What made the "San Francisco Call" on May 18th, 1909?
* "Mrs. Taft ill from nervous breakdown" - but don't worry, her sister took over her social duties.
* "Society Belle becomes Minstrels Bride" - I'm SO curious! But there's no further explanation!
*Several bridge parties hosted by "The Smart Set"
Thank heavens of the California Digital Newspapers Collection. I know I'll be going back there!
Showing posts with label The Gilded Age. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Gilded Age. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Questions In My Head: Dinner Conversation in 1909
In the time between when my head hits the pillow and I actually fall asleep--a vastly changing number depending on the night and the thoughts--I usually construct scenes. Since my heroine of the Time Travel Romance (that's not the real name, I promise, but it doesn't have one yet) Clara is sitting down to dinner in 1909 with only one person who knows anything about 2011 where she comes from, I tried to come up with dinner conversation.
Things I considered before deciding it probably wasn't appropriate for a lady to discuss:
* How long Ben Mitchell has been her "guardian" and their respective fathers' deaths.
* Anything political going on.
* Anything that might be interesting ...
Which led me to the Questions In My Head:
1. What did ladies talk about at dinner in 1909?
2. What did they eat?
3. How were they served?
4. Why haven't I bought "Seasons of Splendor" yet ...?
So while I'm off to go research, maybe somebody knows the answer? Jot it down in the comments for me! :)
Things I considered before deciding it probably wasn't appropriate for a lady to discuss:
* How long Ben Mitchell has been her "guardian" and their respective fathers' deaths.
* Anything political going on.
* Anything that might be interesting ...
Which led me to the Questions In My Head:
1. What did ladies talk about at dinner in 1909?
2. What did they eat?
3. How were they served?
4. Why haven't I bought "Seasons of Splendor" yet ...?
So while I'm off to go research, maybe somebody knows the answer? Jot it down in the comments for me! :)
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
The Gilded Age!
Today I'm working on my time traveling romance and my heroine, Clara, has just stumbled into 1909. I've been using Amazon's Look Inside feature to read about clothing in the Gilded Age from Greg King's "A Season of Splendor: The Court of Mrs. Astor in Gilded Age New York." I'm seriously coveting that book right now! I also found a couple neat sites to help me with Clara's new underwear! Vintage Victorian was a great insight into what she'd put on.
Getting to write about a character who travels back to 1909 is nice because she gets to make all kinds of slip-ups in her speech (because I will invariably write them). Yet what girl can't hark back to some great historical romance she read and pull out some sophisticated lines? My favorite so far? Clara blames her lack of appropriate clothing on her lady's maid abandoning her and stealing all her clothes.
Is anyone else as obsessed with the Gilded Age as I am? If not, what's your favorite era for romances?
Getting to write about a character who travels back to 1909 is nice because she gets to make all kinds of slip-ups in her speech (because I will invariably write them). Yet what girl can't hark back to some great historical romance she read and pull out some sophisticated lines? My favorite so far? Clara blames her lack of appropriate clothing on her lady's maid abandoning her and stealing all her clothes.
Is anyone else as obsessed with the Gilded Age as I am? If not, what's your favorite era for romances?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)