Carousels and Their Little Wars + Giveaway

 By Tiffany Amber Stockton

In January, we took a stroll down the language lane of history with some common catch phrases used today and how they got started. You can read last month's post if you missed it.

Today, we're exploring the world of the always delightful ride called the Carousel. Anita Mae Draper did two posts for this blog several years ago on merry-go-rounds and derby race rides, and the post today fills in more historical gaps.

CAROUSEL ORIGINS

The concept of circular motion in the movement of goods, water, or in producing force dates back to B.C. times. Carousels using horses got a bit later start.

What would you say if I told you the carousel has actually been around since the 12th century? Your jaw probably just dropped, or your mouth has formed a small "o." Surprising, right? I thought the same thing when I discovered this fact. The 1100's are considered Medieval times. I don't recall seeing a carousel in any of those stories of King Arthur or Robin Hood or any castle settings. How in the world could such a quaint little carnival ride be this old?

That's easy. The carousel first made its appearance in Turkey and the Arabic region over in the Middle East. It started as a game--albeit a serious one--where horseman tossed clay balls doused in an enormous amount of perfume at each other. Whoever didn't catch the ball had to live with that strong smell until the next time they took a bath. For most of us today, that would be immediately. However, this is medieval times, when bathing wasn't exactly common. :) I would venture to guess that perfume was a rather precious commodity, and this "Little War" as it was called might have been designed intentionally.

Crusaders from Italy and Spain stumbled upon this game and decided to carry the tradition back to their home countries in Europe. The Italians dubbed it "Carosella," which directly translates the original name. Spain referred to it as "Guerrasilla," but when it spread to France, it received the name by which we call it today: Carrousel (only minus one 'r').

In France, the game took on a rather extravagant indulgence. French nobility quickly adapted this clay ball game to their existing war games on horses--including a ring-lancing game--where both riders were dressed to the nines while on horseback. I don't know about you, but riding a horse is challenging enough, let alone dressed in full formal attire. Have you seen the aristocratic fashions of those centuries? I'll take my jeans, plaid shirt and boots over all those fabrics and layers. :)

Anyway, play continued like this for the next 500 years until the 1600s, when they experimented with mechanical or wooden models of horses mounted on spokes originating from a centralized post. They used these models to practice as a way to reduce injury and still enjoy the game. The circular movement was achieved through the use of mules, real horses, and sometimes human labor. Some models were even elaborately designed or custom crafted. That's frivolous aristocracy for you! Luxurious diversions solely for the purpose of entertainment and often at the expense of someone else.

Eventually, the craftsmanship and intricate detailing attracted visitors simply coming to view the artisan's work. In 1729, a British poet added the name "merry-go-round" to the entertaining display, as viewers took pure pleasure and delight in coming to see them. Their popularity spread throughout Europe, and before long, people were wanting to ride the horses themselves.

With the invention of the steam engine around 1870, the availability of more elaborate decorations increased the attraction. Factory manufacturing made them easier to assemble, and their placement as a feature in carnivals or festivals led to widespread popularity all around the world.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

* What is your favorite carousel and where is it located? It could be one you've ridden in another state that left a lasting impression.

* Do you know the name of the British poet who coined the "merry-go-round" name? Who is it?

* If you had to be hit with a perfumed clay ball, what would your preferred scent be?

** Please do not reply via email with any comments. View the blog online and scroll down to the comments section.

Leave answers to these questions or any comments you might have on this post in the comment box below. For those of you who have stuck around this far, I'm sending a FREE autographed book to one person every month from the comments left on each of my blog posts. You never know when your comment will be a winner! Subscribe to comments so you'll know if you've won and need to get me your mailing information.

Come back on the 9th of March for my next foray into historical tidbits to share.

For those interested in my "fictional" life as an author and industry news about other authors, subscribe to my quarterly newsletter. Receive a FREE omitted chapter from my book, A Grand Design, just for subscribing!

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BIO

Tiffany Amber Stockton has been crafting and embellishing stories since childhood, when she was accused of having a very active imagination and cited with talking entirely too much. Today, she has honed those skills to become an award-winning, best-selling author and speaker who is also a professional copywriter/copyeditor. She loves to share life-changing products and ideas with others to help improve their lives in a variety of ways.

She lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart Vaughn Stockton, along with their two children and four cats in southeastern Kentucky. In the 20 years she's been a professional writer, she has sold twenty-six (26) books so far and is represented by Tamela Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. You can find her on Facebook and GoodReads.

Canal City: Hamburg, Germany

Today is our fourth visit to a European canal city, Hamburg, Germany which I’m excited to explore because of my German heritage. If you’d like to explore Bruges, Belgium in last month’s post click here.

Located in northern Germany about an hour’s drive from the Wadden Sea, the city of Hamburg is not quite three hundred miles from Berlin and sits on the River Elbe and two of its tributaries: the River Alster and the River Bille. One of Germany’s federated states, it is surrounded by Schleswig-Holstein to the north and Lower Saxony to the south. The mayor’s office is more like the role of a minister-president than that of a city major. As a German state government, it is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, and public safety, as well as libraries, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services. 

 

The second-largest city in Germany, Hamburg is made up of seven boroughs that are subdivided into 104 quarters, and further broken into 181 localities. Interestingly, despite being nearly one hundred kilometers from the North Sea, Hamburg is Germany’s largest port city, the second-busiest in Europe, and the third-largest in the world after London and New York. 

 

Hamburg is nearly surrounded on all sides by water. The River Alster has been

divided into two lakes that lie on either side of the city: the Binnen and Aussenalster (Inner and Outer), and the River Elbe flows through the center of the city into the North Sea. All that water translates into canals, streams, and bridges. In fact, Hamburg has more bridges inside the city limits than any other city on earth and more canals than Amsterdam and Venice combined. Experts estimate that Hamburg is home to between 2300 and 2500 bridges! 

 

The city can trace its origins to 808 AD when Emperor Charlemagne ordered the construction of a castle, the first permanent building on the site. Designed to be a defense against Slavic invasion, the settlement became known as Hammaburg, burg meaning castle or fort. 

 

Twenty-five years later Hamburg was designated as the seat of a bishopric, but two decades after that, the city was destroyed by the Vikings. Over the course of three hundred years, Hamburg was burned, raided, and occupied several times and fell victim to The Black Death in 1350. 

 

In the seventeenth century, Jan van Valckenborgh created a second layer of fortifications to protect against the Thirty Years War. Many of today’s street names still date from the grid system of roads he introduced. When the Holy Roman Empire dissolved in 1806, Hamburg became a sovereign state until it was annexed by Napoleon I, but regained its city-state status when the Russians freed the city in 1814. 

In 1860, Hamburg adopted a semi-democratic constitution that provided for a Senate election, the separation of powers, separation of Church and State, and freedom of the press. The city was a member of the North German Confederation from 1866-1871, the German Empire from 1871-1918, and maintained its self-ruling status during the Weimar Republic (1919-1933). 

 

During World War II, Hamburg was one of the Administrative Divisions in Nazi Germany, surrendering to British forces three days after Hitler’s death. After the war, Hamburg formed part of the British Zone of Occupation and became a state of the then Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. 

 

Filled with a variety of architectural styles, the lavish Planten un Blomen park, more than forty theatres, sixty museums, and one hundred clubs and music venues, Hamburg hosts more than seven million annual visitors. 

 

What did you enjoy learning about in today’s post?

 __________________

Linda Shenton Matchett writes about ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by. A volunteer docent and archivist for the Wright Museum of WWII, Linda is currently working with the curator to create her very first exhibit, Shaped by Conflict. She is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry. Linda has lived in historic places all her life and is now located in central New Hampshire where her favorite activities include exploring historic sites and immersing herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.  Visit her at http://www.LindaShentonMatchett.com

Rayne's Redemption 

Will she have to lose her identity to find true love? 

 

Twin sisters Rayne and Jessica Dalton have been swapping places their whole lives, so when Jessica dies on the eve of heading west to become a mail-order bride, Rayne decides to fill her sister’s shoes. The challenge will be faking Jessica’s faith in God. Can Rayne fool her prospective groom without losing her heart...or her soul? 

 

Flynn Ward fled England to escape his parent’s attempts at marrying him off, but locating a woman to love in the Wyoming mountains is harder than finding a hackney in a rainstorm. Then the Westward Home & Hearts Agency offers him the perfect match. But when his prospective bride arrives, she’s nothing like she seemed in her letters. Is he destined to go through life alone? 

Can two desperate people overcome their differences to find common ground...and love?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/30Y87mN

Mashed Potatoes: Creamy Deliciousness or A Taste of History?

 

Basket of Potatoes
Free Image by Christos Giakkas from Pixabay

  

By Alanna Radle Rodriguez and Judge Rodriguez

Hello Friends!

Thank you for joining us once again as we delve into the history of this great state we call home, Oklahoma.

First allow us to say: we wish to pay our respects to the brave men and women of our military, first responders and police and let them know our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families, particularly those currently on deployment outside our country and away from their families.

Last month, we covered the differences between costuming, garb and cosplay. This month, given the tradition of Thanksgiving, we decided to discuss something of a more—flavorful?—nature. While we were discussing the content of one of the books we are collaborating on, the subject of potatoes came up.

After a minor amount of discussion, it was decided to go ahead and write about one of the more talked about topics during the month of November, traditional foods. You see, most of the foods we Americans normally consume during Thanksgiving are not natively European.

 

Turkey leg drumsticks
Public domain photo

Wait, what? You mean the turkey legs at our local medieval/renaissance fair aren't historical medieval England food? Fair from it! Actually, across the ocean from it. Turkeys, along with corn and potatoes, are New World--or North American--food.

In this article, we will focus primarily on the potatoes, or "tubers".

When most people think of Ireland, they think two things, potatoes and potato whiskey. In particular, the Irish Potato Blight of the 19th century. Did you know that potatoes weren’t in Europe, England, or Ireland until the Spaniards led by Columbus brought them over?

So, potatoes as we know them of the species Solanum brevicaule were domesticated between 5,000 – 8,000 BCE in Peru and Bolivia. It is in the nightshade family, much like that of tomato, belladonna, eggplant and hemlock.

It was the Columbian Exchange that introduced the potato to Europe. They provided seedlings and full tubers at most ports they stopped by. It took years for the plant to be accepted by the farmers of Europe, due, most to their dependence on the cereal plants, (i.e. Wheat, Rye, Sorghum and Oat). Once the plant had been accepted, however, the crops were mostly contained to smaller, garden plots, as the crops were heavily proscribed by tradition. Even during the first Thanksgiving in America, the potatoes were not considered one of the favorites of the European settlers.

However, once it was discovered there was a serious nutritional value to the tuber, it became much a staple of the diet of most of Europe. In fact, it is credited with being one of the deciding factors in the population growth of the 19th century. That is to say, in Ireland, before the potato blight, there were as many as 8,000,000 Irish.

Even after the introduction and acceptance of the poisonous plant to Europe, it was still considered the food of the peasantry until the mini ice-age of the mid-17th century, when many of the cereal plants just would not grow in the sufficient quantities to Europe. Once the crop became a staple, however, things changed, and the potato become food for all.
 

Bowl of Mashed potatoes
Public Domain photo

            So, the next time you dig in to a nice big bowl of mashed potatoes, a dish of yams at your favorite holiday meal, a carton of french fries, or even have hash browns with your eggs of a morning, keep in mind you are eating an undeniable part of history that has literally changed the world.

Thank you for joining us in this journey through, shall we say gastric history? Join us next month as we go back to our regularly scheduled program of articles about buildings in Guthrie, Oklahoma!

Photo by Kathy Harris
Used with permission

Born and raised in Edmond, Oklahoma, Alanna Radle Rodriguez is the great-great granddaughter of one of the first pioneers to settle in Indian Territory. Judge was born and raised in Little Axe, Oklahoma, the son of A.F. Veterans. Judge and Alanna love the history of the state and relish in volunteering at the 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse in Edmond. Her second published story, part of a collaborative novella titled 18 Redbud Lane, is now available. Alanna and Judge live with her parents in the Edmond area. They are currently collaborating on a historical fiction series that takes place in pre-statehood Oklahoma.

Facebook.com/authorAlannaRadleRodriguez

Facebook.com/AuthorJudgeRodriguez
Pinterest.com/alannaradlerodr/
Amazon

Ring around the Rosie-Plague or Romance?

By Alanna Radle Rodriguez

Pretty much all of us have played the children’s game “Ring Around the Rosie” when we were younger. Probably even as adults, many who are parents have played it with their young children.

Ring around the Rosie
Pocketful of posies
Ashes, Ashes
We all fall down

For all of you youngsters who have no idea what I’m talking about, the game is where a group of children join hands, dance around in a circle, and at the last line of the rhyme, depending on the version, they either fall down or curtsey. The one who is the last to do it or does it before it everyone else, takes the place as the “rosie” in the center of the circle. And the game starts again. While doing research, I found different versions of the rhyme. In some, the poises weren’t portable. The flowers were in a pot or bottle. Still others, have for the last two lines A Curchey in, A Curchey out, And curchey all together. A curchey is another word for curtsey. The version that I grew up with is the one I put in earlier. So what about the words: Ashes, ashes, we all fall down? Where in the world did that come from? What story of history does this child’s nursery rhyme retell? 


Many have heard the explanation that it is about the plague. And it makes sense! The bubonic plague started roughly in December of 1665 in Britain. The rhyme does seem to describe what happened. Ring around the rosie is the rash on the skin. A pocketful of posies was the package of flowers and herbs kept in the pocket in a superstitious effort to ward off the plague, and yes, they did have pockets in the medieval period. Ashes, ashes, referred to the burning of not only home, house items, and clothing, but the cremation of the dead. We all fall down is talking about those who contracted the sickness, and quite often, died. That explanation doesn’t account for the other versions, including the ones with curtsies in them.

Historians, folklorists and linguistics have found no record of the rhyme after the plague to link it. The first printed record of the rhyme didn’t appear until the late 1880’s. Over 200 years after the plague. The description of the rhyme being connected to the plague actually appeared in the mid-twentieth century. That’s mid 1900’s! So why the time gap? And how do we explain the many different variations? 

Ring-a-around o’roses
Pocketful of posies
A-tishoo!! A-tishoo!
We all fall down!

One explanation is that the rhyme was a fun game for courtship. Just like in almost all of the other beginnings, they circle around, but in this one, instead of falling to the ground, the children curtsey. The one who does that before everyone else, or is the last one, has to fess-up to their love or hug or kiss another child, then take the place in the center of the circle.

 

A ring, a ring o’roses
A pocketful of posies
One for Jack and one for Jim and one for little Moses
A curchey in and a curchey out
And a curchey all together


Round the ring of roses
Pots full of posies
The one who stoops last
Shall tell whom she loves best


The nursery rhyme has even had a parody of it referring it to the bombing of Hiroshima in 1949. “Ring-a-ring-o’-geranium, a pocketful of uranium”. So, is the theory of the rhyme connected to the plague true? If it is, there has to be some reason why it was not sung about for over 200 years. Or is it just people trying to give an explanation to ashes, ashes, we all fall down because they want one? Will we ever know? Probably not. But it’s a fun answer.

Did you grown up with nursery rhymes? Or did you have some parodies of rhymes? What were they? 

Born and raised in Edmond, Oklahoma, Alanna Radle Rodriguez is the great-great granddaughter of one of the first pioneers to settle in Indian Territory. Alanna loves the history of the state and relishes in volunteering at the 1889 Territorial Schoolhouse in Edmond. Her first published story, part of a collaborative novella titled Legacy Letters, came out September 2016. Alanna lives with her husband and parents in the Edmond area. She is currently working on a historical fiction series that takes place in pre-statehood Waterloo, Oklahoma.

Facebook.com/AlannaRadleRodriguez
Pinterest.com/alannaradlerodr/

 

Amish Dress in the 18th Century

I live in Amish country—to be specific, Elkhart County in northern Indiana, the second largest Amish settlement in the country. Growing up Mennonite with many Amish relatives, and living in this community, has given me a pretty good look into their lives and customs. You might assume that since the Amish cling to tradition, their style of dress has always remained the same, but you’d be mistaken. Just like everyone else, the lifestyle of the Amish has undergone a lot of changes over the centuries, including the way they dress. Just over my lifetime styles have changed noticeably, although it’s happened much more slowly than in the outer culture.

When I started doing research for the Northkill Amish Series, which I’m writing with bestselling author Bob Hostetler, it quickly became obvious that we needed to describe our characters and what they’re wearing. To my dismay I discovered that there’s very little information available about Amish clothing in the eighteenth century, the period during which our series is set. Mennonite Attire through Four Centuries by Melvin Gingerich is the only detailed resource I found on the subject, but although it’s helpful, it doesn’t include much specific information about Amish fashion in the mid-eighteenth century. So I had to make some educated guesses. Happily I chanced across the images of the 18th century Swiss Anabaptist man and woman to the left and below right. The clothes they’re wearing would be very close to what the Amish wore during the same period, except for the stripes on the woman’s apron. They may be Mennonites, who were a bit more fancy in their dress.

One thing I learned was that when the Amish broke away from the Mennonites in Europe at the end of the 17th century, they continued wearing much the same general style of clothing as the common rural people of the Alsace, the Palatinate, and other parts of Europe where they lived. In fact, the dress of Amish women is very similar to examples from the 17th and 18th centuries displayed in Palatine museums. Because of their beliefs, they chose to dress much more plainly and modestly, however, and to adopt little, if anything, from the ever-changing fashion scene. Colors remained very somber, and no adornments such as stripes or figures on the fabric, jewelry, ribbons, and shoe buckles were allowed. Of course, when the Amish emigrated to America they brought their style of clothing with them.

Like the majority of colonial men, Amish men would have worn a long linen shirt that also served as nightwear, a waistcoat, and knee breeches, with long hose and plain shoes as you see above. A dress coat was added for formal occasions such as attendance at church. Once they married, they were required to grow a beard.

Since women had to cook over open fires and do other labor, they wore a plain mid-calf-length petticoat with a separate bodice that pinned together down the front, and a pinner apron like the one worn by the woman in the painting on the left. Under this they wore a shift that did double duty as a nightgown, hose, and plain shoes. (Colonial women wore stays to support the bosom and back and to provide the right shape for their gowns, but I have no idea whether Amish women did so.) Over their bodice, they wore a Halsduch or neck cloth that covered the neck and bosom, which you can see both in this painting and in Wybrand Hendriks’ portrait of a Dutch milkmaid below right. In cold weather they would wear a shawl. A fitted white or black linen cap called a Haube, similar to the cap the old woman seated at the table in the last painting, by Adriaan de Lelie, wears but lacking a ruffle, covered their hair, which was pinned behind the head in a bun.

In the summer when they went outside, just like their colonial neighbors Amish women wore wide-brimmed straw hats with low crowns, which they set right atop their cap. These were called scoops because of the shape that resulted from passing a ribbon or cord over the crown and tying it under the chin, thus pulling the brim down over the ears. Amish men and women both wore flat black beaver hats, called in German Flamma deckle, during the cold months, and when needed, they tied the brims down on the sides to keep their ears warm or prevent them from blowing off.

Bonnets came into fashion in the early 19th century, but it wasn’t until the mid 1800s that Amish districts slowly began to allow women to wear them. Gingrich cites examples of Amish mothers who on their deathbeds pleaded with their daughters to promise never to wear this outrageous headgear, but to little effect. Bonnets took over, and today Amish women still wear them. One of my cousins who was raised Amish told me that she absolutely hated wearing the silly things, and she had a good laugh when I told her that they were once banned. How things do change, and perhaps one day the Amish will transition to something else!

Clothing became an important factor in why the Amish clung to the dress styles they brought with them from Europe instead of adopting new fashions as the society around them did. In America the Amish found themselves for the first time conscious that their clothing was distinctly different from their neighbors on the frontiers where they settled—the Scottish-Irish, Huguenot, Quakers, and English. Traditional Amish dress served to immediately identify those who were members of the community. Over time, it also served as a hedge against the pressure to change in ways could eventually cause the Amish community to go out of existence.

~~~

J. M. Hochstetler is a descendant of Jacob Hochstetler’s oldest son John. An author, editor, and publisher, she is the daughter of Mennonite farmers and a lifelong student of history. Northkill, Book 1 of the Northkill Amish Series, won ForeWord Magazine’s 2014 INDYFAB Book of the Year Bronze Award for historical fiction. Her American Patriot Series is the only comprehensive historical fiction series on the American Revolution. One Holy Night, a contemporary retelling of the Christmas story, was the Christian Small Publishers 2009 Book of the Year.

Bohemia - The Vanished Kingdom

Bohemia, The Vanished Kingdom

Once upon a time long ago a kingdom stretched at its height across parts of present-day Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. It arose after settlement of the Hercynian forests, the vast and dense ancient forest east of the Rhine River in Europe.Writing about this kingdom is special to me because it is one of my ancestral homelands.

Map of Bohemia from an unknown author dated 1590 (reedition 1609), own scan & adjustment, high resolution (ca 56 × 39 cm) by Gumruch (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

From the 12th century until 1611, the Rožmberkové (Rosenberg) family controlled most of the lands in southern Bohemia. Members of this family, part of the powerful Vitkovci clan, were lords who held posts in the royal court. Heraldry tells us a little about this family. The crowned helm on the Rožmberkové coat of arms shows a crowned helm to denote royalty and has a five-petaled heraldic rose as its crest on on its shield. The red rose in heraldry stood for grace and beauty. The silver and white fields behind the roses stood for peace and sincerity. The snake represents wisdom. Gold in heraldry denotes generosity.

Coat of Arms of the Rožmberkové family [File:Rožmberkové.jpg|Rožmberkové]] {{PD-US}} – published in the US before 1923 and public domain in the US.

Rožmberk Castle, a gorgeous estate situated on a promontory of the Vitava River, served as the family's stronghold, and a town grew up around the barbican (external gate).

Rožmberk Castle by Donald Judge [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Rozmberk family showed its generosity by donating part of its lands to the Cistercian monastery in the town of Vyšší Brod, one of the last Cistercian monasteries to exist in Bohemia when it was still a kingdom.

Cistercian Monestary in Vyšší Brod by Donald Judge [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The wealth of the Rozmberk family is apparent in the rather large fishponds they had built. Rozmberk pond, completed in 1590 near the south Bohemian town of Třeboň, is 4.89 square kilometres and 12.3 meters at its deepest and the largest pond in Central Europe and a Ramsar-Convention protected wetland.

The ponds Rožmberk and Káňov. by Pavel Rychtecký (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

What happened to the Kingdom of Bohemia?

Bohemia was taken over by the Hapsburg Empire in 1526 and continued under the subsequent Hapsburg-Lorraine branch to become part of the Austrian Empire at the dissolution of the Roman Empire. From 1867 to 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bohemia, although the country retained its name and kingdom status 1918, After World War I, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved, Bohemia combined with Moravia, Slovakia, Czech Silesia, and Subcarpathian Ruthenia to create the Czechoslovak Republic.

Why do people call themselves Bohemians when they are not from Bohemian ancestry?

Starving artists, especially of the literary variety, once took up residence in Paris's low-rent districts. These neighborhoods were often occupied by Romani people, called "gypsies," and since so many Romanis lived in Bohemia, these artists came to be known as Bohemians by association, I guess. Because they lived an impoverished lifestyle, the stereotype of the starving literary artist was born. The unconventional lifestyle these artists lived caught the imagination of many and has since evolved into the bohemian subculture we see today.

Because of my Bohemian heritage, I have mixed feelings about my ethnic heritage being overwritten in this way. I love living in the moment as much as the next artist, but there's also a sadness in knowing that the Kingdom of Bohemia is no more.

"Lise the Bohemian"(ca 1868), a portrait by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, romanticizes Romani people, or "gypsies." The model, Lise Trehot was actually French.

About the Author

Bohemian by ethnicity and mindset, Janalyn is an eclectic artist who creates in multiple disciplines. (she also draws, sings, writes poetry, and toys with a camera.) Janalyn is represented by Sarah Joy Freese of Wordserve Literary. Her memberships include ACFW and NCWA. When she's not writing, she loves to discover worlds of adventure in the great outdoors with her family.

Janalyn Voigt's unique blend of adventure, romance, suspense, and whimsy creates breathtaking fictional worlds for readers. Look for her upcoming Montana Gold series, western historical romances set in Montana's gold rush era. Beginning with DawnSinger, her epic fantasy series, Tales of Faeraven, carries readers into a land only imagined in dreams.

Where did gloves go?

By Marilyn Turk

Easter is approaching, and as it does, my mind drifts back to memories of Easters past. The celebration of Christ’s resurrection has always been a special day in my family. It was a day of new life, with creation joining the celebration as flowers burst forth in color and trees sprouted new greenery.

Everything dressed up, and so did we. As a little girl, I wore my new Easter dress with my Easter bonnet and white lace-trimmed gloves. An interesting story on this tradition is in Ace Collins' Stories Behind the Traditions and Songs of Easter.

Even now, many years later, I try to wear something special for the occasion – new or not – but fitting for a day of springtime renewal. I even started wearing a hat again. But gloves? I quit wearing them years ago. When did gloves, other than for cold weather, quit being part of our attire?

While researching fashion in the 1880’s to make sure I appropriately dress women in the book I’m writing, I learned that gloves were a standard accessory. No lady would leave her house without her hat and gloves.

But the tradition of glove-wearing goes back as far as the Egyptian pyramids. By the 1100s companies of glovers were formed, and by the 1300’s, the occupation was big business in Europe.

Sturdy leather gloves were worn by laborers, knights and falconers, but fashionable gloves became popular by the upper class who demanded they be made of finer leathers such as doeskin and kid. These gloves were often beautifully fringed and edged, and could be richly embroidered with gold or colorful silk threads and sometimes adorned with jewels.

Between 1500 and 1700, very thin chicken skin gloves were popular with refined women who wore them at night to keep their hands soft. The practice of wearing lotion-lined gloves at night was also common among gentlemen.


Fabric gloves fashioned from silk, satin, velvet, cotton, and linen gained approval, and gloves knitted from thread and cotton appeared around the 1600s. In the mid-1800s, jean, sateen, and taffeta gloves were introduced.

Beginning with the 1950s, nylon gloves knitted in a variety of thicknesses, textures, and colors became trendy, as well as, naugahyde gloves made from vinyl-coated fabric to imitate leather.


Scented gloves, perfumed gloves, or sweet gloves, as they were called, were first worn by women and men in the royal courts before the demand for them extended to lower classes.These gloves were very popular throughout Europe until the late 1700s.

Spain introduced gloves scented with violet powder, and Italy and France eventually became recognized for their perfumed gloves. Elegant gloves produced in France came in different styles, and each style was named after the perfume with which it was scented. All types of herbs, cedar wood, myrtle, flowers, and drugs were used, singly and in combination, to give gloves a desirable odorous quality.

Glove styles over the centuries have included the short, mid-length, and long buttoned gloves. There were also fingerless gloves and gauntlets.

In Victorian times, gloves had their own “language” in social interaction.

Biting the tips - "I wish to be rid of you very soon!"
Clenching them, rolled up in right hand - "No!"
Drawing halfway on left hand - indifference
Dropping both of them - "I love you"
Dropping one of them - "Yes"
Folding up carefully - "Get rid of your company"
Holding the tips downward - "I wish to be acquainted"
Holding them loose in the right hand - "I am content"
Holding them loose in the left hand - "I am satisfied"
Left hand with the naked thumb exposed - "Do you love me?"
Putting them away - "I am vexed!"
Right hand with the naked thumb exposed - "Kiss me"
Smoothing them out gently _ "I am displeased"
Striking them over the shoulder - "Follow me"
Tapping the chin - "I love another"
Tossing them up gently - "I am engaged"
Turning them inside out - "I hate you!"
Twisting them around the fingers - "Be careful, we are watched!"
Using them as a fan - "Introduce me to your company".

So, do you think gloves should make a comeback?

Vintage Spanish lace wedding gloves

A multi-published author, Marilyn Turk lives in and writes about the coastal South, particularly about its history. Her fascination for lighthouses spawned her popular weekly lighthouse blog @pathwayheart.com, and inspired the stories in her upcoming Coastal Lights Legacy series and her Lighthouse Devotions book.