Eating Out in the 1850s

In my latest Sweet, Historical, Western Romance (A Bride for Alastair), my characters are returning to Boston after an extended stay in Missouri. They, of course, hadn’t left any food supplies in the house, except a few dried goods like tea, as they weren’t sure how long they’d be away. In those days, although the arrival of the rails had greatly sped up travel times, it still took at least a week to make the trip one way. But that doesn’t change the fact that you gotta eat.

Interestingly, the word restaurant, from a French word, only applied to eating establishments serving French cuisine. Most famous in the East is Delmonico’s in New York which opened in the 1830s. But aptly named “eating houses” also existed, besides saloons, as well as street vendors. The further West one travelled, the more people had to rely on eating “out” as fewer people had homes. By the time one got as far as San Francisco, nearly everyone ate in restaurants most of the time as so many were living in tents or hovels. This led to cooks coming from all over the world and created a diverse eating experience. The first three Chinese restaurants in the United States were opened in San Francisco in the 1850s.

Hotels served food, of course, to their patrons. In order to protect respectable woman from unwanted advances, a separate dining space in large hotels called a ladies’ ordinary was set aside for families or ladies travelling alone. At this time, women were not permitted to dine alone or unaccompanied by a male escort in restaurants and the public rooms of luxury, urban hotels. A ladies’ ordinary provided a socially acceptable venue where respectable women could dine alone or with other women.

I find this hard to believe as I don’t like them, but in the mid 19^th century, one of the most common dishes ordered at any eating establishment was oysters. From my research, it seems like all across the country they were very popular. I can’t imagine them being very good in the middle of the country, but I suppose near the coasts they would be fresh enough.

One thing I found fascinating, because “respectable” women didn’t usually eat in restaurants, a solution had to be found as the nation prospered - wealthy women could work up an appetite while out shopping. Thus the ice cream saloon came about. These decadent eateries allowed women to dine alone without putting their bodies or reputations at risk. The first ones served little more than ice cream, pastries, and oysters, but as women became more comfortable with eating out, these establishments expanded into opulent, full-service restaurants with sophisticated menus. Although ice cream saloons or parlors had an air of dainty domesticity, they also developed more sultry reputations. At the time, they were one of the few places where both men and women could go unchaperoned. As a result, they became popular destinations for dates and other illicit rendezvous.

The research I had done for my book centered around Boston, so I’ve found researching this article absolutely fascinating. I think some of these tidbits are going to have to turn up in future books <grin>.

Secrets divide them. Could love build a bridge to help them overcome their deceptions?

Jane was full of resentment and fear when the man she had married by proxy came to collect her. She resented the circumstances that required her to marry and was afraid of being tied to a stranger, especially a stranger she had to keep secrets from.

Alastair Fredericksburg, Fred to his friends, had arranged successful proxy marriages for a few of his friends but still had mixed feelings about marriage due to his sister’s unhappy union. He was understandably hesitant when his friends Ella and Carter McLain contacted him requesting that he arrange a marriage for their friend, Jane.

When a sudden inheritance that would solve many of his sister’s problems is dependent on his marriage, Fred can’t decide if it’s the Devil or Providence watching out for him. Since Carter had already sent Jane’s proxy, Fred quickly signs and registers their marriage. After making sure his sister was secure, Fred boarded the westbound train to claim his wife.

Jane was certain it was only the sweet wine they had been drinking that had caused her to agree to Ella’s rash suggestion. She had failed to tell Ella of the secrets that made her an ineligible match for Alastair Fredericksburg. Would she be able to keep her secrets from her new husband? And could they ever be happy while divided by deception?

Available from Amazon. Free with your KU subscription.

I'd love to stay in touch :-) You could join my Facebook group. Or follow me on Instagram.

Returning to the Past: A Woman’s Life on the American Frontier by Shirleen Davies

The period of western expansion and settlement challenged settlers in ways inconceivable to us today. It’s hard to believe, with all our modern conveniences and creature comforts, that our ancestors were ever so resourceful, determined, and resilient in the face of monumental difficulties.

Frontier Woman Hauling Buffalo Chips

When you start to do a little digging, it doesn’t take long to discover that women who traveled west—alone or with their families—had unprecedented responsibility on the frontier. By necessity, women did a great deal more physical labor on the frontier than we’re accustomed to today.

Most women on the frontier who took jobs to survive, worked in traditionally female roles such as teaching, nursing, and service work. However, these jobs made women’s labor integral to the growth of western communities.

The challenge of frontier life started with the journey. Women were responsible for preparing their families for the long, dangerous trip westward. One of the most important pieces of that puzzle was outfitting a wagon. 

Family in their Covered Wagon

Women hand-sewed wagon covers (often in groups as a social event) as well as clothes for the journey. These items were necessary to surviving harsh and varied climates which included burning heat in the plains and deserts, and freezing cold in the mountains. Wagons were stocked with the bare necessities, forcing tough choices when it came to leaving precious heirlooms behind. Families needed to be kept clean, fed, and clothed, but saving space and weight in the wagon made this a delicate balancing act between preparedness and minimalism.

When families reached the frontier, priorities shifted away from basic survival toward establishing sustainable lives in the new land. Women were vastly outnumbered by men. Some figures place it at three or four men for every woman. However, women still shouldered a great portion of the work.

Female Cattle Rancher

Men worked jobs that drew them west in the first place, while women took charge of home management as well as assisting with farming and ranching chores. Unmarried women often cleaned rooms in hotels and boarding houses, worked in saloons, and assisted in medical clinics that benefited local families as well as the huge number of single men who lived in or passed through their towns. Providing laundry and seamstress services also gave women with no family a way to survive. Women as a whole often pooled time, skill, and capital to provide care for the entire town’s children, bachelors, transients, ill, and injured.

Women also shouldered the responsibility for orchestrating social and leisure time. Church boards and ladies’ groups were often a town’s most important asset in terms of creating a homey, enjoyable social life in frontier towns that were isolated and detached from the rest of the country.

Mining town life, however, drew a different type of woman. Many traveled from camp to camp, working in saloons and offering their favors in the sex trade. Brothels sprung up overnight in such camps and were extremely popular. Women who didn’t make it in this trade occasionally became outlaws. There are accounts of numerous females who became accomplished at robbing stagecoaches, banks, and unsuspecting newcomers to the west.

Many women were drawn westward for teaching opportunities. One of the reasons that so many women were able to get jobs in education is that one could get away with paying female teachers less than male teachers. Still, education jobs were considered valuable opportunities, enticing women to strike out for the western territory. Female educators did their best with little to no supplies, bare classrooms, overcrowding, and nothing more than the Bible for reading material.

Frontier School House

Schools also operated according to ranch and farming schedules, which meant some schools were in session for as few as three months out of the year. As a group, determined, altruistic female teachers were responsible for educating an entire generation of western Americans in basic academic and life skills.

Because there were so many more men, women were “in demand” among those who wanted to settle down in the west. This meant that unmarried women could afford to be picky, and many women held more social and financial capital than they could have in the east.

Participating in local politics became more common among women in the west. Tough, resourceful, enterprising women, earned the respect and admiration of the town’s men through their mettle and fortitude, proving themselves through their countless contributions to the economy of frontier towns. In some towns, women secured their rights earlier than their eastern sisters. Believe it or not, women in the western territories had the right to vote well before the 19th amendment, and well before most of their sisters on the eastern seaboard.

Unending work, hardships, and unparalleled opportunity awaited those women willing to make the sacrifices necessary for a life on the frontier. Could I have lived during the western expansion? Of course. Any of us could. Would I want to do it given present day conveniences and jobs? Hmmm…that’s a whole other question.

What would you do?

I'm pleased to announce book ten in my MacLarens of Boundary Mountain is now on preorder!

 Buy Direct from Shirleen

Amazon

iBooks/Apple

Barnes & Noble

GooglePlay

Kobo

Please take a moment to sign up for my Newsletter and Follow Me on:

Amazon

BookBub

Inspiration coming from the land and an author

by Rain Trueax

Zane Grey with one of his guides-- painting inside the lodge at Kohl's Ranch

Most writers have authors who inspired them. For me, one of the earliest, was Zane Grey for his mix of action, romance, and nature. His books made me want to be in the places he described because I knew he'd written of what was real. I loved how he depicted the land having the power to change lives.

Alongside my desk is one of his books. It originally came out as To the Last Man, inspired by a real feud in the Tonto Basin-- [The Pleasant Valley War]. Years after the censored version, the book came out as he had originally intended-- Tonto Basin. Even back then but more so today, Zane Grey is criticized for not being politically correct. He had his prejudices and was a product of his time. He wrote his stories when the West wasn't that far removed from its wild and woolly days. Remember Arizona was denied statehood until 1912-- some say because the rest of the states thought it was still too violent. There was some conflict over it not wanting to be one state with New Mexico for possible racist reasons. Add to it that it seemed barren without water. Whatever the reasons, it was the last of the contiguous states to be admitted.

Much as I loved Grey's heroes and heroines, his descriptions of nature inspired me the most and probably contributed to my own love of it for my writing. He brought the land alive as a real character in his stories. As a hunter and fisherman, he walked the trails about which he wrote.

As an example of what I loved, the following is a snippet typed from the book. It was worth the work as I am still inspired to remember to bring to my books the nature that I always found in his.

 "Early in July the hot weather came. Down in the red ridges of the Tonto it was hot desert. The nights were cool, the early mornings were pleasant, but the day was something to endure. When the white cumulus clouds rolled up out of the southwest, growing larger and thicker and darker, here and there coalescing into a black thunderhead, Jean welcomed them. He liked to see the gray streamers of rain hanging down low from a canopy of black, and the roar of rain on the trees as it approached like a trampling army was always welcome. The grassy flats, the rocky slopes, the thickets of manzanita and scrub oak and cactus were dusty, glaring, throat-parching places under the hot summer sun."

 

As I typed the snippet, I was tempted to put in the commas that I am dinged for missing; but no, this is how it is in the book and how he wrote when you knew he'd experienced that kind of day.

We have been on the Rim many times but just one time through the valley where the feud happened. It is out of the way and required some gravel roads to leave it to the south.  It's a small place, very pretty with homes and business spread apart-- at least when we were there. Grey changed the names; but in an interview, he said there was still fear and anger from those he spoke to about that bloody time-- when it came down to the last man.

 

This photo above is not in Paradise Valley; but from 2011, near where Grey had a cabin under the Rim from where he hunted, fished, hiked, and wrote his Arizona books. 

My first time at his cabin came out of my desire to find his hunting and writing cabin. It was 1974. We had camped several miles below. It turned out the road to the cabin was closed due to storm damage. I had to see it, and we began walking. I think it was just over two miles.

Part way, some young rangers stopped and asked if we wanted a ride. We rode in the back of their pickup to the turnoff to the cabin. We were lucky that day that the caretakers were there. The cabin was one room with no bedrooms. Inside was a desk where he wrote. His guests and Grey slept in cabin tents. On that first visit, there were books for sale, and I bought three paperbacks even though I already owned them. 

In 1979, we had a second visit where the road to it was open. We parked in the parking area, but the caretaker was not there. We though could be on the porch and look in the windows.

My third time was 2011, after the monster Dude Fire had come though the rim country, and despite all efforts to save it, burned the cabin. A few mementos were saved. When we drove up anyway, the property was gated off by the association that apparently owned it.

Today there is a replica of Grey's cabin in Payson, a nearby town. I chose not to go into it as although it resembles the cabin, it's not the same for energy as when it was possible to see inside the walls that inspired a writer to create stories that still live on. 

When I wrote this, it reminded me of wanting to watch again the most recent movie (I read there were 112) based on one of Grey's books-- Riders of the Purple Sage. It's on Amazon, but I own it-- some movies I know I'll want to see again and again.  

Grey had a prejudice against Mormons and used some words that are not okay today, but this film avoids that and goes to the real problem with some groups using religion-- greed, search for power, and fundamentalism. Ed Harris and his wife, Amy Madigan, starred and kept it true to the energy of the book. It was filmed in gorgeous, red rock country, which is not on the Rim but to the north. Arizona is a state of diversity, which is why I've loved having a home there for over twenty years now and where I have placed so many of my books. 

 https://www.amazon.com/Riders-Purple-Sage-Ed-Harris/dp/B00A92MD8G

Hurricanes

We all watched Dorian last week make its way northward while so many of us were crossing our fingers that would stay at sea.

~~***~~

Try to imagine living in the late 1660's in house built by your father-in-law, Thomas Willoughby, and now occupied by the man's son and his wife. Beautiful rich farmland surrounds the house, probably tobacco. a gorgeous plant with very large, bright green leaves and a cluster of flowers, growing in those fields. It's been a wonderful growing season and crop is already being harvested and the leaves hung to dry. Life in the new world is good. You look out the window and you see water. The water is choppy.  What is normally rather tranquil is now forecasting a bad storm. Then it starts to rain and rain, and rain some more. There's no weatherman, no TV, no radio, but the family has been here for 40 some years and they've seen plenty of wicked storms.

Then the storm hits. The sound of wind, things blowing over, but it's raining so hard you can no longer see anything. It's raining sideways. The chimney downdrafts and creates a horn sound, deep throated as if you'd blown into a bottle. With the sound comes the soot that gets blown into the room and the fire has been doused. Water is trying to seep in through every crack and under the doors. The ceiling is leaking and you grab a large pot and put it under the falling water. You wonder how you will sleep while being in such a storm.  This is the worse storm you've ever known. Drip, drip, the sound of water splashing into that large pot. Exhaustion finally overtakes you, and you drift into a light slumber. At some point, you realize the rain has stopped,  and there's light outside. You drag yourself your bed, pull your shawl around you, and go to the window to look out. Crops are flattened. Everything is soggy and covered with leaves. You wonder how anything still has leaf on it. Then you look towards the water. It's gone!

This was no ordinary storm, it was a "Harry Cane" And where once there was water, there was now land.  As soon as possible an addendum was added to the original land grant to include this newly "found" land. Thomas Willoughby, II, and his wife were very lucky.

Hurricanes have always plagued the east coast of the North America, but they also hit Texas and go inland on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains causing flooding and creating havoc. Today we can plan and with pretty good accuracy. But for as many years as we've inhabited this land, there were no forecasts. People didn't know a summer storm from a Harry Cane until was over.

In 1749, The Chesapeake Bay rose 15 feet and deposited more land, and in 1806 the Great Storm formed what we now consider Willoughby Spit with over 7 miles of beachfront property. 1871, the National Weather Service began to keep detailed records of the weather here in Tidewater {Hampton Roads), Virginia. But throughout history the great storms have been notated in farm records, and ships records. We know the storms were here and what they did.

This year, after the devastation in the Bahamas...  We on the east coast knew what it could do.  We prepared!

With each threat of a hurricane we prepare for the worst and hope for the best. It's a hurricane, and hurricanes seem to have a mind of their own. But we have so much more knowledge today including those beautiful satellite photos that provide our weather people more information even though to us it looks like an awesome photo of a cloud with a hole in center.

In 1953 hurricanes were given names.  Willoughby Spit in Norfolk, Virginia, is the result of a few hurricanes.  Too many people become complacent figuring it never hits here very hard. Yes, it does! Isabelle almost took Willoughby Spit away.

I'm glad I know when one is coming. Never figure this one won't hit us, be prepared. And if you are asked to evacuate, get out! Most of us can recall the names of the ones that have hit in our lifetime and we all know about the Galveston hurricane. Dorian is not one that will be forgotten.

Map of Hampton Roads

1856

Crochet, Back in the Day

I learned how to do a single crochet stitch as a kid and recently took it up again a few months ago. 

Since then, I learned a few more stitches (double crochet, half-double crochet, slip stitch, magic circle) and figured out how to crochet in a round, so I bought some random bags of yarn at Goodwill and made a bunch of baskets.

I am going to sell them at a store in our town that sells handmade items by locals. It’s been a fun way to relax from the day job of writing, and the all-consuming job of being a mom to twins. If they sell, it will also bring in a little spending money.

All this crafting got me thinking of how 19^th century women had very little time to themselves. From all my research for my books it seems that women had to focus on running their households from sunup to long past sundown. And if anything extra or fun got done, it was usually late into the night.

One of my favorite scenes in the TV show, Little House on the Prairie, was when Ma stays up all night to sew dresses for the girls, out of fabric she’d picked to make herself a new dress.

(quick sidenote: I have the boxed set of all the Little House books, and I’m not kidding when I say that I read the entire series at least 15 times as a kid, and 3 as an adult.)

I then wondered how old the art of crochet is, and where it began. 

I found an interesting history of crochet (CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK) that pointed out how some feel the Irish potato famine is what brought the art of crochet to many American households.

The article linked above also gives a detailed history of how crochet patterns and styles have changed throughout history. 

Another change is how we get our supplies. Instead of going to town, browsing a store or a book, we can simply go online and purchase everything we need. Even items from the past!

Check out this pattern for a crocheted hair net I found on Amazon (CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK)

I’d love to hear from you! Are you interested in crafting? Do you crochet or knit? Let’s chat in the comments.

Rabies

Rabies ~ that's a word wrapped in fear. Hydrophobia.

Have you ever watched Old Yeller? Yeah, scary.

Rabies is a disease that is transmitted by the saliva of infected animals. Common carriers are foxes, skunks, raccoons, and bats. Along with domestic dogs, cats and other animals.

You can imagine the fear in the old west when a rabid animal was spotted. 

If a human was bitten, good news, they didn't always have to come down with the disease, but bad news, if they did - it was fatal. (at least one person in the modern world has survived, But terrible odds. Get the shot if bitten.)

Even today, thousands of people (55,000)  in developing countries die every year of rabies. In America, cats are becoming increasingly infected with the disease, despite the idea from some that they can't catch rabies. (Maybe because of the increasing feeding of feral cats. The best thing a cat caretaker can do is trap and vaccinate them against rabies.)

In 1885, Louis Pasteur developed a rabies vaccine that if given in time prevents people from getting the disease. My father-in-law had to have the shots in the stomach area when he was eight and years later still remembered those needles.

Today, it's only 4 shots given in the arm. Many doctors recommend getting them if you are going to a country where rabies is not controlled.

One of the oddest old time remedies was a madstone. It's actually not a stone at all, but comes from the stomach of a cud chewing animal such as a deer or cow. Supposedly you put the thing on the wound and let it soak the poison.
I'll take the shots  : )

Rabies cases peak in the summer. 

~~~~
I hope you all are enjoying the September and the hope of cooler temperatures.
Greta's Story ~ I love Greta - she's an innovative character if i have ever had one. See how she saved her family.  you might just see some reference to rabies. : )

My new release this month is Ronan's Bride and it will be out September 10th.

Have a wonderful month.  See you in October.

Blessings,
Patricia PacJac Carroll

EUPHEMISMS By Cheri Kay Clifton

Last month I posted an article about idioms and clichés, some popular examples and their origins. Today I am following up with examples of euphemisms.

Euphemisms are used as a polite expression in place of words or phrases that might be considered too strong, harsh or unpleasant.  Using a euphemism is a mild or indirect way to say something that might be too sensitive or uncomfortable to say straight away using the literal version.  I might add, that in this day and age, euphemisms are used to be “politically correct.” Also, some euphemisms are intentionally sarcastic or make light of a serious subject. In any case, euphemisms are used regularly and in everyday language. To me, idioms and euphemisms are often similar.

Below are a few different categories of euphemisms commonly used in place of the actual words that are too objectionable to say; a few are used in place of swear or curse words; in many cases, the ones I like are expressed to bring humor to the subject.

Bodily Functions & getting old:

Powder your nose (go to toilet)

Visit the ladies’ room (toilet)

Break wind (fart)

Over the hill (Old)

Q-tips (Old with white hair)

Death and dying:

Supreme sacrifice

Passed away

Dearly departed

Put to sleep (euthanize)

Bought the farm

Bit the dust

Croaked

Cashed in his chips

Gave up the ghost

Employment:

Letting someone go (fired)

On the streets (homeless)

Correctional facility (jail)

Between jobs (unemployed)

Economical (cheap)

Negative cash flow (broke)

Sexual activity: These days with movies, books and TV sexually explicit, many people don’t avoid “sex talk.” However, here’s some polite euphemisms.

Turn a trick (prostitution)

Au natural (naked)

In the buff (naked)

In your birthday suit (naked)

Birds and bees (sex)

Making whoopee (sex)

Hankie pankie (sex)

Go all the way (sex)

Making whoopie (sex)

Roll in the hay (sex)

Swear-Word Alternatives: some are vintage, many provide a good chuckle, but there were some that I still found too offensive to list!

Balderdash!

Dagnabbit!

Holy cow!

Holy mackerel!

Holy smokes!

Holy guacamole!

Sugar!

Sufferin’ succotash! (remember Bugs Bunny?)

Phooey!

Great Scott!

Heavens to Betsy!

Leapin’lizards!

Flippin’!

Shut the front door!

Gee Willikers!

Son of a gun!

Egad!

Gadzooks!

Jeepers!

Good grief!

Yikes!

Golly!

For Pete’s sake

Malarkey!

Darn!

Heck!

OMG!

Oh, my gosh!

I’m sure you recognize and have used some of these popular how-not-to-say-what-you-mean euphemisms in your everyday dialogue. There are, of course, thousands of them.

A great web site I use when wanting to find a phrase is The Phrase Finder, www.phrases.org.uk. It’s interesting and very informative. Even though the origins of many English words and phrases come from England, check out the list of 161 Phrases Coined in the U.S.A. on the web site.

Visit me at www.CheriKayClifton.com

Like me at www.facebook.com/CheriKayClifton

Epic Historical Western Romance

Wheels of Destiny Trilogy

Book 1, Trail To Destiny

Book 2,Destiny's Journey

Book 3, Yesteryear's Destiny (2020)