Kathleen Marple Kalb's Blog, page 28
May 14, 2020
BATHTIME, TAKE ME AWAY!
We tend to think of the Victorians as aggressively clean in contrast to those smelly Renaissance types. Unfortunately, like so many other historical stereotypes, there’s both a grain of truth…and a big chunk of misinformation there.
For one, the Tudors and their pals probably didn’t really reek. Historians will tell you that even though most Renaissance folks didn’t have running water, or even a morning pitcher of it, they did decently well with a daily rubdown with a linen cloth, and the linen underclothes they wore against their skin, which did a nice job of wicking away sweat and smell. So while the Court of Queen Elizabeth certainly wasn’t daisy-fresh, the stench wouldn’t have knocked you over, either. (Well, unless you got near the privies – but let’s just not!)
As for the Victorians, while they certainly spent a lot more time talking and thinking about cleanliness than previous generations, they didn’t yet have the technology to go full clean freak. While indoor plumbing was becoming more common, it often took the form of one water closet per floor, if that, and rarely included bathtubs, never mind showers. Most people were perfectly happy with a daily wash with the porcelain bowl and ewer (pitcher) kept on a stand in every decent bedroom.
When they needed or wanted something more elaborate, out came the hip bath, a small sit-in bathtub. Technology, again, was the great enemy – if you were planning to take a hip bath in your bedroom, the most modest option, you or your maid were going to be schlepping cans of hot water up there. Not something you’re going to do every day, even if you don’t care about the maid’s hard work.
Ella Shane, however, cares very much about her maid’s hard work…and also prefers a full bath. So every so often, when everyone is out of the house, and she has a quiet evening to herself, she takes over the kitchen and pulls out the big copper bathtub, much as folks would do in poorer homes. There’s a good reason for that. Most cookstoves had a nice big reservoir for hot water, which was kept hot for tea, laundry and yes, the occasional bath.
When, in A FATAL FINALE, Ella takes advantage of a quiet night at home to wash her hair and have a good soak in lavender-scented water, it’s a major treat. It’s also pretty elaborate. In addition to just running the bath, there’s the hair-washing, which requires making up just the right soap-and-water solution, working it in, and thoroughly rinsing it out. When she’s finally done, she coats her wavy hair in rose-and-cinnamon scented combing oil from her apothecary, smooths almond oil on her face, wraps up in a thick robe, and dumps out the water in the back.
A less self-sufficient lady would probably leave a lot of that work to the maid, but that’s not Ella…and it would not be the life for most women, either.
We can’t talk about baths without mentioning Ella’s favorite pleasure of going on tour. While the tenors may have their less reputable ideas of a good time, Ella’s big road treat is a soak in the claw-foot tub of an excellent hotel like the ones the company frequents in San Francisco and Boston. She’ll tell you that it doesn’t make up for missing dear friends for weeks on end…but it goes a long way toward easing the pain. And there’s still no better break from your troubles than a long, hot bath!
For one, the Tudors and their pals probably didn’t really reek. Historians will tell you that even though most Renaissance folks didn’t have running water, or even a morning pitcher of it, they did decently well with a daily rubdown with a linen cloth, and the linen underclothes they wore against their skin, which did a nice job of wicking away sweat and smell. So while the Court of Queen Elizabeth certainly wasn’t daisy-fresh, the stench wouldn’t have knocked you over, either. (Well, unless you got near the privies – but let’s just not!)
As for the Victorians, while they certainly spent a lot more time talking and thinking about cleanliness than previous generations, they didn’t yet have the technology to go full clean freak. While indoor plumbing was becoming more common, it often took the form of one water closet per floor, if that, and rarely included bathtubs, never mind showers. Most people were perfectly happy with a daily wash with the porcelain bowl and ewer (pitcher) kept on a stand in every decent bedroom.
When they needed or wanted something more elaborate, out came the hip bath, a small sit-in bathtub. Technology, again, was the great enemy – if you were planning to take a hip bath in your bedroom, the most modest option, you or your maid were going to be schlepping cans of hot water up there. Not something you’re going to do every day, even if you don’t care about the maid’s hard work.
Ella Shane, however, cares very much about her maid’s hard work…and also prefers a full bath. So every so often, when everyone is out of the house, and she has a quiet evening to herself, she takes over the kitchen and pulls out the big copper bathtub, much as folks would do in poorer homes. There’s a good reason for that. Most cookstoves had a nice big reservoir for hot water, which was kept hot for tea, laundry and yes, the occasional bath.
When, in A FATAL FINALE, Ella takes advantage of a quiet night at home to wash her hair and have a good soak in lavender-scented water, it’s a major treat. It’s also pretty elaborate. In addition to just running the bath, there’s the hair-washing, which requires making up just the right soap-and-water solution, working it in, and thoroughly rinsing it out. When she’s finally done, she coats her wavy hair in rose-and-cinnamon scented combing oil from her apothecary, smooths almond oil on her face, wraps up in a thick robe, and dumps out the water in the back.
A less self-sufficient lady would probably leave a lot of that work to the maid, but that’s not Ella…and it would not be the life for most women, either.
We can’t talk about baths without mentioning Ella’s favorite pleasure of going on tour. While the tenors may have their less reputable ideas of a good time, Ella’s big road treat is a soak in the claw-foot tub of an excellent hotel like the ones the company frequents in San Francisco and Boston. She’ll tell you that it doesn’t make up for missing dear friends for weeks on end…but it goes a long way toward easing the pain. And there’s still no better break from your troubles than a long, hot bath!
May 7, 2020
WHO ARE YOU CALLING THEATRE PEOPLE?
When Gilbert Saint Aubyn, Duke of Leith, walks into opera singer Ella Shane’s rehearsal studio in her Washington Square townhouse, he’s carrying a giant ball of misconceptions about her, and how she lives her life. It’s not really his fault; there are a few hundred years of history in the way.
You might remember from eighth-grade English that when Shakespeare wrote his plays, the women’s roles were played by boys. Men still play women’s parts in traditional Japanese kabuki theatre. There’s a pretty long history of people (especially male people!) being uncomfortable with women onstage, and making assumptions about what kind of woman would be comfortable standing there performing in front of everyone.
Nell Gwyn and her ilk didn’t help. By the Restoration Era, late 1600s, women were actors too, but many of them also either were, or started out as, prostitutes. Nell was most definitely a girl with a past, but she’s best remembered for her most famous partner: King Charles II. A working actress, unapologetically blunt about her life, she was a favorite with the people of London, unlike the King’s other main mistress, the French Catholic Louise de Kerouaille. One day, Nell was riding in a carriage and an angry group of protestors thought Louise was inside. Nell leaned out the window and yelled, “No! Good people, I am the PROTESTANT whore!”
The cheering crowd cleared the way for her.
All of that – plus a couple more centuries of less famous but equally questionable females – is in the air when the Duke meets Ella. And she’s spent her life fighting it. By 1899, with opera considered an elevated, though still quite popular, art form, there’s at least a possibility that a woman who sings for a living might be respectable. If she follows the rules with absolute rigor, which Ella does.
So when the Duke, asking about his late cousin, says: “I want to know what she was doing with you theatre people,” our heroine is definitely within her rights to want to slap him. Maybe even to actually do it.
Being Ella, though, she comes up with a more fitting punishment. She makes him fence with her, saying with a considerable edge: “I have limited practice time…and we theatre people have to stay sharp.”
If the Duke didn’t already know that he’d made a terrible mistake, she makes it that much clearer during the match when he suggests they continue the discussion over dinner. She slaps it right down, informing him that she does not go out with men who are not her family…and launching a new attack. Point made.
Soon enough, Ella generously grants him a draw, and they agree on a most respectable tea at the Waldorf. And Gilbert Saint Aubyn has learned a very hard lesson, appealingly delivered, about why it is a bad idea to make assumptions.
It’s important to note here, though, that the Duke is one of the good ones. Ella has at least one back stage Lothario (they weren’t called stage-door Johnnies for a few more years) who simply does not understand the word “no.” Grover Duquesne, Captain of Industry, keeps showing up with roses in his pudgy little hands, hoping that tonight will be the night she surrenders to his repulsive advances. It’s mostly funny, but a little menacing, and Ella’s well aware that if she didn’t have her cousin and protector Tommy Hurley, she might have to use her sword.
Which she would. While Ella would never actually utter these words, she is blunt for the reader: “I’m nobody’s whore.”
Protestant, Catholic or otherwise.
You might remember from eighth-grade English that when Shakespeare wrote his plays, the women’s roles were played by boys. Men still play women’s parts in traditional Japanese kabuki theatre. There’s a pretty long history of people (especially male people!) being uncomfortable with women onstage, and making assumptions about what kind of woman would be comfortable standing there performing in front of everyone.
Nell Gwyn and her ilk didn’t help. By the Restoration Era, late 1600s, women were actors too, but many of them also either were, or started out as, prostitutes. Nell was most definitely a girl with a past, but she’s best remembered for her most famous partner: King Charles II. A working actress, unapologetically blunt about her life, she was a favorite with the people of London, unlike the King’s other main mistress, the French Catholic Louise de Kerouaille. One day, Nell was riding in a carriage and an angry group of protestors thought Louise was inside. Nell leaned out the window and yelled, “No! Good people, I am the PROTESTANT whore!”
The cheering crowd cleared the way for her.
All of that – plus a couple more centuries of less famous but equally questionable females – is in the air when the Duke meets Ella. And she’s spent her life fighting it. By 1899, with opera considered an elevated, though still quite popular, art form, there’s at least a possibility that a woman who sings for a living might be respectable. If she follows the rules with absolute rigor, which Ella does.
So when the Duke, asking about his late cousin, says: “I want to know what she was doing with you theatre people,” our heroine is definitely within her rights to want to slap him. Maybe even to actually do it.
Being Ella, though, she comes up with a more fitting punishment. She makes him fence with her, saying with a considerable edge: “I have limited practice time…and we theatre people have to stay sharp.”
If the Duke didn’t already know that he’d made a terrible mistake, she makes it that much clearer during the match when he suggests they continue the discussion over dinner. She slaps it right down, informing him that she does not go out with men who are not her family…and launching a new attack. Point made.
Soon enough, Ella generously grants him a draw, and they agree on a most respectable tea at the Waldorf. And Gilbert Saint Aubyn has learned a very hard lesson, appealingly delivered, about why it is a bad idea to make assumptions.
It’s important to note here, though, that the Duke is one of the good ones. Ella has at least one back stage Lothario (they weren’t called stage-door Johnnies for a few more years) who simply does not understand the word “no.” Grover Duquesne, Captain of Industry, keeps showing up with roses in his pudgy little hands, hoping that tonight will be the night she surrenders to his repulsive advances. It’s mostly funny, but a little menacing, and Ella’s well aware that if she didn’t have her cousin and protector Tommy Hurley, she might have to use her sword.
Which she would. While Ella would never actually utter these words, she is blunt for the reader: “I’m nobody’s whore.”
Protestant, Catholic or otherwise.
April 30, 2020
WHY CAN"T THESE PEOPLE KEEP THEIR CLOTHES ON?
The Many Changes of a Gilded Age Lady’s Day
My husband the Professor periodically asks me why I need so many clothes. I remind him that women need different outfits for different purposes, unlike men, who are pretty much always appropriate in a sportcoat or business casual. It’s a good thing he’s not married to someone like Ella Shane, never mind the society ladies who come to see her sing.
A respectable lady could easily go through four clothing changes in a day. More if she went riding or bicycling. That’s an ordinary day. Traveling and special events required additional attire, often very specific attire.
While there were heartbreaking (and true) stories from the tenements of families huddling in bed in rags for a day while the mother washed their clothes, by the late nineteenth century, people who were middle class or better were starting to have the kind of significant wardrobe that we would recognize. The further you went up the social tree, the more significant that wardrobe became.
Ella’s typical day, for example, starts with pinning up her hair and putting on a simple morning dress, probably cotton in the summer and wool in the winter. If she has a fencing lesson or rehearsal after breakfast, she’ll change to breeches and a shirt – or a sports costume if she’s cycling with her friend Hetty. A society woman might cycle as well, if she were a bit rebellious, but she would more likely go riding in suitable habit, or perhaps play tennis in a skirt and shirtwaist designed for the purpose.
Most days, Ella’s maid Rosa helps her neaten up into a nicer afternoon frock that will also suit for dinner with family and friends. On a performance night, of course, it’s much more elaborate: a dashing male costume and full makeup, and even once in a while, a lovely gown for an after-show reception at home. But it all ends the same way, with Ella taking her hair down, slipping into her simple but very good lace-trimmed cotton nightie, and dreaming of nothing more romantic than her next velocipede ride, thank you.
Our member of the Four Hundred, though, requires far more dressing and un-dressing before she, and her overworked lady’s maid, sleep. After her ride, the maid will help her put on an afternoon dress or teagown, depending on whether she’s “at home,” or making calls. The evening offers a full spectrum of possibilities, each specific to the activity: anything from the full-blown glittery gowns that one wears to the opera or a ball, to a somewhat simpler, but still quite elaborate, dinner gown. Never would she be caught eating dinner in an afternoon dress.
The socialite requires many other outfits as well: the simple suit for traveling, the rather nicer one for promenading and shopping, tweeds for the country, a Presentation gown for Court after she snares her British Lord. Those tales of women traveling across the sea or Continent with dozens of trunks are not exaggerated for effect.
And then there’s the teagown. It’s a loose confection of silk and ribbons and lace that can be worn without stays, and is appropriate enough to be seen in, should one have company. Our respectable Ella has a few, which she wears if she’s resting at home after a performance. More adventuresome ladies, though, preferred the teagown for afternoon assignations with gentlemen callers, and the garment itself has developed a certain reputation.
Whether or not she was up to anything naughty, a Gilded Age lady required a wide and interesting wardrobe, so that she could be appropriately turned out for every eventuality. And every eventuality had an appropriate outfit.
So, Professor, maybe you don’t need to stress about a couple extra sweaters?
My husband the Professor periodically asks me why I need so many clothes. I remind him that women need different outfits for different purposes, unlike men, who are pretty much always appropriate in a sportcoat or business casual. It’s a good thing he’s not married to someone like Ella Shane, never mind the society ladies who come to see her sing.
A respectable lady could easily go through four clothing changes in a day. More if she went riding or bicycling. That’s an ordinary day. Traveling and special events required additional attire, often very specific attire.
While there were heartbreaking (and true) stories from the tenements of families huddling in bed in rags for a day while the mother washed their clothes, by the late nineteenth century, people who were middle class or better were starting to have the kind of significant wardrobe that we would recognize. The further you went up the social tree, the more significant that wardrobe became.
Ella’s typical day, for example, starts with pinning up her hair and putting on a simple morning dress, probably cotton in the summer and wool in the winter. If she has a fencing lesson or rehearsal after breakfast, she’ll change to breeches and a shirt – or a sports costume if she’s cycling with her friend Hetty. A society woman might cycle as well, if she were a bit rebellious, but she would more likely go riding in suitable habit, or perhaps play tennis in a skirt and shirtwaist designed for the purpose.
Most days, Ella’s maid Rosa helps her neaten up into a nicer afternoon frock that will also suit for dinner with family and friends. On a performance night, of course, it’s much more elaborate: a dashing male costume and full makeup, and even once in a while, a lovely gown for an after-show reception at home. But it all ends the same way, with Ella taking her hair down, slipping into her simple but very good lace-trimmed cotton nightie, and dreaming of nothing more romantic than her next velocipede ride, thank you.
Our member of the Four Hundred, though, requires far more dressing and un-dressing before she, and her overworked lady’s maid, sleep. After her ride, the maid will help her put on an afternoon dress or teagown, depending on whether she’s “at home,” or making calls. The evening offers a full spectrum of possibilities, each specific to the activity: anything from the full-blown glittery gowns that one wears to the opera or a ball, to a somewhat simpler, but still quite elaborate, dinner gown. Never would she be caught eating dinner in an afternoon dress.
The socialite requires many other outfits as well: the simple suit for traveling, the rather nicer one for promenading and shopping, tweeds for the country, a Presentation gown for Court after she snares her British Lord. Those tales of women traveling across the sea or Continent with dozens of trunks are not exaggerated for effect.
And then there’s the teagown. It’s a loose confection of silk and ribbons and lace that can be worn without stays, and is appropriate enough to be seen in, should one have company. Our respectable Ella has a few, which she wears if she’s resting at home after a performance. More adventuresome ladies, though, preferred the teagown for afternoon assignations with gentlemen callers, and the garment itself has developed a certain reputation.
Whether or not she was up to anything naughty, a Gilded Age lady required a wide and interesting wardrobe, so that she could be appropriately turned out for every eventuality. And every eventuality had an appropriate outfit.
So, Professor, maybe you don’t need to stress about a couple extra sweaters?
April 16, 2020
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT VELOCIPEDES
Cycling isn’t exactly big excitement or drama for women now: it’s fun, or exercise, or even just the daily commute. But in 1899, when Ella Shane and her good friend Hetty MacNaughten went pedaling in Washington Square Park, they were making a very clear statement about the kind of women they were, and the world in which they expected to live.
The first velocipedes (by Ella’s time, a catchall term for anything from a nearly modern bicycle to a high-wheel – to some seriously freaky things with bench seats and extra wheels) were patented in the 1860s. Cycling started out as mostly a pastime for daredevils – male daredevils, of course.
Women, though, soon decided that they wanted to get in on the action, and first in small numbers, and then much larger ones, after the invention of the safety bicycle in the late 1880s. Of course, anytime a lot of females start doing something new and adventuresome, people will notice, and some folks weren’t too amused by the lady cyclists. There were plenty of cartoons and commentaries: what must this world be coming to, if women are suddenly on wheels!
Not surprisingly, women’s rights advocates saw it a lot differently. A woman on a wheel has some level of freedom and agency, and that was enough to make them stand and rejoice.
Ella and Hetty don’t expect, or want, a cheering crowd. What they do want, and what they’re announcing by riding those bikes, is some of the same freedom that men take for granted. They’re not necessarily demanding the vote; in fact, Ella’s more concerned with women being able to make a safe and decent living, though she knows the vote is important because it means being a full citizen. But she and Hetty are very definitely telling the world that they don’t have to stay in one place and wait for someone else to tell them what to do.
Cycling also requires a significant change of costume. It’s impossible to ride a bike in a poufy crinoline or a floor-scraping bustle, and the less said about what stays do to your breathing, the better. So a lady had to put on what was called a “sports costume,” a split skirt, shirtwaist and jacket, which not only freed her to move, but revealed quite a bit of ankle and calf at a time when a glimpse of stocking could reduce a man to jelly.
Ella and Hetty aren’t just making a social and fashion statement, they’re also taking charge of their own bodies and health, in a way that 21st century women definitely recognize. Cycling and other forms of exercise were becoming the vogue for ladies at the time; in Ella’s next adventure, she and Hetty try a calisthenics class, with rather mixed results. Let’s just say that the coffee and conversation afterwards is far better.
Still, whether they’re on a wheel, walking briskly to their next event, or doing deep-knee bends, it’s all of a piece with the New Woman, as they would have been called: smart, healthy ladies who are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, and look great doing it. Charles Dana Gibson was a fan, and judging from the success of his illustrations, so were plenty of others.
For many people, velocipedes (whether high-wheel or more like our modern bikes) became the symbol of the New Woman. And Ella’s very definitely aware of that. As she puts it: “I do not usually give ground to the fossils carping about the New Woman, but I do admit we’re a rather dangerous species on wheels.”
Better get your helmets, boys.
Today’s post is the start of my Throwback Thursday series, featuring fun facts about Ella’s time. Next week: "Why Can’t These People Keep Their Clothes On? Or, the Many Changes of a Gilded Age Lady’s Day." Any ideas or thoughts about what you’d like to explore next? Share with me in the comments!
The first velocipedes (by Ella’s time, a catchall term for anything from a nearly modern bicycle to a high-wheel – to some seriously freaky things with bench seats and extra wheels) were patented in the 1860s. Cycling started out as mostly a pastime for daredevils – male daredevils, of course.
Women, though, soon decided that they wanted to get in on the action, and first in small numbers, and then much larger ones, after the invention of the safety bicycle in the late 1880s. Of course, anytime a lot of females start doing something new and adventuresome, people will notice, and some folks weren’t too amused by the lady cyclists. There were plenty of cartoons and commentaries: what must this world be coming to, if women are suddenly on wheels!
Not surprisingly, women’s rights advocates saw it a lot differently. A woman on a wheel has some level of freedom and agency, and that was enough to make them stand and rejoice.
Ella and Hetty don’t expect, or want, a cheering crowd. What they do want, and what they’re announcing by riding those bikes, is some of the same freedom that men take for granted. They’re not necessarily demanding the vote; in fact, Ella’s more concerned with women being able to make a safe and decent living, though she knows the vote is important because it means being a full citizen. But she and Hetty are very definitely telling the world that they don’t have to stay in one place and wait for someone else to tell them what to do.
Cycling also requires a significant change of costume. It’s impossible to ride a bike in a poufy crinoline or a floor-scraping bustle, and the less said about what stays do to your breathing, the better. So a lady had to put on what was called a “sports costume,” a split skirt, shirtwaist and jacket, which not only freed her to move, but revealed quite a bit of ankle and calf at a time when a glimpse of stocking could reduce a man to jelly.
Ella and Hetty aren’t just making a social and fashion statement, they’re also taking charge of their own bodies and health, in a way that 21st century women definitely recognize. Cycling and other forms of exercise were becoming the vogue for ladies at the time; in Ella’s next adventure, she and Hetty try a calisthenics class, with rather mixed results. Let’s just say that the coffee and conversation afterwards is far better.
Still, whether they’re on a wheel, walking briskly to their next event, or doing deep-knee bends, it’s all of a piece with the New Woman, as they would have been called: smart, healthy ladies who are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, and look great doing it. Charles Dana Gibson was a fan, and judging from the success of his illustrations, so were plenty of others.
For many people, velocipedes (whether high-wheel or more like our modern bikes) became the symbol of the New Woman. And Ella’s very definitely aware of that. As she puts it: “I do not usually give ground to the fossils carping about the New Woman, but I do admit we’re a rather dangerous species on wheels.”
Better get your helmets, boys.
Today’s post is the start of my Throwback Thursday series, featuring fun facts about Ella’s time. Next week: "Why Can’t These People Keep Their Clothes On? Or, the Many Changes of a Gilded Age Lady’s Day." Any ideas or thoughts about what you’d like to explore next? Share with me in the comments!
April 1, 2020
Comfort Reads, Anyone?
Despite all the online buzz about working through the exciting new books on your TBR list while stuck at home, I'm actually finding myself drawn to familiar topics and authors these days.
During some recent family health issues (safely resolved), I kept myself calm in the waiting room re-reading my favorite Alison Weir works. I'm probably the only person on earth who finds reading about the fall of Anne Boleyn soothing, but I go with it.
Now, as we're all in the midst of a terrifyingly uncertain time, I'm right back to comfort reads. Historical disasters always help me when things are scary; there's something consoling about knowing that the world has gone on despite the horror of the Titanic sinking or the Great Fire of London. Today, I'm back to Ancient Egypt, one of my first historical loves, and always a terrific escape.
What about you? Is it the shiny new thing, or the comfort read that's getting you through? Probably not the brightest question for a debut author to ask, but there you go!
During some recent family health issues (safely resolved), I kept myself calm in the waiting room re-reading my favorite Alison Weir works. I'm probably the only person on earth who finds reading about the fall of Anne Boleyn soothing, but I go with it.
Now, as we're all in the midst of a terrifyingly uncertain time, I'm right back to comfort reads. Historical disasters always help me when things are scary; there's something consoling about knowing that the world has gone on despite the horror of the Titanic sinking or the Great Fire of London. Today, I'm back to Ancient Egypt, one of my first historical loves, and always a terrific escape.
What about you? Is it the shiny new thing, or the comfort read that's getting you through? Probably not the brightest question for a debut author to ask, but there you go!
March 17, 2020
Many Thanks!
Just wanted to say thank you for your interest in A FATAL FINALE and me! I hope you're staying well and safe in our new normal, and I really appreciate that you took the time from your concerns to consider my work. I can also promise you that Ella will give you a very good break from 2020 when you read the book!
One more thing -- please ask me some questions. I'm new at this author thing, and I really want to play!
Kathleen Marple Kalb
One more thing -- please ask me some questions. I'm new at this author thing, and I really want to play!
Kathleen Marple Kalb
