7 Unknown Facts About Dr. Seuss And The Famous 'Cat In The Hat'

7 Unknown Facts About Dr. Seuss And The Famous 'Cat In The Hat'

We all grew up with the cat in the hat. Who sometimes we thought about beating with a bat. But a fact is a fact and that is that.

1. Dr. Seuss Did Not Start As A Doctor.

This is one bit of trivia you may already know, but Seuss was not a doctor of anything and in fact did not have a doctorate until an honorary one was granted to him by his alma mater, Dartmouth, in 1956. He added the “Dr.” to his pen-name because his father had always wanted him to practice medicine.

2. Seuss Wasn't The Original Name Used.

While the name Seuss (which is also his mother’s maiden name) was always his, between his first and last names, he didn’t use it until he was in college. He began using it as a pen-name when he was caught with gin in his dorm room and was asked to step down as editor of Dartmouth’s humor magazine. To continue working on the magazine, he used Seuss instead. The correct pronunciation of the name rhymed with “voice” rather than “goose,” but Seuss eventually gave in to the popular pronunciation.

3. Dr. Seuss Did Not Like Kids

Even though kids are fans of his work, the king of children’s books didn't think much of rugrats. He is reported to have once said, “You have ‘em, I’ll amuse ‘em.” His widow Audrey even went so far as to say Seuss was afraid of children. She said he was always thinking, "What might they do next? What might they ask next?" She added, "He couldn't just sit down on the floor and play with them."

4. Dr. Seuss's First Book Fail.

Seuss’ first book 'And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street,’ which was inspired by the rhythm of the ship’s engines on a return trip from Europe, was rejected by 27 publishers. He almost burned it, but finally found a publisher for it in 1937. The title comes from the name of the street on which his grandmother lived.

5. Dr. Seuss Used To Be In Advertisements.

To support himself and his wife during the Great Depression, Seuss made money drawing cartoons for advertisements. He became a household name for his cartoons for an insecticide called Flit by coining the catchphrase “Quick, Henry, the Flit!” During his advertising career, Seuss drew cartoons for General Electric, NBC, Standard Oil, Narragansett Brewing Company and more. He also drew a short-lived Sunday comic strip called 'Hejji.'

6. Dr. Seuss Invented The Word Nerd.

Dr. Seuss has an even bigger impact on pop culture than you might think. The first recorded instance of the word “nerd” is in Seuss’ 'If I Ran the Zoo' published in 1950.

7. Did You Know Dr. Seuss Was Also A Filmmaker?

Not only was Seuss a Pulitzer-Prize winning author, he won two Academy Awards. He won his first Oscar for writing an animated short called ‘Gerald McBoing-Boing’ in 1951. He also won an Academy Award for a documentary called ‘Design for Death’ about Japanese culture.