A smooth-talkin’ fella named Ernest Shipman spent a few days on PEI 100 years ago trying to convince the great and the good to back his Prince Edward Island Films, Inc. scheme. “Ten Percent Ernie” went across Canada setting up similar production companies, and I’m not certain if his PEI venture ever took off.

One worthy who wasn’t enticed was Creelman MacArthur, a former owner of the land where our house is situated. He had a letter printed in the Guardian on September 1, 1922 requesting they correct an earlier story:

Here’s the article that had MacArthur’s dander up:

The welcome mat certainly seemed to have been rolled out across PEI for Shipman and company, as it probably was in every little place they landed and sprinkled their tinsel-town stardust. We can still be a trusting and welcoming bunch here on PEI, and that means being taken in by big promises on occasion (Michael Jackson tribute concert in Summerside starring Beyonce, anyone?), but we still manage to mostly give people a chance to prove they are who they say they are, an admirable quality to retain in an often-cynical world.