cafes and … Read more »