Andrew Carpenter Wheeler (July 4, 1835 – March 10, 1903), best known by the pen name Nym Crinkle, was a 19th-century American newspaper writer, author, and drama critic. He was one of the most prolific critics of his day, known for his pungent and fierce criticism.[1]
After returning to New York, he first wrote under the name "Trinculo" on general topics and as a drama critic for the New York Leader. He later moved to the New York World, where he adopted and popularized the "Nym Crinkle" name. He then moved to the Sun and then back to the World (in 1883), while also contributing to magazines. He also briefly was an editor at the New York Star in 1879, and then founded a paper in Tarrytown, New York, called the Sunnyside Press, which lasted less than a year. He worked into the 1890s before retiring. He also used the pseudonym "Feuilleton," and briefly published a journal called Nym Crinkle's Feuilleton.
As a drama critic, Wheeler was considered to be merciless.[1] Theatre historian Thomas K. Wright wrote in 1972 that Wheeler's criticism was contradictory and his view of a work could change over time, perhaps because he enjoyed "polemics." Wright also concluded that Wheeler was "preoccupied, near obsessed, with masculinity," and "regarded his age as a decadent, effeminate time." Wright particularly favored Edwin Forrest, who once upbraided Wheeler for suggesting in a column that Forrest should retire before his powers declined. Wheeler disliked the celebrated Edwin Booth.[1]
Wheeler also wrote a number of plays, including one called The Twins (1876) with Steele MacKaye, which was not a success. He collaborated with Edward Alfriend in The Great Diamond Robbery (1895).
Wheeler was also rumored to have written with (or for) Joseph Arthur the popular (but decidedly low-brow) hit plays The Still Alarm (1887)[2][3][4] and Blue Jeans (1890). These credits were the subject of some controversy at the time. Arthur reportedly credited Wheeler as his collaborator on The Still Alarm on its opening night,[5] and he is formally credited as a co-writer of the play in its 1926 silent film version. Whether Wheeler had a hand in writing Blue Jeans is murkier; he formally denied writing it, but also later claimed his denial was untrue. Writer Edward Eggleston also asserted that Blue Jeans' story was largely stolen from one of his own novels.[6][7]
Other Wheeler works included The Toltec Cup,[8]The Chronicles of Milwaukee (a history of Milwaukee published early in his career), Easter in a Hospital Bed, and The Primrose Path of Dalliance.
Late in his life, when he had substantially departed the critic's field, Wheeler adopted the new pen name "J.P.M." or "J.P. Mowbray", adopted from the name of his second wife, Jennie Pearl Mowbray, whom he married in 1892 following the death of his first wife in 1889. That pseudonym appeared on letters he originally published in the Evening Post, and later in book form as A Journey to Nature (1901). He published a total of four books under that name, and J.P.M.'s real identity was the subject of some speculation but not known until after Wheeler's death.[9]
^Notes, New York Amusement Gazette, p. 5 (September 5, 1887) (this theatre publication issued just after the debut of the Still Alarm reports matter-of-factly A.C. Wheeler and Joseph Arthur are the authors and "have written a play which will make a lot of money")
^(11 October 1891). Gossip of the Stage, Indianapolis Journal ("Eddie's Squib says "A.C. Wheeler, the author of "The Still Alarm" and "Blue Jeans," has made another success. This time it is "Jack Royal of the 92d." Out in this part of the country there is a popular impression that Joseph Arthur wrote both "The Still Alarm" and "Blue Jeans.")
^(21 July 1891). Bits from the Boards, Daily Leader (Gloversville, New York) (paragraph regarding claim of author Edward Eggleston that his novel Roxy was stolen for writing Blue Jeans)
^The Lounger, The Critic (November 1901) (publishing a rumor that Wheeler was Mowbray, but this does not come up again in publications until his obituaries confirm his authorship)
^(12 March 1903). The Nom De Plume of "Nym Crinkle", New York Tribune (letter to editor from Alpha Child asserts that he was the original "Nym Crinkle" at the Milwaukee Sentinel and gave it up to Wheeler)
