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. One of the most popular pastimes of all was ice-skating, described in an 1886 newspaper as “Our National Winter Exercise.” Frozen ponds and rivers were always busy in the winter, and nighttime skating parties like those described in Kate Douglas Wiggin’s Rose O’ the River were favorite amusements, especially for young people:

“Never had there been . . . such wonderful skating. The river was one gleaming, glittering thoroughfare of ice from Milliken’s Mills to the dam at the Edgewood bridge. At sundown bonfires were built here and there on the mirror-like surface, and all the young people from the neighboring villages gathered on the ice.”

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.

Memorable Melodies: The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo

“The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo,” the song with which George Amberson Minafer loudly serenades his family in The Magnificent Ambersons, was written in 1892 and remained popular for a number of decades afterward, so it was most likely familiar to the readers of Booth Tarkington’s novel in 1918, and perhaps to moviegoers who heard it sung in the 1942 film adaptation as well. There’s a colorful story behind the song, which is believed to be inspired by a real-life gambler who succeeded in spectacularly breaking the bank at the famous Casino Monte Carlo in Monaco. (In roulette, “breaking the bank” means winning more chips than are available at the table.) Here's a clip from the 1942 film:

Cursing, Georgie Minafer-Style!

At the age of nine, George Amberson Minafer, the Major's one grandchild, was a princely terror, dreaded not only in Amberson Addition but in many other quarters through which he galloped on his white pony.

Georgie Amberson Minafer, the dynamic central character in the Pulitzer Prize winning The Magnificent Ambersons, makes an unforgettable entrance into the story, and it sets the tone for his character as the reader watches him grow and mature over the course of the novel. As a child, his mother dotes on him and dresses him in Little Lord Fauntleroy-style, complete with a mop-head of gorgeous curls, and Georgie takes some ribbing about his appearance from the other boys in the neighborhood. But they learn soon enough how deceiving appearances can be.

Extra! Extra! The Magnificent Ambersons Blog Tour

The Legacy Vintage Collection Enhanced Edition of The Magnificent Ambersons is hitting the road!

Please join us this month as we traverse the blogosphere, sharing reviews, giveaways,  and guest posts for our newest release!

The Magnificent Ambersons is a story of unfulfilled love and the redemption of the human soul told against the backdrop of a changing world, a world in which old money and family prestige is rapidly being taken over by progress and industrialization. Written in 1918 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1919, The Magnificent Ambersons still delivers a relative tale for today’s audience that is facing a whole new set of socioeconomic pressures in an ever-changing world. Enhanced Edition eBook Bonus Content: Introduction, Glossary, Image Gallery.

Vintage Happy Hour with Jenny Q: The Horse's Neck

In honor of the devil-may-care Georgie Amberson Minafer, from our newest release, The Magnificent Ambersons, that terror on horseback and behind the reins of a surrey, this evening we're paying tribute to the Horse's Neck.

The Horse's Neck is an American invention, made with brandy (or sometimes bourbon), ginger ale, and a long twist of lemon peel, usually served in an old-fashioned or highball glass. This cocktail's name is distinctive for being named for its garnish, and it actually started out in the 1890s as a non-alcoholic beverage, with crushed ice in place of alcohol, and it's still a popular refresher today. But by the early 1900s Americans were spiking it with brandy and calling it a "Horse's Neck with a kick," and it quickly caught on across the pond.

Book to Reel: The Magnificent Ambersons

The Amberson family is the richest, most magnificent family in town with only one grandchild, George Minafer Amberson. Georgie is spoiled, egotistical, and a complete narcissist, utterly incapable of seeing other people outside of their relationship to him--especially his mother. The entire town is by turns fascinated and repelled by Georgie, and many people long for the day when Georgie will receive his “comeuppance.”

The Magnificent Ambersons was published in 1918, and the great Orson Welles committed it to the big screen in 1942. Welles directed, produced, and wrote the screenplay. Like the novel, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1919, the movie was a great success, and it regularly makes the list of the best movies ever made. Many reviewers say it is superior to Welles’ masterpiece, Citizen Kane. But the movie was surrounded by controversy. It was test screened and disliked by audiences, so studio executives demanded revisions and cuts. Welles complied initially, but did not make all of the adjustments that the studio wanted, so while he was out of the country, forty minutes of the film were cut and destroyed and the ending was changed to reflect a closer rendition of the novel.

Enhanced eBook: The Magnificent Ambersons, Booth Tarkington

"Wow, just wow. This is what writing is supposed to be."

~ At Home With A Good Book and the Cat

Get it today for $1.99!

“At the age of nine, George Amberson Minafer, the Major's one grandchild, was a princely terror…”

Georgie Amberson Minafer, the spoiled only grandchild of a wealthy Midwest family, is alternately loathed and revered by nearly everyone in town. His beautiful face and privileged upbringing create an image that is difficult for people to resist, particularly people who are used to watching everything the Amberson family says and does. When Lucy Morgan arrives in town and enters the story, she too is captured by the magnificence of the Amberson family, and particularly by Georgie. But little do Georgie and Lucy know that their parents were also once in love.