One off tales of how Redonda island, this tiny island in the middle of the Caribbean, has a track record of marketing geniuses and turning $#!t into gold, quite literally.

Redonda: Land Of The Makeshift Kings, Marketing Geniuses, And Turning $#!t Into Gold, Literally.

The island of Redonda lies between the islands of Nevis and Montserrat, within the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain, in the West Indies. Redonda is legally a dependency of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. The island is just over one mile long and one-third mile wide, rising to a 971-foot peak. What’s left of an ancient volcanic core, Redonda is pretty much one massive rock. The land rises very steeply from sea level, mostly as sheer cliffs.

Redonda, according to my left hand, eyeballs, and travel journal.

The island teems with bird life but is more or less uninhabitable by humans because there is no freshwater other than rain. Landing on the island is a very challenging process, only accessible via the leeward coast on days when the seas are calm. Climbing to the top of the island is also ridiculously challenging.

So you have a super rocky, for-all-intents-and-purposes pretty much uninhabitable mound of rock that’s super hard to get on, never the less climb on or do anything with. So what do you do?

Turn That Sh*t Into Gold...Literally.

Despite these difficulties, from 1865 until 1912 Redonda was the center of a lucrative trade in guano mining, and many thousands of tons of phosphates were shipped from Redonda to Britain. The ruins associated with the mine workings can still be seen on the island. When life gives you lemons, you paint that sh*t gold, doesn’t the saying go something like that? Oh wait, maybe that’s just an awesome album from Atmosphere? Whatever, I’m taking it.

Redonda: Land Of The Makeshift Kings + Marketing Geniuses

Redonda also is a micronation which may, arguably and briefly, have existed as an independent kingdom during the 19th century, according to an account told by the fantasy writer M.P. Shiel. The title to the supposed kingdom is still contested to this day in a half-serious fashion. The "Kingdom" is also often associated with many supposedly aristocratic members, whose titles are awarded by whoever is currently the "King." Currently, there are a sprinkling of individuals in different countries who claim to be the sole legitimate "King" of Redonda.

“Uhh...Yeah, so I’m like...King...of that place…”

So there’s this big rock in the middle of the Caribbean, no one can do anything with it, but a couple people throughout history said “Uhh...Yeah, so I’m like...King...of that place…” And tried to see if they could get away with it.

This reminds me of the episode on The Office when Michael Scott “declares bankruptcy” by walking into the middle of the office and yelling it really loud to make it official.

This is kind of what happened on Redonda. Michael Scott could have been king of Redonda.

M.P. Shiel was a marketing genius.

As a marketer, I find this fun fact about Redonda wildly entertaining, because these are the original marketers of the ages! Especially the case of M.P. Shiel, because he was a marketing genius! He wrote a fan fiction mini book about himself to PROVE his right to his makeshift throne. That’s primitive propaganda and marketing brilliance right there! If you want to be a legend, write about yourself being a legend and tell people you're a legend and maybe after hearing it long enough, it starts to become truth, right? Well not exactly.

According to good ol’ wiki, here’s the story:

M.P. Shiel (1865-1947), an author of works of adventure and fantasy fiction, was the first person to give an account of the "Kingdom of Redonda," in 1929, in a promotional pamphlet for a reissue of his books.[2]
According to tradition, Shiel's father, Matthew Dowdy Shiell, who was a trader and Methodist lay preacher from the nearby island of Montserrat, claimed the island of Redonda when his son, Matthew Phipps Shiell, was born. Supposedly the father felt he could legitimately do this because it appeared to be the case that no country had officially claimed the islet as a territory. Shiell senior is also said to have requested the title of King of Redonda from Queen Victoria, and as legend has it, it was granted to him, by the British Colonial Office rather than by Victoria herself, provided there was no revolt against a colonial power.
The son (originally named Matthew Phipps Shiell but later known as the writer M.P. Shiel) claimed he was crowned on Redonda at the age of 15, in 1880, by a bishop from Antigua. However, as M.P. Shiel's recounting of this story never saw print until 1929, it is possible that some, or most, or possibly all of the story of his being crowned King of Redonda may, in fact, be pure invention.

So Redonda is a small rock with not a lot going on, but the history of this strange place is like so many Caribbean islands: a reflection of mankind's constant ability to rise from the ashes (Oops, maybe I’m thinking of Montserrat?), turn lemons into lemonade, and make something out of nothing.

Redonda, you rock. Literally.

Day 8: Redonda--Land Of The Makeshift Kings, Marketing Geniuses, And Turning $#!t Into Gold, Literally.