Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Dickinson used to lower a basket full of gingerbread out of her window for the neighborhood kids. Question: would your mom have let you accept gingerbread from the weird lady that lived alone? (Source.)
Dickinson's little sister was named Lavinia. Like her sister, Lavinia also lived in relative seclusion and isolation at home. Lavinia's also the one who made it her mission to get Emily's poems published after she died, so we have her to thank. (Source.)
In 1856, Dickinson won second place in the Rye and Indian Bread Competition at the annual Cattle Show on the town common. However, her sister Lavinia was a judge. (Hm, does that count?) (Source.)
Dickinson rarely left Amherst and rarely left her homestead in her later years. However, she wasn't as reclusive as many people believe; she kept very close correspondence with friends and family. (Source.)
When she was little, Dickinson once wrote, "I am growing handsome very fast indeed! I expect I shall be the belle of Amherst when I reach my 17th year. I don't doubt that I will have crowds of admirers at that age." (This fact makes us feel a little sad.) (Source.)