Mark Twain in German-Language Newspapers and Periodicals

Mark Twain wieder einmal verkracht | Mark Twain bankrupt again

Der Deutsche correspondent (Baltimore, Md.), 31 Jan. 1908, p.7, c.4. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045081/1908-01-31/ed-1/seq-8/>
German TranscriptionEnglish Translation
Mark Twain wieder einmal verkrachtMark Twain bankrupt again
New York, 30. Januar - Mark Twain gilt bekanntlich als der größte amerikanische Humorist; als Geschäftsmann heißt er Samuel L. Clemens, und seine Unternehmungen nehmen gewöhnlich ein trauriges Ende.New York, January 30 - Mark Twain is known to be the greatest American humorist; as a businessman his name is Samuel L. Clemens, and his ventures usually come to a rather sad end.
Gegenwärtig ist er Präsident der „Plasmon Co.,” die ein Nahrungsmittel für Dyspeptiker fabrizi[e]rt. Bei den gegenwärtigen schlech-ten Zeiten leiden die Leute weniger an Verdauungs-beschwerden, als an unbefriedigtem Appetit; mithin ist es nicht zu verwundern, daß die „Plasmon Co.” Conkurs machte.At present he is president of the "Plasmon Co." which manufactures a dietary product for dyspeptics. In the present dire times, people are not so much suffering from indigestion as from unsatisfied appetites; consequently it is not surprising that the "Plasmon Co." went bankrupt.
Chas. L.Brookheim, der Massenverwalter, möchte dringend Mark Twain sehen,da dieser im Besitz der Geschäftsbücher der „Plasmon Co.” ist. Es heißt Mark Twain ist in Bermuda oder auf der Fahrt dorthin.Chas. L. Brookheim, the liquidator, urgently wants to see Mark Twain, since he is in possession of the "Plasmon Co." accounting books. It is said that Mark Twain is in Bermuda or on his way there.

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  1. The Plasmon Company mentioned here is explicitly the American company; a British branch (both are sometimes referred to by the same name: “Plasmon Co.”) existed simultaneously and Clemens also held shares of this (British) company. It had been founded in 1900, slightly earlier than the American company, and eventually did gain Clemens some profit when it was sold (Paine, Vol. 3, 1912; and Ober, 2003). Clemens invested $25.000 in the American Plasmon Company and is referred to as its vice-president (Scharnhorst, 2006) or director (Lauber, 1990). In the beginning, Clemens saw Plasmon primarily as a valid business opportunity and tried to convince friends to invest in the company. His endorsement of the dietary product manufactured by Plasmon was also used for marketing purposes (see this advertisement in The San Francisco call, 23. Dec. 1900). Mark Twain became increasingly enthusiastic about the supposed health benefits of the product (Ober, 2003).
    Today, there is still an Italian company called “Plasmon” which produces baby food products and supplements.
  2. The main product sold by the Plasmon Company was also called “Plasmon”, a skim milk powder that was supposed to restore general health and which Samuel L. Clemens encountered first during his stay in Vienna in 1898/1899 (see Wilson and Rees, "Bussiness" in The Routledge Encyclopedia of Mark Twain, 2013; and Ober, 2003).
    There were a number of producers of similar protein products around the time (see the article "New Foods and Cures" in the Conchise review, 10 Oct. 1900 which uses “albumen” as a catch-all term for this and similar products). Plasmon was claimed to have been invented by a German Chemist by the Name of Dr. Siebold in an extensive advertising campaign (see for example The San Francisco call, 5 Mar. 1901). The production of Plasmon was cheap and Clemens therefore deemed its marketization a profitable business opportunity. The powder would be dissolved in boiling water, baked into biscuits, or cooked into all sorts of food to make it palatable.
    Around the time, Clemens consumed it on a daily basis in some form, either dissolved in milk or simply eaten as plain powder (Paine, Vol. 3, 1912). He also promoted it to family and friends as a miracle cure which he claimed had healed him from indigestion and which he hoped would also improve the declining health of his wife, Olivia (Ober, 2003). In terms of nutrition, Plasmon was claimed to equal a multiple of its weight “in steak”, not only by Clemens but also by some of his contemporaries (Ober, 2003) and there were reports about the powder being shaped into actual substitute meat for vegetarians (see an article in The Birmingham age-herald, 13 Feb. 1903).
  3. According to contemporary newspaper reports, the Plasmon Company of America had suffered from in-company fighting and misunderstandings almost since its foundation at the turn of the century. In October 1907, a court case (see the report in the New-York tribune, 16 Oct. 1907) was brought before the Supreme Court, Brooklyn, in which Ralph W. Ashcroft accused one of the Plasmon shareholders, John H. Hammond, of libel. A telegram which Hammond had sent to Clemens in 1904 had described Ashcroft as unfit for his position as manager and stockholder of the Plasmon Company. The resulting conflict likely brought about the company’s bankruptcy later the same year, when, in December 1907, some of the company’s creditors – all of which had previously held some position in the company’s management – forced Plasmon to file for bankruptcy, their claims ranging from $1.000 to $8.000 (see the report in the New-York tribune, 21 Dec. 1907).
  4. Charles. L. Brookheim was a New York lawyer who worked on bankruptcy cases, usually as official receiver/trustee (see articles which mention him in the New-York Tribune, 04 Jan. 1906 and New-York Tribune, 12 May 1908). He was responsible for assessing the bankrupt company’s assets and income and for redistributing funds to the creditors.

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