The Cost of a Working Woman's Morality by Cheryl Rae Johnson

 

What do you do when an influx of single working women arrive in your city without the protection of family?

This was the moral dilemma facing the good people of New York City in 1860. The Ladies Christian Union was especially troubled by this crisis of a new working class of females whom the LCU deemed at risk of losing their moral integrity. The Ladies took it upon themselves to provide Moral Homes for these working women in order to preserve their “purity, dignity, and femininity” and prepare these young women for marriage and motherhood.

The wealthy women who comprised the Ladies Christian Union set the standard by obtaining middle-class homes with a kitchen, parlor, dining room, and a large number of bedrooms to accommodate as many ladies as possible to board. The housemother would refer to the ladies as her “daughters” to give the living space that feeling of home. Servants were also employed so that the ladies did not do their own cooking, laundry, or cleaning, other than their bedroom.

Modern Day View of the first Ladies Christian Union Morality Home
(Wikimedia Commons)

On the surface this sounds wonderful, but whether these morality homes embodied a true sense of home might be up for debate. Strict standards had to be met in order for a lady to be approved for residence. Aside from gainful employment, the lady must provide references to vouch for her moral character. Women had to attend church on Sundays and participate in morning and evening devotions.

But it was the cost that was most daunting. In exchange for rent, which ranged from $3.50-$6.00 per week, they received two meals a day. And laundry services, which were not optional, cost anywhere from fifty cents to a dollar more, depending on the type of garment being washed. 

The women who stayed at these homes worked in factories, the fashionable shops on Ladies’ Mile, or in shops employed as seamstresses. The cost of rent and laundry would have consumed their entire wages. That leaves us wondering why they would pay such a price if it left little money in their reticules. 

Unlike today’s modern woman, gaining some modicum of independence from her family was often enough. Most of these ladies' families could not support feeding its offspring into adulthood. Leaving home meant doing her family a good turn, allowing them to put more money in their pocket. Ladies did not look at these homes as a permanent residence but as the next stop before marriage.

Fifty years after the opening of the first home, women worked in more professional careers with jobs as typists, teachers, artists, and writers. The five morality homes still operated by the Ladies Christian Union could not house the now estimated over fifty thousand working women.

  

YWCA Parlor
(Byron Company Collection, Museum of the City of NY)

YWCA Single Bedroom
(Byron Company Collection, Musuem of the City of NY)

The solution to this problem was the YWCA, which was built with the support of donors such as Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt. For this reason, this home was also known as the Margaret Louisa.

Others caught on to this need as well and built hotels for working women, but, unlike the YWCA, these hotels loosened the rein on morality, giving women the same freedom as men. The Hotel Martha Washington housed five hundred business women. The hotel itself was run by women, and much of the stock was even owned by women, a novel idea in the early 1900s. Two more hotels followed, the Trowmart Inn and the Barbizon Hotel for Women, each of which could house hundreds. 

Trowmart Inn Lobby
(Byron Company Collection, Musuem of the City of NY)

I first learned of these morality homes when I was researching one of my historical romance novels, Dear Miss Keefe. My heroine, Mary Elizabeth Keefe, was a seamstress who found herself alone in New York City after the death of her grandmother. Allowing her to live in a morality home provided wonderful details for my novel, with the endless drama of so many girls staying under the same roof. Although I did not use the term Ladies Christian Union, I included one woman who would have belonged to such an organization. This lady encourages Mary Elizabeth to take up a letter-writing campaign with her very eligible cousin in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Thus, an epistolary romance begins and becomes the backdrop for the book.

After a discussion of the rich history and resilience of New York City on September 11, it would be remiss not to remember those who lost their lives in the Twin Towers twenty-five years ago today and to thank all the brave men and women who serve everywhere, whether it be through the police forces, as a firefighter, or in one of the armed services.

Source:  Harkrader, Nina E. “All the Single Ladies: Women Only Buildings in the Early 20^th C. NYC.” The Gotham Center for New York City History. May 9, 2019.   https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/all-the-single-ladies-women-only-buildings-in-early-20th-c-nyc

Cheryl Rae Johnson writes historical romance novels set in the American South. She has made her home in all corners of the US but is now settled on the eastern edge of Texas, where she teaches writing and literature at her local university as well as ministers alongside her husband of over forty years in her local church. She can often be found drinking coffee and hanging out with her ever-growing brood of grandchildren. She loves to connect with her readers. You can join her here:

Cheryl Rae Johnson Website

Amazon Author Page

                              Goodreads

History of the Times Square Ball

Blogger: Amber Lemus

7th Times Square Ball
Photo Credit: Jtalvy, CC0, CC

 The dropping of the ball in Times Square has become a New Years icon. This year will make new history for the Times Square Ball, because it will drop twice. The second time in honor of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. 

Since we have new history being made with the ball drop, I thought it would be fun to explore the origins of the celebration that has become so well-known across the globe as a symbol of New York City and the USA.

The New Years celebration in Times Square had begun in 1904 as a way to celebrate and promote the newly finished headquarters of the New York Times newspaper building. The festivities were a hit, but after a few years of fireworks celebrations, the owner of the New York Times, Adolph Ochs, decided he wanted something bigger. It was the idea of the company's chief electrician to build a "time ball" after seeing one used elsewhere. In 1907, Ochs commissioned the Artkraft Strauss company to construct the ball. A young Russian immigrant by the name of Jacob Starr, built the ball out of iron and wood, then adorned it with one hundred 25-watt bulbs. The finished ball was five feet in diameter and weighed a whopping seven hundred pounds. It thrilled the spectators at the 1907-1908 New Years festivities in Times Square. 

Since then, the ball has been lowered every year, except for 1942 and 1943 due to WWII blackouts.

The Millennial Ball (2000)
Photo by: Hunter Kahn (Public Domain) 

In total, there have been nine versions of the ball:

• The original, built in 1907. 
  
  
• A version made entirely of wrought iron with replaced the original in 1920. 
  
  
• A lighter version made of aluminum replaced the four-hundred pound wrought iron ball in 1950. This version weighed only one-hundred-fifty pounds and remained until the 1980's.
   
• In the 80's, the "I Love New York" advertising campaign had launched, so a new ball with red lights and a green stem to look like an apple was installed and remained from 1981-1988.   
  
  
• After 1988, a more traditional ball with the white lights returned. 
  
  
• In 1995, technological updates were made to the ball to include an aluminum skin, rhinestones, strobes and computer controls. 
  
  
• The birth of a new century in 1999-2000 demanded a new ball. It was completely redesigned, this time a crystal ball with the very latest lighting technology combined with traditional materials. 
  
  
• 2007 brought the 100 year anniversary of the New York Times ball drop, so again, updates were made to the ball. The incandescent bulbs were replaced with LED, which gave the ball color capabilities and increased brightness. This one is known as the Centennial Ball. 
  
  
• The owners of One Times Square were inspired by the beauty of the Centennial Ball to create a permanent one that was visible year-round. This new, permanent version is known as the Big Ball and is made of crystal triangles and over thirty-two-thousand LEDs. It weighs nearly six tons.

The most recent Times Square Ball
Photo By Alex Lozupone - Own work, CC

However, on New Year's Eve, a NEW version of the ball will be revealed, celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States. If the celebration's reputation continues, it will be a spectacle to be seen. 

The notoriety of the ball drop has inspired many kinds of "drops" around the world. Sometimes balls, like in Times Square, and other times cultural objects such as the Bermuda onion. To read more about this, you can check out the Wikipedia page here. 

Have you ever been to the Ball Drop in NYC? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below. 

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Two-time winner of the Christian Indie Award, Amber Lemus writes enthralling non-fiction for children and adults alike. She has a passion for travel, history, books and her Savior, so her writing is centered around faith, family and history.

She lives at the foot of the Rocky Mountains with her prince charming and two boys. Between enjoying life as a boy mom, and spinning stories out of soap bubbles, Amber loves to connect with readers and hang out on Goodreads with other bookish peoples.

Amber is a proud member of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association. Visit her online at www.AmberLemus.com/ and download a FREE story by subscribing to her Newsletter!

Origins of the Great White Way

An aerial photograph of New York City at night shows a glowing strip between dark outlines of light-speckled skyscrapers. Even from outer space, the lights of Broadway are identifiable among the brilliance of the metropolitan area.

Yet the area became known as the “Great White Way” the year before the Wright Brothers’ first succeeded at flight.

Today, to be considered part of “Broadway,” a theater must contain 500 or more seats. There are currently 41 such houses in the Theater District, all clustered around Times Square on or near Broadway between 41st and 53rd Streets.

The origins of New York City’s reputation for theater stem to the mid-18th century with the opening of the city’s first known drama venue. Located in lower Manhattan and given the unimaginative name of “The Theatre,” it seated only 280.

Other theaters followed, such as the Park Theatre in 1798, the Bowery Theatre in 1826, and the Astor Place Theatre in 1847.

The only known photo of Niblo's Garden
(Photo: New York Public Library Digital Collections) 

During the 1820s, entertainment centers known as “pleasure gardens” developed. One of the most popular among all social classes was Niblo’s Garden. Beginning as a fenced, open-air beer garden, the venue expanded until it contained a hotel, a saloon, gaslit gravel paths through lush foliage, and an elaborate 3,000-seat theater. “The Black Crook,” considered by many to be the first true Broadway musical, opened there in 1866. The nightly production lasted five and a half hours, and the show became a runaway hit.

The interiors of these early theaters were lit with candles, and later with smelly, smoky, and dangerous gas lamps, resulting in some theaters burning and being rebuilt more than once.

The Olympia Theatre, owned by the grandfather
of famed lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, was the first
Broadway theater to use electric lighting inside and out.
The theater was part of the Olympia entertainment
complex that occupied a full city block.
(Photo: Museum of the City of New York)

In 1895, Oscar Hammerstein (grandfather of the well-known lyricist) opened the Olympia Theatre on Times Square, which was then called Longacre Square. It was part of a large complex that also included a roof garden, billiard room, concert hall, and music hall.

Although initial streetlights on Broadway, installed between Union Square and Madison Square by 1880, produced light via an electric arc, Hammerstein made history by using electric lighting both inside and outside the Olympia.

Electric lights along Broadway earned the Theater District
the nickname, the "Great White Way" in 1902
(Photo: Keystone View Company/Library of Congress)

As technology advanced, modern street lamps lit the area. Following the lead of the Olympia, other theaters installed brilliant electrical signs to promote their shows. “Spectaculars”—large, complex light displays with flashing or even animated designs—proliferated.

In 1902, the New York Morning Telegraph published an article about the theater district by columnist Shep Friedman with the headline, “Found on the Great White Way.” Two theories exist on where Friedman came up with the term: perhaps he borrowed from a London theater district, called the “White Way” for its well-lit streets, while another theory suggests that it was a biblical reference to the “way of the righteous,” symbolizing the virtuous path of entertainment and culture that Broadway represented at the time.

Regardless, the nickname stuck. Since then, the strip of light known as Broadway has been dark only during the two World Wars, when all the signs were blacked out.

Sources:

Why Broadway is Called the Great White Way | Backstage

History of New York Streets: Untapped New York

Broadway: A history of the Great White Way - Dance Informa Magazine

Why Is Broadway Called the Great White Way – Repeat Replay

The Bowery Boys: New York City History

See also: “Miss Minnette Goes to Broadway and Back” (Heroes, Heroines, and History, January 13, 2025)

 Multi-award-winning author Marie Wells Coutu finds beauty in surprising places, like undiscovered treasures, old houses, and gnarly trees. All three books in her Mended Vessels series, contemporary stories based on the lives of biblical women, have won awards in multiple contests. She is currently working on historical romances set in her native western Kentucky in the 1930s and ‘40s. An unpublished novel, Shifting Currents, placed second in the inspirational category of the nationally recognized Maggie Awards. Learn more at www.MarieWellsCoutu.com.

Her historical short story, “All That Glistens,” is loosely based on a woman from Star Lime Works, Kentucky, who went to Broadway. It was included in the 2023 Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction collection and is now available free when you sign up for Marie's newsletter here. In her newsletter, she shares about her writing life, historical tidbits, recommended books, and sometimes recipes.

Miss Minnette Goes to Broadway and Back

If you’ve been to a Broadway show in New York City, you likely admired the opulent grandeur of the theatre, reminiscent of the early 1900s. Ornate moldings and gilded plaster carvings cover every available surface. The proscenium arch is typically highlighted with gold leaf-covered motifs reflecting the building’s architectural style—rococo, art deco, or beaux-arts.

The proscenium arch, ceiling, and box seats adjacent
to the stage of the Lyceum Theatre are typical of the
detailed design features of early-1900s Broadway
theatres that have been preserved or restored.

Then, when the production began, if you’re like me, you sat open-mouthed as you became immersed in the story and in awe of the performers’ talent.

A number of years ago, I came across these photos and a brief story about a Broadway actress from a tiny town in western Kentucky, which piqued my curiosity. She was born Minnie Vogel and went to New York City about 1909, where she used the stage name Minnette. According to an article in Between the Rivers magazine, she starred in the Broadway play Ray’s Down the Pike Co. Her family believed she may have written the play herself, but no one seems to know how she made the 900-plus mile trip at the age of 18 from Star Lime Works to the big city.

The story intrigued me because Minnette shared little information about her time in New York once she returned home. No records exist of an actress of her name or a play by that title on Broadway (although there was an actress named Minnette Barrett, who performed on Broadway from 1907 to 1953). This raised questions of what happened while this small-town girl was in New York City, and my speculations became the basis for my short story, “All That Glitters,” although I chose the 1930s for my setting.

As part of my research, I found five prominent theaters that were built between 1901 and 1913, when Minnette left the city, and are still in use today:

• The New Amsterdam Theatre: opened in 1903 with A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Home of the Ziegfeld Follies from 1913-1927, and is one of a few operating under its original name.

• The Lyceum Theatre: opened in 1903 with a production of The Proud Prince. Oldest continually operating as a legitimate theater space in New York City. Retained its original name throughout its history.

• The Palace Theatre: opened in 1913 with Miss Civilization. During the height of the Vaudeville era, the Palace was considered the most desirable venue by Vaudevillian performers.

• The Schubert Theatre: opened in 1913 with Easy Come, Easy Go. Connected by a private road to its sister theatre, the Booth.

• The Booth Theater: opened in 1913 with a production of The Great Adventure. Named after the famed actor Edwin Booth, brother of Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth.

The mysterious Miss Minnette had a “successful” career, as described by her pastor, but “it did not prove for her good.” Nevertheless, before her death she wrote, “Praise to God I die happy, although I know not the hour my Lord cometh. Do not cry, but just be glad. God bless you all. Meet me in heaven.”

Minnette was no doubt one of many performers whose short-term fame faded into obscurity.

Next month, I’ll share about other historic Broadway theaters and how the area became known as the Great White Way.

Sources

Between the Rivers magazine, Issue 22, 2011, Grand Rivers, KY

www.broadwayworld.com

www.spotlightonbroadway.com

IBDB | The Official Source For Broadway Information

Multi-award-winning author Marie Wells Coutu finds beauty in surprising places, like undiscovered treasures, old houses, and gnarly trees. All three books in her Mended Vessels series, contemporary stories based on the lives of biblical women, have won awards in multiple contests. She is currently working on historical romances set in her native western Kentucky in the 1930s and ‘40s. An unpublished novel, Shifting Currents, placed second in the inspirational category of the nationally recognized Maggie Awards. Learn more at www.MarieWellsCoutu.com.

Her historical short story, “All That Glistens,” was included in the 2023 Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction collection and is now available free when you sign up for Marie's newsletter here. In her newsletter, she shares about her writing, historical tidbits, recommended books, and sometimes recipes.

1st Woman Photojournalist Climbed High for a Shot

From climbing into a hot air balloon to sneaking photographs of a murder trial where cameras were prohibited, Jessie Tarbox Beals earned the reputation of doing whatever it took to obtain pictures.

Few women worked as photographers at the time, and they typically confined their work to portrait studios, but Beals became the first female photojournalist in 1900 when a Vermont newspaper published her photos of a fair.

First female photojournalist
Jessie Tarbox Beals

Born in 1870 in Canada, Jessie Tarbox was “a bright and precocious child” and earned her teaching credentials at the age of 17. She moved to Massachusetts, where her brother lived, and taught in Williamsburg and, later, Greenfield. Her interest in photography started in 1888 when, as a teacher, she won a small camera through Youth’s Companion magazine. She soon bought a more expensive camera and, in her first week of using it, earned $10.

Soon her interest in photography took precedent and she resigned from teaching after 10 years.

She married Alfred Tennyson Beals in 1897 and began to teach him the basics of photography and darkroom work.

Jessie obtained her first professional assignment in 1899, photographing the Massachusetts state prison for the Boston Post. In 1900, the couple began working as itinerant photographers, with Alfred as Beals’ darkroom assistant.

When funds ran out in 1901, they settled in Buffalo, NY, and Jessie was hired by the Buffalo Inquirer and The Buffalo Courier, making her the first woman staff photographer. Photojournalism was physically strenuous and often dangerous work. Beals became known for climbing ladders in her ankle-length dresses and large hats, while carrying her bulky 8x10 glass plate camera and 50 pounds of equipment. During a murder trial the judge ordered off-limits to photographers, Beals climbed atop a bookcase to shoot pictures through a transom window. Photos she took of Sir Thomas Lipton, inventor of the tea bag, during his visit to Buffalo were published in newspapers throughout the country.

After 18 months, she and Alfred left for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition (aka World’s Fair) in St. Louis. With some effort, she convinced the organizers to provide her a press permit, and her photographs of that event have become her most enduring and well-known. She became the Fair photographer for the New York Herald, Tribune, and Leslie's Weekly, three Buffalo newspapers, and all the local St. Louis papers, and eventually for the Fair's own publicity department, producing over 3,500 photographs of the Fair.

Jessie Tarbox Beals taking photos from
a ladder at the 1904 World's Fair

Beals had a different style from most news photographers at the time, and was willing to “hustle” (her term) to get interesting shots. She not only climbed ladders and went up in a hot air balloon, but she captured candid images of visiting dignitaries, including William Howard Taft and then-President Theodore Roosevelt. She also liked to take a series of photographs for which a writer would later be assigned, a departure from the typical newspaper process. She developed a series on the indigenous peoples who were highlighted at the Fair and explored the differences in motherhood between cultures. 

Jessie Tarbox capturing
images of the streets
 of New York City, ca. 1905

 After the Fair, Beals and her husband opened a studio in New York City, where she was the photographer and he ran the business. Her depiction of the bohemian lifestyle of Greenwich Village is well-known, but her assignments ranged from photographing auto races to portraits of society figures and more celebrities, including Mark Twain, Emily Post, and Presidents Coolidge, Hoover, and Taft.

Despite her success, the marriage struggled. Her daughter Nanette was born in 1911, but by 1917, the couple had separated. Beals opened a new studio and gallery in Greenwich Village in 1920, but caring for Nanette as a single mother with a career proved challenging. Nanette suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and was frequently hospitalized. Eventually Jessie sent her to camps, private boarding schools, and friends.

Jessie began to specialize in photographing gardens and estates of the wealthy. In 1929, she took Nanette and moved to California, where she was in great demand by the Hollywood crowd to take pictures of their estates. The Great Depression brought an end to that business, and she and Nanette returned to Greenwich Village in 1933.

Photo of children in NYC
  by Jessie Tarbox Beals, circa 1915

Making a living as a photographer became more difficult due to the economy, and Jessie’s health began to decline, in part as a result of the physical challenges she took during her career. In 1942, she died at Bellevue Hospital. She was 71. Her ex-husband Alfred did not attend her funeral, though he lived nearby.

Because Beals moved so many times and ended her life in poverty, she did not retain many of her negative plates. But efforts by other photographers resulted in her work being included in collections at the Library of Congress, Harvard University, the New York Historical Society, and the American Museum of Natural History.

She summed up her philosophy as a woman photojournalist in 1904: “If one is the possessor of health and strength, a good news instinct . . . a fair photographic outfit, and the ability to hustle, which is the most necessary qualification, one can be a news photographer.”

Sources

Women Photojournalists: Jessie Tarbox Beals - Biographical Essay(Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress) (loc.gov) 

First behind the camera: Photojournalist Jessie Tarbox Beals — Harvard Gazette 

Jessie Tarbox Beals | Women’s Rights Advocate, Documentary Photographer | Britannica 

Jessie Tarbox Beals - Wikipedia 

Multi-award-winning author Marie Wells Coutu finds beauty in surprising places, like undiscovered treasures, old houses, and gnarly trees. All three books in her Mended Vessels series, contemporary stories based on the lives of biblical women, have won awards in multiple contests. She is currently working on historical romances set in her native western Kentucky in the 1930s and ‘40s. An unpublished novel, Shifting Currents, is a finalist in the nationally recognized Maggie Awards.

Her historical short story, “All That Glistens,” was included in the 2023 Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction collection and is now available free when you sign up for Marie's newsletter here. In her newsletter, she shares about her writing, historical tidbits, recommended books, and sometimes recipes.

Barbie Turns 65 Today

    __By Tiffany Amber Stockton__

In February, President William Henry Harrison received the spotlight focus. This month includes my mother's birthday on the first of the month. Her name is Barbara (often shortened to Barbie), so I thought it might be fun to look at the doll of the same name. My mother was 9 years old when the doll premiered and shared a name with the daughter of Barbie's creator.

BARBIE CHANGES BABYDOLL PLAYTIME

On March 9, 1959, a display at the American Toy Fair in New York City featured what has now become an iconic item. Ruth Handler came up with the idea after seeing her daughter ignore her baby dolls in favor of playing with paper dolls patterned after adult women. She and her husband worked with the toy company Mattel to mass distribute this doll, and at its height, about 3 dolls were being sold every second! This huge success has led to over 1 billion of these dolls being sold since its debut.

Handler's goal for this doll was to inspire young girls to "be anything she wanted to be" and to communicate to them that they had choices beyond the traditional gender roles of the 1950s. Since the first doll to appear on retail shelves, more than 200 career options have been featured through wardrobe and accessory inclusions. Dolls have also been modeled after 6 different body types, 9 skin tones, 6 eye colors, 11 hair colors, and 10 hairstyles, along with dolls in wheelchairs and dolls with prosthetic limbs.

Although the Barbie doll has generated a lot of controversy over the years, primarily in regard to the appearance of the basic body, Mattel has worked hard to make the doll relatable worldwide through clothing and accessories, as well as skin tone. The slim waist, large bust and seemingly never-ending legs might have helped create an unrealistic body image for young girls, but the generally-accepted adult female body also endeared the doll to millions of girls aspiring to become successful women as adults.

From fashion designer and architect to Olympian and ballerina, from astronaut and pilot to doctor and entrepreneur, Barbie has demonstrated success across many cultures and genetic origins. She's had friends and boyfriends, nieces and even children join her. This "toy" has stood as a strong symbol of achievement in dozens of countries.

Today, Barbie has achieved historical renown through nearly four generations all around the world. And thanks to the recent movie, the doll is seeing a resurgence in popularity, giving it a chance to make even greater impact on future generations to come.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN:

* Did you ever own a Barbie Doll? More than one? If so, how did you play with it most?

* Do you feel the goal of Barbie helped or hindered the way girls have viewed themselves throughout the doll's history so far? How so?

* Where do you see Barbie heading in the future?

** This note is for our email readers. Please do not reply via email with any comments. View the blog online and scroll down to the comments section.

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

For those interested in my life as an author and everyday gal, what I'm currently reading, historical tidbits, recommended reads, and industry news about other authors, subscribe to my monthly newsletter. The latest edition was just sent out last week. Receive a FREE e-book of Magic of the Swan 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, one dog, and three 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.