Who the Heck is Helen Green?

You would think if you were famous enough to have at least two short story collections and three other novels published and be hailed in The Bookman as "a writer who has something new and fresh to tell" you would be remembered by English majors less than 100 years later. But I have never heard of her. 

Three of her books are available full text at Google Books. AT THE ACTORS' BOARDINGHOUSE, THE MAISONE DE SHINE: MORE STORIES OF THE ACTORS' BOARDING HOUSE, and MR. JACKSON. They are all written in dialect with trendy slang which make them virtually incomprehensible today. I suppose I could try. In his glowing review of At the Actors' Boardinghouse in Bookman, Arthur Bartlett Maurice gives a list of a few of the short stories that are "must reads" and if I fall further down the Helen Green wormhole, I just may give them a shot. 

And she wasn’t just some unsuccessful person who fell by the wayside. AT THE ACTORS’ BOARDINGHOUSE was originally published in The Morning Telegraph. At least they held the copyright in 1905. But Helen owned it in 1906 when the book was published by the Nevada Publishing Company in New York. And then Brentano’s published another edition in 1907! 

And look at this biographical information! In the words of the glorious Scott Thompson, "It sounds like utter bullshit to me..." (I'm also having a hard time piecing together this sloppy narrative.) I really want to learn more about this woman!

Things I need to research - The New York Morning Telegraph, Bookman’s Magazine and the rest of the Female Humorists in the article I found in a Good Housekeeping magazine my friend Lady Char loaned me from January 1910. I only read it because it had a picture of Jean Webster in it, who I adore, but there was nothing in the article about her! Good Housekeeping is really pulling the old bait and switch...

I am trying to post something every day, but I keep having to do other things! And I have so many books to read and I just got Laura Amy Schlitz's THE HIRED GIRL. So I am going to read that for a half hour right now. I plan to fall completely in love. 

The Bookman: A Magazine of Literature and Life, March, 1908.

Green, Helen. The Maison de Shine: More Stories of the Actor's Boardinghouse. New York: B.W. Dodge and Company, 1908.

Maurice, Arthur Bartlett. "Feminine Humorists." Good Housekeeping, January 1910.

America 1870-1900 - HOLIDAYS

Look at this double spread for decoration day 1899! It’s about 10 years early for EMILY OF DEEP VALLEY, but it certainly conveys the importance of the holiday. There are TONS of flowers. It is a BIG DEAL! There are lots of pretty girls celebrating. I can’t help use CAPITAL LETTERS! There are only two boys. The one on the left looks like he's making eyes at one of the girls, but the one on the right looks like he is planning the murder of whoever forced him to be in this picture.

Part 1 THE LUXURY OF GUILT
We open with a quote by a woman! Or rather, a woman's magazine.“I have been paying New Years calls since twelve o’clock. A tiresome hollow sham it is, but I must keep it up until nearly midnight.” Godey’s Lady’s Book, January 1870. Wow, way to be a downer Godey. Frankly, the look on the face of the little girl in the Christmas card opposite is also a little resigned.

There is a fascinating bit about the origins of certain holidays and how “in an era of hard work, rural isolation and monumental inhibition, holidays were liberating occasions.”

National holidays had national origins. Arbor Day was created to get trees planted on the prairies. Decoration Day/Memorial Day was a way to allow Civil War veterans a chance to be honored and the fallen remembered.

The feasting and religious days were overlaid with guilt. Folks had to “reconcile the doctrine of deprivation with their own need to bust loose once in a while.” Wow, way to be quotable, TL!

Part 2 THE NEW YEAR
New Years used to be ghastly! It was a late 19th century Tinder where gentlemen callers swiped available young ladies right in their parlors! The premise was that marriageable young women of a certain social standing would be listed in the newspaper and up and coming gentlemen would swing by to call to see if sparks flew. Married men also did this - often with families in tow, I guess just so that people could pretend that it wasn’t a complete meat market.

Reading the proper etiquette guidelines I think I’d rather relive the New Years Eve where we stayed home to watch movies and my then 9 year old son’s best friend explosively vomited all over the family room than have to live through New Years Day 1885.

Part 3 VALENTINE’S DAY

Oh look, we have our first successful female who isn’t a criminal! A valentine maker of the highest order. “[A] genteel Mt. Holyoke graduate [a college girl!] Esther Howland of Worcester, Massachusetts, whose lacy creations sold for as much as $50.” Nowadays we would call that person an artist. Whatever… It is noted that she died a spinster. So -possible lesbian - or just sensible? Hey, she should have known not to go to college if she wanted to remain ornamental and marriageable. She is pretty interesting. Her father was a publisher and stationary-er, stationary-ist? He had a stationary business. When Esther received a Valentine from overseas she figured she could make pretty Valentines and she did. She designed them and employed women to make them in their homes. She paid a decent wage and got quality work in return and is now known as "The Mother of the American Valentine."

I guess it was useful back when you sent one valentine to see if perhaps your sentiments were returned. Harper’s Weekly in 1880 seems to think St. Valentine’s Day is a big old whore that allows women to pretend that they are interested in a variety of beaux leaving potential suitors feeling unsure of reciprocity. Clearly, the roots of incel culture are here.

Part 4 EASTER
Did you know that until the Civil War, Easter was mostly seen as a Catholic holiday? But then someone realized that they could make a buck off it and a bunny...I mean a widely celebrated religious holiday, was born. Bonnets, anyone?

There is the bitchiest roast of ugly people from Brooklyn Life in 1890 which I shall share. It seems that Brooklyn hasn’t changed much.

Part 5 INDEPENDENCE DAY
So I was prepared to skip the fourth of July as I usually do. It was fun when the kids were little and we would go to the fireworks. Nowadays we stay home and watch TV and I feel a little guilty about it. Since everything is cancelled, I get a guilt-free holiday! So other than pandemic, systemic injustice and the threat of impending civil war, all is good…

Well this is RICH! I read the Independence Day section and it is all about people fighting with members of the opposite political party and desecrating flags in the process.  It also mentions the unspeakable disrespect of using the flag in advertising! Let’s hope people continue to be vigilant about not trying to make a buck off of American patriotism.

All quotes and images are from TL unless otherwise noted.

Miltimore, John. "How Esther Howland Used an All-Female Workforce to Bring Valentines to the Masses." Foundation for Economic Education, February 14, 2020. [Image courtesy of Mt. Holyoke College.]

MISS TIPPY by Janet Lambert

It has been a long, long time! I usually read my Lamberts at the gym and if you are just waking up from a 3 month nap, the gym is no more. But I am back! Not at the gym, that place is full of germs! But rather, back in the saddle. I am on summer vacation after the craziest school year ever and I am ready to dig back into the lives of the Parrishs, the Jordans and - coming soon - the Draytons.

First up, I ADORE TIPPY PARRISH!!! I didn't like her when she was Penny's irritating little sister, but oh my gosh, teenaged Tippy is a treat. She's funny and no nonsense and gets in just the right kind of trouble. She is a good friend and a snappy dresser when needed.

So - ready for polio, postwar postings and puppy love?

Chapter One - The Parrishes are being called to Germany and Tippy is NOT happy! The rest is just bringing new readers up to date on who all the players are. 

Chapter Two - This is a really lovely chapter about how the Parrishes communicate. It shows everyone's attitude about the move and has a lovely quote -"Other families might woefully accept another way of life or be indifferent to the suffering of one of its minor members, but the Parrishes reached into a grab bag and pulled out everyone's emotions, spread them out and aired them until they were quite acceptable and ready for use." Isn't that a thoughtful group?  There is also some nonsense about little Davy being jealous of his little brother. He'll get his...

Chapter Three - Tippy learns to drive by being left alone in the car and told to find her way back. Bobby gets involved and helps and annoys her in turn. This seems like that process of throwing someone in the water to get them to swim, except there are people walking around who could be turned into innocent bystanders pretty darn quick!

Chapter Four - It is very much a time of change. Carrol and Penny are hoseying the older Parrishes' treasures for when they are away. Mr. Parrish leaves and Tip worries her mom will be lonely. She goes to the movies where she feels superior to a fat girl and is embarrassed to see the young officer she met while she was destroying the base whilst learning to drive. She goes home to see her mom, but no one is there but Trudy, the housekeeper. They have a conversation about who gets to be called Miss and Mister and who is just called by their first name. Apparently it is a thing.

Chapter Five - Tippy decides to be a poet, but I don't think it is going to stick. Then she joins Alice and Gwen for a bridesmaid dress fitting for Jennifer's wedding. She then goes on a double lunch date with Alice,  Bobby and Peter. She is concerned about how much fighting she has been doing with Bobby and tries to remedy this situation.

Chapter Six - Tippy is still working the writing angle and Peter is besotted by her. Penny comes down to entertain the cousin of a friend and it is a nice look at how the military takes care of its own. It turns out that it is Ken Prescott (SWOON - according to many of my Lambert-loving friends) the young officer who has observed Tippy act the fool TWICE and she is mortified. Penny is trying to fix them up but Bobby ruins it by insisting on going to the city with them. Yay, Bobby! I am firmly on team Peter.

Chapter Seven - SO MUCH DRAMA! Tippy and Alcie are talking about marrying each other's brothers someday and it comes out that Bobby has been confiding in Alcie about his relationship with Tip and vice versa. Tippy feels betrayed and the girls get in quite the row before they realize how stupid it is.  In other news, Penny and Josh come down for dinner before the show. When they call to check on the kids, there is no answer and all hell breaks loose. I smell polio!

Chapter Eight - They race up to the country and it turns out that Davy has polio which was a huge fear at this time and was a very big deal as there was no vaccine yet. What must it be like to live in fear of an easily transmittable, potentially deadly disease for which there is no cure?? Holy cow, when I read this, I had no idea and now I live it every day. Crazy... Anyhoo - Tippy doesn't go in the house so that she is not possibly infected. This way she can take care of Parri if necessary. Why the heck did Penny go in the house? Just to be a good friend to Carrol? There is an interesting bit where Penny wishes it was the baby because they didn't know him so well yet. 

Chapter Nine - Tippy takes care of Parri and tries to curl her hair. It doesn't go well, but it gives Penny and Mrs. Parrish a much needed laugh. Tip is nervous about visiting Carrol and Dave at the hospital, but it goes well and the doctor says Davy will live and maybe even walk again someday. 

Chapter Ten - So Alcie and Tippy discuss the birthday dance which is going on despite Davy, The Jordans are going to have a house party for Tippy and Bobby which is awfully thoughtful. In other news Mrs. Parrish gets uncharacteristically het up about the move. Tippy comforts her beautifully, earning a "Miss" in front of her name from Trudy. The whole "Miss Tippy" seems racially uncomfortable at best, but Trudy tells the story of how her pastor called her Miss Trudy for the first time and it kind of sets it as an age thing rather than a black/white thing. Perhaps it was just something of the time, but it still doesn't sit easy.

Chapter Eleven - Tippy thinks everyone has forgotten her birthday. Josh cheers her up with the gift of a typewriter. But even more by treating her as an adult. Then she finds out her family has bought her a gorgeous dress for the dance with all the fashionable accoutrements. THEN Alcie throws her a surprise dinner party! Peter gives her a charm bracelet and all is right with the world. 

Chapter Twelve - Tippy's party is horrible and wonderful. Ken Prescott makes her nervous with his manly ways, but Peter asks her to wear his pin and thinks about "someday" with her. She declines, but is pleased to be asked. 

Chapter Thirteen - Tippy wakes up with an excitement hangover. She can't help but tell Alcie about Peter's proposal, but is disappointed by his chipper demeanor. Shouldn't he be heartbroken? A conversation with Penny gives her a chance to learn the evils of going steady.

Chapter Fourteen - Tippy says goodbye to Davy at the hospital. She brings him soldiers and is optimistic. She says goodbye to Trudy and it is sweet. She spends her last night in the US with Bobby, Alcie and Peter. They take a drive and try not to think about the future.

Chapter Fifteen - It is time to go. Because of packing restrictions, Tippy has to wear ALL HER CLOTHES and is sweating bullets. She half-heartedly hopes she'll have a fever when she gets her medical check to see if she can go on the boat, but no such luck.  

There are fascinating details about military family transport in this chapter! The officers are treated like gods, but their wives and kids are treated like not-very-important baggage. Tippy and her mother are lucky to have a stateroom to themselves, it could have held 4 strangers! There are last minute packing issues and Peter and Alcie drive Tip to the boat. There is a sweet goodbye to the island as they pass it, but no time to visit. 

The boat is "a tub" so any fantasies of shipboard fun are dashed. Tippy finally cracks and has a good cry. Penny offers a trip home next summer and it works to a degree, but not as much as stern talking too from Miss Gertrude, aka Trudy. She is on course to rescind the Miss in Miss Tippy. Tip rallies. 

There is a very sweet convo with Peter which he gives her a picture of him in his full dress uniform and asks for one of her in her white dress. He tells her to write out all her sadness to him. Awwww...

So everyone has to go ashore, but Bobby is nowhere to be found! Where is that thoughtless little troll? His mom needs to say goodbye to him! Just as I am about to write him off, he and Alcie come bounding up the steps with comfy folding chairs for Tip and her mom so that they don't have to spend the entire voyage sitting on awful non-officer-quality wooden benches. Oh Bob, sorry I doubted you!

Well, that's all. I can't wait to see what life on an army base in Germany is like! If my timing remains consistent, I should know by mid 2023!

America 1870-1900 - LAW AND ORDER

Part 1 AN EYE FOR AN EYE
SO this is the law and order section and I am really not excited about reading it. I have had about enough of man’s inhumanity to man lately! I don’t have a good feeling about this.

Man the first paragraph is just a litany of stone cold killers. Next paragraph is the gangs of New York and good old organized crime! I won’t even mention the picture of hanged rapist Frank McManus opposite the text. I feel down quite the rabbit hole of internets looking into the identity of his victim and what happened to her. I didn’t find much, but more than Time Life was willing to do. She was a child when she was attacked, but based on what I found out, she lived at least into her 20s. Not a lot of info, but I found a picture of her as a young woman and she appeared to be not institutionalized or off the rails.

Part 2 ALERT AND FAITHFUL
Wells Fargo was interesting! James Hume was a fancy-man who started using science to solve crimes. And in his rogues gallery of stagecoach robbers I found “Eugene Tyler (negro) Robbed Los Banos Stage, May 7, 1877 with Dan McCarthy” and Tom Horn a letter thief who looks like he might be black/Asian but isn’t identified as such.

Part 3 SIX GUN JUSTICE
This is an exciting retelling of the Younger Gangs undoing at the hands of the Northfield Minnesota vigilante mob. My godchildren live in Northfield. I wonder if they are aware of the town’s rich criminal history?

Part 4 THE PIONEERING PRIVATE EYE
So...in discussing the Pinkertons, the Molly Maguires are wedged in between master thief Adam Worth (thought to be the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes' nemesis Moriarty)and serial killer Herman Webster Mudgett of DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY fame. I guess that speaks to which version of history Time Life is buying. The Molly Maguires (at least the 20 who were convicted on Pinkerton evidence and hanged)  are perceived by some as union agitators taken down by a corrupt system financed by powerful industrialists and by others as violent terrorists. I had always heard the former and Sean Connery and Richard Harris would agree with me.

According to the book, “Once he had nailed his man, Pinkerton had a unique talent for encouraging the unhappy felon to confess.” Pinkerton attributed it to a guilty conscience, but could it also have been a beat down?

Pinkerton’s logo was an eye with the words “we never sleep” beneath it which led to the term “private eye”. Who knew? Pinkerton came to prominence when he foiled an assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln and set up the first secret service during the Civil War. He caught Mrs. Rose Greenhow - a woman! - who bears looking at as a successful female, albeit a confederate spy.

Pinkerton retired, eventually passing the business on to his son. He wrote crime novels and still investigated crimes for fun. He died of a gangrenous wound on his tongue that he got while taking his daily constitutional. As I have always said - walking kills. TL describes it as an “ignominious death” and even though I have heard the word ignominious before, I am going to count it under new words to me as I have not used it in conversation before. But I shall henceforth!

Part 5 TARNISH ON THE COPPER BADGE
Here we go, police corruption. I have been hearing something about this lately. Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst of the NY society for the Prevention of Crime was thought to have solved this back in 1892. And yet...

Vocabulary alert! The “seamy side” refers to a stocking or a garment - the uglier side that holds the whole thing together. I never knew this!

So Parkhurst was a clerical fellow who was not afraid to visit the “seamy side” (“‘Show me something worse’, was his constant cry.”) and then he publicized it. Basically, he preached about police corruption - specifically Tammany Hall. When he was asked to back up his allegations with proof, he went out and gathered proof. He cited his sources like a boss.

Part 6 THE WAGES OF CRIME
State prison in St. Cloud is photographed near the end of the century, all white men - both convicts and law enforcement. It is, however, Minnesota.

“You don’t want any musky sentimentality when you are dealing with criminals. One of the things that many of our great reformers should learn is that fellow-feeling for the criminal is out of place.” Teddy Roosevelt. Hmmmmm, Ted - what about the circumstances that led to crime? I think we should try to have fellow-feeling for all people, you big bully.

And thus ends the section on crime with 2 people of color (a robber and a forger, a woman and a half (a traitorous vixen and an implied rape victim), and a group of early labor agitators who may or may not have been bad guys. So far, not a great representation, Time Life.

Andrews, Evan. "10 Things You May Not Know About the Pinkertons." History. August 22, 2018.

"Reverand Charles H. Parkhurst." Oxford Academic, [Courtesy Wiiliston Northampton School Archives.] April 25, 2016. 

"Rose O'Neal Greenhow." American Battlefield Trust, 2020. 

Wells Fargo History & Museum in San Francisco, August 24, 2009. 

America 1870-1900 - NATION ON THE MOVE (continued)

We are still on the move and up comes the question of the centennial! I remember the bicentennial. We spent that summer on a cross country trip to see bison. My mom nearly fell off a cliff riding a horse around Lake Louise - pictured!-  and my little sister nearly died of a North Dakota sunburn - sadly, not pictured. I can't locate the picture where 11 year old me has the angriest face ever in front of Mount Rushmore because everyone is paying attention to Katie because of her near death experience and what about MY very bad sunburn? The happiest memory of this trip was painting the dogs' toenails. Yes, that is dogs plural. In a camper. With three kids. It was something. My mother is a saint!

But back to 1876.

People wanted to have a big banger for the 100th  anniversary of freedom, but not everyone thought it was a good idea. Benjamin Willis a Democratic member of the house of representatives said, regarding the centennial, “Is self-jollification...getting up a grand magnificent exposition, a function of government? Rather than expend money for a jubilee in 1876 we should bequeath to posterity the privilege of celebrating the continued existence of the Republic in 1976.” He was not a fellow who cared about a good time. BUT he was the father of Portia Willis who was a pretty awesome suffragist. (And not mentioned in the book, but I learned about her when Wikipedia-ing her dad.)

It was decided to hold the 1876 Central Exhibition in Philadelphia. The city of brotherly love paid $1.5 and the congress matched it.

“The government is not a republic, but a hateful oligarchy of sex.” Anonymous suffragist, 1876. So women are mentioned! Useful women who aren't going to make good wives! Also in this section we have our first non-white face. He is a dime novel character named “Pomp” which doesn’t seem like positive representation. I couldn't find any info on The Electric Horse by Noname other than bibliographically. I looked up some dime (or half-dime) novels and they were written in dialect that was nearly incomprehensible. And a lot of information about A Horse with No Name that was not related to this book at all.

People - and by people it means white men - were proud to be Americans at this time and described thus by historian Henry Adams. The average city dweller was “a pushing, energetic, ingenious person, always awake and trying to get ahead of his neighbor.” Well, he sounds like a jerk!

The creation of Wrigley’s chewing gum and Brentano’s bookstore are outlined here. Brentano’s died twice. Once in 1983 when it was acquired by Borders and then in 2011 when Borders went under. But I was actually chewing Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum when I read that section. Some some things did stick around. There is also a glowing origin story for Buck Duke of the American Tobacco Company. Thanks, Buck, for the 10 years you probably shaved off my life.

So they are discussing how this land of raw material was chewed up and spit out by the greed of men. The land that our forefathers “rightfully” stole from the indigenous people and worked with the sweat of stolen Africans ended up eating its own tail. Right now it kind of feels like our great greed-fueled empire is going down. Maybe it will come back or maybe it is some other country’s turn to be "it". We did a good job for awhile. We got rid of dictators who ruled by right of birth and replaced them with, well dictators who rule by right of circumstances - but every so often, by right of brains, or talent, or hard work and with a large amount of good luck.

This was written in 1970, which is not the world we have now. Back then, no one who was living their best middle-class-white-girl life knew we needed a revolution.  Sure there were feminists, and anti-war protesters and civil rights workers, but their platform was narrow and easy to ignore if it didn’t affect you. Basically, the people who were trying to make a change weren't being heard the way they are today.

Economist Henry George saw it, “Amid the greatest accumulations of wealth, men die of starvation, and puny infants suckle dry breasts; where everywhere the greed of gain, the worship of wealth, shows the force of the fear of want.” Yes indeed.

Up next is law and order. Yikes.


All quotes are from TL unless otherwise noted.
Benjamin Willis. Brady-Handy Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, 1865-1880.
George, Henry. Progress and Poverty. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1881.
Time-Life Books. This Fabulous Century 1870-1900. New York: Time-Life Books, 1970. 
Portia Willis. Bain News Service, Library of Congress, 1910.

America 1870-1900 - NATION ON THE MOVE

We begin our first tome with 18 pages of black and white photographs from 1870-1900. They feature a bunch of white people. They are mostly men doing manly things, but there are some decorative females scattered among them in supporting roles.

Since I believe that I am not going to see any (out) gay people in this entire series and and am pretty sure that many of the representations of people of color are going to be problematic (spoiler - they are!) it seems that women are going to be getting most of the attention from Time Life (hereafter to be referred to as TL) as the least marginalized of the marginalized groups. Also, as a woman, this is the one group I can speak to the struggle of first hand. And oh my, I certainly do!

So I am going to mostly gloss over the decorative and marriageable women except when I have something funny or moving to say about them. (When in doubt, assume I am trying for funny.) If a woman accomplishes something on her own without a man's support I will count her as being "represented" otherwise, she is background noise at best and a representation of the unattainable (and in our modern times untenable) goal of perfect helpmeet with no personality of her own at worst. Okay, that seems harsh, but seriously - it's all kids, virgins, wives and mothers between those covers!

So many photos before page 25 and not a single non-white face. Our first chapter is NATION ON THE MOVE and we are up and at 'em! We've got ourselves a trans-continental railroad!

Before the TCR's completion, it took a month to get from New York to San Francisco by rail and stage. It took 5 months by wagon train from Missouri and you were already halfway there! I wonder if that explosion of movement from the TCR felt like the information superhighway? Interesting parallels, so much opportunity for wealth and oppression.

This would be a good place for TL to begin discussing the "Great Migration" of African-Americans from the postbellum south to the northern industrial cities. But they do not. Perhaps they had not yet read Isabel Wilkerson's masterwork THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS. It wasn't published until 50 years later, so I suppose that is their excuse.

It is mentioned that at this point in time, fewer than 2 per 100 “citizens” went to college. Is the number so low because women and blacks are not represented, or would it be even lower in that case? This book has no citations, which just made me very sad. There are photo credits which can help with some identification. I tried to find the numbers and did find a chart from the zippily named National Center for Education Statistics that matches that and does split it by male and female. But the numbers are so low (And the print so small!) that I couldn't distinguish by gender. There was no mention of race in the report from the last 120 years of American Education, because I am sure black and white education rates were similar because of the level playing field and everything...

I am going to end with a terrific and hopeful quote from journalist Josiah Gilbert Holland who was born in Belchertown, MA, wrote a solid Lincoln biography, helped found Scribner's Monthly, and was friends with Emily Dickinson. (I read the Wikipedia page so you don't have to!) “Progress cannot be reckoned in railroads and steamboats, or counted in money, or decided in any way by the census tables. Are we producing better children and better men and women? This is the question which decides everything." I like to believe that this is true, that the human condition is the struggle to be better. I think most people want to be decent, but there are so many factors that can get in the way. I really try to believe in the good in people, but greed and fear and hate are out there and they will have an impact.

Biographical Encyclopedia of Massachusetts of the Nineteenth Century. v.2. Boston: Metropolitan Publishing and Engraving Company, 1883. p. 180.

Snyder, Thomas D. 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Study. Washington, DC: US Department of Education, 1993.

Time-Life Books. This Fabulous Century 1870-1900. New York: Time-Life Books, 1970. 

Wilkerson, Isabel. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration. New York: Random House, 2010.

Intro to THIS FABULOUS CENTURY!

What was the wikipedia of my day? Where did I learn that obscure but interesting history or pop-cultural information that I was so hungry for as a kid? Well, we had the World Book Encyclopedia, of course. My parents were middle class, college educated midwesterners - it was the law! But the World Book wasn't sexy... Don't get me wrong, I would use it for homework and sometimes just to find out about stuff, but it didn't have great pictures and it lacked narrative flow.

However, the Time Life Corporation was on the job! They took the journalistic style and photographic excellence from their magazines and built series of books. which they would send out in monthly installments. I don't remember my parents actually getting these books. They might have have been a little snobby about it. When I asked my mother why they didn't get any of the sets, she said, "We already had the World Book. It had everything in the world in it." Did it, Mom? DID IT???

I had friends whose parent's were less satisfied by the status quo, or perhaps more susceptible to a constant stream of advertisements. And I loved poring over their Time Life books. Even in my current library the World War Two series and the Enchanted World series still circulate.

I was intrigued, when I was looking in the 917s the last time I was shelving, to find This Fabulous Century. This series was published in 1970 - possibly with an eye towards the bicentennial. I don't know how successful it was, it doesn't have its own wikipedia page. But it is of interest to me because it would have been written when I was a little kid - just starting to be curious about America and what that means. The bicentennial had us all patriotism-crazy and this fed right into that vibe.

I don't remember reading reading this series, specifically, so I can't call this a reread, but I am reading this series with purpose. My plan is to read these books with an eye towards representation. I just finished ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams-Garcia and there was a section where the three sisters ages 7-11 talk about how exciting it is to see a black face on television and how they kept track of every time Lieutenant Uhura spoke on STAR TREK. They were out of their minds with excitement about the show JULIA that was about to come out. I get this to a lesser degree because I remember never seeing fat people on tv or in movies, unless they were the butt of jokes. Even now, I get excited about a great unapologetic fat-girl role model.

Anyway, since this series was probably the most populist history resource outside of school, I have decided to read it looking for how people of color, women and the LGBTQIA+ community are presented, if at all. This is not to hate on Time Life or that fabulous century between 1870-1970, but rather to see how representation might influence the mindset of people my age and older. These books are 50 years old, I don't expect them to be held to the standards I would require of an overarching American history series today, but I would like to see what the actual numbers are.

Is the black experience reflected here at all? Are women anything other than an appendage to their men? Is the gay experience indeed fabulous enough for this series? One would hope, but I'm not betting the farm. I like to think that we are finally, as a society, discussing the fact that representation matters. As a white, middle-class little girl I didn't have the understanding to even look for female role models, much less POC or gay - so what was the impact on my perspective of history? Let us agree that it was not positive.

So here we go! This will be a look at the narrative sweep that I was presented with as a kid. I will touch on some of the interesting topics that come up, but with the understanding that it was the "agreed-upon" history for so long, and yet it leaves out a great many Americans' experience.

ONE CRAZY SUMMER by Rita Williams-Garcia

On the Betsy Tacy listserv people were asking for recommendations of books that were similar to the BT books and this one came up. At first it seems strange - how can this story of three little girls from Brooklyn who fly out to Oakland, California in the summer of 1968 and end up attending a summer camp organized by the Black Panthers tie to the story of some little girls in the midwest during a time when the most exciting thing to hit town is the first motor car?

And yet...I felt that similarity. The relationship between these sisters is perfectly rendered. As the middle of three girls, I felt these sisters down to my toes! The birth order stuff adds up. Delphine, the oldest, is responsible, bossy and smart. Fern, the baby, is lovable and precocious. And Vonetta, the middle child, is annoying and desperate for attention. 

To be clear, I am a middle child and I am used to the middle child being the BEST in fiction. Betsy Ray, of course, but Laura Ingalls and Jo March also (while not technically middles) were the second born. (I argue that Beth dies and Grace never had a personality so the dynamic is the same.) But in ONE CRAZY SUMMER, Vonetta is the worst. And yet I love her too!

The premise is terrific - three girls who were abandoned by their mother seven years ago are sent across the country to spend the summer with her. Of course this is going to be a beautiful story of reconnection, right?

Absolutely not! Their mother Cecile is selfish and uninterested in parenting. She actually tells them at one point - "I didn't send for you. Didn't want you in the first place. Should have gone to Mexico to get rid of you when I had the chance." WHAT?? These kids are 7, 9, and 11! Delphine, who doesn't understand the Mexico reference any better than they do, explains to her little sisters that Mexico is where rich people go to buy babies. 

Cecile is a poet who takes the girls' Disneyland money to buy food. She only feeds them shrimp lo mein and eggrolls from the local Chinese restaurant. She won't let them come into the kitchen because that is where she works. She refuses to say Fern's name and calls her "Little Girl". To be clear, she is awful. But her emotional void makes the interplay between the sisters stand out even more. And their relationship is beautiful.

The end up getting breakfast at a community center run by the Black Panthers. They spend their days there since Cecile has let them know in no uncertain terms that they are not to hang out at the house all day. There, they learn how to become part of the revolution. The Panthers are described as community organizers standing up for their rights. While conflicts with the police are mentioned in a couple of sections (one of which is heartbreakingly familiar in our current era) the book mostly focuses on the struggle for justice. 

I had never heard of Bobby Hutton before I read this. And I never knew that the Black Panther Party was created in response to police brutality in Oakland. This book focuses on the Free Breakfast for Children program and a rally to have the DeFremery Park renamed for Bobby Hutton - the youngest member of the Party who was shot 12 times while trying to surrender to police during a stand-off. When Delphine decides that it is too dangerous to continue going to the center, she tries to stand up to Cecile and it doesn't go well. Eventually something happens that changes the tone of their summer and ever so slightly changes their dynamic with their mother.

The one plot device that didn't have any traction for me is what those girls were doing out there in the first place. Their mother clearly didn't want them and their father and grandmother were excellent caregivers who kept an eye on what the girls were up to. To send them across the country with no real compelling purpose other than to propel the plot seemed to require a bigger suspension of disbelief than I could work up for this otherwise beautifully authentic story. 

The story is so compelling. On the surface it is classic fish-out-of-water, but there are so many issues touched on delicately that breathe extra life into the narrative. Delphine is 11, but looks older and is expected to act older. She ends up cooking the healthy meals her little sisters need. She is an excellent judge of character and can intuit how to speak to different kinds of grown ups to to get what she wants or needs. She is aware of the ways that many white people respond to her race first and her as an individual second, or not at all. 

In the end, some of Cecile's backstory is laid out and you begin to understand more what drives her, but her story is secondary to Delphine's journey. I know that I am making this sound like a book that is "good for you". I am sure that all the awards stickers on the paperback cover (Oh my gosh, those covers are magical!) already give that impression. But it is also warm, exciting and hilariously funny in parts. There's a reason for all those stickers!

This book is in my all time top 10 middle grade books and now I am off to go read the two sequels and anything else Ms Williams-Garcia has written!

Mitali Perkins - A wonderful writer and an even better human being!

I try not to gush too much, but honestly - wouldn't you?

Beehive Fails and Beverly Cleary!

 I just made my first beauty tutorial! It is really for work. While we are hunkered down, I want my students to know that I am not afraid to try new things. Although perhaps I should be!
My previous videos during the covid lockdown are housed on a blog I have used for school Book Splat but I also wanted to put this one here because for a very brief second you can see a copy of WHERE THE GIRLS ARE by Susan J. Douglas which I adore! And also some Beverly Cleary talk at the end. 
Happy 104th, Mrs. Cleary!!

FRIDAY'S CHILD by Jane Lambert

Not to brag, but the cover on the right is my very own which looks clearer than the one on the left. Not even a professional book photographer! But enough about that...

BIG NEWS!! This is where worlds collide! This is a Jordan family book, but guess who some of the secondary characters (and one particularly dreeeeeeeeamy secondary character) are? THE PARRISHES!!

When we left the Jordans there was a war on, their Dad was gone and Jennifer was in charge of everything. Now Dad is home, they have just moved to Governers Island where the Parrish family lives and Jennifer is still in charge of Everything. Tippy and Bobby are their neighbors. And Penny and Carrol and their dull husbands and superfluous children make an appearance as well.

The main focus is on Alice, who sometimes goes by Alcie which sounds cuter in my head than it looks on the page. It looks like a salve for eczema in print. So Alcie is our heroine, and her foil is her sister Gwenn. Which is rough on her because she loves Gwenn, who is her only living blood relative. (General Jordan is their stepfather, their Mom is dead and the little ones are their half-siblings.)

Also, Gwenn is completely nuts. Well, she is definitely a narcissist and possibly a sociopath. I read about these things on the internet so I can diagnose her with complete confidence.

Once again, I have done chapter recaps as I read and will transcribe them here. But before I do, I found that those of my books that aren't library copies are inscribed as gifts! This one just says To Carolyn with love from Carole. Here, it looks like this -

Isn't that pretty handwriting? I will have to go back and look at other inscriptions and put them in the recaps.

The dedication is thus. "To all those girls whose letters I have been unable to answer, this book is lovingly dedicated. Janet Lambert" That's sweet!

Away we go-

CHAPTER 1
The Jordans are on Governers Island. Gwenn is still a snot and Alice is still lovely. Jennifer still mothers them and the rest of the family is much as we left them at the end of JUST JENNIFER, except Peter who is at West Point. It opens with Gwenn and Alice at the pool where Gwenn gets all pissy about how no one was talking to them. She's got issues. I am pretty sure I have spotted Tippy and her brother, but it might be some other gal. Stay tuned! (Well, I already spoiled that surprise...)

CHAPTER 2
Tippy it was! And she's having a gathering of her crowd to meet Alice and Gwenn. But Gwenn is being a troll and won't go. The boys are disappointed because Gwenn is HAWT, but they welcome Alice while Gwenn sulks upstairs. 

CHAPTER 3
Alcie is raring to become part of the post social whirl, but Gwenn is claiming her lousy manners are part of being an artiste. Bobby shows up last minute at a party Alice throws and because he is there, Gwenn comes downstairs and charms Bobby, of course. Stupid boy.

CHAPTER 4
There is a swim meet and Alcie and Bobby want to meet a blowhard named Pugs Bonham - which is an awesome 60s British rock star name! However, things do not go as planned when Gwenn finagles a ride to Manhattan from Bobby to pick up some papers at Barnard for Jen. This is an unnecessary fool's errand and makes Bobby miss the meet. Pugs beats Alice and everyone hates Gwenn.

CHAPTER 5
Gwenn is a narcissistic monster, but Alice loves her. She is conflicted because the crowd hates Gwenn, and she feels badly about leaving her out. Not that Gwenn notices. Tippy ADORES Alice. She invites her to the city, but Alicie says no because Gwenn isn't invited. When Mrs. Parrish and Tippy suss this out, they include Gwenn and all is well. They take the girls to Hardi's (Sardi's?) for lunch and then to see SECOND FIDDLE - Penny's successful play. Alcie cries like a baby because she loves art and Gwenn pictures herself as the star of the play because other people don't exist for her. Also, the girls are rich, so that's nice.

CHAPTER 6
Apparently this chapter was filled with conflict, but it felt like exposition to me! Jennifer got a letter from Cyril, now 21, who wants her to go to England with some of the kids. She doesn't trust that he really loves her, he thinks he is just lonely. She is going to go to West Point to visit Peter. Gwenn wants to go but is too young. She appears to be planning something. Quelle suprise. 

CHAPTER 7
Jennifer is getting ready to go to a kick ass party at the point. It is called Illuminations and everyone goes in costume and there is fire. I don't know, it was a different time... Gwenn isn't allowed to go because she is a sociopath. I mean, too young. Once Jennifer leaves, Gwenn decides to sneak up there too. And Alice desperately needs a xanax. 

CHAPTER 8
GWENN SNEAKS OFF TO THE POINT!! She is so naughty... She just doesn't care about consequences at all. Alice chases after her. I didn't really know why at first, it is the Point, she will probably be safe. (Later I realized that Alice didn't want Jennifer's big weekend to be ruined by having to take responsibility for one more freaking kid. Alice is VERY thoughtful.)  There is something really wrong with Gwenn. It is surprising to me that Janet is so forthright about it. This book is about dealing with a family member with mental illness in the way that CANDY KANE was about surviving childhood abuse.  It is kind of jarring with all the time appropriate other stuff to see - wow, people were dealing with dysfunctional family issues back then. Usually we only see the happy side, particularly in 1940s YA books.  I wonder if Gwenn will be redeemed like Leigh and Marcia. 

CHAPTER 9
Alcie finds Gwenn at the hotel and brings her home. Something is really wrong with Gwenn. Lambert describes her internal monologue on page 108 and it's terrifying! Did I ever feel like that at age 15? I can't remember. Harry Harkins, the cadet Gwenn picked up to take her to the dance ends up being a very nice guy. Although he is 23 - WAY too old to be squiring Gwenn around. They see Jennifer at the illuminations from a distance and then head home. 

CHAPTER 10
Gwenn needs an inpatient program, but since it is 1947 she is going to boarding school instead. She enjoys making Alice feel bad and tries to guilt her into going to boarding school too, but Alice fights back! And with the encouragement of Bobby Parrish, she sticks to her guns. Also, the girls are invited up to the farm to see Penny, Josh, Carrol and David. How fun! Also, I love that Bob is impervious to Gwenn's charms now. Those Parrish kids grew up all right!

CHAPTER 11
The girls go to the farm and Gwenn falls IN LOVE with Penny. Finally there is someone who understands her. She pretends to be Penny that night and everyone is charmed by her. Then they go to a carnival and Alice gets stuck on the ferris wheel for no good reason. 

CHAPTER 12
They go do farm work, but the important content here is the conversations. Penny breaks down Gwenn like a pro and Gwenn sees that Penny "gets her" and really opens up. Bobby realizes that he likes Alice because she "minds him" but she is stronger than he realizes. 

CHAPTER 13
Penny sets Gwenn up with Marenka Savatskya - a famous dancer and lunatic. She is artsy as hell, but gives Gwenn hope that she could become an excellent dancer with the right training and sets her up to train with Gradorviski - the greatest dance teacher in all the land! So now she's not going to boarding school and we find out that no one wanted her to go in the first place. Also, Cyril's coming back from England and Jennifer is the best. 

CHAPTER 14
Things are on an even keel. Tippy and Alice are thick as thieves. Gwenn is rehearsing all the time. Jennifer is entertaining soldiers, in a nice way. Then Cyril comes back! He is handsome and loves Jenny and vice versa. He proposes for next June. Also there are hijinks with a horse. 

CHAPTER 15
There is a dance planned for Tippy's 15th birthday. Alcie doesn't have anything to wear other than a "baby dress" so Jennifer sets her up with her best blue dress on loan. Gwenn is ridiculous and says she won't go to the dance because Jennifer didn't offer the dress to her. She is getting a little better, but is still not fixed by a long shot. Anyhoo- the clothes all work out. Bobby sends Alice 3 gardenias and it is adorable. Alice also tells Jenny to marry Cyril and she and Gwenn will take care of everything at home. The dance is glorious and Lambert does a terrific job of illustrating that teenaged feeling that - even when you are having the best time ever [Alice] with the cute boy of your dreams [Bobby] still worrying that it'll never last. Luckily, Bobby is a smooth operator and invites Alcie, just her alone, to drive to high school with him. Nicely done, Bobby. And Janet. 

This is a favorite! Next up MISS TIPPY!

ONE FOR THE MONEY by Janet Lambert

Well I am just booking along here! Less than two weeks since I finished the long, slow slog of PRACTICALLY PERFECT!

We are back with Miss Candy Kane who is currently living outside Los Angeles with her mother while they wait for her father to return from Europe. Barton, Candy's beau, is still overseas as well.

As I read the book, I took less copious notes than usual and wrote a chapter recap as I went along. I believe that is going to be my m.o. from now on because I do want to finish these books before I become old an infirm. Or more old and infirm, to be precise...

What follows are my chapter recaps.

Chapter 1: Candy meets a horse and an old guy.

Chapter 2: We learn Jeb's (the old guy) and Mr. Smith's (the horse) history. We find out that Marcia (Candy's mom) and Leigh (Candy's sister) are still overly concerned with Candy's looks. And we find out Candy is brave as hell and helpful as an angel as she begins helping Jeb train Mr. Smith to race. But we already knew that.

Chapter 3: Candy has to choose between a promise to Jeb and picking up Barton at the airport. She makes the hard choice not to disappoint the old man because she's Candy Freakin' Kane. And it turns out alright.

Chapter 4: Dinner at the Kanes. Barton fears nothing except for Marcia and he had a rough time in the war but doesn't want to talk about it. Also, Marcia knows nothing about horses.

Chapter 5: Barton is a jerk to his mom and passive aggressive with Candy. Candy can't ride for beans and hires a trainer for Mr. Smith. She doesn't trust this trainer, though. The plot thickens.

Chapter 6: Leigh is feeling emotions and it is freaking Candy out - she should be suppressing them! Basically Chris is writing a novel so they are dirt poor and Leigh just scrubs shit all day and never gets to go do anything fun. Candy and Barton go to a swanky L.A. party and Candy sings to raise money for Mr. Smith. Because she and Bart know how to have fun AND take care of business.

Chapter 7: Leigh and Chris have a huge fight and Leigh runs home. Candy refuses to play peacemaker because it is useless with these two. So she tells Leigh to run away to New York with Marcia to meet Mr. Kane (he has a rank of some kind, but I don't know what it is anymore) as he returns from the war. Candy and Nanna are going to have a grand time without those drama queens.

Chapter 8: Mr. Smith's trainer is up to some nonsense, Candy and Barton are sure of it. They are watching him! Meanwhile, Alex Nelson, an old friend of Candy's from her war bond days, is visiting the Reed's and Anne appears to have set her cap for him.

Chapter 9: It is Mr. Smith's first race and Jim Tyke, his trainer, is a crook! He had the jockey hold Mr. Smith back so another horse could win. EVIL!!!

Chapter 10: Candy goes to a sketchy nightclub and sings in a tiny costume to audition to make money for the upkeep of Mr. Smith. Clark Milland, bandleader and charmer, tells her she is too good for that and loans her $500. If Janet Lambert is this freaked out about swing music, what is she going to make of rock and roll?

Chapter 11: Candy reveals to Barton that if Mr. Smith doesn't win his next race and she can't pay the money back to Clark Milland, she will have to sing for her supper. This smacks of a career to Barton and he loses his fragile male shit and runs away.

Chapter 12: Candy starts working to get Jeb's grandson Sonny home from overseas so that he can ride Mr. Smith. (He is a jockey as well as a grandson.) She also gets hit on by Alix and declines. (Sisters before misters, pal!) But mostly she pines for a whiny man-baby named Barton.

Chapter 13: So many good things happen this chapter! Chris calls Leigh home - he's decided not to be a beatnik after all! And Sonny comes home and everyone is overjoyed. But Barton's absence is still busting Candy's stupid heart. She needs to hook up with Sonny. Even if he is shorter than her. Just kidding, everyone knows you can't date a boy shorter than you. It's the law.

Chapter 14: Wow - more good news! Barton comes back eating some crow and is now a civilian Also, Mr. Smith wins his race. This book might just have a happy ending after all!

Chapter 15: In a whiplash inducing twist, Jeb has a heart attack at the track, but he does not die. Bart and Candy talk frankly about what they want in their future marriage and determine that their life together will be perfect. Good luck, Candy. You'll need it.

This is the first Lambert series that I have completed! So long to Candy Kane. You're a good girl who puts others before herself. Make sure you do what is best for you, though, Candy. Your early years of abuse from your awful mother and sister have made you a bit codependent. Fortunately for you that is perfect for being married to Barton. He's ultimately a good guy I think, but he needs a lot of attention. You crazy kids will make it work.