Last week I wrote about
using vintage cookbooks for more novel detail and to give your novel
authenticity and accuracy. I didn’t mention another “new” cookbook that I
recently acquired.
You know Toll House
cookies, right? The cookie was created by Ruth Graves Wakefield who ran the
Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts. She and her husband bought an old
toll stop house and converted it to an inn. Ruth’s cooking became famous so she
wrote a cookbook in 1931. She later sold her now-famous recipe for Chocolate
Crunch Cookies to Toll House chocolates. Her story is so interesting, I believe
it deserves telling here at some point.
The book is a cornucopia of
information about the 1930s and 1940s. Recipes, food available in season,
manners and etiquette, and more. If your era is early twentieth century, this
cookbook could help.
Where else, you may wonder,
might you acquire “insider information” from commonplace resources on your era?
Historical research leads
one to primary documents like newspapers and magazines to find obits and
articles about topics of interest. But take another bit of time and look over
the ads around the articles. You will see pictures of machines, tools,
clothing, and more that you could tap for inclusion in your novel.
Again, including artifacts
appropriate to your time period lends credibility to your novel as well as
making it more descriptive.
If you are focused on early-
to mid-century stories, there are lots of archived TV and radio programs that
can give you a feel for the time. The cultural info you will get about dialogue
patterns and vocabulary/slang of the era can be directly transferred to your
characters’ interactions.
And watch/listen to the
commercials of your era. Look for patterns such as were there lots of tonics
for digestion? Those patterns provide clues as to what concerns people of the
era had so that you can refer to them as well.
Yet another source of
information for you is to read novels written during your era, the contemporary
fiction of the times. Again, you will get cultural references and language
pattern information that you can use.
This post won’t work,
obviously, for all eras. But once there is print available to the general
public, you can explore the cultural aspects of your era.
If you are writing
about the Roman Empire, I'm sorry. None of this applies. Another time, perhaps, you'll find something helpful.
UPDATE:
I attended a session at
Left Coast Crime about historical fiction mysteries. Fascinating! The panel
moderator was Laurie King, and the panelists were Catriona McPherson, Priscilla
Royal, Kelli Stanley, and Jennifer Kincheloe.
One question asked for
resources, beyond the traditional primary resources, that these authors used. I
was happy to hear that perusing ads in periodicals was recommended as was
letters to the editor to get a feel for issues of the time. I am listing their
unusual ones here for you to tuck into your research arsenal.
Check out Baedeker guides
first published in the 1830s for names of hotels, etc. and real peoples’
reviews of them that you can include as details. You also can find out what’s on
restaurants’ menus.
Also, add an almanac to
your arsenal that will give you events for days so you can refer to them.
McPherson said, “You don’t want your date to be when the king dies and you
never even mention it.”
Need to name characters?
Check out Census rolls for the era. Also there are books of names (and Internet
sites) for different years with their different spellings. The white pages of
phone books are another resource for names. Use the yellow pages for actual
businesses that existed in your time frame. The Oxford English Dictionary of Christian Names (not just Christian)
is another resource.
Books on the history of
American slang will help keep your language accurate for the era.
This session was well worth
attending, don’t you agree?
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