When the Spanish Flu swept the nation in 1918, people responded much as they are responding to today’s pandemic. Here is a fun look at some of the things that appeared in Colorado newspapers of the time. The federal government issued a health bulletin to be printed in most newspapers. It included this picture. Doesn’t this just look like something the government would publish? For a time, public meetings were banned, and businesses and schools were closed, usually on a local

. . . or rich. And I am looking for someone equally beautiful and rich to marry. This seems to be the theme of many ads in Matrimonial News, published throughout the 1870s, ‘80s, and 90s. Without digital cameras, the reader had to rely on a subjective description. Maudie, in the article above, claims to be beautiful, exquisite and have well defined features. Wow. Who wouldn’t be interested? She is particular about the gentleman she seeks. Could a man grow a mustache to meet t

In 1876, Lake City, Colorado boasted a population of eight hundred to a thousand people—a metropolis, as the Silver World newspaper frequently reminded people. One hundred twenty-four businesses lined the streets, and that doesn’t include schools, churches, railroads, and doctors. Today, a town that size is lucky to have a bar and a tiny grocery store. Fifteen lawyers practiced there. Fifteen!!! That is one lawyer for every 50-60 people. They advertised in the newspaper and p

Here is a quote from the original 1908 edition of “Scouting for Boys.” “It may happen to some of you that one day, you will be the first to find the dead body of a man, in which case, you will remember that it is your duty to examine and note down the smallest signs that are to be seen on or near the body before it is moved or the ground is disturbed and trampled down.” The quote is not referencing the death of a loved one, but happening to find a stranger’s body, like the fi

I’m going to the beach next month, an unusual occurrence for this mountain girl. But what should I wear? It’s not a question of vanity, but of sunburn. I’m a red-headed Irish girl, which makes me like a vampire. There is a popular meme about the Irish girl on the beach, like a ghost in the white sand. As a young girl, my sister and I discovered a product called suntan oil (SPF 2). We covered our bodies in the stuff and tried to tan. It didn’t go well. As a teen, I laid in the

In the late 1800’s everyone was eating fresh oysters, even in Colorado. And I’m not talking Rocky Mountain Oysters, which would be another blog entirely. These were actual oysters—from the ocean. In reading through historic newspapers of Colorado mining towns, I ran across advertisements for fresh oysters. Note the word fresh. Canning technology existed. But fresh oysters? These big ads in Lake City Colorado’s Silver World newspaper in 1878 piqued my curiosity. And it wasn’t

One of the perks of being a novelist is that I can go exploring and call it research. I need to research a lot of things. For a decade, I drove past Old Colorado City, on the west end of Colorado Springs as part of my daily commute. Cute shops in historic buildings line a few blocks in the center of town. I discovered some fun historic tidbits. First of all, it wasn amed for the wrong river. I thought it had been named for the state, but the town was founded before Colorado a

That’s right. Legend has it that goats played a primary role in the discovery of coffee. Not necessarily baby goats, but it could have been babies. Around 900 AD a farmer in Ethiopia discovered his goats acting weird. They were hopping around and possibly dancing. It might have looked like this. The farmer decided the cause for the strange behavior must have been the red berries they’d been eating. He decided to eat some and see what happened. Who does this? Who would eat ber

It’s been a while since I’ve posted fun tidbits from historic Colorado newspapers. My daughter/blog editor pointed this out. I’d almost forgotten how entertaining old news could be. It’s a reminder that, as a society, we haven’t come as far as we thought. Take, for example, the current trend of posting cute kitten videos. I found the following clip in a description of a church sociable. I want to call it a “social,” but the article uses “sociable.” Who am I to argue? I wasn’t

As I researched inventions of the 1920’s, I learned that before hair dryers were invented, women used the exhaust end of the vacuum cleaner to dry their hair. Hair dryers gave them another option. Check out this radio ad for a hair dryer in the 1920’s. Here are a couple of the out-takes: “Ladies, tired of drying your hair with the same old vacuum cleaner?” This proves the point. Women used vacuum cleaners as hairdryers. “With a speedy motor that will dry your hair in as littl

Every day there’s another set of dirty clothes. It never ends. As a working mom, I developed my own laundry strategies. My mother dutifully taught me to sort laundry and to iron everything, including pillowcases. I don’t do those things now. If the clothes are old, they can all be mixed together in one load. The occasional sock turns pink or green. A small price to pay for simplicity. When I buy new jeans, I separate them for a while, until they don’t turn the underwear blue

I love modern life where I can order anything on Amazon. I mean anything. But Amazon’s just a catalog company, and catalog shopping has existed for generations. The first mail-order catalog meant for the general public was printed by Montgomery Ward 1872. In the late 1800s, people could buy anything from catalogs, just like we can now. Not only that, when the catalog got old, it could be reused as toilet paper in the outhouse. Can’t do that with Amazon. Sears sold houses. My

Research is part of the fun in writing historical novels. For me it’s often an excuse to go on a rabbit trail—in other words, “squirrel!” The heroine of my story in Mending Sarah’s Heart (which releases in the Thimbles and Threads Collection in July) is a seamstress. I typed the words. “Sarah pushed one last pin into the sleeve.” But wait, did they have pins in 1884? I Googled the history of pins. While not the most accurate resource, Google is a start. The short answer is ye

When do I officially become a museum piece? I saw a Six-Million-Dollar Man lunchbox in an antique store. Surely, I’m not that old. An antique store isn’t a museum. Right? I once visited a museum with my Grandma in the eastern Montana county where she grew up. She lived there most of her life. A museum about local history. About her history. Pictures hung on the wall of the high school graduating classes over the years. There she was. Class of 1930. A room displayed wedding it

Apparently, roller skating was a big thing in the metropolous of Leadville, Colorado in the 1880s. Who knew? With all of the historical novels I read, I should have run across this before. But, there it is, in black and white. After a little research, I learned that roller skating was a big thing in all major U.S. cities in the 1880’s. Roller skates had been invented about twenty years before and the technology had improved enough for mass adaptation. Roller skating provided

My new home sits on a section of historic Route 66, a highway from Chicago to Los Angeles built in the 1920’s. As one of the first cross-country highways, it inspired generations of pop-culture, including the 1946 Bobby Troup song (updated and re-recorded by the Rolling Stones). I took a weekend road trip across sections of the Route 66 in New Mexico and Arizona and tried to imagine driving there in 1930. Only sturdy travelers would have enjoyed the trip. In the early days, t

President Harding’s pajamas and slippers stand in a glass case in  the Smithsonian. Did he imagine his pajamas in a museum?  Not just any museum, the granddaddy of all museums. As president, he may have suspected.  But, how do we know when we’re making history? I saw a Six Million Dollar Man lunchbox in an antique store.  Just like the one I carried to elementary school every day.  Or was that my sister?  My memory grows fuzzy. I’m researching the historic Seneca Falls womens

Old Time Bloopers People of modern times may think bloopers are a recent invention. They’re not. The name may be new, but early newspapers reported “curiously worded advertisements” for all to enjoy. The January 3, 1884 edition of The Leadville Daily Herald reported these from a London paper. “Mrs. And Miss May have left-off clothing of every description. An inspection is invited.” Oh, my. I hope the inspection is of the clothing and not the ladies. “Wanted – A nurse for an i

I only want to have my picture taken. Where’s the photographer? Imagine being dressed in your best finery. You open the door to the photography studio and hear an evil dentist say, “Bwaaa haaa. Sit in my chair and have some gas.” Worse yet, imagine it is 1884 in the new state of Colorado and the dentist has a four-foot-tall drill mechanism which is powered by a foot petal. I was perusing the January 4, 1884 Leadville Daily Herald . . . because I write historical fiction and t

In researching for my historical novels, I’ve read through old newspapers from Colorado’s early mining days. I planned fun trips to historical archives and libraries only to be told that the historic newspapers had been scanned and are available online. I could read them from the comfort of my easy chair. So much for writing off research trips as a business expense. The easy chair is comfortable, but the print is tiny and scans can be hard to read. Still, the newspapers give