Abstract
At age forty-eight, John Elliott Tappan was too old to serve in the First World War. But he remained extremely fit. Nothing about him was diminutive. Six feet tall, he was ramrod straight, muscular and athletic, with a loud, hearty laugh. His once slender frame had filled out since the days of tramping through the West with no money in his pocket. The one indulgence John could not control was his sweet tooth, particularly his affection for chocolate. Not even the diabetes diagnosed a few years later would curb that. His deep blue eyes were still his most striking feature, though now they were more often hidden behind spectacles. The occupational hazard of close work in the office had taken its toll. Otherwise, he was as vigorous and active as he had been when he started Investors Syndicate. In bed at nine, he rose with the dawn. He continued to read widely with diverse interests and definite opinions about matters of the day, which he expressed quite freely. Affecting a formal style of dress and stance, he wore a suit every day. Not a man for small talk, he could appear somewhat imposing to those who did not know him well, an image reinforced by rare but explosive displays of anger. But he also had a droll sense of humor, which sometimes fooled people who were unsure when he was being serious and when he was teasing.
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Notes
Raymond W. Goldsmith, A Study of Saving in the United States vol. I (New York, 1969 [1955]), 146.
Roger L. Ransom and Richard Sutch, “Tontine Insurance and the Armstrong Investigation: A Case of Stifled Innovation, 1868–1905,” Journal of Economic History 47:2 (June 1987), 379–90.
On the way in which America’s extensive western movement and development ate up capital and required continual investment in land and land development, see Thomas Cochran, “The Paradox of American Economic Growth,” Journal of American History 61:4 (March 1975), 933–34.
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© 2001 Kenneth Lipartito and Carol Heher Peters
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Lipartito, K., Peters, C.H. (2001). War and Betrayal. In: Investing for Middle America. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230107489_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230107489_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
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