Mishmash & Thoughts

Post by Doris McCraw

writing as Angela Raines

Photo property of the author

According to Merriam-Webster the definition of mishmash is a confused mixture of things. It perfectly defines some of our lives right now. 

So what do I mean by life right now? Life is and always has been confusing. We learn as we go along, making mistakes and enjoying triumphs. We plan our journey, and do everything the way we think it should be, then…bam…some challenge gets thrown at us. The key to getting somewhere, go with the flow.

 

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I always thought I would be a performer, and I have been. I decided at fifteen I would work with criminals. Been there, done that. I’ve always written but didn’t think non-fiction would be in the picture. *OOPS* Teach me to think life didn’t have another idea.

The thing is, life really is a mishmash, but it isn’t such a bad thing. Instead, I prefer to think of all the wonderful experiences I’ve had in my life as gifts. If I hadn’t started spending weekends in the research section of the library, I’d have missed out on some great friendships. I also probably would never have found the women doctors, and written scholarly papers on such diverse subjects as ancient volcanos, film commissioners, and, of course, those Colorado women doctors.

 

Photo property of the author

If my parents hadn’t encouraged me to take chances, to follow dreams, and not worry about how others viewed me, I wouldn’t have been an acting teacher, played music professionally, or been an actor. Because no one told me I couldn’t, I live a blessed life. 

I grew up about seventy miles from Mark Twain's (Samuel Clemens) home and lived right across the river from where his brother had a paper, where young Sam worked while living there. I grew up with his stories, his wit, and his wisdom. Below are some quotes that still resonate with me.

Hope you enjoy the mishmash.

You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.

The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.

Don’t part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.

 It is curious–curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.

There are not enough morally brave men in stock. We are out of moral-courage material.

And my favorite:

Let us endeavor so to live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.

Doris McCraw

Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and Suspenders by Kaye Spencer #trivia #sweetheartsofthewest #fashionhistory

"First Suspenders" Public Domain Image

Suspenders (aka braces and galluses) have been around for centuries as a practical means of holding up one's britches, particularly because of the high waists on men's trousers before belts and belt loops became functionally popular, which was roughly around World War I, when soldiers were introduced to uniform belts. Since the 1920s, suspenders have continued to ride a roller coaster of fashion popularity.

An article on the website Time.com (HERE) offers this tidbit about the origins of suspenders along with an amusing anecdote:

The first suspenders can be traced to 18th century France, where they were basically strips of ribbon attached to the buttonholes of trousers. Benjamin Franklin is said to have worn them — although it's probably best not to ask how historians know that; back then, suspenders were considered an undergarment never to be seen in public. In fact, visible suspenders were considered risqué as recently as 1938, when a town in Long Island, NY tried to ban gentlemen from wearing them without a coat, calling it "sartorial indecency."


This article goes on to explain that in the 1820s, a British designer named Albert Thurston manufactured suspenders as we know them, which brings me to Samuel Langhorne Clemens, aka author Mark Twain, as an inventor of an alternative idea for suspenders.

Samuel Clemens (Public Domain)

Clemens received his first patent (#1221992) on December 19, 1871 for an alternative to suspenders, which he reportedly loathed entirely as miserably uncomfortable. He called this invention an "Adjustable and Detachable Straps for Garments" (ADSG). However, as with many inventions, the original designs are often adapted and the inventor's intent is either lost completely or altered in new and interesting ways.

Suspenders in Hollywood:

John Wayne*

Humphrey Bogart**

Add caption

Clemens' suspenders patent didn't catch on for suspenders. According to an article from Smithsonian Magazine (HERE):

His “improvement in adjustable and detachable straps for garments” was a button-on adjustable strap that could be used to tighten garments–it could pinch a shirt at the waist, for example. “The advantages of such an adjustable and detachable elastic strap are so obvious that they need no explanation...” It would also be simple to make non-elastic detachable straps, Clemens wrote, “but I prefer to make them elastic.”

An article in The Atlantic Monthly (HERE) explained it this way:

Clemens designed the adjustable and detachable strap to be used from one garment to another in order to 'fix' whatever clothing issue the wearer encountered. However, he did not elaborate on exactly how his invention should be used. He wrote that the "advantages of having a stretchy strap for any item is so obvious that they need no explanation."

  

His invention 'ADSG' did not catch on for pantaloons, suspenders, or vests. It did, however, find its niche with one particular garment: the brassiere. So, now you know who to thank, or cuss, for how a traditionally designed bra fastens.

ADSG Patent Image

On a side note, the other patents Clemens received were for a self-pasting scrapbook technique (1873) and a history trivia game (1875). He made $50,000 from the scrapbook invention. His other inventions either cost him money in the long run or simply didn't work. The website ThoughtCo.com has more information about his other inventions and investments-gone-wrong HERE.

Until next time,

Kaye Spencer
Writing through history one romance upon a time

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Resources/References
Shop Mr & Mrs Renaissance - https://www.mrm-accessories.com/blog/2015/1/5/the-look-and-history-of-suspenders-braces
Smithsonian.com - SmartNews - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-mark-twains-hatred-suspenders-drove-him-invent-180967577/
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office - https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/mark-twain-granted-his-first-patent-december-19-1871
The Atlantic - https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/07/celebrity-invention-mark-twains-elastic-clasp-brassiere-strap/241267/
Time.com - http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2037331,00.html
ThoughtCo.com - https://www.thoughtco.com/what-were-mark-twains-inventions-740679
Images:
First Suspenders image Public Domain - Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Samuel Clemens - Public Domain image: Unknown author, MarkTwain.LOC, marked as public domain, more details on Wikimedia Commons
*John Wayne imbd - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000078/mediaviewer/rm2120462592
**Humphrey Bogart - https://goo.gl/images/KU44HM
Openclipart.com - 'wow'

JUST EAST OF WEST, Part Two #SweetheartsoftheWest

In part one, which is posted on the Western Fictioneers blog, I discussed Nauvoo, Illinois and Hannibal, Missouri. These towns, which are near the area I grew up, have wonderful history, that were part and parcel of my early childhood. For part two I would to share some of the history of Quincy, Illinois and Keokuk, Iowa.

In his book "Reminiscence of Quincy Illinois: Containing Historical Events and Antidotes, Matters Concerning Old Settlers and Old Times etc", 1881, Henry Asbury mentions burial mounds where the town was built. "The question of who were the mound builders, what people buried their dead upon our Mount Pisgah — the high mount through which Maine Street was opened to the river — and other high points along the River Bluffs, I leave to others to explain". Whether these were part of the Cahokia settlements is probably lost to history. Cahokia Mounds

It appears one of the first settlers, Willard keys, past the site in May 1819. An act of Congress approved May 6, 1812, and other acts concerning the military bounty lands, indicated all the country lying between the Mississippi and Illinois River were set apart for satisfying the bounties for hundred and 60 acres promised to the non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the United States. That land included Quincy in Adams County and was surveyed between the years 1815 and 1816.Not all of this land was patented to the soldiers, some was afterwards sold by the government to purchasers.

19th Century View of Quincy Courthouse By John Sanftleben

The town of Quincy itself , sitting on the East side of the Mississippi River, started when John Wood purchased 160 acres from war veteran Mark McGowan for $60. Wood initially named the area Bluffs, Illinois. In 1825 it was renamed Quincy, becoming the county seat for the newly created Adams County. Both names in honor of the newly elected Pres. John Quincy Adams. In 1840 the town was incorporated.

When the Mormons were expelled from Missouri in 1838, a number of them sheltered in Quincy prior to moving upstream to Nauvoo Illinois. In that same year Quincy also sheltered the Pottawatomie tribe when they were being relocated from Indiana to Kansas.

In the 1850s and 60s, Quincy grew as a result of steamboat traffic and railroads that ran through the town, linking it to places both East and West. With the founding of the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1855 in the construction of the Quincy rail bridge, the population grew to 24,000 by 1870 and at that time was the second-largest city in the state of Illinois. Because of its proximity to Missouri, a slave state, Quincy had its fair share of controversy on the subject of slavery. For more on the history Quincy Illinois

Keokuk, Iowa is about 36 miles north of Quincy on the West side of the Mississippi River, 15 miles south of Nauvoo, Illinois and 60 miles north of Hannibal, Missouri.

Keokuk in 1865

Keokuk has a National Cemetery that was created during the Civil War to inter veterans who died while being treated in the five military hospitals in the area. By the end of the war the cemetery numbered 600 Union soldiers and 8 Confederate prisoners of war. 

Prior to the building of the dam, on the Mississippi, which began in 1910 and was completed in 1913, the area around Keokuk had some pretty hazardous rapids that effectively cut off steamboat traffic to the northern portion of the river. Known as the Des Moines Rapids, they stretched between Keokuk and Nauvoo. For more on the story of the rapids, and short read can be found here .

Keokuk, located in Lee County Iowa, was the home of one of the early co-ed medical schools. The Keokuk College of Physicians and Surgeons, which opened its doors for classes in November of 1850. The town was also the home of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) older brother Orion. It was here young Samuel helped his brother in Orion's print shop.

Two places for additional information about Keokuk can be found here: History 1 and History 2 from 1820 to present.

My writing is informed by these towns and others in the tri-state area of my childhood. Many a story has its genesis in what I heard and learned growing up here. My first novel, "Josie's Dream" had Josephine 'Josie' as a graduate of the medical school in Keokuk, Iowa.

https://amzn.to/2wVegnv

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Member of National League of American Pen Women,

Women Writing the West,

Pikes Peak Posse of the Westerners

Angela Raines - author: Where Love & History Meet

For a list of Angela Raines Books: Here 

Photo and Poem: Click Here 

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here