Extra Information From Quiz Committee:
While on a speaking tour of the U.S.A. and Canada, Oscar Wilde was invited to Woodstock as a guest of the Mechanics’ Institute (forerunner of Woodstock Public Library) and he stayed one night at the O’Neill House (later, Hotel Oxford), just across from the Town Hall.

He introduced his first topic with these words, “I do not address those millionaires who pillage Europe for their pleasure, but those of moderate means who can have designs of worth and beauty before them always and at little cost.” Later, he got into specifics, “Speaking of glass: never have cut glass, it is too common for use ... “ “Embroidery you will have, of course, but don’t I pray you, have everything covered with embroidery as if it were washing day ..."

Canadians who met or heard him tended to have extreme views about this long-haired, Irish-born author, dramatist, aesthete and poet. Some regarded him as an arrogant, affected and effeminate boor; others found him generous and kind; very few had no opinion. The sombre, ‘The Picture Of Dorian Gray’ and the witty and brilliant, ‘The Importance Of Being Earnest’ are two of his more well-known works today.

Sources:
- Kevin O’Brien, “Oscar Wilde In Canada,” (extracts in Woodstock Public Library, Oscar Wilde history file)
- Woodstock Museum archives
- Encyclopaedia Britannica