Color Me Surprised

As a cowboy action shooter, I try to make my costumes accurate to the period--though I don’t go all out like some [check out the costumes in the chow line to the left!].  Accurate to the period, to me, has always meant a blouse and skirt that would have been worn in the 1860s, in the same color family. I have an outfit in shades of blue, one that’s green and ivory---you get the idea.

 

Well… While at a cowboy shoot this past weekend, I met a man whose company, James Country Mercantile, specializes in reproducing clothing from the mid-1800s to 1910. And the colors astounded me. Here’s the period-correct pin-top apron that I bought (to go with that blue ensemble I mentioned before). Isn't that wild?!

Now, we’ve all seen the black and white photos of the period showing men in coat, vest, and trousers, many times in various patterns, and of women in their shirt waists in coordinating or matching patterns. What I didn’t know is those colors and patterns, to a modern eye, DON’T MATCH AT ALL!

In the Victorian period, color in your clothing demonstrated your wealth.  If a man wore a suit of all brown, it meant he was a dirt-poor working stiff!  When a man donned a garish mix of paisley and checks and flowers in four different colors---well, ladies, he was the one you wanted to hustle to the altar.

My dh has a pair of shooting pants that we lovingly refer to as the missing awning from a mercantile.  In period-correct costuming, to demonstrate his wealth, he’d add a yellow paisley shirt, a brown and red vest and an orange coat. I shudder to consider what the combination would actually look like. Rather like this, I imagine:

Bill “The Butcher” Cutter (center) from Gangs of New York

In Cowboy Action Shooting, you can also dress as your favorite character from a B-Western movie.  Here’s my favorite, ever (so far)--that's Beefalo Brun on the left.

Or maybe it's Fort Hays Preacher in his color-correct Lone Ranger getup on the right.

I must admit, I’m just getting started on this line of research, so expect to hear more.

Tracy Garrett

Available Now~HER SANCTUARY

 

Stinky Stories by Sarah J. McNeal and a GIVE AWAY

Smells linger a long time in our memories. I still remember the clean, flowery smell of Sweetheart soap in my grandmother’s bathroom. I don’t even think Sweetheart soap is still manufactured. The fragrance takes me back in time the same way the smell of Calamine lotion makes me think of that summer my sister and I spent with our grandmother and got the worst case of poison ivy in my life. That same summer I found a tremendous patch of wild strawberries that were the sweetest tasting berries I ever ate. We all went to the patch, picked buckets full of those berries and Grams made jars and jars of strawberry jam.

The first time the family stepped foot into the two story white house that would become our home for the rest of my childhood, we were greeted by musty smell of old cedar and over ripe apples drifting on the breeze from the orchard. The house enchanted me with its unique and comforting scent. It was as if the scent promised, “This is the place you can rest your heads at night and I will shelter you from all harm.” It’s been many years since I’ve inhaled that promise.

Do you still remember the smell of the fresh ink on those mimeographed papers from school back in the 50s? I liked that smell so much I would hold the paper close to my face and deep breathe it in.

I remember the smell of my childhood friend’s room smelled similar to Chanel #5, lightly sweet like fresh summer flowers.

My mother smelled like Camay soap and, when she dressed up to go someplace special, she used the rosy scent of To A Wild Rose or the more sophisticated scent of Arpege. Pop, on the other hand, always smelled like Old Spice, a scent I find comforting even to this day.

We all have these memories of certain fragrances that take us back to another time and place. When writing a layered scene, I try to use all the senses including smells. Some scents have to be imagined by the reader. For instance, if I write, “She smelled like sunshine,” well, we all know sunshine doesn’t have a scent, but it does evoke memories of coconut tanning oil we used to sunbath on the beach, or sweet honeysuckle warmed by the sun while we ate outside. Including smell makes a story come alive. Negative scents like sour beer, bad breath, and body odor also bring to mind the unpleasantness of certain people in our memories.

Here is a passage from my recent release, HOME FOR THE HEART where smell played an important roll in the scene. It is the opening scene.

Excerpt using smell:

In the quiet of the barn filled with the smell of fresh hay, horse manure, and leather tack, Hank sensed rather than heard someone enter the building. Ah, the smell of sunshine and roses. Must be Lucille Thoroughgood. Without turning to look at her, he set the pitchfork against the wall of Lonesome’s stall. “What do you want, Lucy?” he grumbled as a greeting.

“Mr. Wilding, I have something I’d like to propose to you.” Her voice sounded tense. When he turned to face her, he saw those blue eyes dart away from his to peer at the straw on the floor. She promptly straightened her spine and must have forced herself to look him straight in the eye. Her starched manner made him want to mess with her.

“A proposal?” He moved closer to her…maybe too close. He felt something shift in his chest like a warning bell. “Well now, I haven’t ever had a lady propose to me before.” He joked, badly, just to get her goat. Generally, women were not to be trusted. He’d learned that lesson the hard way. But Lucy was his old friend since grade school. Even though she must have been born straight-laced and proper, she spoke her truth, plain and simple. Beneath that barbed wire exterior beat a heart of gold.

 

Lucy propped her fists on her hips and he thought she looked like a charming sugar bowl all ruffed up in her pink flowered dress and her sweet, straw hat that sat askew on her gleaming brown hair. She knitted those brows together and narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m not proposing marriage to you, Mr. Wilding. I’m proposing a business deal…sort of.”

HOME FOR THE HEART by Sarah J. McNeal 

Logline:

Love doesn’t come easy…for some, it may never come at all.

BLURB:

Lucy Thoroughgood has gone and done it now—fallen in love with Hank Wilding, a man she’s known all her life. He’s content with friendship, but Lucy’s heart has flown the coop and she knows she’s in love with the determined bachelor. When she visits him with a proposition—to let the orphans she cares for learn to ride his horses during the summer—he surprises her with one of his own. She must accompany him to the dancing lessons he’s signed up for.

Secretly pleased, she hopes that perhaps this arrangement might lead to more than friendship. But Hank’s loved hard and lost, with his engagement to one of the popular town girls going south two years earlier. He’s sworn to never lose his heart to another—including Miss Lucy Thoroughgood.

A teenage orphan, Chayton, could be the key to thawing Hank’s heart—but danger follows the embittered boy. Will Hank be able to give Chayton the home he yearns for—or will the boy’s past bring only sorrow to those he cares for? When a Lakota premonition becomes reality, Lucy’s life hangs in the balance. Will Hank have the chance to let Lucy know how wrong he was?

Buy Links:

Smashwords:  Home for the Heart

Amazon:  Kindle             Paperback

What scents do you recall from your childhood? Do they transport you to another time, another place, or to a certain emotion?

A lucky commenter will win a digital copy of my new release, HOME FOR THE HEART!

Sarah J. McNeal is a multi-published author of several genres including time travel, paranormal, western and historical fiction. She is a retired ER and Critical Care nurse who lives in North Carolina with her four-legged children, Lily, the Golden Retriever and Liberty, the cat. Besides her devotion to writing, she also has a great love of music and plays several instruments including violin, bagpipes, guitar and harmonica. Her books and short stories may be found at Prairie Rose Publications and its imprints Painted Pony Books, and Fire Star Press. Some of her fantasy and paranormal books may also be found at Publishing by Rebecca Vickery and Victory Tales Press. She welcomes you to her website and social media:

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