The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Wintry weather, holiday gatherings, and cozy evenings by the fire with a good book... ah, how we love this time of year! And we love immersing ourselves in the history of celebrations and traditions of our ancestors. Here, we've gathered a collection of our winter-themed articles for your cozy reading enjoyment!

Come on it's Lovely Weather for Sleigh Bells and Skating Parties!
Winter sports have been popular in America for hundreds of years. But in the 1800s and early 20th century, winter pastimes not only provided fun and exercise, they also served as much-anticipated and enjoyed social gatherings. Keep reading >>>


Worth a Thousand Words:
The Christmas Coach
The Christmas Coach depicts a scene in Philadelphia in 1795 and features a wealthy woman departing the coach just before sunset on Christmas Eve to a snow-covered street filled with a representation of the great diversity of one of early America's largest cities. Keep reading >>>

Vintage Happy Hour with Jenny Q:
It's Champagne, Dahling
Today I'm toasting champagne, that most glamorous of beverages. That decadent, frivolous, sinful, delightful nectar of the gods, adored by royalty and nobility since its invention in 1531, and in later centuries by the masses as it became widely available. Champagne flows freely through many a novel. Keep reading >>>


Book to Reel: A Christmas Carol
for Scrooge
There are many film versions of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, some traditional, some modern, some with a twist. The truth is, I can watch any of them and enjoy it. It is such a powerful tale of redemption that it works regardless of casting, setting, or medium. Keep reading >>>

Sample Sunday: The Romance of a Christmas Card

“My door is on the latch tonight,
The hearth fire is aglow.
I seem to hear swift passing feet—
The Christ Child in the snow.
My heart is open wide tonight
For stranger, kith or kin.
I would not bar a single door
Where Love might enter in!”

Keep reading >>>

Happy Holidays from the Vintage Reader family to yours!

Worth a Thousand Words: The Christmas Coach

This is The Christmas Coach by American painter Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, and it's just one of seventy-eight scenes from American history in his series, The Pageant of a Nation. It is the largest series of American historical paintings by a single artist. Ferris began painting the series in 1895, and when the entire series was completed, it was exhibited in Ferris's hometown of Philadelphia, at Independence Hall from 1913 to 1930.

The Christmas Coach depicts a scene in Philadelphia in 1795 and features a wealthy woman departing the coach just before sunset on Christmas Eve to a snow-covered street filled with a representation of the great diversity of one of early America's largest cities. The street bustles with the spirit of the season as middle class families, soldiers, servants, Native Americans, and frontiersmen dodge covered wagons, horses, and dogs as they run their errands and make their way home for their Christmas celebrations.

Need some help getting into the holiday spirit? Our newest release is a vintage Christmas treat! Heartwarming, inspirational, and full of wit and charm!

The Romance of a Christmas Card by Kate Douglas Wiggin

Professionally edited and formatted for today's e-readers, and featuring chapter artwork, a glossary, and the touching Christmas poem "Das Krist Kindel." Download the Legacy Vintage Collection Enhanced eBook Edition today for 99₵! 

Vintage Happy Hour with Jenny Q: The Corpse Reviver

It's a special Halloween edition of Vintage Happy Hour, and as promised, our second holiday-inspired selection is at hand! Whether you need a pick-me-up after dressing up and toting the kids around trick-or-treating, a remedy for a Halloween party hangover, or just a jump start to bring you out of that candy coma, consider the Corpse Reviver! (Cue the ominous, spooky music.)

The Corpse Reviver is a classic cocktail--one that seems to only be called upon for Halloween these days, but back in the 1920s and 1930s, it was a popular anytime libation, particularly so in the mornings, when having a cocktail was an acceptable and widely practiced custom. "Corpse reviver" used to be a generic term pretty much equivalent to "hair of the dog" by today's comparison, and such cocktails were touted as cure-alls for whatever ails ya. The Corpse Reviver first appeared (where else?) in Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book, and good old Harry gives us two variations to try, along with caveats for their enjoyment.

If in the Mirror Your Lover is Seen, You'll Surely be Happy on Hallowe'en

I just love this time of year! For me, Halloween kicks off a whole season of celebrations that goes on until New Year's Day. Here in Virginia, fall is a treat for the senses, a combination of colors and scents and sounds and perfect weather for outdoor activities that gets me in a festive mood. This year I've had even more fun sifting through Victorian and Edwardian Halloween ephemera for our new release, At the Sign of the Jack O' Lantern. When I think of Halloween today, I think of trick-or-treaters, carving pumpkins, and scary stories, but I'd never thought of Halloween as being a romantic holiday or a time of good fortune. So I was surprised to find so many vintage Halloween postcards (the sending of which was another popular tradition of old) spouting wishes of good luck and romantic revelations.

Though the commercialism of Halloween has mostly overtaken October 31, the holiday's roots are derived from the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain. Occurring at the halfway point between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, the Samhain festival marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. It was a time to take stock in and celebrate the bounty of the harvest and ask for blessings for the coming "dark season." According to a long tradition of Gaelic folklore, the veil between the living world and the spirit world is at its weakest point on Samhain. Many Halloween traditions still in place today originated from Gaelic methods of protecting themselves from evil spirits, but it was believed that some of those spirits could be useful as well, for what better time is there to attempt to divine one's future than when the spirits are nearest to help?

Vintage Happy Hour with Jenny Q: Satan's Whiskers

Fall is in evidence everywhere you look, Halloween is just around the corner, and we're going to be celebrating our newest release, At the Sign of the Jack O' Lantern, with two spooky Vintage Happy Hours this month! First up, a devilish twist on the Bronx martini with an air of mystery surrounding its origins: Satan’s Whiskers.

The Satan's Whiskers cocktail first appeared in print in 1930 in Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book, and it appears in two variations, depending on whether your vision of Satan has a straight beard or a curly one. If you're going for straight, make it with Grand Marnier; if you like yours curly, make it with orange curaçao.

Worth a Thousand Words: The Supper at the Ball

I love paintings like this, so full of detail that each time I look at it I find something I'd missed before. For example, I just noticed that the officers on the left are holding their hats between their knees as they eat! This is The Supper at the Ball by Adolph von Menzel, a prominent nineteenth century German artist. It looks just like a scene from a Victorian romance novel come to life! In fact, it looks a lot like I imagine one of the climactic scenes looks like in our vintage Cinderella-style romance release, Dora Deane, when Dora makes her triumphant return to society with New York's most eligible bachelor on her arm, much to the astonishment and chagrin of the aunt and cousins who mistreated her for so long. Take a look at the painting and tell us if it brings to mind any scenes from your favorite books, or if you find a surprising little detail within the painting!

Dora Deane by Mary Jane Holmes

Professionally edited and formatted for today's e-readers!

Get the Legacy Vintage Collection Enhanced eBook Edition for 99₵!

Vintage Happy Hour with Jenny Q: Sherry is Merry

We've had a lot of fun this summer delving into fruity, refreshing beverages from days of yore, and now that the weather is changing, we thought it was time to switch gears and indulge in libations perfect for warm days that finish with cool evenings. First up is a spirit that flows freely throughout the colony of Jamestown in 1621 in Mary Johnston's bestselling novel of 1900, To Have and to Hold.

When a huge warship first appears off the point making its way to Jamestown Harbor, the colonists fear the Spanish have come to make war on them. But it turns out to be a good old English ship, and though one of its passengers has come to make a great deal of trouble for newlyweds Ralph and Jocelyn Percy, it's also carrying precious cargo everyone's happy to see: wine. Sherry, to be precise.

Extra! Extra! Parliament Dissolved, Jamestown Attacked, A King is Born, A Sultan is Killed

Mary Johnston's bestselling novel To Have and To Hold was written in 1900, but it takes place in Jamestown, Virginia over the course of 1621 and 1622. She drew heavily on the rich and dramatic history of the time period, and though the brave men and women who pioneered England's first New World colony were isolated and had many problems of their own to contend with, there were some far-reaching developments, many of which would affect them in one way or another. Here's a sampling of news headlines from 1622:

January 1:  January 1 is declared as the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, instead of March 25. Though initially rejected by many Protestant countries who believed the Catholic invention was part of a plot to return them to the Catholic fold, the Gregorian calendar had been in use in Europe for 40 years at the time of the date change.

Vintage Vignettes: Jane Austen Fun

Every once in a while we like to highlight some of the best videos we come across as we surf through the world of vintage romance, those that not only entertain us, but also let us imagine what it would have been like to live and love in another era!

This week we're sharing some of the fun and incredibly creative Jane Austen parodies and homages we've come across in our surfing!

Worth a Thousand Words: At the Recital

We've always been captivated by the pen-and-ink drawings of Charles Dana Gibson, and his body of work was our first choice for inspiration when we set about selecting the chapter art for our newest release, Ladies in Waiting. Gibson was a master of expression, and his works captured the feel of the Progressive Era perfectly. The image featured above is At the Recital, and though we did not include it in the book, it is one of our favorites and we wanted to highlight it here on the blog.

Vintage Happy Hour with Jenny Q: The Sidecar

Today we're feting the Sidecar cocktail, in honor of one of the unsung heroes among American literary characters, Eugene Morgan, the charismatic and enterprising automobile inventor who loses the love of his life, not once, but twice, in Booth Tarkington's classic The Magnificent Ambersons.

There are conflicting reports regarding the origin of the Sidecar, and both Paris and London lay claim to it. But the most popular version of the history of the Sidecar says that it was created during World War I in a Paris bar (Harry's New York Bar, to be precise) at the behest of an American army captain who was feeling a bit under the weather and requested a fortifying drink to ward off the winter chill. Brandy was the best choice for self-medication, but no self-respecting French bartender could serve an after-dinner drink as an aperitif, so the nameless magician who served the captain mixed it with equal parts orange-flavored Cointreau liqueur and fresh lemon juice for a classic sweet-and-sour-type cocktail chock full of vitamin C.

The Ettrick Shepherd and the Ballad of Kilmeny

In Lucy Maud Montgomery's Kilmeny of the Orchard, the title character owes her name, and perhaps a bit of her air of tragedy and mystery, to the ballad "Kilmeny" by Scottish poet James Hogg. The poem appeared in a collection published in 1813, The Queen's Wake, which catapulted him into stardom and earned him the nickname "The Ettrick Shepherd."

The ballad is well known to the characters of the story and is referenced several times, notably after the hero of the story, Eric Marshall, first encounters the beautiful and mysterious Kilmeny in her hidden orchard and learns more about her from the townsfolk:

Oh My Darling, Oh My Darling, Oh My Darling . . . Kodak Camera?

“I love the wild, where I can ride and ride, and never meet a human being—where I can dream and dally and feast my eyes on a landscape man has not touched. I have lived most of my life in New York, and I love nature so well that I'm inclined to be jealous of her.”

In B.M. Bower's Her Prairie Knight, New York socialite Beatrice "Trix" Lansell visits Montana for the first time and falls in love with the landscape. (And with a handsome cowpunch named Keith Cameron, but that comes later!) Trix is determined to experience all that mother nature and Montana have to offer, and to capture it all on film. She never leaves the ranch without her beloved "Kodak," and often holds up the riding party, much to the amusement of her British suitor, Sir Redmond.

Vintage Happy Hour with Jenny Q: Lemon Squash

It's another scorcher on the East Coast today! How about a little refreshment? I found the perfect subject for a Vintage Happy Hour post in one of the stories in our short story collection, Ladies in Waiting by Kate Douglas Wiggin. In A Cathedral Courtship, New York native Kitty Schyuler is touring the cathedral towns of England, and is just dying to experience the England she's read all about in her favorite romance novels. Left on her own to order dinner, she attempts to order a thoroughly English meal:

Vintage Happy Hour with Jenny Q: Old-Fashioneds in the Orchard

In Kilmeny of the Orchard, Prince Edward Island is an idyllic little summer getaway for Eric Marshall. A place to relax and enjoy the rustic isolation from the worries of the mainland, to embrace a slower pace and a more simple style of living, and to wander into an old orchard and fall in love beneath the boughs of an apple tree.

We've had a gorgeous little two-day reprieve from the scorching heat and stifling humidity here in Virginia, and it's shaping up to be the perfect evening to sit outside with a refreshing beverage, so I thought for this edition of Vintage Happy Hour I'd serve up some fruity twists on an old classic in honor of Kilmeny, Prince Edward Island, and lazy summer days! The Old-Fashioned is one of the earliest known cocktail recipes, and in fact, in 1806, the definition of "cocktail" was the recipe for an Old-Fashioned: "a potent concoction of spirits, bitters, water, and sugar." Though the term "Old-Fashioned" wouldn't come into use until the 1880s.

Give Me a Head with Hair: The Sequel

Last month I wrote about the popularity of hairpieces among Victorian women, since they played a significant role in our recent release, Dora Deane. That was great fun to do because I never tire of browsing through vintage fashion trends. And while the ladies' hairstyles get more attention than the men's, that doesn't mean they were the only ones who got to have a little fun! In fact, hair was just as important to Victorian men, and in the novel Eugenia Deane takes great pleasure in putting down one of her would-be suitors as "a perfect bore—a baboon, with more hair than brains." Though men tended to wear the hair on their heads rather uniformly (above the collar and parted on the side, with or without a wave, and a bit of pomade or wax to hold it in place), they were really able to express themselves by the manner in which they wore their facial hair.

When facial hair started making a comeback after a trend toward clean-shaven faces in the middle of the nineteenth century, guys embraced beards and mustaches with gusto, and soon beards became seen as evidence of masculinity and manly courage. World leaders and public figures were quick to adopt the trend toward more facial hair, adding to the notion of strength and virility, and men everywhere were inspired to emulate them. And there was a growing market for products to help men get those sought-after thick and silky whiskers.

Vintage Happy Hour: It's Hotter Than Hades Recap

Sorry, ya'll. It's so hot I can't even work up the energy for a new Vintage Happy Hour post. But I am desperately in need of some refreshment, so I thought I'd compile all of our Happy Hours to date in a convenient little post, kick back with a drink, chug it before the ice melts, and dream of cooler days. Feel free to join me! Click the pics to check out the beverages we've been enjoying this year.

Which one is your favorite?

Worth a Thousand Words: Our Banner in the Sky

This is Our Banner in the Sky by American artist Frederic Edwin Church. A resident of New York, he painted this in 1861 in response to the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, which officially launched the American Civil War. The beleaguered Union flag at Fort Sumter was rescued and brought to New York by the fort's commander, Major Robert Anderson. It was put on public display and became the focal point of a huge rally in Union Square, and is believed to be the flag that inspired this painting. Church, a popular landscape artist, used the medium of nature to create this beautiful and moving rendition of American symbolism and sentiment.

By May of 1861 this painting had caught the attention of and was being lauded by the press, and by June a gallery was producing lithographs of the painting to raise money for the Union Patriotic Fund. One hundred and fifty years later, this painting is still considered a fine example of artistic commentary and patriotism, and still has the power to move the heart and speak to the soul.

POSTED BY:  Jenny Q

Vintage Vignettes: Styles, Songs, and Suffrage

Every once in a while we like to highlight some of the best videos we come across as we surf through the world of vintage romance, those that not only entertain us, but also let us imagine what it would have been like to live and love in another era!

This week we're highlighting a brief history of fashion, popular tunes from the turn of the twentieth century, and the women's rights movement. Something all three of these videos have in common: a rockin' soundtrack!

Give Me a Head with Hair, Long Beautiful Hair!

In Dora Deane by Mary Jane Holmes, our sweet heroine, Dora Deane, is tricked into cutting off her long, luxuriant hair so her wicked cousin Eugenia can sell it for big bucks to buy a new dancing ensemble. The story takes place in New York in 1858, and it got me to wondering if buying and selling hair was really such a big thing back then, since wearing wigs hadn't been in style for quite some time. But it turns out that accessorizing one's hair with more hair has never really gone out of style!

The Victorian Era encompassed more than sixty years of women's fashion trends (of which there were many!), and though hairstyles also changed over those years, one thing remained constant: the elaborate styles required an abundance of hair to pull them off successfully. Coils, curls, chignons, knots, clusters, fringes, ringlets--it was a veritable hairdressing playground, and one which every fashionable woman entered into fearlessly. But, one needed the proper equipment--thick, strong hair, and lots of it--to carry off those styles, and thanks to the merciless application of hot tongs and crimpers, a lot of women weren't blessed with a head full of healthy hair. So how did they manage to keep their hair in fashion?