Hello,

welcome, welcome to another episode of Sharon Sayso

and the last time we talked about the travels of First Lady Abigail Adams

today, I want to dive into some of the lesser known stories about a man

she was well acquainted with a man who enjoyed widespread popularity both in

tavern bars in colonial America and in the royal courts of Europe.

In short, he was a public figure with an electric personality.

Any guess is who it could be?

Stay tuned because here's where it gets interesting.

I'm Sharon McMahon. Here's where it gets interesting.

I'm Sharon McMahon, and welcome to the Sharon Says So podcast.

In 1776, 70-year-old Benjamin Franklin sailed to France. He was on an official mission sent by the Continental Congress to secure a crucial wartime military alliance. He had spent 50 years in

service to the public beginning in the 1720s. When he was freshly 21 and back from learning the printing trade in

London he founded a culture club and this culture club was spelled J-U-N-T-O. Whether that was pronounced U-T-O or H-U-T-O-O-O- people are not entirely certain, but if you're an office fan, think about the Uinto as a finer things club,

with more tankards of ale and zero women.

The goal of the men in the club was to improve themselves and in the process improve the community.

The 12 original members of this club, which was also sometimes called the Leather

Apron Club because its members were craftsmen. They were cabinet makers,

bartenders, printers, and clerks. All of the members were hardy readers.

But books were both rare and also also expensive so the members pooled their personal

collections and created a club library. Shortly after Franklin proposed the idea of a subscription library.

Members would pay a regular fee and the funds would be used to buy new books to add to the club's collection.

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