Grant Woods Cherry Quotations

As I see it, the most effective way to do this is frankly to accept these historical tales for what they are now known to be - folklore - and treat them in such a fashion that the realistic-minded, sophisticated people of our generation accept them... I sincerely hope that this painting will help reawaken interest in the cherry tree tale and other bits of American folklore that are too good to lose.

When I was a boy, we all learned the story of George Washington and the cherry tree and accepted it as gospel truth. The present, more enlightened younger generation, however, is well aware that this incident never happened, but that it was the invention of Washington's most famous biographer, the Rev. Mason Locke Weems.