Читать книгу First Ladies For Dummies - Marcus A. Stadelmann, Marcus A. Stadelmann PhD - Страница 72

The story of Dolley Madison’s first name is a strange one. Everybody referred to her as Dolley Madison until her grand-niece Lucia B. Cutts published a book in 1886 entitled “The Memoirs and Letters of Dolly Madison.” With the book, she set the precedent of spelling her name, Dolly. Nobody questioned her because she was a relative of Dolley’s. Lucia further claimed that Dolly was the abbreviation for Dorothea and that she was named after the granddaughter of the famous Virginia governor Alexander Spotswood.

Many businesses soon began marketing products under the name Dolly Madison. The Dolly Madison Bakery for example was started in 1937. The image the company used to market their products portrays Dolley in her famous turban but obviously her name was changed to just Dolly. The bakery is most famous for their Zingers snack cakes still sold today even though the bakery has been bought out by Hostess Brands.

Then in 1958 it was discovered in some of James Madison’s papers that the name of his wife was spelled Dolley. This discovery made the front page of the New York Times. Already having trademarked their products, American businesses were not about to change the name and so they just stuck with Dolly.

So, yes, the correct spelling of her name was Dolley Madison, but often she is just referred to as Dolly Madison.

Dolley Madison became so popular that businesses used her name and image to market their products. Soon, items such as ice cream and cigars had her name attached to them.