Tag: Romancing History Page 9 of 11

Paraskevidekatriaphobia, or fear of Friday the 13th, is suffered by approximately 17 million people according to the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in North Carolina. Paraskevidekatriaphobia is derived from the Greek word paraskeví, Friday, and dekatria, thirteen.

As far as superstitions go, the fear of Friday the 13th seems fairly new, dating back to the late 1800s. Friday has long been considered an unlucky day (according to Christian tradition, Jesus died on a Friday), and 13 has a long history as an unlucky number. Not only people but businesses suffer from this fear, especially the airlines who suffer significant financial losses from unpurchased seats on Friday the 13th. Paraskevidekatriaphobia is evident in high-rise buildings, hotels, and hospitals that skip the 13th floor and many airports do not have gates numbered 13. In many parts of the world, having 13 people at the dinner table is considered bad luck.

No one knows for sure how the two myths combined to make Friday the 13th the unluckiest of all days. One theory suggests the fear can be traced back to Friday, October 13th, 1307. King Philip IV of France requested the Knights Templar assist him in paying off some of his growing debt accrued through war with England. After the group refused the king, Philip turned to his friend, Pope Clement V, who shared Philip’s trepidation of the growing influence of the Templars’. This resulted in a declaration that all Templars in France be arrested on Friday, Oct. 13, 1307. Subsequently, the king and the Vatican claimed ownership of all the Templars’ land and money. Although the Templars did receive trials, their fate was already decided. Every member of the group was found guilty of heresy, along with other crimes, and were sentenced to death.

So, is Friday the 13th actually unlucky? Statistical studies have shown no correlation between things like increased accidents or injuries and Friday the 13th. But here are a few historical incidents that might leave you questioning those researchers.

Buckingham Palace was hit by five German bombs on Friday, September 13, 1940, with both King Geroge VI and Princess Elizabeth in residence. One member of the royal staff died and the palace chapel was destroyed.
On November 13, 1970, a huge South Asian storm killed an estimated 300,000 people in Chittagong, Bangladesh, and create floods that killed as many as 1 million in the Ganges delta.
A Chilean plane crashed in the Andes mountains on Friday, October 13, 1972. It took rescuers two months to find the wreckage and the 16 survivors who had been forced to eat dead passengers in order to stay alive.
On January 13, 1989, the “Friday the 13th virus” infected hundreds of IBM computers across Great Britain, wiping out program files and causing considerable anxiety at a time when large-scale computer viruses were a relatively new threat.
The Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground on Friday, January 13, 2012, off the western coast of Italy killing 30 people.
Isil carried out seven coordinated terror attacks in Paris killing 130 people on the evening of Friday, November 13, 2015.

Take heart if you suffer from Paraskevidekatriaphobia–there cannot be more than three Friday the 13ths in any given calendar year. The longest one can go without seeing a Friday the 13th is fourteen months. But Friday the 13th isn’t the only superstition with strange origins. Here are a few other common unfounded fears with strange and/or unknown beginnings.

Here, Kitty Kitty

Black cats weren’t always the basis of superstitions, feared, or even considered bad luck. In early Egypt cats, including black ones, were held in high esteem. To kill one was considered a capital crime. It wasn’t until the middle-ages in Europe that black cats were associated with witches. This folklore seems to be traced to a 1560s tale of a father and son in Lincolnshire traveling one moonless night when a black cat crossed their path and dove into a crawl space. Legend says they threw rocks at the furry feline until the helpless, injured creature scurried out into the home of a suspected witch. The next day, the father and son came across the same woman and noticed she was limping and bruised. Believing it to be more than a coincidence, rumor spread that the witch could turn into a black cat at night.

Why Shouldn’t I Walk Under that Ladder?

Many theories exist about the unluckiness of walking under a ladder. One explanation regarding ladders and bad luck has its roots in Christianity. Christians believe in the Holy Trinity — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. This belief made the number three sacred in early times, and along with it, the triangle. A ladder leaning up against a wall forms the shape of a triangle, and walking through it was considered “breaking” the Trinity, a crime seen as blasphemous as well as potentially attracting the devil.

Others believe that a ladder is reminiscent of a gallows. Ladders were used to allow the person being hanged to climb high enough to get to the rope. Definitely not very lucky.

If you do walk under a ladder, can you reverse your ill fortune. Richard Webster, author of the book “The Encyclopedia of Superstitions,” lists several remedies you can try:

Make a wish while you’re walking under the ladder.
Walk backwards through the ladder again
Say “bread and butter” as you walk under the ladder. (I’m not sure about this one. We always used that expression when two people walking together split up to go around an obstacle like a fire hydrant or oncoming pedestrians, etc.)
Cross your fingers and keep them crossed until you see a dog.

Another age-old remedy is to spit on your shoe, but don’t look at your shoe until the spit has dried. Or, spit three times between the rungs of the ladder.

It seems easier just to avoid the ladder altogether.

Photo by Carmen Ward Villota

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Centuries-old lore holds fast to the idea that a mirror is not only a projection of one’s appearance, but one’s soul. Breaking a mirror also breaks the soul into pieces. The soul, now severely damaged, isn’t able to fully protect its owner from bad luck.

Long before mirrors existed, reflective surfaces were considered magical and were credited with the ability to look into the future. In ancient mythology we can often find the gods and goddesses, as well as mere mortals, looking into still water to catch a glimpse of their fate. Reflective surfaces like shiny metals and mirrors were also used to receive messages from the gods. The power of reflective surfaces to captivate and deceive are also featured strongly in such stories as Narcissus and Snow White.

It was the Romans who tagged the broken mirror as a sign of seven years bad luck. The length of the prescribed misfortune came from the ancient Roman belief that it took seven years for life to renew itself. According to Roman lore, the misfortunate who accidentally break a mirror, must take all the pieces of the mirror and bury them in the moonlight, or take all pieces and throw them into running water, or pound the broken mirror into tiny pieces so that none of them can reflect anything ever again.

Other Common Mirror Superstitions:

To see your reflection in a mirror is to see your own soul, which is why, according to myth, a vampire, who is without a soul, has no reflection.
If a couple first catch sight of each other in a mirror, they will have a happy marriage.
If a mirror falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will soon die.
Any mirrors in a room where someone has recently died, must be covered so that the dead person’s soul does not get trapped behind the glass. Folklore has it that the Devil invented mirrors for this very purpose.
It is bad luck to see your face in a mirror when sitting by candlelight.

Pass the Salt, Please

In ancient times, salt was a precious commodity. Because of its difficulty to procure and its high cost, salt became a form of currency. In fact, the word “salary” originates from sal, the Latin word for salt, possibly because Roman soldiers received salt as part of their compensation. Spilling something as highly prized as salt was bad form and a big waste, which grew into a warning that this carelessness would bring one bad luck.

Another theory to the origin of this superstition is Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper.” In the detail of the painting, you can see some spilled salt near Judas Iscariot’s elbow, which he presumably knocked over. According to the Bible, Judas later betrayed Jesus, so spilling salt became associated with dishonesty and treachery which would naturally bring bad fortune and bad luck.

The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci

As superstitions tend to do, the spilled salt superstition grew and evolved over centuries, with different cultures assigning different meanings. If you spill salt, here are some of the things that might happen:

A big fight and the end of a friendship.
Bad luck for the person toward which the salt was spilled.
The devil is invited in to perform evil deeds.

But don’t worry, you can undo that curse by simply taking a pinch of the spilled salt and throwing it over your left shoulder. According to legend, the devil stands behind your left shoulder, waiting for an opportunity to perform evil deeds as mentioned above. If you toss some of the errant salt over your shoulder, it will go into the devil’s eyes, blinding him and rendering him powerless.

Photo credit EXPLORED~ | by valstar2011

Step on a Crack and Break Your Mother’s Back

Evidence of this superstition dates back to the Middle Ages. Cracks were not something to trifle with because danger lurked in these empty spaces. Fissures in sidewalks, floors and soil, as well as in walls, signaled gaps in the boundaries between the earthly realm and the spiritual realm where evil spirits lurked. Stepping on a crack might free that evil entity to cause mischief or break apart one’s family.

Some superstitions are so ingrained in modern English-speaking societies that everyone, from lay people to scientists, succumb to them or, at the very least, feel slightly uneasy about not doing so.

How about you? Are you superstitious or skeptical?

3 of History’s Bad Boy Breakups

By romancinghistory

On January 6, 2017

In European History, Love & Romance

Personally, I’ve never understood women who are attracted to the “bad boys.” You know the ones I’m talking about. Handsome and confident, they often come with killer charm and a smile that weakens your knees. Couple that with money or power and you are destined for a nasty breakup and a terrible broken heart.

While these notorious bad boy breakups might not rise to level of the epic Brangelina split of 2016, they know doubt caused more than a little upheaval in their day.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII

King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn Ah, the classic love triangle. You know from the start this won’t end well for someone. Perhaps the poster boy for bad breakups, Henry became king of England in 1509 and shortly thereafter married Catherine of Aragon, the widow of his older brother, Arthur. Although Catherine had born him a daughter, Mary, Henry grew unhappy that Catherine hadn’t provided him with a male heir. His fancy turned toward the younger sister of one his mistresses, Anne Boleyn. Determined to marry Boleyn, Henry asked Pope Clement VII for an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Despite the Pope’s refusal, Henry divorced Catherine and married Anne in 1533. Anne gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth, later that year. Eventually she, too, fell out of favor with the king as she was unable to produce a son from their union. In 1536, Anne was found guilty on fabricated charges of treason and beheaded. Henry’s quest for a son didn’t end there as he married four more times: Jane Seymour, who died shortly after giving birth to a son, Edward VI; Anne of Cleves, whose marriage to Henry was annulled so he could wed again; Catherine Howard, who was beheaded on bogus charges of treason and adultery; and Catherine Parr, who avoided the fate of her predecessors and managed to stay married to the king until his death in 1547.

Lord Bryon and Lady Caroline Lamb

Lord Byron and Lady Caroline Lamb In 1812, famed poet Goerge Gordon Byron, skyrocketed to celebrity status among England’s aristocratic class with the success of his poem, “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.” That same year he began a tumultuous affair with Lady Caroline Lamb, the wife of Britain’s future prime minister, William Lamb. Eventually Bryon broke off the scandalous relationship with the woman he once referred to as “the cleverest, most agreeable, absurd, amiable, perplexing, dangerous, fascinating little being that lives.” However, Lady Lamb didn’t disappear quietly. Desperate for Byron’s attention, she stabbed herself hoping to convince the poet she would rather die than live without him. Unable to convince Lord Byron to reignite their affair, she publicly burned Byron in effigy and spread vicious rumors that he was having an affair with his half-sister, Augusta. Bryon’s reputation as a love ’em and leave ’em bad boy only worsened when Augusta gave birth to a child in 1814 that all of British aristocracy believed Bryon had fathered. In order to repair his reputation and restore his failing financial accounts, he married William Lamb’s cousin, Annabella Milbanke. The marriage was brief and by all accounts disastrous as Bryon’s roving eye did not settle down following his nuptials. Bryon eventually left England permanently. As for Lady Lamb, she published a novel, Glenarvon, which was loosely based on her tempestuous, scandal-laced relationship with Byron whom she described as “mad, bad and dangerous to know.”

The Divorce of Napoleon and Josephine

Napoleon and Josephine In 1796, a young French army officer, Napoleon Bonaparte, married Josephine de Beauharnais, a widow and mother of two who was six years his elder. At first, Bonaparte wrote impassioned love letters to Josephine while away on military campaigns but eventually the two grew distant and both had numerous affairs. They managed to put their difference aside and in 1804, Napoleon and Josephine became the original power couple when Napoleon was crowned Emperor of France. However in 1809, Napoleon informed his Empress that he was divorcing her because she had failed to produce a male heir. According to witnesses, Josephine responded with blood-curdling screams. This had no effect on Bonaparte who had the marriage annulled and later married an Austrian archduchess. Apparently his former wife was never far from his thoughts. Upon Napoleon’s death in 1821 his final word was said to be, “Josephine.”

History’s casanova’s prove to me that I made the right choice pursuing a man with an honorable heart and a steady eye. Yet many women can’t help the pull toward the untamable bad boy they hope to reform.

How about you? Have you ever been attracted to a bad boy?

Historical Fiction to Turn Your Heart Toward Christmas

By romancinghistory

On December 2, 2016

In Historical Romance Fiction, Holiday

As the song goes, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the Goshorn household. Holly, lights, and the scent of pine and cinnamon signal that Christmas is near. The lighted manger scene adorns my yard, snowmen and angels abound in my family room, our tree is up with lights and red bead garland, and Christmas music fills the background whether at home or in the car. We have our Christmas movies out and have already viewed a few of our favorites. What’s missing besides the ornaments we still need to hang on the branches of our tree?

Snuggling up with a good book and a cup of Earl Grey tea (my personal favorite) in front of a crackling fire.

Here’s a list of excellent historical fiction, by classic and contemporary authors, to give you that warm and cozy Christmas-is-around-the-corner feeling. Not sure how you’ll squeeze in a book right now? No worries. There is a nice selection of short stories and novellas as well as novels for you to choose from.

I’ve made it easy for you to purchase the book for yourself or as a gift. Just click on the cover to go to amazon. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed with any of these Christmas selections.

Classics

The Gift of the Magi, O. Henry— This classic short story of sacrificial giving is a Christmas must read as Henry’s characters, Della and Jim, sell their most treasured possessions to give a gift they know the other will love.

The Greatest Gift: A Christmas Tale, Philip Van Doren Stern— I have not read this story yet. In fact, I only discovered it doing research for this blog post, but I’ve already purchased it on my Kindle! This heart-warming short story, which came to Stern in a dream, became the basis for the classic Christmas film, It’s a Wonderful Life. Unable at first to find a publisher for his evocative tale about a man named George Pratt who ponders suicide until he receives an opportunity to see what the world would be like without him, Stern ultimately published the story in a small pamphlet and sent it out as his 1943 Christmas card. One of those 200 cards found its way into the hands of Frank Capra, who shared it with Jimmy Stewart, and the film that resulted became the holiday tradition we cherish today.

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens–Before you roll your eyes because you’ve seen the movie every year, pause and consider reading this classic first published in October 1843. While I love a good film, there is nothing like reading a classic. Charles Dickens, heavily in debt and obligated to his publisher, began work on a book to help supplement his family’s meager income. That volume, A Christmas Carol is the imaginative and entertaining tale of Ebenezer Scrooge’s eerie encounters with a series of spectral visitors. Journeying with them through Christmases past, present, and future, he is ultimately transformed from an arrogant, obstinate, and insensitive miser to a generous, warmhearted, and caring human being. Written by one of England’s greatest and most popular novelists, A Christmas Carol has come to epitomize the true meaning of Christmas.

A Christmas Memory, Truman Capote–First published in 1956, this much sought-after autobiographical recollection of Truman Capote’s rural Alabama boyhood in the 1930’s has become a modern-day classic. Seven-year-old Buddy inaugurates the Christmas season by crying out to his cousin, Miss Sook Falk: “It’s fruitcake weather!” Thus begins an unforgettable portrait of an odd but enduring friendship between two innocent souls–one young and one old–and the memories they share of beloved holiday rituals.

The Little Match Girl, Hans Christian Andersen— First published in 1845, this classic story tells the tale of a poor child who tries to sell matches in the street. She is already shivering from cold and is barefoot having lost her shoes. The girl lights the matches to warm herself. Seeing a shooting star, she remembers her dead grandmother saying that such a falling star means someone is dying and is going to Heaven. As she lights the next match, she sees a vision of her grandmother, the only person to have treated her with love and kindness. After running out of matches the child dies, and her grandmother carries her soul to Heaven. The next morning, passers-by find the child dead in the nook, frozen with a smile on her face, and guess the reason for the burnt-out matches beside her. They feel pity for her, although they had not shown kindness to her before her death. They have no way of knowing about the wonderful visions she saw before her death or how gloriously she and her grandmother are now celebrating the New Year in Heaven.

Contemporary Historical Fiction

A Light in the Window, Julie Lessman— This novel should come with a warning! Danger, you will get sucked into the entire O’Connor Family Saga! This beautifully told story follows Marceline Murphy in 1890s Boston. While overseeing the Christmas play fundraiser for the St. Mary’s parish soup kitchen, A Light in the Window, Marcy not only wrestles with her attraction to the two men who are pursuing her, but with her concern for their spiritual welfare. The play is based on the Irish custom of placing a candle in the window on Christmas Eve to welcome the Holy Family, and for Marcy, its message becomes deeply personal. Her grandmother Mima cautions her to guard her heart for the type of man who will respond to the “light in the window,” meaning the message of Christ in his heart.

The Fruitcake Challenge, Carrie Fancett Pagels— This fun sweet romance novella is the first installment of Carrie’s Christy Family Lumberjack Series and was a Selah awarad finalist. The title grabbed me right away and Carrie’s storytelling won’t disappoint. When new lumberjack, Tom Jeffries, tells the camp cook, Jo Christy, that he’ll marry her if she can make a fruitcake, “as good as the one my mother makes,” she rises to the occasion. After all, he’s the handsomest, smartest, and strongest axman her camp-boss father has ever had in his camp—and the cockiest. And she intends to bring this lumberjack down a notch or three by refusing his proposal. The fruitcake wars are on!

I Heard the Bells, Angela K. Couch— This heart warming short story was inspired by the Christmas carol of the same name and was the 2015 American Christian Fiction Writers Virginia chapter’s Short Story Contest winner. Angela is beautiful storyteller. Don’t miss this one! Three years ago, Gabriel Morgan left his home in Virginia to fight for the Union Army, despite his family and fiancee’s loyalties to the South. Now, with battle fresh in his mind, and the Civil War still raging, he chances a quick trip home with one prayer… to make peace this Christmas.

Although I haven’t read them yet, these books sound so good I had to include them because they are on my TBR pile!

Cowboy Christmas Homecoming, Mary Connealy, Ruth Logan Hearne, Julie Lessman, & Anna Schmidt–Four historical romances featuring cowboys, small towns and the wide open range. These authors ALWAYS leave you wanting more!

The Widow’s Captive, Lucette Nel–You won’t want to miss this author’s debut novella. On the run with two small children and a third due within weeks, Adeline Spencer fears the approaching blizzard will seal their fate. An abandoned cabin is an answer to her prayers. She hopes it will shield them from both the storm and the enraged brother-in-law hot on her tail. But when a stranger knocks at the door, she is convinced they have been found by one of Ward’s lackeys.Blamed for the death of his friend, Sheriff Jonah Hale is determined to prove himself worthy of his badge, even if it means riding into a blizzard to check on a crazy miner. When Jonah reaches the cabin, he’s caught off guard by a pretty and very pregnant young woman wielding a skillet. Bound to a chair while the storm rages, and as Christmas settles in around them, he must find a way to earn Adeline’s trust…and perhaps her heart.

Hang Your Heart on Christmas, Heather Blanton–I’ve enjoyed all of Heather’s other novels and look forward to hours of entertainment form this book as well. As punishment for a botched arrest, U.S. Marshal “Dent” Hernandez is temporarily remanded to the quiet little town of Evergreen, Wyoming. Not only does his hometown hold some bad memories, but he is champing at the bit to go after vicious killers, not waste his time scolding candy thieves. And he most certainly should not be escorting the very pretty, but jittery, schoolteacher around. What is she so afraid of? Turns out, a lot of folks are keeping secrets in Evergreen. When the bank is robbed and Dent has to do what he does best, choices will be made, lies will be exposed, and hearts will break. Can Christmas bring love and healing to Evergreen? To Dent?

Where Treetops Glisten–Three Stores of Heartwarming Courage and Christmas Romance During World War II, Tricia Goyer, Cara Putnam and Sarah Sundin–Although I haven’t read this novella collection, these authors don’t disappoint! I’m looking forward to this World War II era collection of stories. Turn back the clock to a different time, listen to Bing Crosby sing of sleigh bells in the snow, as the realities of America’s involvement in the Second World War change the lives of the Turner family in Lafayette, Indiana.

The Substitute Bride, Carrie Fancett Pagels–Carrie’s books always make my TBR pile and this Christmas novella sounds enchanting. The Substitute Bride is part of the O’ Little Town of Christmas novella collection and won Carrie a much coveted spot as a Maggie award finalist. A Christmas Carol meets It’s A Wonderful Life A letter for Sonja’s deceased friend arrives at the post office in Michigan, and with it a proposal. With her father threatening to kick her out of his home, Sonja impulsively responds, offering to travel west to be a substitute bride. At the same time, Louis’s railroad promotion sends him back to Michigan, the one place on earth he’d hoped to never return—where Christmas past was full of pain. A mysterious stranger leaves him marked copies of “A Christmas Carol” as he considers romancing Sonja in Christmas present. Will Louis discern the best choices for Christmas future? Does it include the Poor House, again? Even so—will God bring healing and love to him this year?

Tidings of Peace, Tracie Peterson—Bestselling author Tracie Peterson presents four Christmas love stories from World War II. Moving from the homefront, to the front line, to the South Pacific, each story in Tidings of Peace features brave men and women trying to find meaning–and love–during the uncertainties of war. All the danger, difficulties, sadness, and hope experienced on both sides of the ocean is captured in these timeless novellas. the unique Christmas settings will put you in the spirit of the season, showing the miracles and mercy so often found during this time of celebrating Jesus’ birth.

Just in case I haven’t given you enough choices, here are some wonderful historical romance Christmas novella collections. Although I haven’t read these either yet, they come highly recommended and I plan to read as many as possible!

What is your favorite book that turns your heart toward Christmas?

Veterans Day, Did You Know?

By romancinghistory

On November 11, 2016

In 20th Century America, Holiday, U.S. History

My dad, Harold Joseph Criste, is pictured third from left in the back row. Photo circa 1944.

Veterans Day is a federal holiday in the United States to recognize the millions of Americans who have served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard. Like many of you, I come from a long line of veterans. My relatives have fought in every major combat from the French and Indian War (pre-Revolution) to Vietnam and in every branch of the United States military. Most notably my father who enlisted in the Navy during World War II immediately following his high school graduation in 1943. However, like me, you may not be aware of the history behind this national day of honor and remembrance.

Did you know…

Veterans Day was originally known as Armistice Day? In recognition of the armistice signed in the forest of Compiegne in northern France, at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 halting formal hostilities between the Allies and Germany effectively ending World War I. Celebrated for the first time on November 11, 1919, all business ceased in the United States for two minutes when the clock struck eleven o’clock in solemn remebrance of the war dead. From the beginning, parades and public gatherings were part of the traditional festivities marking the holiday.

Soldier guarding tthe Tomb of the Unknowns, Arlington National Cemetery

The Tomb of the Unknowns was originally dedicated to an unknown soldier from World War I? The Tomb of the Unknowns is a monument located in Arlington National Cemetery which contains the unidentified remains of a World War I soldier selected at random by U.S. Army Sgt. Edward F. Younger. Younger was highly decorated for valor and had received the Distinguished Service Medal for his service in “The Great War.” Four unknown U.S. soldiers were exhumed from four American World War I cemeteries in France. At the city hall in Chalons-sur-Marne, France, on October 24, 1921, Sergeant Younger selected the unknown by placing white roses on one of the four identical caskets. After arriving in the United States, the Unknown Soldier lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda until Armistice Day of that year when President Warren Harding officiated over his interment at Arlington National Cemetery. The inscription on the back of the monument reads “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”

Although it has never been officially dedicated as such, the Tomb of the Unknowns is commonly referred to as The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The white marble sarcophagus sits above the grave of the Unknown Soldier from World War I but nearby are the crypts of unknowns from World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Red poppies are a symbol associated with our Veterans? Two days before the Armistice was signed in 1918, Miss Moina Belle Michael read a poem in the November edition of the Ladies Home Journal entitled “We Shall Not Sleep” which spoke of the red poppies growing in spring that covered the graves of fallen soldiers as well as the devastated battlefields they left behind. The poem, more famously known as “In Flanders Fields” was written by Canadian John McCrae following the death in action of a close friend.

Black and white copy of “In Flanders Fields” as it appeared in The Ladies Home Journal, November 1918.

“Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.”

Deeply moved by these lines in McCrae’s poem, Moina vowed to never forget the fallen soldiers of World War I and started a national campaign to designate the red poppy as a symbol of remembrance for America’s war dead. Although Congress never acted on Moina’s proposal, the newly founded American Legion adopted the Flanders Poppy as their symbol of remembrance. Today on Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day it is common to see members of the American Legion distributing silk poppies to encourage Americans to remember those who gave their lives in service to our country.

President Eisenhower signing legislation to change Armistice Day to Veterans Day in June, 1954.

Armistice Day was celebrated until 1954? Following a national campaign for a national holiday that would recognize the sixteen million veterans who served in World War II as well as the 5.7 million who served in Korea, the 83rd Congress replaced the word Armistice with the word Veteran to recognized all those who have served in any branch of the United States military, living or dead.

For eight years Veterans Day was celebrated in October? In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill creating four Federal holidays (Washington’s Birthday, Memorial Day, Columbus Day and Veterans Day). The bill designated Monday observances for the holidays to encourage tourism and travel by creating four three-day weekends. In accordance with the bill, the observance of Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October. This created a great deal of confusion as many states disapproved of the change and continued their observances in November. Citing the historical and patriotic significance of the date, President Gerald Ford officially returned the federal observance of Veterans Day to November 11 in 1975.

Here is my Veteran, my husband, 1LT Michael A. Goshorn, when stationed at Fort Ord, California from 1989-1993. In this photo, Mike is on the far right of the front row. My husband served six years in the Army, two enlisted and four as an officer following the completion of his dual degrees in physics and electrical engineering. While enlisted he learned Chinese at the Defense Language Institute and was later assigned to the National Security Agency (NSA), Ft. Meade, Maryland. As an officer, he was assigned to the Chemical Corps and then was stationed at Ford Ord. While in California, Mike first served in the Field Artillery Battalion Headquarters Company with the 7th ID (Infantry Division). Two years later, Mike was reassigned to the Headquarters Company of a Helicopter Battalion, also at Ft. Ord. Thankfully he never saw combat although he served during the Gulf War.

In honor of Veterans Day, tell me about the Veteran in your life.

Listen Up, Y’All and Learn Some Southern Slang!

By romancinghistory

On October 29, 2016

In 17th & 18th Century America, Colonial, U.S. History, Why Do We Say That?

If you think y’all is a contraction for ‘you all’ you’d be partially correct. Y’all is always plural referring to more than one other person. Modern English doesn’t have a word for the plural form of you. During the middle ages, thou was the singular from of you and ye was the plural. Over time “ye all” evolved into “y’all.” To further complicate things, if you’re talking to a group of more than three people in the south, you say “all y’all”.

So who put the “y’all” in the Southern slang?

The Scotch-Irish immigrants that journeyed to America in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Although the first known reference of the term was from Queen Elizabeth I in 1573, today it is almost exclusively an Americanism. As it turns out, the Scotch-Irish (also know as Scots-Irish) weren’t very Scottish. While some had fled Scotland following an unsuccessful rebellion to Ulster in Ireland, the majority were Irish. The rest were religious refugees who settled in Ulster from the English counties of Cumberland and Northumberland. Others were from Flanders, Germania or France (the French Huguenots like Paul Revere). What bound them together was their embrace of reformed Christianity and their rejection of established state religion. By the time they emigrated to America, by and large they considered themselves Irish. It wasn’t until the mass immigration during the Great Famine of the 1840s that the term resurfaced as a means of distinguishing themselves from the new Roman Catholic immigrants.

The Sctoch-Irish settled primarily in the south, especially in the areas of the Appalachian mountains. Their unique history and cultural identity is evident in many words that have seeped into the American vernacular.

Rednecks Despite what you may think, the term didn’t arise from the sunburned necks of these early farmers. During the 1600s, protestant insurgents wore a red scarf around their necks to signify their allegiance to the rebellion against the state churches of Scotland and Ireland.

Backwooods When they arrived in America, they weren’t necessarily greeted with open arms. The English considered them dirty, rebellious, poor and uneducated. In order to avoid the crowded conditions along the eastern seaboard and the discrimination they encountered in the cities and small towns in the colonies, they settled further west. Because they inhabited the areas behind civilization pushing the English colonial frontier, the English settlers said they lived in the backwoods.

Hillbilly Although following the Civil War the term took on a derogatory stereotype of being backward, prone to violence, and ignorant of modern customs, the term is believed to have originated from the Scotch-Irish themselves. “Hill-folk” referred to people that preferred isolation from the greater society and lived in the Scottish highlands while “billy” meant “comrade” or “companion.”

Some other phrases we can trace to America’s frontier busting Scotch-Irish ancestors:

Barking Up the Wrong Tree—Mistaken/Picked a fight with the wrong person. When hunting dogs chased raccoons up a tree and didn’t notice the critters jumped into another, they were said to be barking up the wrong tree.

Fly off the Handle—Lose your temper unexpectedly, overreact. As the Scotch Irish settled the frontier, they felled the dense forests of the eastern woodlands. A sturdy ax was essential to their success. Men carved their own handles and then attached them to ax heads shipped from the East. Because they were crudely fitted together, ax heads were known to fly off the handle, posing the possibility of serious injury to those nearby.

Davy Crockett was a frontier trailblazer of Scotch-Irish ancestry.

Ax to Grind—Personal grievance with someone, usually a strong selfish motivation. On the frontier, an ax was sharpened on a sandstone grinding wheel powered by a foot pump. When you were angry enough at someone, sharpening your ax meant you were ready for a fight.

Trailblazer—The first person to do something. This phrase came into being as the Scotch-Irish pushed their way deeper and deeper into the American frontier. Since they were exploring uncharted territory and didn’t want to get lost, they marked a trail by hacking bark off the trees. This method of marking trees was known as “blazing” since the mark resembled the white blaze on a horse’s nose.

The South today is known for its colorful style of self-expression. Although they can leave a Yankee scratching their head, there is a unique charm to these down-to-earth phrases for stating exactly what’s on the speaker’s mind.

Here’s a list of some of my favorite Southern phrases and their translations. If these don’t just dill your pickle, I don’t know what will.

“That possum’s on the stump!” Translation: That’s as good as it gets!

“His knickers are in a knot.” Translation: Look out, someone’s angry!

“About to pop!” Translation: You’re full after eating a lot

“A mind to!” Translation: You are thinking about doing something.

“His heart is a thumpin’ gizzard.” Translation: You’re cold-hearted and cruel

“She could start an argument in an empty house.” Translation: You’re cantankerous!

“Cain’t never could.” Translation: You’ll never do it if you don’t try

“He thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow.” Translation: You’re conceited or vain.

“Hit the bushes!” Translation: Go to the bathroom!

“Huzzy” Translation: a bad woman like the kind that will steal your man!

“He squeezes a quarter so tight the eagle screams.” Translation: You’re cheap.

“Cattywampus.” Translation: askew or awry; cockeyed

“Too poor to paint, too proud to whitewash.” Translation: You’re broke.

“That woman is talking with her tongue out of her shoe.” She’s lyin’.

“He’s only got one oar in the water.” Translation: He’s not too bright.”

“Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit.” Translation: Who would’ve known?

“You don’t watch out, I’m gonna cream yo’ corn.” Translation: Somebody’s in real trouble!

“He fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.” Translation: You’re not too good lookin’.

“Fat as a tick.” Translation: Full and well-fed.

The richness of Southern speech goes far beyond one or two-word expressions and as you’ve seen, there’s a Southern expression for every occasion.

I’m just happier than a dead pig in sunshine that all y’all stopped by the blog today!

What is your favorite Southern expression? Feel free to share it in the comments below!

Pastors & Patriots, The Black Robed Regiment

By romancinghistory

On October 21, 2016

In American Revolution, Colonial, U.S. History

Evangelist, George Whitefield (1714-1770) preaching to colonial Americans.

Unlike today, the church in colonial and Revolutionary America served as the hub for political debate, as well as for disseminating and discussing current events. And when it came to British oppression, they didn’t hesitate to call for independence. These fiery orators were dubbed by the British as The Black Robed Regiment in reference to their black clerical robes.

Defenders of the British crown found preachers’ support of the Patriot cause particularly detrimental to their efforts to maintain loyalty among the colonists. In the 1770s, most colonists still considered themselves aligned with England. Many parishioners questioned the legitimacy of revolution. From their pulpits, members of The Black Robed Regiment reassured their congregations that their revolution was justified in the eyes of God.

In fact, the British believed so strongly that it was the preaching from colonial pulpits that pushed its citizens into rebellion that many ministers had bounties put on their heads. Loyalists burned the homes and churches of the pastors who preached against British rule. Hatred by the British for the clergy ran so deep that on the battlefield wounded ministers were frequently executed rather than taken prisoner.

One such member of The Black Robed Regiment was the Reverend Samuel West, pastor of the Congregationalist Church of Dartmouth, Massachusetts. West was invited to give the prestigious Election Day sermon in Boston in 1776. In his message he proclaimed that the colonies were already independent and constituted a new nation. “Any people, when cruelly oppressed has the right to throw the yoke, and be free.” Reverend West further declared, “To save our country from the hands of our oppressors ought to be dearer to us even than our own lives, and, next the eternal salvation of our own souls, is the thing of greatest importance–a duty so sacred that it cannot justly be dispensed with for the sake of our secular concerns.”

But the Patriot Pastors of the Revolutionary era didn’t just preach about liberty while encouraging their congregations to fight against tyranny, they led the way!

Pastor Muhlenberg revealing his Continental Army uniform.

Pastor Peter Muhlenberg, A Lutheran minister, ascended the pulpit on a cold Sunday morning in 1776 and preached from Ecclesiastes 3, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted…” Muhlenberg continued, laying the foundation for the point of his sermon. “In the language of the holy writ, there was a time for all things, a time preach and a time pray, but those times have passed away.” Imagine him standing before his congregation, his voice gaining intensity as he continued. “There is a time to fight, and that time has now come!”

Then, in dramatic fashion, Pastor Muhlenberg removed his clerical robe revealing his military uniform. He challenged his parishioners asking, “Who is with me?” Over 300 men from his church alone joined him in the fight for liberty, volunteering for what eventually became the 8th Virginia Brigade. Pastor Muhlenberg and his men fought in every major engagement of the Revolutionary War and wintered with George Washington at Valley Forge. A native Pennsylvanian, his statue, stands in the U.S. Capitol Building’s Statuary Hall–clerical robes draped over his right arm, sword firmly in his left hand.

James Caldwell instructing his men to “Give ’em Watts, boys!”

The Reverend James Caldwell, minister of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, instructed his congregation that “there are times when it is as righteous to fight as it is to pray.” After the British put a bounty on his head, Caldwell went to the pulpit with two loaded flintlock pistols.

Like Muhlenberg, Caldwell also fought alongside his congregants. When the British captured Elizabethtown, Caldwell’s men were short wadding necessary to pack ammunition in their weapons. Without it they would surely be overrun. Caldwell rode to a nearby church and gathered as many hymnals as he could carry. Returning to his men, he instructed them to rip out the pages and use them as wadding in their muskets. Having stuffed the hymns of such classic writers as Isaac Watts down the barrels of their guns, he yelled “Give ’em Watts boys, put Watts into them!” The British referred to Caldwell as the “Fighting Chaplain” and his brave leadership was immortalized in verse.

“Who’s that riding in on horse-back?
Parson Caldwell, boys; Hooray!
Red-coats call him “Fighting Chaplain,”
How they hate him! Well they may!”

According to David Barton of Wall Builders, “modern historians have noted that not one single right asserted in the Declaration of Independence hadn’t been preached from colonial pulpits prior to 1763.” It wasn’t only the British who gave great attribution to the clergy but Founders like John Adams exalted the clergy’s role in stirring the hearts of the people to fight when he said, “the pulpits have thundered.”

The call to educate the church on political and social issues didn’t end with American victory at Yorktown. The Black Robed Regiment of the Revolutionary era set a precedence that inspired pastors throughout American history to instruct their parishioners on what the Bible said about issues ranging from slavery to civil rights. Patriotic pastors have led troops into battle, ministered to the wounded, written laws and public policy, lobbied our government, founded universities and have been elected to local, state and federal government offices across the nation.

Sadly, today many pulpits are quiet when it comes to instructing the church on what the Bible has to say about the social and political issues of our day. According to Pastor Dan Fisher, author of Bringing Back the Black Robed Regiment,”Today the church has become marginalized almost to the point of cultural impotency and spiritual irrelevance.”

I’m proud to belong to a church where the pastor does apply Biblical principles to the events shaping the world we live and who challenges us to use our vote to impact our culture. In fact, it was from him I learned of The Black Robed Regiment when he gave his annual Election Day sermon last Sunday.

If you’re interested in learning more about the movement underway challenging America’s pastors to speak up in this ever-increasing politically correct world we live in or to obtain a Christian voter’s guide for your state, please visit the National Black Robed Regiment and view the short video.

The First Crack in the Presidential Glass Ceiling

By romancinghistory

On October 7, 2016

In 19th Century America, U.S. History

Long before Hilary Clinton’s 2008 run for President of the United States, Victoria Claflin Woodhull put the first crack in the presidential glass ceiling with her ground breaking run for the White House in 1872, nearly fifty years before women would even receive the right to vote. Ahead of her time, Woodhull also tried her hand at stockbroking, newspaper publishing, lobbying, public speaking, clairvoyance and philanthropy.

Although she is not especially well-known today, this 19th century iconoclast, whose unconventional lifestyle and radical political views earned her powerful enemies, attracted more media attention than a Donald Trump press conference. On April 2, 1870, she made national news when she sent a letter the New York Herald stating her declaration to run for president. In the note, she wrote:

“I am quite well aware that in assuming this position I shall evoke more ridicule than enthusiasm at the outset. But this is an epoch of sudden changes and startling surprises. What may appear absurd today will assume a serious aspect to-morrow.”

Two years later, Woodhull was officially nominated to be the presidential candidate for the Equal Rights Party, a political group she helped organize. She faced tough opposition against incumbent Republican Ulysses S. Grant and Democrat Horace Greeley. Woodhull selected Frederick Douglass, the famed ex-slave turned abolitionist as her running mate. Douglass, however, never agreed to run with Woodhull and never participated in the campaign, choosing instead to give stump speeches for Grant.

At the time, Woodhull was criticized for what were considered to be radical beliefs by many Americans. The heart and soul of her platform was a society free a government that makes laws which interfere with the rights of any individual, man or woman, black or white, “to pursue happiness as they may choose.” In particular, she was singled out for her staunch support for free love, which at that time meant believing that women should have the freedom to choose who they wanted to marry and have the right to divorce their husbands.

Thomas Nast Cartoon, "Get Thee Behind Me, (Mrs.) Satan!" appeared February 12, 1872 in Harper's Weekly.

Thomas Nast’s Cartoon, “Get Thee Behind Me, (Mrs.) Satan!” appeared February 12, 1872 in Harper’s Weekly.

Newspapers across the country disparaged her reputation, notably by newspaper cartoonist Thomas Nast, who literally depicted her as the devil in a Harper’s Weekly illustration. All that bad publicity resulted in Woodhull being evicted from her home and many New York landlords were unwilling to rent to her. Meanwhile, Zula, Woodhull’s 11-year-old daughter, was forced to switch schools as other parents didn’t want Zula to be bad influence on their children.

As the national press tore her apart, Woodhull lashed out at allies who she believed let her down. The last straw came when she called out a former friend, Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, who she claimed had had dozens of affairs. When she published these allegations in her newspaper, she was arrested for violating morality laws and spent Election Day in a jail cell.

But this is only part of the story. Woodhull’s eccentricity didn’t begin with her historic run for the presidency–it began the moment she was born. Victoria Claflin was born on September 23, 1838, to an illiterate mother and a petty criminal father. She attended school for three years off and on before dropping out. Victoria was forced by her father to travel in his painted wagon and work as a revivalist child preacher, fortune teller, faith healer, and clairvoyant who communicated with the dead.

Victoria married three times, the first, at age 15, to Canning Woodhull, a philanderer, drunk and morphine addict. Eventually, Victoria, who had two children with Canning, one of whom suffered brain damage which she blamed that on her husband’s drinking. Despite the social stigma of divorce at that time, Victoria left him and filed for divorce but kept his name for the sake of her children.

Victoria and Tennessee reveled in publicity.

In 1866, Victoria married Col. James Blood, a civil war hero. Blood was a political and social radical who encouraged Victoria’s self-education and interest in women’s rights. He moved the family to New York City where Victoria was joined by her sister, Tennessee. Now reunited, the sisters worked as spiritualists, reviving the lessons learned from their childhood days as clairvoyants. The two took the city by storm and attracted the attention of railroad and shipping millionaire, Cornelius Vanderbilt, who had an overwhelming desire to communicate with his long-dead mother. So pleased was Vanderbilt with the two women’s abilities that he set them up in business. Woodhull and Claflin opened on Broad Street in 1870 making the sisters not only the first women stockbrokers but the first women to found and run a Wall Street brokerage company. Dressed in matching outfits complete with skirts touching the tops of their boots, considered scandalously short for the times, newspapers dubbed them “the queens of finance” and “bewitching brokers.”

Using money they made in the brokerage business, in 1870 the sisters founded a radical newspaper, Woodhull & Claflin’s Weekly. By the next year, Victoria had taken a leadership role in the Karl Marx International Workingmen’s Association. The Weekly, which operated for six years, published the first English version of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ Communist Manifesto.

The next year, Victoria became the first woman to testify before a congressional committee, addressing the House Judiciary Committee on the subject of women’s suffrage. Her argument was that the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments already guaranteed a woman’s right to vote. All that was needed, she said, was for Congress to pass an act guaranteeing those rights. Susan B. Anthony was so taken with Woodhull’s argument that she asked her to repeat it at the National Woman Suffrage Association Convention later that afternoon.

As a conservative leaning person, I sure don’t agree with most of Victoria Claflin Woodhull’s political views but I do recognize that she was a brave woman who risked her name, reputation and livelihood for what she believed in. I will always be grateful for women like Woodhull who put those first few cracks in the glass ceiling.

What about you? Do you find inspiration in the life of this woman history forgot?

Victorian Mourning Etiquette

By romancinghistory

On September 30, 2016

In British History, Victorian

Queen Victoria mourned Prince Albert’s death from his death in 1861 until her own in 1901.

Upon the death of a loved one, both men and women during the Victorian era were expected to follow stringent rules on how society expected them to act, dress and conduct themselves during a rather extensive period of mourning. From lavish funerals and horse-drawn carriages to elaborate graveside monuments, it seems the Victorians were obsessed with mourning.

So what precipitated this culture of mourning?

Quite simply, the death of Prince Albert. Widowed at age forty-two, Queen Victoria fell deep into the throws of grief and mourning and proceeded to wear mourning garb for the next forty years of her life. She required that her court do the same. The aristocracy followed suit and new mourning rituals filtered down through all classes of British society.

Adherence to these new mores was seen as essential for showcasing the wealth and class of Victorian families. Ladies’ magazines such as Cassell’s contained articles with tips for proper mourning including stopping clocks at the moment of death, drawing curtains, and covering mirrors to prevent the spirit of the deceased becoming trapped in its reflective glass. It was not uncommon for the lady of the house to dress her servants in black as a demonstration of an entire household in mourning.

Notice the crape details on her mourning gown.

According to the Victorian etiquette manual Polite Society at Home and Abroad, upon the death of a husband, a widow was expected to go into a period of Full Mourning, also called First Mourning, for one year. During this time she was only allowed to wear black, symbolizing spiritual darkness, and could not appear in public without it. Neither was she allowed out in public without a black mourning veil, commonly known as a weeping veil, covering her face. Considered callous and even immoral, luxurious fabrics like furs, satin or velvet were strictly forbidden. Mourning dresses were usually trimmed with crape, a hard, scratchy silk fabric with a distinctively crisp, crimped appearance.

If the woman did not have black attire nor the means to acquire any, she would die a lighter dress. Women from the lower classes or with children to support, were allowed to look for a new husband after this period of Full Mourning. If, however, she had no dependents or serious need for money, she would then enter a period of Second Mourning, which lasted for nine more months. Second Mourning meant a relaxation of the rules, or “slighting the mourning.” The veil, while still worn, could now at least be raised when out in public, but mourning etiquette dictated that black was still the only color that was permissible for clothing. She could also exchange the uncomfortable crape from her gown for a few subtle lacy embellishments.

Example of Victorian Third Mourning dress.

The final stage of traditional Victorian mourning was Third Mourning, or Half-mourning, and lasted anywhere from three to six months. The color of cloth lightened now to grey tones of blue, green and purple. If she was a woman of means, now was the time that society considered it acceptable for her to start looking for a new husband.

Mourning traditions for men were similar to women in that they were expected to wear dark suits with black hat and or arm bands. A widower who had lost his wife was expected to mourn for two years, however as with women with dependents, if a man had children to care for, society did allow for him to end mourning sooner and go back to conducting business or work. An unmarried man who had lost a close relation such as a mother, sister or cousin, might carry out the full three stages of mourning, same as widows did, lasting the full two to two-and-a-half years. Children were not expected to wear mourning clothes.

Although jewelry was prohibited during deep mourning, Second Mourning allowed for commemorative jewelry or mourning jewelry to be worn. Victorians revived the art of eye miniatures, tiny portraits of an eye of departed loved one painted on brooches, bracelets, lockets and rings. Another popular form of mourning jewelry popularized by Queen Victoria combined jet, a hard, black coal-like material with woven hair of the deceased. It was already common practice for people to keep a lock of a loved one’s hair after their death and preserve it as a memento of their deceased relatives. Depending on the amount of hair taken from the corpse, the memento might be sent to hair weavers who would design intricate braided ropes used to make watch-chains or necklaces. Mourning lockets and rings had tiny compartments where a lock of hair or even a tooth could be stored as a remembrance.

The strict compliance to the rules of bereavement meant appropriate clothing needed to be readily available to mourners. Many shops catered to the trade. The largest and best known of them in London was Jay’s of Regent Street. Known as a kind of warehouse for mourners, Jay’s provided every conceivable item of clothing a proper Victorian family could need. Considering Victorians found it bad luck to keep mourning clothes, especially crape, in the house after mourning ended, businesses like Jay’s were a lucrative business.

With the passing of Queen Victoria in 1901, much of the world left deep mourning behind but for the Victorians, strict adherence to the rituals of mourning brought constant awareness of the fragility of life. A reminder that death was an ever-present possibility and that he or she should lead a good life because death could strike without warning.

Clandestine Eye Jewelry

By romancinghistory

On September 24, 2016

In British History, Georgian, Regency, Victorian

Eye Miniature brooch, circa 1800

Not too long ago, a friend shared a post about Victorian Lover’s Eye jewelry on her Facebook page. I clicked on the link and quickly became fascinated by what I learned.

Eye miniatures, as they were originally known, were small portraits of the human eye painted on brooches, rings, lockets and bracelets. But not just anyone’s eye, these clandestine gifts were exchanged in secret between paramours and effectively concealed the giver’s identity. Only someone with intimate acquaintance — a lover, a spouse, a close family member — would recognize an individual’s eye, thus allowing the gift to be worn in public.

But how did this odd custom become a fad?

Maria Fitzherbert and Prince George !V of Wales

Maria Fitzherbert and Prince George IV of Wales

According to legend, the origin of eye miniatures can be traced to the prince of Wales, who later became King George IV. Young George became smitten with the beautiful, twice-widowed Maria Fitzherbert, who was six years his senior. But according to British law, the prince could not marry Maria, a Catholic. Fearing scandal, she fled to the continent. George, however, was not to be deterred and secretly pursued Maria. On Nov. 3, 1785, the prince sent Maria a written declaration of his love, including a proposal of marriage. To demonstrate his undying affection, he sent a miniature portrait of his own eye, set in a locket, painted by the miniaturist Richard Cosway, one of the celebrated artists of the day. Shortly after, Maria returned to England and married the prince in a secret ceremony on Dec. 15, 1785. The bride, not to be outdone by her prince, commissioned Cosway to paint her own eye in order that she might secretly give a token of her affection. Soon, other British nobility followed the couple’s lead and the fad spread throughout Europe, taking the contintent by storm until about 1820.

Eye Miniature in an Ivory Case with a Mirrored Lid c.1817. .© Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Eye Ring, circa1816

Queen Victoria revived the eye miniature fad when she commissioned Sir William Charles Ross to paint portraits of her children and many of her friends and other relatives. A modest resurgence of the art form existed through the the early part of the twentieth century by a few devoted followers of the style, mostly members of the royal family or the aristocracy. Attempts were made by artists at the time to bring the fashion to America with little success.

Eye Miniature with Tears Set in a Brooch with Pearl Frame c.1800. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

In the early nineteenth century eye miniatures were adapted as a form of mourning jewelry sometimes referred to as ‘tear jewelry.’ The purpose of the eye portrait was refocused from romance to remembrance. Portrayed with a tear or depicted as gazing through clouds, these miniatures were seen as tributes to loved ones and friends and often evoked powerful emotions. Mourning eye miniatures included symbolism of the gemstones used to surround the painting. Pearls often represented tears when they surrounded an eye portrait. Diamonds portrayed strength and longevity. Garnets indicated true friendship and turquoise was believed to bring good fortune for the deceased in the after life.

Without an inscription, the identity of those painted eyes on these much sought after heirlooms remains a mystery to this day.

What do you think of the lover’s eye jewelry? Creepy, romantic, or just plain weird?

How a Snake Inspired the American Revolution

By romancinghistory

On August 12, 2016

In 17th & 18th Century America, American Revolution, Colonial, U.S. History

If you’re anything like me, snakes give you the heebie-jeebies. And like me, you’ve probably seen that “Don’t Tread on Me” rattlesnake plastered on license plates, bumper stickers, hats and t-shirts. I’ve even seen it waived at political rallies on the news but I never understood what it meant…until now. And I’ve learned a snake may be the most frequently occurring symbol used to rally the colonists to unite and break the oppressive rule of the British crown.

Today we know it as the Gadsden Flag with its bright yellow background. But how did it come to represent the liberty sought by our forefathers?

Like so many things, it all began with Benjamin Franklin.

In 1751, Franklin wrote a humorous editorial in the Pennsylvania Gazette suggesting that in cordial response to Britain’s policy of sending convicts to America, America should return the favor by sending rattlesnakes to Britain. Years later during the French & Indian War, he resurrected his idea and created this first American political cartoon, a wood carving, using the image of a segmented snake. Urging the thirteen colonies to unite in common defense, Franklin played on a myth common at the time that a dismembered snake could grow back together if the pieces were realigned before sunset. Each segment is labeled with the initial of one of the thirteen colonies however he lumped all of New England together (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island) under the notation N.E. as the head of the snake, ready to strike.

This image was reprinted in newspapers throughout the colonies, and was often adapted by the publisher. Left is Paul Revere’s modified “Join or Die” serpent from the masthead of the Boston Journal, July 7, 1774.

Historians believe it was Franklin who wrote anonymously to the Pennsylvania Journal as “An American Guesser”, expounding on his use of the snake and advocating for its use as a national symbol:

No eye-lids so she is always on the watch, always vigilant.
Doesn’t begin an attack, but once in battle, she doesn’t surrender.
Her defenses are hidden (in her mouth) so she appears weak. And though the bite is small, it’s deadly.
She doesn’t attack until after she gives warning.

Franklin’s reptile resurfaced years later, once again as a symbol to unite Americans against the oppressive Stamp Act. This time the previously segmented viper had transformed into the coiled rattlesnake we recognize today.

According to historian Christopher Whitten, in 1775 the Continental Congress got word that two ships would be arriving in America laden with arms and powder to resupply British troops. The Congress authorized the building of four ships to form the first American Navy and undertook a secret mission to capture those ships and their precious cargo. Colonel Christopher Gadsden, a member of the Marine Committee of the Continental Congress, appointed Commodore Esek Hopkins as the Commodore of the Navy. Believing the Commodore needed his own personal standard, Gadsden presented Hopkins with the yellow, snake-coiled “Don’t Tread on Me” flag . Many speculate that John Paul Jones, first lieutenant aboard the Alfred, most likely ran the standard up the gaff before the mission commenced. The snake even appeared across the red stripes of the first Navy jack.

Once again, the coiled reptile was reprinted in publications throughout the colonies. Since there was no distinctive American symbol at the time, the “Don’t Tread on Me” image appeared on uniform buttons, banners, and flags. The Culpeper County Virginia Minute Men adopted the iconic coiled rattlesnake on their flag but added the words of Virginia Minute Men Organizer Patrick Henry, “Liberty or Death.” Also seen on currency, the seal from a 1778 $20 bill from Georgia (right), Gadsden’s home state, proudly displayed a serpent ready to strike. The new currency was financed by property seized from loyalists. The motto reads “Nemo me impune lacesset,” or “No one will provoke me with impunity.”

Its odd to think that if Franklin had his way, we might revere the snake instead of the bald eagle. While I take great pride in my heritage and the history behind the Gadsden flag, I’m glad this reptilian image remains a symbol of government oppression and not my national identity.

Do you think the snake would have made a good icon for America?