Gilded Age – Empowering women through fiction and history.

Medicinal Purposes: The History of the Hot Toddy

For centuries, alcohol was used as an alternative to medicine. In the mid-1800s, hard liquor like whiskey, rum, and gin were given to babies (I kid you not) to help with teething and doctors would even recommend a hot toddy to an infant who was having trouble sleeping. If that shocks you, bear in mind the consensus is that the hard liquors in the 19th and early 20th centuries were weaker than they are today (which is one reason why they drank so much more then than we do today).

In Book 2 of my Adele Gossling Mysteries, the hot toddy plays a vital role in the murder (spoiler alert: It’s not the murder weapon). Hot toddies bring visions of a cold night in Dickensian London with the wind whistling outside, the snow falling, and people cozying up by the fire with the warm drink to warm themselves up and soothe their nerves before bed.

Photo Credit: Hot Toddy, Frank Moss Bennett, 1929, oil on canvas: Picryl/Public Domain

The main ingredients of a hot toddy, as we know it today, are, as one of my characters in Book 2 describes it: hot water or hot cider “if Mr. Poland brings it around”, sugar, lemon juice, whiskey, and “the trimmings” which include a slice of lemon and a cinnamon stick.

Ironically, the hot toddy wasn’t hot when it first appeared. And its ingredients weren’t much like the hot toddy we know today. British soldiers serving in India in the 19th century were sent expensive beer, among other provisions, and to make it stretch, they would water it down with water and fermented palm sap.

Later in the century, the drink started to take the form we know it today with add-ons like lemon, cinnamon, and sometimes honey and became popular in Britain. As mentioned above, it was used for medicinal purposes, such as to ward off colds and coughs before we had the kind of medicines we have today.

When exactly the hot toddy moved from a cold cocktail to a hot drink is questionable. Some speculate it was the Scotch who made it hot to accommodate the cold and damp weather of their country. Others say that, since the toddy was used as medicine, people started to heat it up as it made those medicinal properties that much more potent.

The hot toddy is, of course, associated with Britain, but it made its way to America in the 1880s. Americans preferred to call it a “hot scotch” and, while the British hot toddy could use a variety of hard liquors, the Americans mostly stuck to scotch as the alcohol of choice in the beverage. If you’re into cocktails and never tried a hot toddy, you can check out this site for some interesting recipes.

And if you’ve never read A Wordless Death, the second book of the Adele Gossling Mysteries, I invite you to check it out, as it’s at a great discount for this entire month! You can get the details here. And don’t forget that Book 1, The Carnation Murder, is always free! Check that one out here.

If you love fun, engaging mysteries set in the past, you’ll enjoy The Missing Ruby Necklace! It’s available exclusively to newsletter subscribers here. By signing up, you’ll also get news about upcoming releases, fun facts about women’s history, classic true-crime tidbits, and more!

A Safe and Sane 4th of July

Today is Independence Day in America, also known as the 4th of July. Americans have always been enthusiastic about their freedom, especially when you consider it’s an integral part of the American way of life. The Gilded Age and Progressive Era were no exception. America was coming into its own during the late 19th/early 20th centuries in commerce, politics, and society. The Spanish-American War of 1898 brought America onto the world stage for the first time. Things were pretty good.

But Americans carried their enthusiasm a little too far. We know the staples of 21st-century 4th of July celebrations. It’s a social holiday with family BBQs and fireworks to boot. The latter is especially synonymous with Independence Day for most Americans. I’ll never forget the first fireworks display I saw when I was living in San Francisco in 1995 at Crissy Field. It was an impactful show of country spirit and dedication.

Photo Credit: Drawing of a skeleton dressed up for the 4th of July celebrations, 1899, lithograph, created by L. Crusius, Welcome Collection: Look and Learn/CC BY 4.0

It’s hard to believe in the Progressive Era, some politicians were pushing for a “quiet” 4th of July, encouraging Americans to stay home instead of going out and celebrating with fireworks. But they had good reason. The enthusiasm for the 4th had by that time gotten out of hand. Children were going around shooting off toy guns to join in the fun and sometimes their aim wasn’t so careful. Fireworks, as you might imagine, weren’t exactly sophisticated in those days so safety wasn’t a priority. In addition, when people set off canons, firecrackers, and other explosives, they caused many injuries and even death. And we’re talking serious statics here. In 1903 (the year my Adele Gossling Mysteries opens), more than 400 people died and 4,000 were injured during the nation’s 4th of July celebrations. Many of these came from tetanus as a result of shrapnel wounds from dangerous explosives or careless toy guns.

These well-wishers of what was dubbed the Safe and Sane movement weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms. We know many Americans made fun of the reform movements taking place in the early 20th century and they resented these politicians who wanted to take away their fun on Independence Day. Many cities began to implement ordinances to try and curtail these dangerous celebrations. In San Francisco (where part of my series takes place) women’s clubs worked to get toy guns out of the hands of kids younger than seventeen.

This movement encouraged other cities to implement more community-related events around the Fourth (like the yearly firework display at Crissy Field in San Francisco that I saw in the 1990s). Other events besides fireworks were sports, games, and picnics. These events gave Americans a chance to celebrate the holiday in a social environment that was, well, safe and sane!

Want to see more Progressive Era politics in action? Read the Adele Gossling Mysteries! Book 1 is available for free. Book 2 is on sale now!

If you love fun, engaging mysteries set in the past, you’ll enjoy my novella The Missing Ruby Necklace! It’s available exclusively to my newsletter subscribers and you can get it here. By signing up, you’ll also get news about upcoming releases, fun facts about women’s history, classic true-crime tidbits, and more!

Release Day Blitz for Waxwood Series Complete Box Set!

Title: The Complete Waxwood Series Box Set: Books 1-4

Series: Waxwood Series

Author: Tam May

Genres: Historical Fiction/Women’s Fiction

Release Date: June 29, 2024

One woman’s journey to self-discovery in the Gilded Age could destroy everything she’s ever known.

“May’s historical fiction picks apart the delicate facade of American gentility in upper-class, well-heeled families on the wild West Coast at the end of the nineteenth century.” – Lisa Lickel, author and blogger, Living our Faith Out Loud

In this 4-book box set:

Book 1: The Specter: Vivian Alderdice is not your typical Gilded Age debutante. In the midst of her glamorous life of parties and balls, her grandmother dies. A woman shows up at the funeral claiming the woman she knew was not Penelope Alderdice, Nob Hill socialite and wife of the city’s biggest shipping tycoon but Grace Carlyle, an artist in search of adventure in a small coastal town named Waxwood. Is the intruder a crank or, as Vivian’s mother claims, “confused”? Or is she telling the truth? Vivian’s determination to find out takes her into the life of the woman she thought she knew, uncovering family lies kept hidden for over forty years.

Book 2: False Fathers: At nineteen, Vivian’s brother Jake has a huge burden on his shoulders. His mother expects him to take his place as the new head of the family, but Jake hardly has the qualities of a patriarch. When the family goes to Waxwood for the summer, Jake befriends an older, illusive man prepared to teach him all he needs to know about Gilded Age manhood. But is his mentor all he claims to be? Or is he a wolf in sheep’s clothing? Will Jake discover the true meaning of Gilded Age masculinity or will he redefine it?

Book 3: Pathfinding Women: Vivian Alderdice is now twenty-six, unmarried, and has no prospective suitors. Her brother’s tragic plight the year before left the family on shaky ground in Nob Hill society. Their social position depends on Vivian capturing the heart of a wealthy Canadian bachelor determined to become a member of their exclusive society. But to win him, she and her mother must spend the summer in Waxwood. When a young man she meets on the train brings skeletons of the past out of the closet, Vivian finds herself torn between fulfilling her social obligations or embarking on a journey to uncover more family lies. Will Vivian’s summer unravel truths that might destroy the Alderdices forever? Or will she unearth a more authentic version of herself as the new century approaches?

Book 4: Dandelions: For Vivian Alderdice, the twentieth century begins with a new start. Now a working woman and progressive reformer, she’s forsaken the elegance of Nob Hill for the more modest Waxwood. She’s laid Penelope Alderdice’s specter to rest at last. But Vivian’s peaceful existence is thrown into turmoil when the man who ruined her brother’s life appears like another specter she must exorcise. At first, Vivian hates him with a passion. But when she sees how his own undiscovered past has destroyed him, leaving him helpless in the hands of a cousin who hates him worse than she does, she finds herself wanting to help. Is it his journey Vivian will discover in the dark forest of guilt and betrayal or her own?

About the Author

Writing has been Tam May’s voice since the age of fourteen. She writes stories set in the past that feature sassy and sensitive women characters. Tam is the author of the Adele Gossling Mysteries which takes place in the early 20th century and features suffragist and epistolary expert Adele Gossling whose talent for solving crimes doesn’t sit well with her town’s conventional ideas about women’s place. Tam is also working on a new series, the Grave Sisters Mysteries about three sisters who own a funeral home and help the county D.A. solve crimes in a 1920s small California town, set to release in 2025. She has also written historical fiction about women breaking loose from the social and psychological expectations of their era. Although Tam left her heart in San Francisco, she lives in the Midwest because it’s cheaper. When she’s not writing, she’s devouring everything classic (books, films, art, music) and concocting yummy plant-based dishes, and exploring her new riverside town.

Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tammayauthor/

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Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tammayauthor/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Tam-May/e/B01N7BQZ9Y/

BookBub Author Page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tam-may

Goodreads Author Page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16111197.Tam_May

Thieves, Pickpockets, and Sex: The Dark Side of Circus Life

While today we think of the circus as something fun, colorful, and family-oriented, it wasn’t always that way. In fact, before the Progressive Era, the circus was considered adult entertainment and not very savory entertainment at that. Even in later years, Hollywood liked to portray the circus as a place filled with vice and crime. For example, the film noir Nightmare Alley (the 1947 version, not the 2021 version) opens with a view of some typical circus side shows with thieves lurking in the crowds and a swindling spiritualist. The police suddenly raid the circus, making accusations of soliciting crime and claiming one of the performers’ costumes is indecent (as defined by the standards of the 1940s). Of course, the circus manager has an explanation for everything, but the police order them to move to another town anyway.

The circus worked hard to clean up its act (no pun intended) in the 20th century. The circus in America really began in the 18th century and for two centuries, was considered the place for crime, vice, and sexual titillation. Circuses were rumored to have made deals with pickpockets who roamed the crowd and then gave the circus manager a cut of whatever they got. Men could come and ogle women in tights and leotards in eras where women kept their entire bodies covered and even a curvacious table leg could be considered risque. There were rumors of prostitution, though there is no evidence that this actually occurred.

This cartoon is taken from a book called Peck’s Bad Boy at the Circus by George W. (Wilbur). According to the caption, the boy Peck’s father is run out of the circus by the police because he was caught standing behind the lion’s cage creating the animal’s roar when the lion had a sore throat. This is an example of how even in the early 20th century, circuses were still seen as dishonest places that were always trying to swindle the public.

Photo Credit: Image from page 108 of “Peck’s bad boy with the circus [microform]” by George W (Wilbur), 1907, University of California Libraries: Internet Archive Book Images/Flickr/ CC0 1.0 Universal

Circuses started to reassess their image in the late 19th century and move toward the more family-oriented entertainment we know today. Circus managers became very strict about things like drinking and men and women socializing together. They included more children-friendly acts such as animals and clowns. The more adult entertainment moved away to the side shows rather than the main circus tent.

Why did the circuses change their image in the late 19th and early 20th centuries? First, these eras marked a period of change and reform in America. America had prospered in the Gilded Age but with it came the baggage of greed, corruption, and extravagance. These reformers wanted a cleaner, better America and pushed for reform in the entertainment field as well, including burlesque, vaudeville, and circuses. And second, they changed for the same reason Las Vegas changed in the 1990s: money. This era also was the birth of leisure and family fun and circus managers shrewdly realized, just as the Vegas hotel managers did, that children were a lucrative market they were missing by entertaining only adults.

Book 5 of the Adele Gossling Mysteries, which turns a year old this month, is all about the circus. The conflict between the circus as vice and the circus as decent entertainment unfolds within the mystery of the death of the star performer. If you want to grab your copy, you can do so here.

Historical Christmas Traditions

I recently started teaching English to students from all over the world and one of the things I love to hear from them is about their holiday traditions. I was surprised to hear from a student of mine that she celebrates Christmas in mid-January and her traditions are more focused on the religious aspect of Christmas than gift-giving (although her family exchanges plenty of gifts too!)

In America, Christmas traditions haven’t changed much. Love it or hate it, Christmas in America has been big business since the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. The late 19th and early 20th centuries were filled with opulence, glamour, and progress. There was nothing that couldn’t be packaged and sold to the American public, and holidays were at the top of the list.

Before the late 19th century, ornaments on the Christmas tree were pretty simple. The tradition of Christmas tree decorations was brought over by German settlers in the 1830s, but Gilded Agers turned it into something much more elaborate. The word “modesty” was not in the vocabulary of the era. Gilded Agers loved sparkle and shine and they weren’t afraid to make a profit from it. They turned the decorations of simple strings of popcorn and beads of past decades into displays of lights, colored glass balls, and wax angels. Christmas tree ornaments became a big commercial enterprise during this time, replacing these homemade ornaments.

Photo Credit: Christmas card by Louis Prang, showing a group of anthropomorphized frogs parading with a banner and band. 19th century (no specific date), American Antiquarian Society. M2545/Wikimedia Commons/PD Old 100

The humble Christmas card also acquired a different meaning in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Louis Prang, one of the most successful printers of this era, began producing Christmas cards with a dream in mind: to create mini lessons in fine art for people on a budget. He saw his cards as artistic achievements even the working class could afford. But this idea of democratizing fine art was not one Gilded Agers were yet willing to embrace. They were, however, happy to take the idea of the Christmas card and make it more illustrative and attractive to buyers. Prang’s idea of elevating Christmas cards to art fell by the wayside but it started a trend with other illustrators producing cheaper variations. However, as this article shows, they were still quite beautiful.

The gift-giving that now dominates today’s Christmas commercials on TV and online became big business during this time as well. It was an opportunity to show one’s generosity with elaborate and expensive gifts. Wrapping presents was also a Gilded Age invention, as it fits in with the idea of garnish presentation that characterized the age. Plain white wrapping paper said something unpleasant about what the giver could afford, but elaborate wrapping paper told loved ones the gift came from the “right” places.

Photo Credit: Merry Old Santa Claus, Thomas Nast, 1 January 1881, Harper’s Weekly: Soerfm/Wikimedia Commons/PD Art (PD Old 100)

We think of Santa as a jovial and white-bearded man bestowing presents to “good” little boys and girls. But in the early 20th century, Santa had political and social implications. Santa was the glorified symbol of Capitalism with a capital “C”, an authoritative and somewhat mystical figure who held gifts aplenty — for those who deserved them, of course. The deserved ones were judged not by their goodness but by their political beliefs or their support of Capitalism.

Why not treat yourself to some fiction from the past that features women who don’t just take the confines of their era lying down? You can start with two free books! The first book of my Adele Gossling Mysteries is free on every online bookstore and so is the first book of my Waxwood Series. You can get The Carnation Murder here and The Specter here.