- All Gaul is Divided Into Three Parts
- When Betsy leaves for Milwaukee she says "All Gaul is divided into
3 parts, and you have two of them!" This is from a quote attributed
to Julius Caesar, "Gallis est omnis divisa in partes tres," or "all
Gaul is divided into three parts." Gaul is the ancient name for
France. Maud seems to be making a pun on Gaul and gall (as in impudence).
-- Kara Ogletree, Nava Cohen
- Prince Albert
- According to my copy of Fashion in History, a Prince Albert is a
long frock coat, popular for every day wear in the second half of the
19th century. It is usually single breasted, and fastened with two
buttons. It is worn with either black or grey pants. The style of
the lapels and the cut of the tails changed from season to season. By
the turn of the century, this suit was considered very formal, and
worn on Sundays to church and formal evening events.
-- Elizabeth Kuzina
- Lochinvar
- Sir Walter Scott wrote "Lochinvar" as a poem within a poem,
Marmion It was a song sung by a Lady Heron, inspired by her husband's
plight of being imprisoned. (it's in Canto V.) Oddly, it has been
anthologized for school children since my high school days as a single
poem.
-- Irene Garson
- House Parties
- House parties developed because communities (and friends) were too
scattered to make getting together a casual process - it took so long to get
somewhere that the people didn't want to turn around immediately and
return home. Homes were much more noted for their hospitality
in bygone days than now (I notice in NYC people rarely entertain at
home but invite their friends to restaurants but I assume
that is also because so many of us live in one room cells!). I
think house parties really came into their own in the late 19th
century in England and were huge during the reign of Edward and
Alexandra (also were quite licentious; husband
s and wives would be put at opposite ends of a hall so they could have
the freedom to flirt, etc. with other guests without the spouse observing.) I
do think that most groups tended to be coed rather than single sex but imagine
Carney's House Party to be the equivalent of a modern slumber party!
-- Constance Martin
- Marco
- There definitely was a Marco. The "House of the Yellow Roses" is
still standing, too. Most of the relationship between
Marco and Betsy came straight from Maud's letters home from Europe -
including the fact that he told her he loved her in several languages
and that he stood in the garden looking up at her window on the night
after their fateful outing to Fusina. How Romantic! Paolo (Marco) was
handsome - but not as rugged as I had pictured Marco.
-- Sharla Whalen
- Anna Held Curves
In Heaven To Betsy, while getting
ready for Bonnie's evening party for the two Triumvirates, Betsy
"wished she could take a bath in the tub but she didn't
dare; the steam would uncurl her hair. She sponged carefully,
however, put on her prettiest underwear, and pinned starched ruffles across her
chest to give her figure an Anna Held curve" (Heaven To Betsy, p. 85).
--quotation identification courtesy Holly Davis
- Anna Held was a famous stage actress in her day...and noted for her
large bust...in those days women had CURVES and -big bust, large hips
but a tiny, tiny waist. She, like Lillie Lantry, used the press to her
great advanatge and did all sorts of publicity stunts. Many women/girls
pinned ruffles on their undergarments so they would look "bigger".
- Hair Up/Hair Down
- "Putting your hair up" was the equivalent of our modern day high
heels or first makeup. It meant that you were all grown up and no
longer a child... usually happened at around age 14, when the skirt
lengths were lowered too (and a girl started to wear corsets).
Putting it up and keeping it up could be a major pain...all
those hair pins and rats and often required the help of a maid or a
hairdresser (or a sister!) I suspect women just braided it and turned
the braid up when they didn't have the time or energy to bother with
"putting it up". They would never wear it in a braid hanging down
their back since that style was just worn by children.
There were also some cultural mores that only a women's husband
could see her with her "hair down"...it was most improper for anyone
else to see her that way. The phrase "letting your hair down" comes from that
era too...it means to get comfortable and to be yourself. It must have been a
real pain to always have to worry about your hair and whether or not
it was falling down!
-- Guusje Moore
I think the difference between the hair- ribbon version of up
and the *grown-up* version of up was in the braiding. If you parted
your hair as usual and braided one long plait down the back, then looped and
pinned the braid up - you were still a young girl. The great big hair
ribbon was usually low over the braid (which could no doubt be pinned
up in a variety of different manners) at the nape of the neck. When
you "grew up," you created a pompadour with
a bun or knot of hair at the top. No braiding and no hair ribbon (at
least not a huge one at the nape of the neck). And generally, there
would be no part. You probably turned your head upside down to brush
it.
-- Sharla Whalen
- Peter Thompson suits
In Heaven To Betsy, Betsy visits the
Taggarts' farm. In the course of her visit, she learns that there
is a surprise waiting for her at home. She tries to guess what the
surprise might be.
"'Shep! What is it? What _can it be?'
"Shep barked as though guessing a bone. 'A Peter Thompson suit?'
thought Betsy, striding up the road" (Heaven To Betsy, p. 7-8).
--quotation identification courtesy Holly Davis
- A detailed description of a Peter Thompson suit: "...a sort of
voluntary school uniform on the lines of the sailor suit of childish years but
lengthened, refined and eleganted for these grown-up years. They were
made to order by an English
tailor in New York, Mr. Peter Thompson, whose representative came
all the way out to Duluth to take the measurements of his firm's customers...
The style was classically standard but materials varied; the dark blue serge
for every day, the cobalt blue linen for intermediate, the fine white
linen for best. The top
part slipped over the head and tucked into a rather full gored skirt,
maybe four inches off the ground. White soutache braid bordered the sailor
collar as well as the cuffs buttoned at the wrist. A starched stiff
white dickey, with almost
clerical stand-up collar, was tied with tapes at the back and was
embroidered with anchor and chevrons as was one sleeve. A red or
black triangular silk scarf tied in a sailor's knot completed the costume."
- Bluing
- Bluing is sort of like bleach...it was put in the water with whites to
make them really white. If I recall it didn't really turn the water a
slight blue, but it kept white clothes and things from yellowing.
-- Guusje Moore
You can still buy bluing- in a little bottle on the laundry
detergent aisle at the grocery store. I drained our wash water into the
garden in Atlanta, so I didn't use Clorox. I used bluing in the white loads
on occasion, but Guusje, my water *was* slightly blue. Maybe I used too
much? At least I never noticed any blue vegetables...
And have you ever heard of a "blue haired matron"? Women with white/gray
hair use bluing to take away the yellow cast to their hair.
Bluing is also used to make those rockgardens, where you grow crystals on
lumps of coal. I forget the other ingredients.
-- Nancy Cleaveland