A Message to Garcia

A Message to Garcia is an inspirational essay written by Elbert Hubbard that has been made into two motion pictures. It was originally published as a filler without a title in the March, 1899 issue of the Philistine magazine which he edited, but was quickly reprinted as a pamphlet and a book. It was wildly popular, selling over 40 million copies and being translated into 37 languages. It also became a well-known allusion in American popular and business culture until the middle of the twentieth century. According to language expert Charles Earle Funk, "to take a message to Garcia" was for years a popular American slang expression for taking initiative and was used by many people who were unaware of its origins.