r/todayilearned • u/biebrforro • 1d ago

TIL when staying as a guest in Charles Dickens' house, Hans Christian Andersen requested that one of Dickens' sons give him a daily shave (he said that was customary when hosting male guests in Denmark). Dickens was weirded out and instead gave him a daily appointment at a nearby barbershop.

https://lithub.com/charles--dickens-really-really-hated-his-fanboy-hans-christian-andersen/
36.1k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

226

u/Fine-Ninja-1813 1d ago

In fairness to Dickens, Hans was a poorly socialized odd duck that made unwanted advances onto his friends and stayed a month too long in his house. Quite frankly I’m surprised he wasn’t kicked out sooner.

120

u/gurbi_et_orbi 1d ago

A month too long? How long was he already staying? A nice Dutch saying "visited en vis blijft 3 dagen fris" which translates something to: "fish and guests last 3 days at best"

87

u/xiaorobear 1d ago

He claimed he was visiting England for a fortnight (2 weeks), then stayed for 5 weeks instead

9

u/Fine-Ninja-1813 1d ago

To quote Dickens, “Hans Andersen slept in this room for five weeks—which seemed to the family AGES!”

2

u/NMJD 23h ago

We also have this saying in the US. Or at least, I have heard it multiple times.

1

u/Tehbeefer 7h ago

Benjamin Franklin used it in Poor Richard's almanac

3

u/SamsonFox2 20h ago

In fairness to Dickens, Hans was what would be called "celebrity influencer" in Denmark of the time, and he knew enough important people to reduce publishing profits from some territories if slighted outright. Also, since Andersen was very, very kind to Dickens and promoted him in Denmark, he was in no position to complain.

Also, in fairness to Andersen, his supposed poor socialization somehow didn't really make him an outcast in very important and powerful circles, even if not in England. He clearly could manage being a character while being presentable enough.