Part 3 of an ongoing series ~
Who knew? Tobacco use in the nineteenth century might surprise you! Without today’s health warnings, tobacco became a favorite vice among men and women of all ages (including children). Numerous vintage sources paint an accurate backdrop of cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, chewing tobacco, etc., dispelling the myths surrounding tobacco use throughout the American nineteenth century.
Etiquette and all that is deemed “good manners” morphs over time. Behavior that our nineteenth-century ancestors would find appropriate has largely disappeared, and today’s idea of a man’s best actions with his hat would appall our great-granddaddies. Specifically speaking, “Common Details of Western Historical Romance that are Historically Incorrect, Part 2” entails nineteenth century hat etiquette–specifically men in the company of women–and contains more vintage citations than my earlier post titled Hat Etiquette of the Victorian Era.
This newspaper article, published in Vermont Journal of Windsor, Vermont, on November 30, 1889, instructs our Victorian ancestors (in the United States) how to properly carve a turkey. Picture the Thanksgiving table laden with fancy dishes, and the head of the household carving the bird from his place of honor at the head of the table.
In context of Western Historical romances:
“May I call on you?”
“He took me on a date.”
Historically accurate… or So Not The Way Things Were? Why? How do we know?
Nineteenth Century American women who desired an advanced education (and to work as a professional) fought an uphill battle. As late as the final decade (1890s) cultural beliefs demanded “good” women made home a bit of heaven on earth, toiled only as a help-meet to her husband, and found all the joy and satisfaction there she could possibly need. Historical sources underscore this dated belief system, and set the stage for the challenges faced by my character Dr. Isabella Pattison, DDS, in Isabella’s Calico Groom (within Calico Ball: Timeless Western Collection).
