What's My Line?

The old TV show where a celebrity panel asked questions to find the contestants job.

I am having fun in my latest series, Bridgette's Bridal Registry,  coming up with jobs for my ex-outlaws. Bridgette came up with her first scheme to entice young men to come in out of the badlands and life of crime and she would split their bounty with him. Plus, she is a lawyer and represents them so they can get a reduced sentence. When they've served their time, she gives them their half of the bounty and helps them in get a new job or business.

In the Bridal Registry series, she add a mail-order bride to the mix. After all, a man with a good woman is less likely to return to their outlaw ways.

So far, I came up with a carpenter. You can see the the men with saws, hammer and square.  Anyway, Del is a successful carpenter who makes chairs and tables, and furniture.  

Notice the hats these two are wearing. Derbys or bowlers were the most common hats worn in the west. The cowboy hat that we know didn't really take off until much later.  

So, my latest ex-outlaw, is going to make hats. Bowlers, and Boss of the plains which were a wider rimmed hat, were the hats of choice.

They were made out of felt. Which is made from the undercoat fur of beavers and rabbits. Later wool and other furs were used. The soft undercoat is plucked and as the fir is stirred it binds together to form a mat. 

The mat is then rolled and dunked in hot water where the felt is then placed over a form where the material takes the shape of the form. It can be dyed. 

One of my other men runs a sawmill. Sawmills were essential to growing cities so that they could build with lumber and not just logs.

Another one of my young men became a land agent. They surveyed land, collected rents, and held land deeds and maps.

All my guys have had successful business so far.  And I have had fun trying to think what they could do back in the day.  

Jobs have sure changed. 

If you want, send me ideas of jobs you would like to see characters have in historical books. 

If you enjoy puzzles - here is one of Book 1 in Puzzle Bridgette's Bridal Registry. 

Enjoy the day.
Patricia PacJac Carroll

Author Patricia PacJac Carroll Newsletter

http://eepurl.com/bpPmbP

Madam, is that a duck on your hat? by Kristin Holt

 

Madam, is that a duck on your hat?

: Or, Victorian Hats (1880s) decorated with feathers

 

Feathers for Decoration

Hat styles changed and developed throughout the nineteenth century, incorporating all sorts of materials and methods of design. Feathers became a particularly popular decoration for ladies' hats in the 1880s.

Sometimes entire wings were used to spruce up a hat. Other times, a single plume, or a very large assortment weighed down a delightful confection. Heavy hats were blamed for headaches back in the day.

Apparently some really liked to adorn their costumes with feathers.

NYhistory.org image of Seagull scarf(?) and muff. A fine example of Creepy Victorian Styles.

This creepy seagull wrap and muff aren't the only "feathers with a face"... look at this vintage hat on display from Victoriana.

Victorians and Artificial Feathers

Yes, artificial feathers. Victorian-American inventors worked hard on this problem, for the demand for feathers was steep!

"Artificial Feathers" are not quite what you think with today's manufacturing miracles. Read on! This article appeared in the great Old West newspaper the Reno Gazette-Journal of Reno, Nevada back on May 8, 1899, when the social world sort of had its tail in a twist over the use of feathers (and the sheer quantity of avian lives, too).

Beautiful, aren't they?

Do you have the knack to paint a plain hen's feather into a magical and almost-perfect fabrication of a peacock? I don't. It's probably a good thing I'm not trying to remain stylish in the 1880s on a meager income.

A few related articles:

Invitation

Have you thoughts you'd like to share?

Would you wear a hat with a bouncing bird on it?

I had a good deal of fun writing silly and highly decorated late-Victorian-era hats for my characters. You'll find hats like these in The Menace Takes a Bride and in Isabella's Calico Groom. Have you read either, and noticed the hats-- or read another title by any author, where hats were an interesting connection?

Please scroll down and share your thoughts! "Conversation" is the best part. =)

Copyright © 2020 Kristin Holt LC 

Victorian Courtship: Love in Pa's Hat

by USA Today Bestselling Author Kristin Holt

While researching something else entirely, I stumbled across this little gem in Walnut Valley Times (newspaper) of El Dorado, Kansas of May 21, 1880. The original short story, titled "Love in Pa's Hat" reads like so many other Victorian-era fictional tales rich in mores of the era. It's a charming short story, encouraging obedience by young ladies to their fathers (who always know best), while reaffirming the rightness of true love. Good girls, naturally, who carry on a proper courtship will be awarded with the desire of their hearts. (Read: Virtue and Patience, two of Victorian America's most highly prized female attributes.)

The author of the tale remains unnamed; rarely, if ever, were newspaper columns attributed to a specific writer. More often, when syndicated, the column would disclose the original source. (Such as this story,  having been obtained "From the Hair-Dresser's Chronicle.") As you read this cute short, you'll see why such a tale was sold to that magazine pre-May, 1880--The hairdresser is cast in the role of Cupid.

"Love in Pa's Hat" Part 1, Walnut Valley Times of El Dorado, KS, May 21, 1880

"Love in Pa's Hat" Part 2, Walnut Valley Times of El Dorado, KS, May 21, 1880

"Love in Pa's Hat" Part 3, Walnut Valley Times of El Dorado, KS, May 21, 1880

What kind of hat? Top hat? Bowler?

More bowlers won the west than Stetsons, but wealthy businessmen like "Pa"? Probably a tophat.

 

According to Victoriana.com, businessmen from 1850 to 1900 wore top hats.

Courtesy of Victoriana.com (speaking of men's clothing and tophats)

Did men really have a barber (or hair-dresser for men) look after their beard and wig twice per week (as Pa did in this tale)? Oh, yes.

The amateur historian will find rich elements of daily life (at least for the middle- to upper-class American) peppered through the story: brushing of men's hats, ironing of the hats by a professional to restore its shape (I suppose) or perhaps its finish. Use of the term "swain" prompts a quick dictionary check, as the term is outdated. Swain simply means a young suitor or lover (which we know is a G-rated term in the Victorian era).

Definition of 'swain', courtesy of Google.

 

Did you learn something new? Or have thoughts to share about the elements of Victorian-American life gleaned from this short story? Please scroll down and comment.

Do you know someone who would enjoy this article? Please share!

Copyright © 2017 Kristin Holt LC