The Tall Tales of Davy Crockett: The Second Nashville Series of Crockett Almanacs, 1839-1841

Published from 1835 to 1856, the Crockett almanacs were the primary force in the creation of a tall tale Davy Crockett as our country’s first comic superman. In these rare almanacs, the historical Crockett became a fictional backwoods screamer who could “run faster,—jump higher,—squat lower,—dive deeper,—stay under longer,—and come out drier, than any man in the whole country.”

As the best known of the early ring-tailed roarers, Davy also became an integral building block in the humor of the...