Lulu Bell Parr - Wild West Champion by Nancy J. Farrier

Lulu Bell Parr_Photo by Terry Baer

We’ve all heard of the famous cowgirls, Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane. We know of their prowess with guns and horses, and the way they made a name for themselves in an era when women weren’t know to have such skills. One of the lesser known women who had a claim to fame in the time period is Lulu Bell Parr.

Lulu grew up in Indiana. Her parents died when she was very young, probably 3-years-old. She and her brother went to live with an aunt and uncle in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Living on their farm, Lulu fell in love with the animals and became a skilled rider by the time she was eight-years-old. 

Although not much is known about Lulu’s early years, she left home in 1903 and joined the Pawnee Bill Wild West Show. She had skill in doing trick riding and shooting guns, but she excelled at riding bucking broncos. She seemed to have a knack for riding an unbroken horse and the people who flocked to the shows loved to watch her. At one point she was titled, “Champion Lady Bucking Horse Rider of the World.”

In 1908, Lulu left Pawnee Bill’s show and joined Colonel Cummins Wild West Brighton Tour. She wanted the chance to go to Europe and perform there. The highlight of her trip was the chance to perform in front of King Edward in England. 

Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill

The following year, Lulu left Colonel Cummins because she had the chance to be part of the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Back in the United States, she traveled with Buffalo Bill until 1913. Buffalo Bill was so taken with Lulu that he presented her with an ivory handled colt with the words engraved, “Buffalo Bill Code to Lulu Parr – 1911.”

In 1916, Lulu moved back to the Pawnee Bill show, but the popularity of the Wild West shows was beginning to wane. Until her retirement in 1929, she went from one small time show to another. By the time she retired at fifty-three, she was broke.

Photo by Terry Baer

Lulu went to Ohio and lived with her brother and his wife. She often entertained neighborhood children with her stories of the wild west and the adventures she’d experienced. She collected mementos from her time with the shows. Lulu’s outfits that she wore were intricate and colorful. Lulu died in 1960 from a stroke.

Have you ever heard of Lulu Bell Parr? While most of us have heard of Buffalo Bill, have you ever heard of Pawnee Bill or Colonel Cummings? I would love to hear your thoughts.  

Nancy J. Farrier is an award-winning, New York Times best-selling author who lives in Southern Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. She loves the Southwest with its interesting historical past. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play with her cats and dog, and spend time with her family. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.

HHH August Book Day!

7 BOOKS YOU'LL WANT TO ADD TO YOUR TBR LIST!

CHRISTMAS UNDER THE STARS
by Donna Schlachter

November 1858, Utah Territory: Edie Meredith strives to keep her temper and her tongue under control as she heads west with her brother to California. Raised in an itinerant preacher family, she promises she will never marry a man of the cloth. Tom Aiken, drover of the wagon train, longs to answer his true calling: to preach. While he realizes not every woman would choose a preacher for a husband, he hopes to soon find his helpmeet. Suspicious ‘accidents’ plague their journey. Is someone trying to keep them from reaching their destination? Or will misunderstandings and circumstances keep them apart? FREE when you sign up for Donna's newsletter!

FREED BY THE FRONTIER
By Denise Farnsworth, Sherry Shindelar, and Susan Craft

Three remarkable women find themselves caught between two worlds on the American frontier. A captive of the Comanche must choose between escaping to white society or her growing feelings for a rising war chief in 1850s Texas. A Georgia judge's daughter flees an unwanted betrothal, only to be captured by Creek warriors but protected by a mysterious brave. And in 1754, an English lady traveling the Great Wagon Road to become a teacher discovers her carefully planned future may not survive her attraction to a protective frontiersman

  

LISSA AND THE SPY
by Camille Elliot 

In Regency-era London, Miss Lissa Gardinier enters her second Season seeking a marriage in order to escape her mother's constant criticism. So she represses her cheeky remarks behind a quiet, innocent facade. The enigmatic Lord Jeremy Stoude is dismayed when a chance encounter with Miss Gardinier entangles her in his world of secrets and subterfuge. He cannot afford to be distracted by Lissa’s charming smile and unflappable demeanor. As danger stalks them and true feelings come to light, can Lissa and Jeremy navigate the labyrinth of society’s expectations and their own insecurities to find love? FREE when you sign up for Camille's newsletter!

MOUNTAIN PROPHECY
by Linda Hoover

In 1918, Dusty and Darla's Appalachian relatives still feud with their neighbors, are deeply superstitious and believe in local folklore. The teen twins deal with it every summer. But this time two young women have disappeared into an abandoned mine, and the mountain families believe trolls looking for brides are responsible.

Prince Aidan's isolated clan has waited hundreds of years for the fulfillment of a prophecy that says a heavenly being will come to them, marry the prince and lead them to a better life. After catching a glimpse of Darla, Aidan knows it’s only a matter of time.

 

SWEDISH SUNRISE

by Linda Shenton Matchett

After being accepted into America’s Office of Strategic Services, Birgit Westgard is assigned a dull, clerical job in Stockholm, Sweden. Then her handsome boss taps her to be his “plus-one” at events where they collect intelligence, plant propaganda, and dance the nights away. Can she remain impervious to his charm? Silas Cronin’s plane crashes in neutral Sweden, and he’s interned. Bored, he volunteers when the government comes looking for a typist. Suddenly, he’s in Stockholm, mired in intrigue and subterfuge with a gorgeous secretary who wants nothing to do with him. Is she right that wartime is no time for romance?

THE RELUCTANT HEALER OF HALIFAX
by Terrie Todd

RE-RELEASED WITH A NEW COVER AND BONUS MATERIAL!


Rose Onishi is on track to fulfill her lifelong goal of becoming a concert pianist. When forced to leave her beloved home to work on the Thornes’ farm, her dream fades to match the black dirt staining her callused hands. When Rusty Thorne joins the army, he never imagines becoming a Japanese prisoner of war. Though he begs God to help him not hate his brutal captors, Rusty can no longer even hear the Japanese language without revulsion. Only his rare letters from home sustain him—especially the notes from his mother’s helper, which the girl signs simply as “Rose.”

 

WORTH KEEPING
by Kimberly Keagan

PREORDER NOW FOR 99 CENTS!
Max Dennison arrives at Akethorpe Hall with every intention of selling the English country estate he’s inherited. Instead, he finds himself drawn into the life of a West Suffolk village—and increasingly captivated by the vicar's daughter.

Eliza Davies has long since learned that trusting the wrong person can come at a high cost. The last thing she needs is a charming American who has no intention of staying.

As summer unfolds, unexpected friendships, family secrets, and difficult choices begin to reshape both their futures. But when duty and opportunity pull in opposite directions, Max and Eliza must decide what matters most—and what is truly worth keeping. 

Up, Up and Away, Hot Air and Gas Balloons in History

 

            

                                                       Joseph Montgolfier                                     Etienne Montgolfier                                                                 Public Domain                                    Public Domain

While traveling by land and sea was making steady progress, some thought about traveling through the air. If you research hot air balloons, you’re likely to read about Frenchmen Joseph Montgolfier and his brother Etienne. Joseph noticed that hot, smoky air caused paper to rise. He and his brother created a balloon of cotton muslin with paper glued to both sides. It was 67 feet tall and 44 feet wide. When they held a demonstration in 1872, the Royal Science Academy asked them to repeat it in Paris for King Louis XVI. The next year, the brothers went to the palace forecourt, and in front of the king and his family, and a courtyard packed with curious onlookers, the balloon was sent aloft carrying a sheep, a rooster and a duck in a wicker basket. It went 2,000 feet into the air, then slowly descended, landing two miles away eight minutes later.

If animals could go up, men could, too. Experiments were done first with the balloon on a tether, going to higher and higher altitudes. Finally, on November 21, 1783, Pilantre de Rezier and Marquis d’Ariandes were the first men to fly in an untethered balloon. They flew for twenty-five minutes, covering five miles before landing the balloon safely in open countryside.

                                                          Picture by Charles Louis Desrais

Gas balloons were also being tested. On August 27, 1783, Jacques Charles and the Robert brothers launched the first hydrogen balloon. Men on horseback followed to see where it would land. Forty-five minutes later, it came down in the village of Gonesse, where terrified peasants attacked it with pitchforks and knives until it was destroyed.

                                                                    Public Domain

December 1, 1783, Professor Jacques Charles and Nicolas-Louis Robert took another flight in a balloon of their own design.

                             Antoine Louis Francois Sergent d.t Sergent.Marceau

By the beginning of the 19th century, ballooning had become part of the popular culture. Celebrations weren’t complete without at least one assent. Men and women both rose above pleasure grounds and gardens all over Europe. Even before 1800, it wasn’t enough just to go up in a balloon or watch one rise. Balloonists parachuted over the side, with Jeanne-Genevieve being the first woman to do so in 1798. Acrobats hung a trapeze bar from the bottom of the basket and performed high above the ground.

                                                                        Public Domain

Balloons were used in many countries to conduct weather and climate experiments and for observation during wartime. The picture below shows Union soldiers filling a balloon before the Battle of Fair Oaks.

                                                   Library of Congress Military       

You would also see balloons at resort areas, fairs, and parks to give people an opportunity to go up in a tethered balloon. For a price, of course. In my book, “Lighter Than Air,” set in 1900 near Brighton, England, Elena finds herself in need of a way to make money to pay her father’s gambling debt. When she investigates a balloon tethered at Queen’s Park, she starts a series of events that takes her and her friend Justin up, up and away, rather than the rescue he intended.

Keep Elena Bishop out of trouble for the summer—how hard can it be?

Brighton, England, 1900

Justin Ramsey has plans as high as a hot air balloon. But his older brother Richard, Earl of Dunningham, brings him down to earth with orders to join the army. Determined to make his own way, Justin agrees to a deal: if he can successfully manage the neighborhood while Richard is away for the summer, he will earn the right to control his own future. His childhood friend, Elena, with her negligent father, has a penchant for getting herself in scrapes, but Justin is confident he can protect her.

Desperate to save her family’s estate, Elena Bishop embarks on an innovative plan to bring in revenue. Her efforts backfire when they draw the attention of the Ramsey family and the ire of her father's enemy, who stands to gain everything if Elena fails. Certain she is following God's leading, Elena doubles down and fights back against the obstacles and naysayers. Will her friend Justin help her salvage her idea, or will it destroy his own future as well as hers?

Even as Justin and Elena disagree over her plan, an attraction beyond friendship ignites between them. As time runs out and tensions rise, Justin and Elena face danger and decisions that will test their new-found love and change the course of their lives.

 LIGHTER THAN AIR

Linda has been writing since childhood, but her publishing career started with writing columns and a middle-grade serial for the South Charleston Spectator. A retired librarian, she now enjoys being a full-time author in her home office. She writes not only to entertain but to encourage readers with God’s faithfulness.

You are invited to visit her website, Linda Hoover Books, to learn more about her and her books. You can stay in touch when you subscribe to her newsletter, and as a thank you, you’ll receive a novella, Joel & Ella.

LINDA HOOVER BOOKS

 

Famous Horses in History – Mister Ed by Donna Schlachter with Giveaway

Mister Ed television show promo

** All images of Mister Ed and cast are courtesy of Wikipedia


With television still in its early stages, imagine the excitement of a show about a horse that could talk. But was choosy about who it chose to speak with. Yes, readers, that horse is—or was—Mister Ed, and the show aired in syndication from six months in 1961, until CBS realized it was a good investment with plenty of young viewers. While this primary audience had little to no spending influence, their parents did, and so Studebaker-Packard sponsored the program, targeting its advertisements to the drivers in the audience.

Many claim the show’s title character is based on a character in a short story by Walter R. Brooks, originally published in the 1930s and1940s. Mr. Brooks was best known for his series about Freddy the Pig which also featured talking animals that interact with humans.

Most television series debut on a major network then are sold in syndication when the viewing audience falls short, so that Mister Ed came to television in the opposite way is a rarity.

Francis the Talking Mule had already regaled viewers in the 1950s, so while Mister Ed was a relatively new concept, he wasn’t unique. Francis also only talked to one person, creating a variety of frustrations and laugh opportunities, including plenty of gags.

George Burns, comedian, singer, and dancer, financed the pilot for Mister Ed, and the first episode was filmed at his studio in Hollywood, costing around $70,000 (worth about $780,000 today). Jack Benny, a friend of Burns, was involved in the background.

Similar to the Francis series, Alan Young played the part of the klutzy architect, Wilbur Post, while Bamboo Harvester, a palomino gelding, played Ed. Ed was cast as reluctant to speak to anybody other than Wilbur, which created many hilarious situations. Ed was also mysteriously well-read and well-educated, was a bit of a rascal, and his human-like behavior astounded those who knew him.

While most everybody loved Ed, Wilbur had at least one character who didn’t—his father-in-law. Apparently, his klutziness and half-hearted attempts to be friendly always backfired around the older man.

Wilbur didn’t know why Ed could talk, and his vocal abilities were never explained. In the first episode, when Wilbur tells Ed he doesn’t understand, Ed speaks the show’s only remark on the topic: “Don’t try. It’s bigger than both of us.”

Interesting facts: 

• Bamboo Harvester didn’t film the first pilot—a chestnut gelding did. But he proved too unruly, and was replaced, with a new pilot being filmed.

• Allan Rocky Lane did the voice-over for Ed.

• Sheldon Allman provided Ed’s singing voice.

• Ed’s stablemate, a quarter horse named Pumpkin, served as stunt double, later appearing in Green Acres

• Initially, Ed’s trainer used a piece of nylon thread in Ed’s mouth to get Ed to move his lips. But eventually, Ed learned to move his lips when the trainer touched his hoof.

• The story about peanut butter in Ed’s mouth to make him move his lips was concocted by Alan Young as a way to keep the truth a secret to increase interest and to not disappoint the kids.

Mister Ed retired in 1966 when the show was canceled, and spent the rest of his life with his trainer, Lou Hilton. He passed away in 1970 at the age of 21. Details of his death are unclear, and several stories have made the rounds including accidental overdose of a drug that was used to manage arthritis pain, and natural causes. He was cremated, and his remains were spread on the Hilton Ranch in an undisclosed spot, although other stories have cropped up over the years about various burial sites.

Readers: Leave a comment about the Mister Ed Show, and we will randomly draw for a winner of an ebook copy of Hollow Hearts. Please cleverly disguise your email address so the online 'bots don't get you. For example, donna AT livebytheword DOT com

 

 

About Hollow Hearts:

Can a widow and a loner discover a new beginning in the midst of tragedy, or are they bound to remain alone forever?

About Donna:

A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 60 times in books; is a member of several writers' groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both, and is an avid oil painter. She is taking all the information she’s learned along the way about the writing and publishing process, and is coaching committed writers eager to tell their story.



Resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Ed

https://saddleupcolorado.net/blog/secrets-behind-mr-ed-not-just-the-horse-talkin-

How Would You Celebrate Your Birthday in the Victorian Era?

by Kimberly Keagan

August happens to be my birthday month, which naturally gives me an excellent excuse to talk about two of my favorite things: history and cake.
 

So ... what if I were celebrating my birthday in the late 19th century?

There would be no balloons ordered online, no restaurant sending me a free dessert, and certainly no Facebook reminding everyone I know that they ought to wish me a happy birthday. But a Victorian or Gilded Age birthday could still be a lovely occasion—particularly if you belonged to a comfortable middle- or upper-class family.

So, pour yourself a cup of tea and imagine that the calendar has turned back more than a century. It’s your birthday. What might the day hold?

It might start with a letter. Before greeting cards became inexpensive and plentiful, a birthday letter could be a gift in itself. Family members and friends might send affectionate wishes, poetry, religious sentiments, or reflections on the year ahead. By the later nineteenth century, commercially produced greeting cards were much more widely available, giving friends and relations another pretty way to mark the occasion.

 

A late 1800s birthday card, courtesy of Pinterest 

                       

As for presents, a birthday gift didn't necessarily have to be extravagant to be meaningful. A young woman might receive a book, a piece of jewelry, a fan, gloves, a handkerchief, or some other personal item. A gentleman might be given a book, a useful desk accessory, or something connected to one of his interests. Handmade gifts had special significance as well. An embroidered item represented hours of someone's time, which made it far more personal than simply purchasing something from a shop.

And then there were gifts between unmarried ladies and gentlemen. Victorian courtship came with rules, and an overly intimate or expensive gift could imply more than either party was prepared to admit. Something seemingly innocent—a book, a flower, a piece of music—could convey quite a lot without anyone saying anything improper at all.

What about food, you may ask? Thankfully, we don't have to abandon birthday cake when we travel back to the nineteenth century. Celebratory cakes had existed long before the Victorian period, but advances in baking ingredients, ovens, commercially produced sugar, and decorative techniques helped make increasingly elaborate cakes possible during the nineteenth century.

They wouldn't necessarily resemble the fluffy layer cakes covered in buttercream that appear at modern birthday parties. Depending upon the time and place, a celebration cake might be much denser and richer than the cakes we're accustomed to today, with fruit, spices, icing, or decorative sugar work. 

 

Photo credit: www.homemade-dessert-recipes.com 

As the nineteenth century progressed, children's birthday celebrations became increasingly recognizable to modern eyes. A well-to-do family might invite young friends and cousins for an afternoon of games, refreshments, and sweets. Parlor games, riddles, charades, music, and supervised outdoor amusements could all be part of the entertainment. Late-century magazines and household publications offered mothers suggestions for children's parties, decorations, refreshments, and amusements.

Across the pond, America's wealthiest families weren't exactly known for restraint. A birthday could provide yet another reason to entertain, particularly for a prominent family with a daughter moving through society. Luncheons, dinners, teas, receptions, and dances could all mark special occasions. For a young woman already making her social debut, a birthday during the season might easily become part of a much larger whirl of invitations and entertainments.

Of course, the grandest celebrations belonged to a very small portion of society. For most people, birthdays remained simpler family occasions.

As for me, I think I'd happily borrow a few Victorian birthday traditions. Give me a handwritten letter, a beautiful old book, a walk through the garden, and a slice of cake shared with the people I love.

Although I reserve the right to insist upon modern cake. Coconut is my favorite! Here's the one my daughter made me for my birthday ... from scratch!

 

Kimberly Keagan is a former investor relations consultant and corporate financial writer (not very romantic) who now crafts historical romances filled with strong heroines, swoon-worthy heroes, faith, and a touch of humor. Her debut novel, Perfect, released in May 2025. The fifth book in her Hearts on Display series releases September 9th. When not reading or writing, Kimberly enjoys baking, gardening, watching sports, and researching her family tree. Grab a free copy of her novelette, All Along, by subscribing to her mailing list here.