Sunday Favorites: The Famously Funny Frog Smith

Born in Georgia in 1896, Smith moved to Southwest Florida with his family when he was 15 and lived there for the next 83 years of his life, serving in a variety of professions in nearly every part of the state. Smith worked as a yard sweeper, blacksmith, machine, oiler, steam locomotive operator, lumberman, harmonica player, alligator hunter, and frog-gigger. The last occupation earned him his nickname of "Frog."

Smith was a talented self-taught writer who described funny Florida culture in his popular News-Press column, Cracker Crumbs. He also authored several books, including Crackers, Swamp Cabbage, Rich Tales about Poor Crackers, 1975, and The Tramp's Heritage, 1985, according to the interview.

He was also a folk artist who depicted scenes that lived in his memory. Smith specialized in paintings of early Florida, including cotton mills, lumber yards, and riverboats. Today, his work is considered true Florida folk art. Just last year, Smith's signed "Dowling Camp Mill at Slater, FL 1928-1944,"

painted on a piece of plywood paneling, was sold by Georgia-based Slotin Folk Art Auction to an anonymous buyer for $14,000, according to the article ”Late North Fort Myers folk painter Frog Smith leaps into the art world spotlight with a record-breaking auction sale,“ by Amy Bennett Williams.

Everyone loved his funny storytelling, which is now considered folk history. Bergquist, another Florida folk writer impersonated Smith, first in the 1970s, then again in 1996, during his presentations to the MCHS. During these events, he rambled through some of Smith’s satires depicting actual historical events but adding flavorful characters like witch doctors, famous Native Americans, and cattlemen to the mix. These stories contain real people like Ziba King, Andrew Jackson, and Jake Summerlin. The name dropping is brief and usually followed by a one-liner, then another topic is quickly picked up without pause and carried on throughout the story.

”We needed a little spirits to keep up our spirits in the old days with everything going on, and so there was the gentlemen by the name of William S. Craig and he came to Fort Myers in 1877, and when he got here, why, he was a little thirsty so he asked the first gentleman he saw where he could get a little moonshine.

”Well, that’s just what I’m looking for myself,“ the man said.

So they went off together looking for this moonshine. They found some of sorts, and after they took a swig or two, the gentleman says ”You know, where I come from, they wouldn’t even feed this to the hogs.“

And so old Bill says, ”Where I come from, they wouldn’t even offer it to the hogs!“

The story goes on to say that Craig began a lucrative moonshine still just outside of Fort Myers. However, the women of the city got upset because their husbands frequented the still too much, and the work to develop the upcoming city subsided. Thus, city officials felt the need to take action, seeing as how Monroe was a dry county. They ran Bill out of town a little further into the forest, but then the Native American men were becoming intoxicated and causing trouble at area ranches. Next thing you know, Bill was extradited to Key West to stand trial, his stills, and product in evidence aboard the ship. However, the evidence ”disappeared“ in transit and he couldn’t stand trial. The boat turned around and brought Craig back.

Of course, there are a thousand other funny stories such as this one thanks to Smith. His style of writing gained popularity and has been acclaimed by many renowned organizations.

In 1985 he was awarded the state's Folk Heritage Award for Outstanding Contributions to Florida's Folklife. He was also featured in CBS’s "On the Road" and invited to stories at its U.S. bicentennial celebration by the Smithsonian Institution, according to Williams.

It’s impossible to know how Smith’s rambling stories would be received these days. However, his work will leave a lasting legacy in the world of Florida folk art.