Linda Broday

Here in the Texas Panhandle, we do love our cowboys. There's just something about a man in a Stetson and jeans that makes my heart beat faster. I'm not much of a cook but I love to do genealogy and I'm a bit of a rock hound. I'm also a NY Times & USA Today bestselling author of historical western romance. You can contact me through my website and I'd love to connect with you on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and more. HAPPY READING!
https://petticoatsandpistols.com/sweepstakesrules/

Vickie’s and Lisa’s Winners

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Winner of Vickie McDonough’s three book set that includes Sooner or Later, The Bounty Hunter and the Bride, and A Wealth Beyond Riches is ………

Caroline

Congratulations, Caroline! Please contact Vickie at fictionfan1@cox.net and tell her where to send your books.

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Winner of Lisa Plumley’s Morrow Creek Matchmakers trilogy plus The Drifter is ……

Lisa Ward

Congratulations, Lisa! Please contact me at lindabroday@live.com  with your mailing address and Lisa will get those right to you.

Thanks to everyone who came and commented. We had a great weekend!

Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?

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“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

My mother always joked about probably having to go to the poor farm one day and I wondered what she meant. Recently there was an interesting article in our newspaper about them. And with our economy what it is these days, I thought it a timely subject.

Poor Farms originated in the 1820’s in the East to care for paupers. Slowly as settlers moved west so did the system for helping the poor and infirmed. Poor Farms were set up and operated by the different counties and they remained a county responsibility until their demise in the 1930’s shortly after the government passed the Social Security Act.

Eastern poor farms were much better than those on the western frontier, but neither held any semblance to living in the lap of luxury. Counties bought or rented farms and overseers or superintendents were hired to provide the care. Usually a poor farm consisted of the main building for the superintendent and his family and from six to eight small outbuildings that each sometimes housed up to 10 to 15 paupers or “inmates” as they were sometimes called. The men were kept segregated from the women and families were broken up. Indeed, some poor farms resembled jails for once they took a person in, most were there for life. In an effort to make the farm self-sufficient and productive, each able-bodied person was assigned a job and they were forced to do it come rain or shine. But again it really depended on how compassionate the overseer was. There were good ones and bad ones.

Contracting out care to the lowest bidder often resulted in attracting unsavory characters. One woman in particular, Annie Cook, extensively abused (and there were even alleged instances of murder) the destitute and downtrodden of Lincoln County, Nebraska.

Texas in the mid-1800’s reviled the poor so much that they sometimes housed them with criminals in a multi-purpose building that was a “Jail and Poorhouse.” They treated paupers as if poverty was a crime. And other times paupers were thrown in with the mentally ill which was a horrible way to treat people who had no where else to go.

Also, there was a practice of dumping their indigents in the next county so they wouldn’t have to care for them. Honestly!

Out in the West, the system for caring for the poor was less than desirable. For the most part, the poor were viewed as being lazy, criminal, or intemperate and the fault lay with those who had the misfortune to be without. As if they could willingly change the hands of fate.

Thank goodness, not all were like Annie Cook and other caretakers who were similar.

The kind benevolent poor farms were a real godsend for people, especially the elderly and the sick, who had nowhere else to turn. They were taken in and provided relief with genuine sympathy and compassion.

In some instances, counties chose individuals to provide the care – a doctor or a boarding house for instance and paid them a certain amount. That was the perfect solution for out of the way places or where settlers were few and far between.

Wouldn’t this make a great story? The wheels in my brain are turning.

The Western trail was littered with people who were down on their luck but who never saw the inside of a poor farm. These people came West with a support system – fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles who helped each other through good times and lean.

But, not everyone was fortunate to have had that support. Those without family to reach out to were the ones who fell at the mercy of poor farms.

My parents often spoke about how much worse their situation would’ve been during the Great Depression had it not been for family. They stuck together and what one had, they all had. That kind of family cohesiveness and unity brought them through one of the country’s worst times. They did what they had to do to survive often swallowing their pride.

The Good Book says “the poor we have with us always.” That’s certainly true. Today we have millions of homeless people. How do you view them?

What are your feelings on the subject? Have you ever heard Poor Farms mentioned before? If so, do you think they were beneficial?

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Tanya’s Winner

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Our thanks to everyone who stopped by and left a post this weekend. You’re a wonderful group of ladies. We couldn’t keep having unique guests and an interesting site without all of you who come and share. Thank you very much.

Winner of Tanya Hanson’s special Hawaiian prize is………

Deidre!

Congratulations! I know Tanya will come up with something really outstanding.

Contact me at lindabroday@live.com  with your snail mail address and Tanya will get your prize to you.

Keep your eyes peeled for information about the new holiday contest that’s about to start. We’ll have a bunch of prizes to give away to three lucky people.

Frontier Toys

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When I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, my favorite things to play with (when I wasn’t reading a book) were dolls. I liked the limp kind that seemed like a real baby, where the arms and legs flopped around. The more realistic the better, especially the ones that had eyes that closed when you laid her down. And I was in sheer heaven when I got a Betsy Wetsy one year. I loved changing her diapers.

Then, when I got around ten or twelve years old my youngest sister and I became obsessed with paper dolls. We’d patiently cut out their clothes with tabs and dress them up. We’d make up stories and have the cardboard dolls act them out. We spent umpteen hours on end playing with them.

Back in frontier days there was little time for playing. Children of a young age on up had chores to do. Older children had to help get crops in and care for the animals. There were no shirkers when it came to living on a farm. Every hand counted. Even school was abandoned when children were needed on the farm.

But kids still found time for play, if only occasionally.

Frontier children were limited when it came to toys, but they were very resourceful. And sometimes it was the parents who showed great creativity.

Mothers would make their little girls rag dolls out of whatever material they had available. Usually they had yarn for hair and nothing but stitching for eyes, mouths and noses.

For toddlers, mothers strung thread spools on heavy string or they handed their children a pan and a spoon and let them go. I did that too when my kids were little.

Fathers carved toys for their sons and made horses, spinning tops, drums, wagons, whirligigs out of string and a piece of metal. Whirligigs made some type of whirring noise when they were whirled really fast. Fathers also made cup and ball toys that had the ball attached to a string. The object of the toy was to flip the ball into the cup.

If they had money to spare, parents would buy their son a bag of marbles. That kept the boys entertained for long periods of time and became treasured possessions.

There were also little tin soldiers for a price unless the father figured out how to make them on a forge out of left over metal.

Boys also whiled away many an hour playing with a barrel hoop and a stick. It was versatile. It was a game that could be played by one boy or a dozen. If it involved a group of boys, they usually spit up into teams and tried to get the hoop away from the others. I’m sure they had some kind of goal to reach to score points. Or boys could race the hoops if they had several.

Baseball wasn’t played until around the turn of the century.

Native American children had similar toys and games. The girls had dolls and the boys had stick games they played. Of course, Karen Kay would know more about this than I would. Maybe she’ll come by today and comment.

Can you imagine the children today having nothing to play with except these primitive toys? I swear, they wouldn’t know what to do without their Game Boys, I-Pods, and X Boxes!

 

 

 

 

 

What toys were your favorites when you were young?

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Courtly Love and Romance

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Is it possible that early rules for courtly love written down in the 12th century formed the basic characteristics for relationships that we have today?

Some experts certainly believe so.

There is evidence that the “Treatise on Love” written by Andreas Capellanus defined for the first time the intricate relationships between men and women. Capellanus’ work lays down the building blocks of romantic behavior in a sense.

Bet you didn’t know that the ideas and beliefs about love and romance we have today originated in Medieval courts of French, German and English knights and ladies, kings and queens.

Though some principles have changed somewhat over time, for the most part the fabric of courtly love has remained the same. The hearts of the characters in our romance books revolve around these rules. We see them used over and over in novels, movies, TV shows and even in music.

(But not only do our characters use the Rules of Courtly Love. We all use them in one way or another in our personal relationships whether we know it or not.)

The ideas that resonate are that good character is an essential quality of lovers. Heroes and heroines must be worthy of each other and their love must show it. They have an intense desire to impress and please each other. Sound familiar? We read stories about characters who practice this behavior. And we show these things in our personal relationships. They are timeless themes. True love cannot be bought. It comes from the heart out of grace and a selfless desire to please our mates. We ask nothing except that we are loved in return.

Capellanus believed, and I agree, that love taken by force isn’t love at all. He also felt that fidelity was the key to happiness and fulfillment. Men and women, and certainly characters in romance novels, are totally miserable as they work toward the relationships they want. They can’t sleep, eat, or keep their minds off their love interest. It consumes them.

Here are 10 of Capellanus’ 31 Rules of Love:

* He who does not feel jealousy is not capable of loving.

* No one can love two people at the same time.

* Whatever a lover takes against his lover’s will has no savor.

* It is unseemly to love anyone whom you would be ashamed to marry.

* A true lover does not desire the passionate embraces of anyone else but his beloved.

* Love easily obtained is of little value; difficulty in obtaining it makes it precious.

* On suddenly catching sight of his beloved, the heart of the lover begins to palpitate.

* A man tormented by the thought of love eats and sleeps very little.

* Love can deny nothing to love.

* A true lover is continually and without interruption obsessed by the image of his beloved.

* * * * * *

So, I’m just curious. Did men and women know these things long before Andreas Capellanus came along? I’m sure they must’ve. Afterall, Adam loved Eve with all his heart, even though she ate that durn apple. Maybe they just didn’t know how to put these thoughts into words. Maybe it took one man sitting down and really thinking about love and how it felt to express what others had in their hearts. When did the world not have any romance in it?

Do you find it strange that the rules written down centuries ago by some old geezer have such bearing on love and romance today? Or are we following the natural course of life as it was meant and shouldn’t examine it too closely? Or do you think romance in movies and novels is portrayed accurately?

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Eau de Nose

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Recently I was researching the aftershave that was used by barbers in the West for a story I’m working on and ran across a ton of interesting things.

Of course, I already knew that barbers used a soap cake that was round and hard. They put it in a mug, added some water, and whipped it into a lather with a brush. I watched my daddy do the same thing in the 50’s and apply the lathery cream to his face with a soft bristle brush. And I can’t think of Old Spice aftershave today without him coming to mind. As a little girl I loved the smell of Old Spice. I related that smell to love and a feeling of security.

In the West the most common aftershave was probably Bay Rum. Other than that, maybe simple lilac water. I couldn’t find a lot of references to the different types. I’m sure it depended on what part of the country the barber shop was in and what was available. And I think the barber might’ve made his own most of the time. It was easy to soak bay or mint leaves in rum, water and oils and let it sit for a few weeks or so.

Then one thing led to another in my research. You know how it goes.

Before long I was deep in the history of the perfumes. The very first form of perfumes was about 4,000 years ago in the form of incense. Shortly after, ancient cultures began soaking fragrant woods and resins in water or oil and rubbed the liquid on their bodies. Perfumes were also used by the Egyptians in the embalming process.

By the way, did you know that the pharaohs, queens, and wealthy Egyptians took several baths a day? They liked cleanliness I guess.

France quickly became the European center of the perfume industry and they took it to another level. Perfumes were needed to mask body odors resulting from the lack of hygiene practices of the day. In the 18th century, King Louis XV demanded a different fragrance for his apartment every day. Napoleon had two quarts of violet cologne delivered to him each week and it’s reported that he used 60 bottles of double extract of jasmine every month. I wonder if he drank the stuff. That’s a heck of a lot! Josephine had stronger perfume preferences. Musk was her choice and she used it so heavily that the scent lingered in her bedroom 60 years later. Can you imagine how that must’ve overwhelmed?

In the West, rose water was the preference of most women. It was very easy to make.

All it took was putting rose petals in a pot, covering with water and boiling until it reached the fragrant stage desired. Then it was strained and put into some type of container with an airtight lid. Of course, if roses weren’t available, any type of flower worked. Women were resourceful in the West and learned to make do with anything. They also were known to dab household vanilla and other flavorings behind their ears.

When I was young, I had Blue Waltz perfume. Does anyone remember that? Five and dime stores sold it for around fifteen or twenty cents. I thought I was really grown up to have a bottle of Blue Waltz. It was sweet and floral and if memory serves it didn’t smell all that bad. Unless you used too much. Then it was awful.

In doing my research, I learned there were different classifications.

Single Floral – used only one type of flower
Floral Bouquet – used a combination of flowers
Ambery – came from animals (musks)
Woody – from trees like sandalwood and cedar
Leather – family of fragrances using honey, tobacco, wood, and wood tars to try to reproduce the smell of leather

Do you have a special perfume or cologne that you like and if so, what kind? Or is there a scent that reminds you of times past and holds pleasant memories?

Don’t forget our Sizzlin’ Stampede of Prizes Contest! It ends September 15th.

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Collecting . . . .

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I’m a collector. Yes, I confess. I’d be a member of Collector’s Anonymous is there were such a thing. In fact, I’d probably be their president.

My collection tendencies involve coins minted in the U.S., rocks, postage stamps, books, and dust bunnies. You may think the last one funny but you should see the dust in my house. I can usually write my name on the furniture. But really, I’m way too busy to clean.

I have collecting to do and books to write and fun to be had.

I began collecting Morgan silver dollar coins way back when I was a teenager. I love holding them in my hand and imagining them being in the pocket of a cowboy or outlaw. It was the currency of choice in the West. My most prized are an 1883 minted in Carson City, Nevada and an 1881 that came from the mint in San Francisco. Over the years my collection has grown and it’s given me immense satisfaction. I’ve collected all the state quarters up to date and now I’m collecting the new president dollars. I also have the Sacagawea dollars, the Susan B. Anthony ones, and also the Kennedy half dollars. I guess I just like money.

Some of my postage stamp collection includes Elvis Presley, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly, and the presidents. Can’t list them all here.

And I love my rocks. I can’t go anywhere without picking up more. I’m just fascinated with stones of all kinds. I have several prehistoric ones that have small fish imbedded on their surface.

My books. . .you should see my shelves. But then maybe it’s a good thing you can’t. I have my prized autographed collection, my romance section, and then I have a good-sized portion of research books of every subject you can imagine. I wouldn’t take a million dollars for my books. It’s taken me years to get them. I have a 1930 copy of Little Women, a 1933 Zane Grey, a 1942 Emilie Loring romance called “Rainbow at Dusk,” and the second book Nora Roberts wrote called “Sacred Sins.” Plus, I have a ton of others by Jodi Thomas, Lorraine Heath, Sharon Sala, Pam Morsi, Johanna Lindsay, and on and on.

Research books take up two complete bookshelves. I have ones on life in the American West, a set of Time Life books on the West, books on ships, horses, birds, plants, clothing, and food. Most are used very often and they’re crucial in creating my stories.

But, I’m not the only collector out there.

Michael Phelps is a collector of Olympic gold medals. Yay! He’s the owner of eight gold medals in the 2008 Olympics. I’d say he did us real proud. What a guy and what a swimmer!

 

 

Then, there’s the heroine in my new anthology, “Give Me a Cowboy.” Tempest LeDoux collects husbands. Yep, she’s had five and is looking for her sixth. All she wants in life is to find one good man to love who won’t up and die on her and she’ll use all the tools at her disposal to get him. She just never figured to run up against someone like McKenna Smith.

He wants no part of marriage. . .especially when the lovely widow has already buried five husbands. Makes a man real skittish.

But Tempest is bound and determined to get what she wants. And she wants McKenna Smith real bad. He’s not only the most handsome man she’s ever seen, he makes her feel like she’s the most desirable, the most beautiful woman in the world. My, how he can kiss!

But, back to collecting. . . .

Not only does Tempest LeDoux collect husbands, she also collects and surrounds herself with the finest of everything – expensive cut crystal glassware and chandeliers, buttery leather furniture, designer made clothing, and a ranch that is unequaled in the Texas Panhandle as she tries to prove she’s as good as anyone in Kasota Springs. She has everything she wants except a husband who won’t die on her. Go along on the journey and see how she remedies that.

My story in “Give Me a Cowboy” is titled Texas Tempest and it comes out in February.

Are you a collector? If so, what things do you collect? I’d like to know. You can borrow my collection of dust bunnies if you want ’em. They’re real easy to take care of.

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Linda’s Winner

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Thank you all for stopping by and leaving comments today. I had fun chatting and I hope you did too. This site couldn’t make it without your continued support.

The winner of GIVE ME A TEXAN is……………

Amy S.

Yippee! If you’ll contact me at lindabroday@live.com and give me your address I’ll get the book sent right away. I’m wishing everyone a wonderful evening.

Round Up Them Doggies

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Back in the late 1800’s when rodeos first started they were called Cowboy Reunions or Cowboy Competitions. They were rarely called rodeo until after the turn of the century. Plain ol’ cowboys came from all around to compete in these. They were fun and they allowed cowboys to get together, let off some steam and renew acquaintances, hence the name of the affair.

Every August here in Wichita Falls we host a similar kind of thing that we call the Texas Ranch Roundup. It’s where all the competing ranches sign up for events that feature just ordinary, everyday cowboys. There are no professionals allowed.

Some of the participating ranches are the Waggoner Ranch founded in 1851, the Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company established in 1883, the JA Ranch (1876,) the Tongue River Ranch (1898,) the Moorhouse Ranch (1900,) and the Spade Ranch. The area has a rich and storied ranch history that is imbedded in our way of life and we’re very proud of our heritage.

But, back to the Texas Ranch Roundup. Each event awards points for the top hands and they go toward a combined total at the end of the rodeo. The ranch with the most points at the end is declared the winner. No money is involved; simply braggin’ rights. But those cowboys are very serious about winning. They’ll risk life and limb just to be able to be called The Best.

The events are things cowboys normally would do around the ranch. There is no bull riding event because cowboys don’t generally ride bulls when they’re at work. Here are a list of the events of the Roundup:

Bronc Riding

Roping

Steer Wrestling

Wild Cow Milking

Calf Doctoring

Branding

Team Penning

Chuckwagon Cook Off

Arts and Crafts

* * * * 

In GIVE ME A COWBOY, the new anthology I have coming out in February with Jodi Thomas, Phyliss Miranda, and DeWanna Pace, all our stories take place during rodeo week on the Fourth of July Independence Day celebration in 1890. All four stories are set in Kasota Springs, Texas and because they’re sort of interconnected they were challenging as all get-out to write. The heroine of mine is the mother of Phyliss’s heroine so you can imagine the difficulty of coordinating our stories.

My story, Texas Tempest, is a humorous adventure between a tough gritty gunslinger and a lovely widow who’s seriously husband-hunting. Tempest LeDoux simply has the worst luck in keeping a man. In rides McKenna Smith and they’re immediately thrown together because of the rodeo.

Of course, McKenna has no desire to become another notch on Tempest’s bedpost. He’s content with the freedom of single life.

But Tempest doesn’t play by anyone’s rules. Life has given her a raw deal and she’s fighting tooth and nail to get a husband that won’t up and die on her. She’s already buried five good men and that’s five too many. Now she’s looking for someone tough enough to become husband number six and stick around long enough to help her mend a broken heart!

When the tall lonesome gunslinger named McKenna Smith rides into town, Tempest knows he’s the one for her-if only she can rope him!

With their annual Fourth of July Rodeo about to start, she’s terrified he’ll get it in his stubborn head to sign up for the bronc riding since he has quite a reputation for taming the beasts. She’s terrified he’ll get killed before she has a chance to convince him to give up his dangerous ways. Fortunately, love and fate have a mind of their own. All it takes is a little Texas Tempest to get things going the right way toward a happy ending.

GIVE ME A COWBOY will arrive in bookstores in February. I know that’s months away, but I hope everyone will mark the release date on your calendar. It’s already available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s websites for pre-order.

So ladies, round up those doggies!  Have you been to a rodeo?  Do you have a favorite rodeo event? Do you like reading western romance books that have rodeo themes? Or maybe you have other events in your area that showcase your history and would like to tell us about it. I’m all ears. I’m giving away a copy of “Give Me a Texan” to one lucky winner.

And don’t forget to register for our Sizzlin’ Summer Stampede of Prizes that’s in full swing!! There’s a link on the left side of the screen.

Sisters and Best Friends

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I have to be the most blessed person on earth without a doubt. God gave me three sisters and a brother. We’ve been through thick and thin together. While all of my siblings are unique and very loved, I’m going to tell you a little about my youngest sister and why she’s my best friend.

For one thing we both love cowboys, chocolate and country music. Jan fell in love with and married Rick Sikes who had a band called the Rhythm Rebels back in the ’80’s. Rick taught her to play the guitar, sing, and write her own songs. She loves to perform and gives a hundred percent each time she steps onto a stage.

Jan is beautiful, smart as a whip and would do anything in the world for the people she loves.

Back in 2003 she took an autographed copy of my first book, “Knight on the Texas Plains,” to Shreveport, Louisiana and presented it to a good friend and amazing singer, Willie Nelson. Not only did she present it, she got an excellent picture of him opening up my book to read the inscription. That picture has been one of the most talked about things on my website. Don’t know exactly what Willie thought of the book, but getting his picture was a wonderful gift to me. Jan’s like that though. So thoughtful and considerate and generous.

From the very first when I decided I could write a book, Jan wholly supported my writing. She always let me bounce ideas off her, gave me a shoulder to lean on when I was down, and celebrated my successes. She’s been my rock and I don’t know what I’d do without her. It’s fair to say we’ve been through good times and bad. But we always stuck together. 

When we were small, everyone used to think we were twins. Where one of us was, the other was also. We were literally inseparable. And that we favor each other in looks encouraged the belief that we were twins. The fact is I’m the oldest by a few years. But don’t tell anyone.

This past May I celebrated a milestone birthday (and no, I won’t say which one it was. I’d rather keep that a secret.) I’ll just say that Jan threw me one of the best, most fun, birthday parties I’ve ever had. We had a ton of good food, some of the best live music I’ve ever heard, and lots of laughter. It was truly a wondrous, special day for me. I won’t ever forget the love that went into putting everything together for me. In three years I plan on returning the favor. I just hope I can give her a celebration that will show her how important she is to me and one she’ll remember with fondness for years to come. If only I could sing. Sigh.

         (Jan is the one on the left.) 

Are you blessed to have a special sister…or brother? I’d like to hear from you.

Our Sizzlin’ Summer Stampede of Prizes Contest kicks off today. Watch for it later this afternoon!

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 And visit me at www.LindaBroday.com 

Petticoats & Pistols