Sweet Americana Sweethearts

Friday, October 7, 2016

Street Car Etiquette (1889)

I'm forever amused by American Victorian-era humor. The point of the historic newspaper article I'll share seems to be reached extra-well because of the dollop of humor. Ultimately, the purpose is evident. Good manners are always in style.

The following article, titled Street Car Etiquette appeared in the Fort Worth Daily Gazette of Fort Worth, Texas, on February 24, 1889, apparently having first run in the New York Sun.


1908 Postcard featuring the 1887 horse car on display in Manchester, New Hampshire. The FIRST horse car in the city. Labeled "Rapid Transit". Image: Public Domain, found on Wikipedia.

Horse-drawn cars such as the one on this Manchester postcard had been invented much earlier... Manchester was simply blessed with their first (apparently) in 1887. The following original patent drawing and details explain the unique (thus patented) and new arrangement of doors on the horse-drawn railway cars with the patent granted on September 4, 1860. While not a laughing matter, the patent solves a similar problem--"the usual annoyances now occasioned by passengers standing outside, and blocking the passageway". A little more--including parting with the need for a conductor (reference etiquette in the newspaper article)--is included below the patent image.

Patent No. 29,882 issued to J. Harris, Jr. on September 4, 1860. Source: Google.

Taken from the detail contained within the patent (application and final document), also courtesy of Google.

"The doors a, a, [see fig 2] when closed, are at an obtuse angle with a plane parallel to the end of the car, or at any angle which increases the facilities of passengers on their entrance and exit, and the usual annoyances now occasioned by passengers standing outside, and blocking the passageway, is obviated. By the present mode of constructing platforms, they extend from side to side entirely across the car, and the doors slide open at right angles to the sides. I construct my car in any of the known forms, except the platforms, doors and doorways. The ends of my car are constructed viz., the greater portion of the platforms are inclosed [sic], thus making the interior more spacious, and economizing seat room for additional passengers, as represented by the letters c, c, on Fig. 2. I have two entrances and two doorways, or platforms, one at each end of the car, their relative position being diagonal. Consequently, no accident can occur to passengers, from cars coming in an opposite direction, as the peculiar construction of the doors and platforms oblige the passengers to enter and leave, on the outside or right hand of either rail track.

The doors are controlled by the driver by means of foot straps extending from the door, through the ear and under his foot. This arrangement is not adopted in cars at present, where the horses are made to change from end to end, in reversing the draft of the car.

By the above mentioned improvements we are successfully enabled to dispense with the attendance of a conductor." [underline and bold added, as are comments in square brackets]

Apparently human nature hadn't changed much (nor the aggravations caused by public transportation) from 1860 to 1889... and I'd wager a guess that commuters on today's trains and light rail would say nothing's much different in 2016. Except for a few more riders on a few more vehicles of public transportation on a few more rails and a few more roads. Ultimately, polished manners and politeness are as essential--if not more so--today than they were 127 years ago.

Perhaps humor is the best way to respond to such aggravations and breaches of etiquette, then or now.

May I share a bit more Victorian-era humor with you?

Kristin Holt, USA Today Bestselling Author writes Sweet Victorian Romance set in the American West. She writes frequent articles about the nineteenth century American west--every subject of possible interest to readers and amateur historians. She contributes monthly to Sweet Americana Sweethearts (first Friday of each month) and Romancing the Genres (third Tuesday of each month).

Sweet Romance Appropriate for All Audiences

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Women and Jurys and Jim Crow laws, Oh My!

In 1928, a jury of your peers pretty much meant twelve white men. Even though women had been legally given the vote, but in Georgia, by law, a female of any age was ineligible to serve on a jury. While lawful for a black man to serve, the few that were called for voir dire, were automatically excluded. Consequently, white males comprised juries across the nation.

Such was the fact of life when Billy Sinclair, a man with a white father and a black mother--which made him automatically negro--stood in the dock for killing his lily white half-brother.

This practice of no minorities and no women continued in Georgia until the mid-1950s! Isn't that amazing?

To compound Mister Sinclair’s perceived sin and crime, he had the audacity to promote Goodson Marshall’s—his original council and prominent black attorney of the day—second chair to his lead attorney—a young white woman, no less! What a scandal! And it is to his lovely young attorney, Alice Parmalee, that Billy tells his mother’s story.

The tale of Jasmine, the bedwarmer of Master William Sinclair in the mid-1800s, will certainly tug at your heart. She's a headstrong and intelligent slave, recently beaten near to death for running. Yet, if that old white man touches her, she'll slit his neck open and run again.

Though there weren’t that many female lawyers in 1928, that year the first woman to become a federal judge was appointed and confirmed—Genevieve Rose Cline of Ohio.

Alice, quite taken with Billy’s grandson Will, hates it that the fate of the old man she’s come to care for rests in her ability to defend him well.

Praise the Lord that times have changed. No more Jim Crow laws…for instance, anything less than a ten-year sentence was on a chain gang. Most whites weren’t convicted of any crime that required less than ten years in the penitentiary. If it wasn’t a serious charge, pale-skinned lawbreakers didn’t even go to trial. No one ever said Southern bigots were not clever.

Even though we have made great strides, we still see evidence in our society today of racial bigotry and hatred based on nothing more than the color of one’s skin. THE BEDWARMERS SON transcends the traditional norm and deals with complex times, contentious social issues, and important questions of faith. It debuted world wide on September 26 and is available in print and ebook formats.

Giveaway : From those who comment below, one will be randomly drawn to win an ebook copy of THE BEDWARMER'S SON! Awarded after one week.

Bio : Caryl McAdoo loves God, and currently writes four series: the historical Christian ‘Texas Romance’ a family saga; a contemporary ‘Red River Romance’; The Generations, her Biblical fiction, and the newest Days of Dread Trilogy for mid-grade readers. Known as the “Singing Pray-er”, she loves praising with new songs the Lord gives her and prays her story gives God glory! In 2008, she and high school sweetheart-husband Ron moved from the DFW area—home for fifty-plus years—to the woods of Red River County. Caryl counts four children and sixteen grandsugars life’s biggest blessings, believing all good things come from the Lord. Besides glorifying Him, she hopes each title also ministers His love, mercy, and grace to its readers. The McAdoos live in Clarksville, the county seat, in the far northeast corner of the Lone Star State with two grandsons.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Blog Tour Tuesday: Short-Order Sheriff by Kirsten Osbourne

Kirsten Osbourne is no stranger to the bestseller list, and she's not scared of tackling big projects. When she got the idea to write the River's End Ranch series, she leaped right in with both feet and invited her friends Cindy Caldwell, Caroline Lee, Pamela Kelly, and me to join her.

River's End Ranch is a fantastic vacation destination for anyone looking to experience the great outdoors. Located near the fictional town of Riston, Idaho, you can go skiing, horseback riding, whitewater rafting, rockclimbing - you name it. All along the way, you'll interact with the employees and the other guests and watch them fall in love.

The first installment of the series is called Short-Order Sheriff and tells the story of Kelsi, who works at the ranch's cafe, and her romance with the handsome sheriff in town. There are a few impediments to their relationship, but with a great pair of cowboy boots and a search for Big Foot, all will be made right in the end.

Kelsi and her twin sister Dani are the youngest siblings in the Weston family, made up of Wade, Wesley, Wyatt, and Will. Each sibling has a hand in running the ranch while their parents are touring the United States in their RV. Each sibling will get their own love story as the series progresses, and you'll get to know many other fun and quirky characters, including Jaclyn Hardy, the crazy rabbit woman (because being a cat lady is too cliche, in her own opinion).

This series promises to be a lot of fun. I know that I am definitely looking forward to my installments in this story, and I'll be sure to let you know more about them as they're released.

Note: Short-Order Sheriff is on preorder for .99. When it's released on October 10th, it will go up to full price, so grab your preorder now!

***

Amelia C. Adams is the author of twenty Western romance novels and is always looking for another mountain to climb . . . or another taco to eat. When she's not writing, she's watching good movies, taking really long naps, or spending time with her patient husband and four super-smart kids. You can learn more about her at her website.

Monday, October 3, 2016

The Life of ONE Madam in The Arizona Territory

“Belgian Jennie” Bauters ran a brothel in the young mining town of Jerome. Though she was a successful immigrant entrepreneur, her life as an Old West madam was far from pretty.

Our ideas of the West are colored by myth. The fast draw. The brave cowboy. The kind and generous madam.

“Belgian Jennie” Bauters was a madam in Jerome. She arrived on the scene when the mining town was young, all tents and shacks and saloons scattered on the hillside. She had a knack for business, buying property, running a brothel, and rebuilding after a series of three fires that struck the mining community between Christmas Eve 1897 and May 1899 and it is said that tents made do for shelters until a new brothel could open. Bauters finally rebuilt with brick facing Hull Road since brothels were not allowed on Main. Jennie's place had 20 rooms. Bauters became known as one of the wealthiest woman in the Arizona Territory with property from Main to Hull Avenue and with a bar and hourly accommodations later in Gold Road.

Little is known about her past. She was born in Belgium. She had a son. She enrolled him in a Catholic school in Chicago and visited from time to time, according to an article by Melanie Sturgeon in The Journal of Arizona History. “Like many other legendary western madams, she was supposedly a generous person, tenderhearted toward down-and-out miners and prospectors,” Sturgeon wrote. The reality is that she was probably more complex.

Prostitutes and madams were generally tolerated, not celebrated, and lived at the edge of society. One reason they were tolerated is that their businesses were taxed. It is a myth that they eventually married well and left their profession behind, Sturgeon writes. Romantic stories about "big-hearted dance hall girls ... trivialize these women's experiences."

"Belgian" Jennie Bauter was a madam of enduring notoriety and love in Jerome and later in Gold Road, another mining hotspot southwest of Kingman in the last century. Jerome would later abolish prostitution in the moderation of the mining town.

Now, 100 years later, "Jennie's Place," the Jerome hotel and one-time "cribs," where she built her fame and fortune in Jerome, has a new lease on life. A new madam is now running the house, but Mary Wills peddles kaleidoscopes, not flesh. Still, she has also kept intact the history of what has became known as the Sullivan Hotel and given it a new backbone to support its four floors into the future.

But after Jennie was killed, an agent sold the Jerome land to John Sullivan in 1907. The new owner expanded the cribs with a second floor, and built out a hotel to Main Street with a total of 60 rooms. The building remained in the Sullivan family through son Jerry and grandson Leo. But Leo had the cribs torn down in 1971 and 1972 as unsafe. "He was not one who was preservation minded," mused Mary Wills.

The building passed through another ownership in 1986 before being purchased by Mary Wills and Sally Dryer. When Mary and Sally realized their purchase could crumble to earth, they looked at restoring the grand hotel. But the endeavor was to be a monumental undertaking that would drag on for years. It called for architects, engineering and lots of expense. Just this past week, the external structure was finally completed and awaits paint. Then the effort will move inside.

If fire sprinklers are required, there could be more delays. The story goes back to late 2007, when an oversized check was presented to the preservationists from a State Heritage Fund grant to save the historic building. The money passed through the town of Jerome. But that joyous mood didn't last, because the state began the first of its many "sweeps" of State Parks Heritage Funds (in this case) to save the state general fund from the economic collapse as the recession began to sink in. Mary says they learned their grant had been cancelled just after they had issued a contract for the purchase of a ton of steel for $98,000. Today, that steel stands four floors tall to support the building. They had earlier been holding the building in place with steel cables. Eventually, the money was restored. Then it was taken away again before it finally was restored again just over a year ago.

"We have borrowed from friends, everyone we can think of ... even employees," Mary says. No one is saying the building is finished. There is still plenty to do. The interior of the basement floor is likely to one day provide room for a spacious shop with all those windows that gaze out across the Verde Valley to the San Francisco Peaks.

But, what happened to Jennie?
The story goes, according to the Museum of History and Art in Kingman, in 1903, Bauters moved to a new location, about 23 miles from Kingman, called the Acme Gold Mine, now known as Gold Road. While there, she took up with a man named C.C. Leigh. It is possible they began their relationship in Jerome.

After a time, Jennie began to feel he was a threat. In September 1905, Leigh needed money to settle a bad debt. With anger and a gun in his hand, he headed to Jennie's place and demanded she hand over her cash. An argument ensued and Jennie tried to flee from the building. He chased after her, firing several shots, which wounded her as she ran into the street.

“Several people heard her express her fear of Leigh, but either did not listen or did not care. Witnesses heard her screams, watched Leigh chase her with a revolver, but did not help. After he shot her the first time and they heard her pleading with him, … no one came to her rescue. Leigh had time to walk back to the saloon, reload his gun, return to the spot where Jennie was lying and shoot her one final time.” He approached the paralyzed woman and fired a fatal shot to her head. He then pointed the gun to his chest and fired again. He lay down beside her to die.

But, instead, Leigh survived the suicide attempt and was carted off to jail. Jennie was mourned by all and laid to rest in the Pioneer Cemetery in Kingman. In 1907, justice was served and Leigh was hanged. He too, was buried in the Kingman Pioneer Cemetery.

“These accounts reveal the stark loneliness and isolation that characterized Jennie’s vocation,” Sturgeon writes. This was not a glamorous life.

But even death wasn't easy for Jennie. Beginning in 1917, the Pioneer Cemetery was moved to make way for a school building. Relatives had to pay a substantial fee (in those days) to move the remains. According to the story, when school children began to dig up bones, an urgent effort was made to remove the last of the remains and place them in a mass grave. For some, it is just not easy.

Most folks who live in Arizona have probably been to Jerome. It is an amazing place to visit! It's full of history, artists, restaurants, bars, and shops galore! For those who have not been there and if you ever have a chance - Don't Miss It!!!

I'm very excited that my next book, Chase's Story, takes place in Arizona. It's a state full of history AND I happen to live here. I write all genres from little one's picture books, to time travel adventures for the middle grade kiddos, to romances for adults. My favorite, at this point, is writing the historical western romance.

Find out more about my books and/or me at the following links.....

www.pennystales.com

www.pennyestelle.blogspot.com

http://www.amazon.com/Penny-Estelle/e/B006S62XBY

https://twitter.com/Pennystale

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5820078.Penny_Estelle

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I have a newsletter that goes out for new releases or sales. If you would like to be notified, please sign up @ http://eepurl.com/388Xr

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Blog Tour Tuesday: A Begrudging Bride by Amelia C. Adams

I'm technically a day late for Blog Tour Tuesday, but if I don't point that out, no one will notice, right? And it will just be our little secret?

I'm very excited to announce the release of A Begrudging Bride, Kansas Crossroads Book Eleven. It never occurred to me that this series would take off like it has and that I'd have so much fun writing it even after this many installments.

The blurb:

Suddenly left an orphan and forced to leave behind her beloved Kentucky ranch, Camille Waterford answers an ad for a mail-order bride and begins her journey to Wichita, where she will begin her new life. When she reaches Topeka, however, she's plagued with doubt, and decides to remain where she is, taking a job at the Brody Hotel. She plans to pay her groom back for whatever he spent to bring her out west, but she just can't go through with the wedding. He's not happy when he hears the news, but she needs to find her own path and discover for herself what love really is.

And now an excerpt:

Camille Waterford clutched her reticule as the train pulled into the Topeka station. “We’ll be stopped for half an hour,” the conductor announced. “Feel free to get off, stretch your legs, and maybe eat a little something at the hotel, but listen for the whistle so we don’t leave you behind.”

Getting off the train sounded wonderful. In fact, there was nothing Camille would rather do. Gathering her skirts in one hand, she climbed down and stood on the platform. The sky was a bit overcast, but it wasn’t snowing like it had been in Kansas City. She paced along the edge of the platform, her stomach twisting and turning, and finally, she sank onto a bench near the station. She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t. She’d become more and more certain with each passing mile.

She rose from the bench and approached the ticket window. “Excuse me, sir. How do I get my luggage off the train?”

You may purchase A Begrudging Bride by CLICKING HERE.

***

Amelia C. Adams is the author of nineteen Western romances and will be releasing her twentieth very, very soon. She loves taking long naps, watching good movies, and eating tacos. If she could figure out a way to do all three at once, she would. She has a very full publication schedule coming up this next year and invites you to follow her website to stay on top of everything. Of course, the trick to that is making sure to update her website . . .