Lighthouses and Small Towns--Eagle Harbor, Michigan

Last month I blogged about the real historical town of Eagle Harbor, Michigan, which is tucked into the woods on a little slat of land that juts up into Lake Superior. I lso mentioned I had a novel out about the very real Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, and a fictional lightkeeper. Of course writing about a fictional lightkeeper led to some rather interesting research about lighthouses.

 Did you know that lighthouse location was very important to lightkeepers? Even though Eagle Harbor, Michigan was small and isolated in the late 1800s (which hasn't changed much between then and today), being appointed to the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse was still considered a very desirable position for a lightkeeper to have.

The Eagle Harbor Lighthouse is located at the edge of an actual town. A lot of historic lighthouses are in far less pleasant locations. Simply put, wherever there was danger of a ship running aground, a lighthouse was constructed. Sometimes this meant lighthouses sat on little slats of rock in the middle of one of the Great Lakes. Below is a picture of the Gull Rock lighthouse, which is no longer operational today. There's no town surrounding the Gull Rock lighthouse. In fact, even going to to the mainland to get help could be risky and impossible at times. There's one story about the lightkeeper's wife giving birth to a child inside the boat her husband was rowing to the mainland.

To a lightkeeper's way of thinking, the very best lightkeeping positions were located in towns with church and schools and stores. They offered a lightkeeper the chance to raise his family in a community rather than in complete isolation. Eagle Harbor, Michigan was one of those towns, as were several other locations along the Great Lakes. The lighthouses at Copper Harbor, Michigan and Ontonagon, Michigan were also considered good posts to have for this same reason.

Historical lighthouses, along with the ones still active today, served one of two purposes. They either worked as a beacon to guide ships to a harbor entrance, or they worked as a warning signal to keep ships away from dangerous stretches of water. The Gull Rock Lighthouse served as a warning to keep ships away from the rock ridge several miles off the shoreline. The coastline surrounding Eagle Harbor is rocky and rather treacherous, which made the light at Eagle Harbor doubly important. The lighthouse served the duel functions of not only marking where the harbor entrance was but also marking the rocks that rim the harbor. If a ship's pilot missed the safe entrance, then the ship would wreck. And yes, there are accounts of ships wrecking off the coast of Eagle Harbor in calm waters.

Do you enjoy lighthouses? Have you ever toured one before? Have you ever read a novel set at a lighthouse? What about the nature of lighthouses appeals to you?

~.~.~.~.~

On Sale for $2.99

Tressa Danell is finished with men—from the wastrel who left her a widow, to the smelly trapper who keeps proposing, to the banker who wants to repossess her bakery. Every hour is spent working to payoff her late husband’s debt and keep a roof over her son’s head, though it’s doubtful she can do both for very long. But one thing’s certain—she’ll never be beholden to a man again. 

Tired of living in a small town that blames him for actions his father committed ten years ago, Mac Oakton is scheduled to leave Eagle Harbor. So why does the pretty widow at the bakery keep tugging at his heart? He can’t get involved in her predicament when he’ll only be around for two more weeks. 

But when Tressa’s burdens overwhelm her, they both face a decision. Can Mac set his own plans aside to help? And can Tressa accept his support if that means giving up her independence ... and being obligated to a man again?

View Love's Unfading Light on Amazon--on sale for $2.99. For more information about Naomi Rawlings and her Eagle Harbor Series, visit www.naomirawlings.com.

Eliza, Henry and Freddy by Jillian Kent

I was thinking about movies. I watch a lot of them. I was trying to remember the popular movies I went to see as a kid and I had no memory of when I first watched My Fair Lady. I remember The Sound of Music and The Unsinkable Molly Brown. I even remember the intermission during The Sound of Music and blowing a big bubble that popped during The Unsinkable Molly Brown that got stuck all over my face. Still I thought I should be able to remember My Fair Lady, but nothing came to me except, "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain," and I think that's because my aunt loved to go around saying that after she'd obviously seen the movie. So I went exploring to see if  I could conjure up any childhood memories. Here’s what I discovered on my quest.

The Broadway production debuted March 15,1956. I was a little over a year old. Henry Higgens was played by Rex Harrison and Eliza Doolittle was played by Julie Andrews. You mean it wasn't always Audrey Hepburn? The movie was released in 1964 with Audry Hepburn as Eliza.

                                                                             

                                                

 I might not remember when I first watched My Fair Lady at the movies. Maybe I didn't see it till years later but what I remember most wasn't Eliza, or Professor Higgens but Freddy singing On the Street Where You Live! Now imagine my surprise when I discovered as you probably all already knew that Freddy was played by Jeremy Brett! What? Didn't he play Sherlock Holmes? Those two roles just don't mesh in my brain. But it's true. I discovered at the IMDB ( Internet Movie Data Base) that Brett had not really done the singing in the movie but, "This was only partially true. The opening chorus of "On the Street Where You Live" which was written especially just for the film, was indeed sung by Brett. But the main verse of the popular song was dubbed by Bill Shirley. Similarly, the opening chorus to "Show Me" was dubbed by Bill Shirley." However, if you watch the credits after the clip below it says sung by Bill Shirley and Vic Damone.

 

Also, at IMDB ( I love that site) I discovered that Audrey didn't do most of her singing. She did a bit but most of it was done by Marni Nixon. You can read more about this trivia at the site. Very interesting, I had no idea.

Winston Churchill showed up for the premier in London.

 

And guess who else?

 

On April 29th 1958, My Fair Lady, opened at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. Those of you who love stories set in London might enjoy knowing that this theatre stands the same place it has since1663. It was destroyed by fire in 1672 and has been rebuilt four times.

Do you remember the first time you watched, My Fair Lady, on stage or at the movies? Tell us about it. What's your favorite song from My Fair Lady?

                                                                          

Jillian is employed as a counselor for nursing students in Cincinnati, Ohio and possesses a masters degree in social work. She is a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors and passionate about mental health, wellness, and stomping out the stigma that surrounds mental illness. She coordinates and frequently contributes to The Well Writer in Christian Fiction Online Magazine. Learn more about Jillian and her Ravensmoore novels at www.jilliankent.com

Tidbits from 19th Century Words

Generally I share tidbits based on locations today I'd like to do something a little different. Recently I reposted a list from chapters of a book of Americanisms or what might be referred to as slang. Today I'd like to share some of these words and their meanings from the 1848 Americanisms by John Bartlett

AHEAD. Originally a sea-term. Farther onward than another. —Johnson.
This word has now become very common, and signifies forward, in advance.
Our banks, being anxious to make money for their stockholders, are probably right to drive ahead, regardless of consequences, &c.—JV. Y. Com. Adv. Nov. 29,1845.

Bellowstop. "When egg was beaten in it [flip], it was called bellowstop; partly, perhaps, from its superior quality and partly from the greater quantity of white froth that swelled to the top of it."—Joel Parker, Centennial Address, 1873.

This next one is kinda fun since it's the same word with two different meanings. However when I was researching my book 19th Century Carriages & Wagons I discovered that the wagon was labeled that way because of the lady's hat.
CALASH. (Fr. cale‘che.) A two-wheeled carriage, resembling a chaise, used in Canada.
CALASH. A covering for the head, usually worn by ladies to protect their head-dresses when going to evening parties, the theatre, etc.

DAB, or DABSTER. One who is expert in anything; a proficient. A vulgar colloquialism in England and America.
One writer excels at a plan, or title-page ; another works away at the
body of the book; and the third is a dab at an index—Goldsmith.
He’s sich a dabster at a plough,
Few match’d him high or fan—Essex Dialect Poems.

Most people would tend to think this one is more modern but it's not.
ELBOW-GREASE. Persevering exercise of the arms, exciting perspiration ; hard rubbing—Glossaries of Brockett and Carr.
These were the manners, these the ways,
In good Queen Bess’s golden days ;
Each damsel owed her bloom and glee
To wholesale elbow-grease and me.—Smart, Fable 5.

Here's one that when I was growing up had a very different meaning.
FAGGED OUT. Fatigued; worn out.

This makes sense but something I haven't seen before.
GAL-BOY. In New England, a romping girl; called also a tom-boy.

HANGER-ON. A dependant; one who eats and drinks without payment.—Johnson.
They all excused themselves save two, which two he reckoned bis friends, and all the rest hangers-on.—L'Estrange.

Here's a fun one for us writers to read:
ILLY. A word occasionally used by writers of an inferior class, who do not seem to perceive that ill is itself an adverb, without the termination ly.

Obviously I could go on and on however, I'll simply post a link to the index from my blog. Americanisms or American Slang


Lynn A. Coleman is an award winning & best-selling author who makes her home in Keystone Heights, Florida, with her husband of 40 years. Lynn's newest novel "The Shepherd's Betrothal" is the third book in her Historical St. Augustine, FL. series.
Check out her 19th Century Historical Tidbits Blog if you like exploring different tidbits of history.

Women Inventors

By Linda Farmer Harris

I love gadgets. However, they must be totally useful and appropriate for the task, not just a cute novelty. Yes, I gravitate to the "As Seen on TV" shelves at Walmart and Tractor Supply. I can recommend the Hurricane 360 Spin Mop, the Spicy Shelf, and the Vidalia Chop Wizard.

Those "inventions" made me think of other posts about inventions by HH&H Bloggers such as Anne Greene's two posts about household essentials:
1 - http://www.hhhistory.com/2014/05/why-could-housewives-of-1920s-begin-to.html and 
2 - http://www.hhhistory.com/2014/08/household-essentials-of-roaring-twenties.html.

Put "Inventor" in HH&H's search field to read more posts about inventors and inventions such as the Phantoscope, Stereoscopes, and Barbed Wire, plus eighteen more.

Anne's posts made me wonder about women inventors. How many and what type of essentials do we enjoy today that were invented or refined by women?

Mary Kies was the first American woman to earn a patent in her own name. In 1809, she developed a way of weaving straw into hats.

The phrase "own name" appeared with many reports and struck me as curious so I dug deeper and discovered that at the end of the 20th century only 10 percent of all patents were awarded to women inventors. The laws in the colonies and in England stipulated that women couldn't own property, including intellectual property. Therefore, inventions and patents were owned by the woman's father or husband.

In addition to prejudice and ridicule, women didn't receive the technical education that would aid them in turning ideas into products.

You might expect women's contributions to be focused entirely on the home and family. Many are. I like inventor Sally Fox's philosophy — "I never really planned to be an inventor, but my attitude toward life has always been inventive." She's responsible for Foxfibre naturally colored cotton.

You can thank Margaret Knight that your paper grocery bags have a square bottom instead of resembling an envelope. 

Margaret Knight

In 1868, as a worker in a Massachusetts paper bag plant, Margaret invented a machine to make the bottoms flat and square. 

 Until then, bags were envelope shaped

Idea theft was a reality then as now and Charles Annan tried to patent her idea. She filed a lawsuit in 1871 and won it and secured her patent. Her picture courtesy of http://youarethefuture.co.uk/

This was not her first invention. Witnessing an accident at the textile mill when she was 12, she developed a device that would automatically stop a machine if something was caught in it. Her device was being used in area mills by the time she was a teenager. This was one of twenty patents and almost 100 different conceived inventions, including a dress and skirt shield, a rotary engine, and a shoe-cutting machine. In her obituary, Margaret was described as a "woman Edison."

Aren't you glad that Mary Anderson received a patent in 1903 for her device for cleaning car windows? We call them windshield wipers today and by 1916 they were standard on most vehicles. Her initial design was a swinging arm device with a rubber blade operated by the driver from inside the vehicle using a lever.

Mary Anderson

In 1917, Charlotte Bridgwood patented the automatic windshield wiper she called a "Storm Windshield Cleaner."

Barbara Askins, NASA chemist - invented a new film developing method to improve astronomical and geological photos.

Patricia Billings, sculptor - invented Geobond(R), non-toxic, indestructible and fire-proof - the world's first workable replacement for asbestos, and all she wanted to do was create a cement additive to prevent her sculptures from shattering. The exact recipe for the registered Geobrand(R) is still a secret.

Patsy Sherman, research chemist - invented Scotchgard(TM) stain repellent. Her advice to aspiring inventors: "Keep your eyes and mind open, and don't ignore something that doesn't come out the way you expect it to. Just keep looking at the world with inventor's eyes!"

Stephanie Kwolek, one of the first women research chemists - inventor of Kevlar (R) resistant to wear, flames, and corrosion.  Kevlar(R) is the main ingredient in the production of bulletproof vests. It's also used in suspension bridge cables, skis, hiking and camping gear, and safety helmets.

Where would we be without Mary Phelps Jacobs, a New York socialite, who invented the modern brassiere!

Dr. Temple Grandin is especially dear to our Colorado P Bar R Ranch West. She pioneered animal handling methods that keep the animals calm and prevents injuries.

Temple Grandin

 Her center-track restraint system uses animal behavioral principles rather than excess force to control animals. Her inventions and academic achievements, a Ph.D. in animal science, are accomplished while living with autism. Ms. Grandin's picture is courtesy of Discover Magazine.

For you crafty wood working gals, Tabitha Babbitt invented the circular saw in 1812.

Older writers applaud Bessie Nesmith and her invention in 1951 of Liquid Paper(R).

For more information about women inventors, visit:
•  http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0906931.html
•  http://www.women-inventors.com/Women-Inventors.asp
•  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/women.shtml

I can't close without a shout out to Elizabeth Magie Phillips who invented my favorite board game Monopoly. Originally called The Landlord's Game, it was invented as a teaching device designed to demonstrate the economic ill effects of land monopolism and the use land value tax as a remedy for them. On January 5, 1904, she was granted U.S. Patent #748,626. 

Besides McDonald's game, how many variations or versions of Monopoly can you name? 

In 1978, Neiman Marcus sold an all-chocolate edition. The entire set was edible and cost $600. 

In 2000, FAO Schwarz-New York City sold a version called One-Of-A-Kind for $100,000. The locking Napolino attache case was lined in suede and featured 18-carat gold tokens, houses, and hotels; rosewood board; street names written in gold leaf; emeralds around the Chance icon; Sapphires around the Community Chest; Rubies in the brake lights of the car on the Free Parking Space; and the money was real, negotiable U.S. currency.

In 1985, the Guinness Book of World Records reported that a set designed by artist Sidney Mobell to honor the games 50th anniversary was worth $2,000.000 and made of 23-carat gold, with rubies and sapphires atop the chimneys of hotels and houses.

I wonder what Mrs. Phillips would think about her board game now?
 
Are you an inventor at heart? Do you have an original idea or a tweak on a current idea or product?

Do you wonder how to apply for a patent or do a patent search about your idea? Read Kathleen Y'Barbo's HH&H post - http://www.hhhistory.com/2013/05/inventions-and-their-patentsand-giveaway.html – for more insight.

Blessings,

Lin and her husband live on a hay and cattle ranch in Chimney Rock, Colorado. She writes historical fiction for adults and children. Her enjoyment of genealogy and family history adds unique elements to her stories.

She was caught looking at the Curl-A-Dog, spiral hot dog slicer. Jerry hurried her away from the aisle.

Historic Heroism: Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard

One Woman’s Fight for Justice and Change

By: Michele Morris

Before the mid-nineteenth century, women’s rights were unheard of. In most of the United States, married women were forbidden to own property, have a bank account, or own a business. A husband could sell, gamble, or give away all of his wife’s possessions without her knowledge or consent. Her husband legally controlled a woman’s children and health care. My goodness, we have come a long way, haven’t we?

Theophilus Packard

Elizabeth Packard

Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard was born December 28^th, 1816, the oldest, and only daughter of the Reverend Samuel and Lucy Ware. 

In 1839, Elizabeth’s father insisted she marry Theophilus Packard. A minister, who was fourteen years Elizabeth's senior, Mr. Packard was a staunch leader of his church. Elizabeth and her new husband appeared to have an amicable life together.

After twenty years of marriage, Elizabeth began to speak out publicly against her husband’s strict religious views. In response, Theophilus declared her “slightly insane” and secretly arranged for Dr. J.W. Brown to evaluate her. 

The doctor pretended to be a sewing machine salesman. During his visit, Elizabeth complained of her husband’s religious views and that he had told others she was insane. The "good doctor" gave his report to Mr. Packard, and on June 18^th, 1860 the sheriff came to Elizabeth Packard's home and arrested her.

The arrest of Mrs. Packard

Without an official trial, Elizabeth Packard spent the next three years at the Jacksonville Insane Asylum in Jacksonville, Illinois. 

Jacksonville, Illinois Insane Asylum

Finally, after public outcry and pressure from her six children, she was granted a trial. 

The judge and jury declared her falsely imprisoned. The asylum doctors officially (and falsely) recorded her diagnosis as “incurable” and thus, released her.

Upon returning to her family’s home, she found her husband had recently rented it to another family, sold all her furnishings and belongings, and moved her children to another state.

Elizabeth took her husband to court The final witness in Elizabeth's case was Dr. Duncanson, who was both a physician and a theologian. Dr. Duncanson interviewed Elizabeth Packard, and he testified that while not necessarily in agreement with all her religious beliefs—“I do not call people insane because they differ with me. I pronounce her a sane woman and wish we had a nation of such women."

The jury took only seven minutes to find in Elizabeth Packard's favor. She was legally declared sane, and Judge Charles Starr issued an order that “she should not be confined”. Mrs. Packard had won.

Elizabeth never returned to her family, but she did, however, stay close to her children. As far as I can tell, she never legally divorced her husband.

Aware of how close she came to being incarcerated against her will, and that other women suffered the same fate, Elizabeth founded the Anti-Insane Asylum Society. 

She also published several books about her experience, including Marital Power Exemplified, (or Three Years Imprisonment for Religious Belief) (1864), Great Disclosure of Spiritual Wickedness in High Places (1865), The Mystic Key (or the Asylum Secret Unlocked) (1866), and The Prisoners' Hidden Life, (or Insane Asylums Unveiled) (1868). 

Elizabeth became a champion for the rights of women and people accused of insanity. Thanks to her hard work and persistence, in 1867, the State of Illinois passed a "Bill for the Protection of Personal Liberty". This bill guaranteed all people accused of insanity, including wives, had the right to a public trial. She also saw similar laws passed in three other states.

One woman’s life took a horrific, tragic turn that could have ruined her. But Elizabeth chose to rise above by blazing an early path for women’s rights and fair treatment. Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard’s achievements deserve to be known and remembered, and I hope that Mrs. Packard’s story might inspire and empower you.

Do you have a story that might have been tragic, but you were able to turn it around to make "lemon-aid from lemons". If you feel comfortable enough to share, please do so in the comments below. I’d love to celebrate your victories with you!   

The Great Diamond Hoax

It never ceases to amaze me how many ways unscrupulous people can find to trick others. Today, I’m sharing a little piece of history along these lines.

Phillip Arnold and John Slack

In 1872 in the bustling city of San Francisco, two men by the names of Phillip Arnold and John Slack walked down Powell Street, drawing quite a bit of attention. The men were grubby, disheveled prospectors, and while California had been at the heart of one of the best-known gold strikes in America, those days were long over. San Francisco had grown up and become civilized. The filthy prospectors looked quite out of place as they traipsed to the end of Powell Street and entered the Bank of California.

After their initial awe at the fanciness of the bank waned, Arnold and Slack walked up to an available teller and asked to leave a filthy bag in the safety of the bank while they looked around town. The bank manager was called, and he informed the men that before he could take charge of the bag, he needed to see the contents. Nervously, the two men dumped the bag out, revealing hundreds of uncut diamonds, ranging in size from a tiny pebble to that of a twenty-dollar gold piece. The bank manager was in shock, but finally agreed to take charge of the diamonds for the men. With their receipt in hand, the prospectors left the bag and went to see the San Francisco sights.

Well, you know how such circumstances go. News of the diamonds traveled quickly, and within days, the whole financial community of the large city was aware of their existence. The bankers decided to find out where the two men had found the diamonds, knowing that if these were any representation, there could be even greater wealth to be had. Under the guise of wanting to invest in the diamond venture, the bankers eventually persuaded the prospectors into revealing the location of the diamond fields. The valuable stones had come from Colorado.

Immediately, a representative was dispatched to the area, accompanied by Arnold and Slack. The men blindfolded the bank rep as they neared the site, but once they arrived, his eye covering was removed, and he was allowed to look around at will. He found plenty of gemstones—lots of diamonds and even some rubies. The field was rich with gems. Meanwhile, the Bank of California contacted Tiffany’s in New York to verify the quality of the stones. Tiffany’s confirmed that if the stones were available in large amounts, it would be a royal inheritance.

The bankers quickly invested their money, to the tune of ten million dollars, into a newly formed company, the San Francisco and New York Mining and Commercial Company. They offered the old prospectors $600,000 to buy them out of the diamond fields. Poor Arnold and Slack, seeing that this was big business and they were lowly backwoods prospectors, reluctantly agreed to the deal. With the news spreading of the great find, even more banks and mining companies sprang up and attempted to get in on the historic find. All in all, nearly $200 million was thrown after the diamond fields of Colorado.

But the story doesn’t end there. A man who had recently mapped the area in which the diamonds had supposedly been found report that diamonds were not naturally found in that location. Upon further research, he found that the diamond fields had been “salted.” When the original diamonds brought into the Bank of California were examined closely, many were found to have cutter’s marks. They dug further into the history of both Arnold and Slack, and learned that these prospectors had purchased large quantities of low-quality gemstones in their native Kentucky the year before, and salted the Colorado field with those stones. These supposed backwoods prospectors had gotten the best of the bigwig bankers in both San Francisco and New York!

Of course, lawsuits were filed and restitution was sought, but because the bankers entered into these dealings after much research, there was little that could be done. One of the two prospectors made a partial settlement with the companies he’d duped, but kept enough of the money to retire quite comfortably in his native Kentucky. The other man landed in New Mexico, never repaying any of the money, and lived out the rest of his life as a coffin-maker.

It’s your turn. Have you heard of the Great Diamond Hoax? What did you think of the story?

NOW AVAILALBE FOR PURCHASE:

Featuring romance stories by Amanda Cabot, Melanie Dobson, Pam Hillman, Myra Johnson, Amy Lillard, DiAnn Mills, Anna Schmidt, Ann Shorey, and Jennifer Uhlarik.

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen, when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has won five writing competitions and finaled in two other competitions. In addition to writing, she has held jobs as a private business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, and her favorite—a full-time homemaker. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers and lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, teenaged son, and four fur children.

Dime Novels: Chills, Thrills and Rootin’ Tootin’ Cowboys

Save me, save me.

Bang, bang, bang.

Curses, foiled again!

Your Victorian ancestor may have had one shocking vice up her leg o’mutton sleeve—or tucked in her apron. Like millions of others she probably read dime novels—lots and lots of dime novels. 

The first dime novel Malaeska, the Indian Wife of the White Hunter was published in 1860 and quickly sold 65,000.  That book started a craze that would remain popular until 1915. Melodramatic? You bet, but that was part of the fun.  The stories were lurid—the purple prose outrageous—but readers couldn’t seem to get enough.

 

The root of the dime novel can be traced back to James Fenimore Cooper’s popular Leatherstocking Tales, which romanticized the wild frontier, and explains why most dimers were set in the west. Dime novels actually sold anywhere from a nickel to twenty-five cents--far cheaper than the dollar price of other books.  Called Penny Dreadfuls and Shilling Shockers in Europe, worldwide readership was estimated to be in the millions.

 A Series Of Events Led To The Proliferation Of Dime Novels

Mandatory education resulted in more literacy and the invention of the steam printing press lowered the cost of printing. Railroads made distribution easier and books more accessible. Sales of dime novels surged during the Civil War. Confederates and Union soldiers were on opposing sides politically but both camps shared the same passion for pirates, mountain men, adventurers and detectives.

These formulaic stories ranged between thirty-five to fifty-five thousand words. The small four by six hundred page format could be conveniently carried in pocket or purse.  Most dime novels like the popular Deadwood Dick's Doom; or Calamity Jane's Last Adventure, had two titles, probably to persuade readers that the story was too big and exciting for only one. 

Though the lurid cover art and violent stories were severely criticized by moralists as having a bad influence on youth—and corrupting the delicate brains of women—the stories actually reinforced the values of patriotism, courage and self-reliance.  This, however, didn’t stop critics from blaming them for everything from childish pranks to violent crimes and even the Women’s Rights movement.

Voracious Readers Made Cranky Writers

Popular writers were expected to produce a book every few days.  Some writers reportedly could turn out a thousand words an hour for twelve hour stretches. 

Eugene T. Sawyer, the so-called “King of Dime Novelists” and author of seventy-five Nick Carter novels,  claimed to have written three 50,000-word novels in a month, and to have finished a 60,000-word novel in just two days—while his wife plied him with coffee.  Considering his remarkable output, perhaps we can forgive  his ill-regard for readers whom he claimed were  “…people of narrow, dull, monotonous lives, who never get any thrills out of real life and must compensate in stories that give them a thrill per page.” 

A New Kind of Hero

Books based on real people such as Buffalo Bill, Kit Carson and Jesse James were especially popular, though the stories were purely fiction. The good guys battled evil and no bad deed was left unpunished. Chaste damsels in distress needed rescuing and dashing heroes were only too happy to oblige. By today’s standards the books were racist, but they reflected the times.  They also helped to establish a new social order where males were judged by deeds rather than social status.  For this reason the western hero became the symbol of the ideal man. 

The Dime Novel That Broke Kit Carson's Heart

One dime novel featuring Kit Carson had an unexpected impact on him. He chased down a group of Apache Indians to rescue a kidnapped white woman only to discover her dead.  In her belongings was a copy of the book Kit Carson, the Happy Warrior.  He later told the story in his autobiography;

"We found a book in the camp, the first of the kind I had ever seen, in which I was represented as a great hero, slaying Indians by the hundred. I have often thought that Mrs. White must have read it, and knowing that I lived nearby, must have prayed for my appearance in order that she might be saved. I did come, but I lacked the power to persuade those that were in command over me to follow my plan for her rescue."

The Demise of the Dime Novel

By the late 1800s pulp magazines replaced dime novels in popularity and the world was getting ready to greet a new type of story-telling—the motion picture.

Pinkerton operative Maggie Michaels travels to Arizona Territory as an undercover mail-order bride to track down the notorious Whistle-Stop Bandit. If she doesn’t prove the suspect guilty before the wedding—she could end up as his wife!

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