China's Daily Life

I wonder if a hundred years from now women of the day will look back and wonder about their grandma’s life. How did she live? What did she do with her days? What were her financial circumstances, and did it make a huge difference or only a small one to her activities? What about her leisure time--or did she have any?

That’s exactly the same thing I go through when I sit down to write a China Bohannon story.

I only remember bits and pieces about my grandmother when she still lived on the farm, but that’s the kind of routine I think of for China in her daily life. Although China is a city girl in 1896, and my grandmother was a farm wife in the 1950s. My grandparents' farm was probably more primitive than 1896. In fact, I know it was, since they didn’t have inside water  and had to carry it in from the pump house. The bathroom was a one-holer privy set at some distance from the house. One bathed in a tin bathtub, which then needed emptied. Their telephone hung on the wall, was made of oak, and had a crank--and a party line. They did have electric lights, but no refrigerator. Of course the kitchen range burned wood. That’s how they heated the house.

Why so primitive, you may ask? Well, for one thing, my grandfather may have been the cheapest old SOB you ever heard of, especially if it concerned convenience for the womenfolk. Ah, well, we won’t go into that.

In the China Bohannon novels, I  don’t go into much of China’s daily life beyond her work in the Doyle & Howe office, and the cooking of a bare bones meal. I have mentioned a skirt she made for  herself, and maybe a few other articles of clothing. I also mention her shopping for readymades. No real details, though. It’s not because I don’t know how clothing is made⏤I used to make a lot of my own. It’s just that China has more important things to do, like sleuth.

But I can imagine her out chopping wood when Monk or Grat are gone or too busy.  I haven’t put her into a grocery store, either, except a look-in when she’s on the trail of someone. There weren’t grocery stores as we know them, anyway. There were meat markets and bakeries and greengrocers. Milk and dairy was delivered to one’s door. A lot of things we buy at the supermarkets were probably purchased at the general mercantile. Just think how much more difficult and time consuming it was then! And don’t get me started on refrigeration. All China has is an ice box, with ice delivered on a weekly basis. Just think what a chore emptying the drain pans must’ve been. Forget it even for a few hours and you’d have water all over the place to clean up.


To be continued------

Black Crossing is baaaack.

Wolfpack Publishing has made my 2008 EPIC Award winning western is available again. Only 99 cents for a great read! Check it out here: http://amzn.to/2bY5efG

By the way, the female character's name is Ione, which is pronounced I own. It's also a town in eastern Washington, not far from where I've set the fictional Black Crossing.

Going Dancing Part 2

Informal dances were held in many different venues, including country barns. Furniture might be cleared from a home’s parlor to make space; hotels often held afternoon tea dances. Not far from where I live is a well-preserved, stately four-story home built in the late 1890s where the entire top floor is given over to a private ballroom. There are several such homes in Spokane--we’re fortunate in seeing these homes preserved. Sometimes the music was of professional grade, sometimes self-taught fiddlers and guitarists performed. I believe the amazing part is that they were so good.

High in popularity with the young set, the dance pavilions at various lakes drew large crowds. Can’t you just imagine the music floating out over the gently lapping water, stars shining overhead, soft night air brushing the lady’s bare arms lifted to embrace her partner? Gentlemen’s cigar smoke would waft in from the darkness to mingle with the women’s perfume. Bliss. Unless the gentlemen slipped off to imbibe a sip or two from a flask. Fights were known to break out.

In Three Seconds to Thunder, China and Gratton trip the light fantastic at the dance pavilion at Mirror Lake on Spokane's South Hill. China is in heaven--until one of  Grat's cases intrudes.

New review

https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/four-furlongs-a-china-bohannon-novel/

What China Does For Fun in 1896 Spokane

GOING DANCING: Part One

Dancing, for some, may have been frowned upon in certain circles, but don’t forget these were the gay 90s. This is the era when Ragtime--you know--JAZZ, began. The Cakewalk, a new dance, was based on black folks having fun at the way white folks moved. Very soon whites loosened up and adopted the new fad as their own.

Dance tunes had provocative titles like I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby, Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay, & A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight. Sometimes even the lyrics were a little risque. Who knew? This was still the Victorian age, after all. Dance bands might also be playing songs like The Band Played On, The Sidewalks of New York, Daisy Bell, or After the Ball. A country style song going the rounds was The Cat Came Back. This is one that retained its popularity over the years.  I remember hearing this one, and believe me, I wasn’t around in 1893, the year the song came out.

The waltz, as it had been since the early 19th century, was still one of the most popular dances, only now it had variations--sometimes named for the place where some inventive person created new steps and they caught on. The two-step, also known as the deux-temps, became a favored dance, as it still is today. The polka, the schottische, mazurka, galup, and quadrille were others one might see. The polka and schottische survive; the others I don’t know. The tango also began in the 1890s. I’m pretty sure it isn’t the Argentine tango you’ll see on So You Think You Can Dance or Dancing With the Stars! Oddly enough, even in the finest ballrooms in New York City, a ball likely would end with the last dance being an oldtime reel. Another interesting point is the length of time allotted for a dance. We’re accustomed to thinking of a dance of four or five minutes, but dance cards of the day show ten to fifteen minutes. I suspect ladies might have very sore feet after an evenings entertainment. One hopes she chose her partners well.

FIVE DAYS, FIVE DEAD

Have you all seen the movie “Romancing the Stone?” I know, it’s as old as Methuselah, but I’ll never forget the opening scenes where Kathleen Turner has just finished her latest bodice-busting pot-boiler. She dancing, and crying, and almost hysterical with glee.

Well, I’m not quite that emotional, but I’ve been working on the fifth China Bohannon mystery/adventure for quite some time. Longer than it usually takes me to write a book. But at last it’s finished and I’m filled with euphoria.

This book is set in the winter, with Spokane under record cold temperatures. Check the record, by the way. Several cold temps that hold to this day were set then. (1896) Anyhow, a mail-order bride, engaged to a wealthy Spokane saloonkeeper may not be all she’s cracked up to be. As for her sister, who has been kidnapped, is she in danger or is she not? It’s up to China, Nimble, and some new friends to find out. Quick. Because seemingly minor characters are being murdered and China’s friends may be next in line.

I had a terrible time selecting a title for this one. What I came up with, in keeping with putting the number of books in the title is ⏤ta-da⏤Five Days, Five Dead.