Fun & Games

Sometimes Only a Cowboy Will Do

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If you’re like me, you love to watch historical shows and movies, but really crave anything with a western flair.  There have too little of them lately, too few and far between.  My latest fan crush is OUTLANDER (Scottish–not western but wonderful) and my biggest gripe is that there were only 7 made for Showtime and the next full season doesn’t start until April 2015!  That’s a long time for an avid fan!  

Here’s a list of IMDb’s (Internet Movie Database) Highest Rated Western Television Shows.  I think you’d be surprised with some of them.  

1.    Deadwood   2004

deadwood

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.    The Adventures of Brisco County   1993

3.    Trigun  1998 Animated

4.    Have Gun Will Travel  1957

5.     Saber Rider and The Star Sheriffs  1987 Animated 

6.      Hell on Wheels   2011

7.      Zorro  1957

8.    The Rifleman   1958

9.    Maverick    1959

10.   The Wild Wild West  1965

11.   Rawhide   1959

12.   Longmire   2012

13.   Gunsmoke  1955

14.   The Big Valley   1965

15.   King Fu   1972

Hell on Wheels

 

 

 

 

I was surprised Bonanza wasn’t in the top 15.  It came in at  #17, while Little House of the Prairie was #19 and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, was 20th. Looks like westerns rocked the television screens in the 1950’s.   Now, occasionally a good western will come our way, but not often enough if you ask me.

Is your favorite on this list?  What are your top 5 westerns, movies or television series?  

I have a great two-in-one Desire to give away to one blogger today!  (Suddenly Expecting and The Texas Renegade Returns)

 

LOOK FOR MY NEW HARLEQUIN ONLINE READ coming in January to kick off my Moonlight Beach Bachelors series! TITLE TBA

HER FORBIDDEN COWBOY coming in February!

 

 

 

 

Who Needs Fireworks?

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Pioneers are famous for their ingenuity, and when it comes to celebrations, that pioneering spirit led to some crazy traditions. The 4th of July has been a treasured American holiday since we won our independence back in 1776 and our western forebears were determined to celebrate it with all the excitement it deserved.

Shooting the anvilWestern communities would often hold picnics for the 4th. People would gather from miles around to share in baking contests, horse races, children’s games, and lots of good eatin’. Yet they had no fireworks to shoot off in honor of the big day. A handful of rowdy cowboys might ride through town shooting off their guns, but that was nothing special. They needed something big. Something spectacular. Something so phenomenal, the womenfolk would all run for cover.

And that is how the art of anvil shooting was born.

No one knows which blacksmith was crazy enough to start the tradition, but it quickly caught on and became a staple of 19th century July 4th celebrations in the south.

First, you need two well-matched anvils then about a pound of black powder and a fuse. Turn the first anvil upside down on a flat, solid surface. Fill the hollow in the base with the black powder and add the fuse. Often a playing card would be placed over the powder to serve as a washer. Finally, the second anvil, or flier, would be placed right side up atop the first anvil, fitting base to base.

Once everyone was ready, the blacksmith (or other brave individual) would light the fuse and everyone would scurry to a safe distance. When the powder lit, the explosion would shake the ground and send the anvil up to 200 feet in the air. Once the anvil landed it could be shot again, and again, until the supply of powder ran out.

To carry on the tradition, when blacksmiths gather today at large conventions, anvils are usually shot. In fact, the video below is by a world champion anvil shooter.

As you celebrate the 4th of July today, enjoy your family and friends, and when those fireworks explode, you might look out for falling anvils!

  • What are your favorite 4th of July traditions?

First Modern Olympics included Guns and Whiskey, but No Gold

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The Gun that Won the West…

 

With the capture of the Wild Bunch in 1896, gunfights in the Old West were winding down just as a different type of gun battle was heating up.  For that was the year the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, following a 1502 year hiatus.

American born John Paine convinced his gunsmith brother Sumner to enter the shooting competition with him. The two landed in Greece armed with an arsenal of weapons, including  colt revolvers and three thousand rounds of ammunition.

Like all American athletes, they were in for a shock.  Greece went by the Orthodox calendar which meant it was April 5th in Greece and only March 25th in America. Instead of having two weeks to prepare for competition, as planned, American athletes had only eight hours. Fortunately, that was all John and and his brother needed.

 …Also Won the Crown

 When the brothers were told that their Stevens 22s were “not usual” and inadmissible, the brothers switched to colt 45s. John easily won the military gun contest with his  colt.   In fact, he won so easily he thought it unsporting to continue and withdrew from the other events so as not to embarrass the host. (Can you imagine anyone doing that today?)  That left his brother to win the free pistol event, making them the first siblings to win medals in an Olympic event.

The brothers’ shooting skills were given less credit than the whiskey they sipped between rounds to relieve tension. Thinking booze would give them the winning edge, other marksmen started sporting flasks.

Since gold was considered “crass” first place winners went home with a silver medal and a crown of olive leaves.  I don’t know what John or Sumner did with their crowns, but the medal came in handy.

Several years later in 1901, Sumner found his wife in bed with his daughter’s music teacher.   He chased the man away with four pistol shots and was arrested for assault.  When the police learned he won an Olympic medal for shooting, they decided he must have missed on purpose and released him.

So are you planning to watch the Olympics this year?  What is your favorite Olympic sport?

Okay, here I go again; I’m not going to get hooked on the Olympics. I won’t. Absolutely not. This year I mean it.  Not going to do it.  Nope!

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Reality or Ridiculous? What Do You Watch When You're Not Reading?

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Just when we think we couldn’t possibly see any more reality shows, more pop up every season. And some of them have lasted for years. Because I sometimes wonder about really weird and often pointless things, I recently googled the most-watched reality shows.  I shouldn”t have been surprised to see Judge Judy on the list. She’s had a daily afternoon slot since 1996.

I had no idea what several of these shows were even about. If you know, please fill us in. I didn’t see one of my husband’s faves on the list: Ice Road Truckers. My daughter likes The Bachelor. I used to watch Dog The Bounty Hunter.

I had a good laugh when I encapsulated each show into a one sentence description. I think you’ll laugh too, and you’ll wonder why we get sucked into some of these shows.

 

I admit to being an American Idol fan. I also enjoy So You Think You Can Dance. Sometimes I catch The Voice if it’s on. I’ve seen Pawn Stars, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it. I’ve watched Abbey Lee on Dance Moms on occasion. And when they show the entire season of Face Off before the season finale, I record it, because I get a kick out of the costume creation.

 

So here are the top 50 reality shows.

 

1.   Duck Dynasty (2012 TV Series)

a Louisiana bayou family living the American dream

 

2.   Amazing Race (2001 TV series)

multiple teams race around the globe to amazing locations to win a million dollars

 

3.   American Idol (2002 TV Series)

twelve finalists and future singers selected from America compete

 

4.   Dancing with the Stars (2005 TV Series)

celebrities partner with professional dancers and compete in weekly elimination rounds

 

5.   The Voice (2011 TV Series)

four famous musicians search for and mentor singers to become artists

 

6.   Splash (2013 TV Series)

entertainers jumping into a swimming pool

 

7.   Survivor (2000 TV Series)

group of contestants stranded in a remote location

 

8.   Cops (1989 TV Series)

police show follows real-life law enforcement officers


9.   The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (2010 TV Series)

peek into the lives of the fabulously wealthy

 

10.               The Real World (1992 TV Series)

seven – eight late teens to mid-20s to live together in a major city

 

11.               Pawn Stars (2009 TV Series)

Harrison family runs a pawn shop on the Las Vegas strip

 

12.               The Apprentice (2004 TV Series)

contestants compete to be apprenticed to billionaire Donald Trump

 

13.               Storage Wars (2010 TV Series)

People bid against each other for storage units

 

  14.  America”s Next Top Model (2003 TV Series)

U.S. women compete to be next “it girl” in the modeling world

 

15. Kitchen Nightmares (2007 TV Series)

Famous chef helps struggling restaurants

 

16. Hell”s Kitchen (2005 TV Series)

Famous chef puts aspiring young chefs through rigorous and devastating challenges

 

17. Project Runway (2004 TV Series)

aspiring fashion designers compete to break into the industry

 

18. Face Off (2011 TV Series)

competition between aspiring special-effects make-up artists

 

19. The Devil”s Ride (2012 TV Series)

Wannabe-tough biker guys ride around


20.  Keeping Up with the Kardashians (2007 TV Series)

exploits of Kardashian-Jenner family

 

21. The Real Housewives of Atlanta (2008 TV Series)

 

22.  Real Husbands of Hollywood (2013 TV Series )

 

23. Hardcore Pawn (2009 TV Series)

Les Gold and two children operatea  Detroit”s pawnshop.

 

24. Fashion Star (2012 TV Series)

 

25. The Face (2013 TV Series)

contestants are guided through weekly assignments

 

26. Snooki & JWOWW (2012 TV Series)

 

27. Dance Moms (2011 TV Series)

notoriously demanding dance instructor clashes with moms

 

28. Ridiculousness (2011 TV Series)

 

29. Jersey Shore (2009 TV Series)

New Jersey 20-somethings and their hook-ups.

 

30. Comic Book Men (2012 TV Series)

neighborhood comic book store and fanboy culture

 

31. Judge Judy (1996 TV Series)

former judge tackles real-life small claims cases

32. Fast N” Loud (2012 TV Series)

guys cruise for the classic cars

 

33. Monster Man (2011 TV Series)

Man makes monster and alien props

 

34. Shark Tank (2009 TV Series)

entrepreneurs compete

 

35.Stranded (2013 TV Series)

paranormal and psychological experiments

 

36. The Ultimate Fighter (2005 TV Series)

martial arts fighters compete for a UFC contract

 

37. Ax Men (2008 TV Series)

logging crews battle the elements to make a living

 

38. King of the Nerds (2013 TV Series)

 

39. The Biggest Loser (2004 TV Series)

contestants compete to lose the most weight

 

40. Kourtney & Kim Take Miami (2009 TV Series)

Two Kardashian sisters open a boutique and party

 

41.

Teen Mom 2 (2011 TV Series)

challenges teen moms face

 

42. Here Comes Honey Boo Boo (2012 TV Series)

Crew follows mom and daughter from Toddlers & Tiaras

 

43. Lizard Lick Towing (2011 TV Series)

 

44. The Bachelor (2002 TV Series)

single women compete to marry a stranger

45. Dog the Bounty Hunter (2003 TV Series)

real-life bounty hunter  and family chase fugitives in the Hawaiian Islands

 

46. Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (2006 TV Series)

Food Network”s Guy Fieri visits America”s favorite diners

 

47. The Taste (2013 TV Series)

 

48. Geordie Shore (2011 TV Series)

 

49. 16 and Pregnant (2009 TV Series)

 

50. The Rachel Zoe Project (2008 TV Series)

celebrity stylist takes her business to the next level

 

All right, time to confess which ones you’ve seen and which ones you make it a point to watch.

 

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More Fun Facts from the 1800s

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Now that I’ve met my latest deadline (PHEW) I’m coming up for air. During my free time this week I’ve addressed all those pesky little life details I let get away from me. I’ve attempted to clean house, organize tax papers, cleaned the inside of my car and scaled Mt. Laundry. I’ve also put some time into researching my next book, AKA immersing myself in the 1800s again. As promised here is a list of a few key moments and inventions in our American history, from the latter part of the decade.

1850-1860

First elevator installed in 5 story New York department store
“Dime Novels” become popular
Paper bags
George Crum”s potato chips in Saratoga Springs, NY
Gold used to fill dental cavities
First oil well in America
Sparrows imported to Brooklyn to eat caterpillars
Modern embalming methods
Los Angeles incorporated as a city
Darwin”s natural selection and evolution theories
Mailboxes on the streets of New York and Boston
The source of the Nile
Mr. Macy”s Store
Ice hockey
YMCA and YWCA

1860-1870

Chewing gum
The martini invented in San Francisco
First weekly fashion magazine, Harper’s Bazaar
Peep shows
The game of croquet imported from England
The corkscrew
Liquid soap
Laced shoes
The Zoëtrope motion picture projection machine
Mr. Pullman”s sleeping cars on trains
City-block long department store – A.T. Stewart & Co. New York
Badminton invented
Roller-skating in America
First professional baseball team the Cincinnati Red Stockings
The seventh-inning stretch and base-stealing introduced in baseball
The Ph.D. degrees
Pony Express begins fast mail service
Dynamite manufacturing in San Francisco
US is covered by rail as Union Pacific & Central Pacific linked
1st New York elevated train, the 9th Avenue El

1870-1880

Saccharin
Vaseline
Standard Oil Company opens for business
Mr. Proctor and Mr. Gamble”s floating soap, Ivory
Inter-collegiate football games played by the new Harvard Rules of Football
Pullman dining cars
Barnum & Bailey”s circus “The Greatest Show on Earth”
Kindergartens in schools
American-made bicycles
The Refrigerator
The Brooklyn Bridge
Alexander Graham Bell”s telephone
First Sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta
Woolworth”s 5¢ Store
Yellowstone – first National Park in America
The Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs
Montgomery Ward mail order catalogues
American Bar Association
National Rifle Association (NRA) and the invention of the repeater rifle by Mannlicher

1880-1890

Edison makes electric light
Coca-Cola, Hire”s Root Beer and Dr. Pepper
The hamburger
Electric powered elevators
The hot dog
Central heating and plumbing
12 story is tallest building in New York – later to become Chelsea Hotel
The game of Bingo
The brass cylinder Music Box or idiophone
Mr. Gregg”s shorthand system
World”s first beauty contest at Spa, Belgium
Bicycle built for two
Tournament of Roses parade
National Geographic Society
The Roller coaster
Statue of Liberty presented to U.S. by France
First rodeo
The Pledge of Allegiance

1890-1900

First radio programs
B B guns
Fairy Floss or cotton candy introduced at American circuses
Sears Roebuck catalogues
Erector sets, Tinkertoys and Lincoln logs
The Wright Brothers airplane at Kitty Hawk
The ice cream cone
Ziegfeld girls, “It” girls
Baseball cards
Ping-Pong
I.Q. tests
Wall-mounted

telephone with separate earpiece and mouthpiece
First Auto Show at Madison Square Garden displays 31 cars
Boy Scouts
Halley”s comet
Plaza Hotel in New York
Emmeline Pankhurst”s woman”s suffragette meetings
Teddy bears

I could go on and on and on. I really had a hard time picking and choosing what to include here today.

What stuck out for you? Anything you didn”t already know?

Fun Facts from the 1800s

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With several deadlines looming (and panic setting in) I’ve been immersed in the 1800s all month. Thanks to my ongoing series of books set during this fascinating century, I’ve been jumping around the various decades during my research. I’ve come across some fascinating information, discoveries really, about the “good old days.”

So, what were the most talked about events of the 1800s? Here’s a list of a few key moments and inventions in our American history, by decade.


1800-1810
Napoleonic Wars continue
Less than 5% of the world”s population lives in cities.
U.S. buys Louisiana Territory and New Orleans from France
Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore from Mississippi River to Pacific Ocean
Zebulon Pike explores Rockies and names peak in Colorado
Mayonnaise invented
1st Accurate Census
London’s Pall Mall lit by gas
Carbon paper invented
West Point Military Academy founded
First shoes made for left and right feet


1810-1820
Steamship “Savannah” first to cross Atlantic – in 26 days.
The kaleidoscope (invented by Sir David Brewster)
Sushi (bite-size fish on small mounds vinegary rice) in Japan
The Waltz and the quadrille are introduced in England
Stephenson”s Steam Locomotive
Food in tin cans patented in London by Peter Durand
Mr. Jeremiah Chubb”s detector lock
Professional Horseracing in U.S.
Gas Light Company of Baltimore-streets lit up
Mississippi Steamboat “Washington”; Double- decked

steamboat in Wheeling, VA;
Pawnbrokers in New York

1820-1830
Beethoven goes deaf
A high school established in Boston
Gas street lighting in Boston
Mr. Macintosh”s waterproof fabric
Lenses for lighthouses that cast light out to sea
Mechanical pencils
Louis Braille”s writing system for the blind
Rugby Football
Poem: “The Night Before Christmas”
Friction matches (“lucifers”)
W.A. Burt”s typewriter
Discovery of the Great Salt Lake
America”s first modern hotel opens with bathrooms-the Tremont House, Boston
Antarctica discovered
First social fraternity -Kappa Alpha

1830-1840
Patents granted: The bellows, reaping machine, Colt”s revolving cylinder for guns, fireproof safe, diving suit, mechanical reaper, ice-making machine, the hand wrench, the “bed spring,” cotton seed planter, corn planter, phosphorous friction matches, the screw propeller, mechanical lawn mower, sandpaper
Jim Bowie”s Bowie Knife
Soda Fountains
Thomas Davenport”s electric motor
Mr. Macintosh”s galoshes and raincoats
Graham crackers
The modern bicycle invented in Scotland
Samuel F.B. Morse”s telegraph and his Morse Code
A woman”s college at Mount Holyoke
Horse-drawn trolleys in New York
Photography! (Daguerreotype)

1840-1850
New inventions: pneumatic and rubber tires, the artificial leg, sewing machine, the dental chair, Venetian blinds, safety pin, telegraph ticker that prints letters of alphabet, method of taking photos with plates, blackboards in schools, rubber bands
The Y.M.C.A.
Doughnuts with holes invented in Camden Maine
Ice skating
The sport of skiing in Norway
Tattooing of sailors in New York
The Smithsonian Institution
Solid eating chocolate
World”s first dental college in Baltimore
US Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD opened
First Christmas cards, and printed Valentines Day cards


Ho-kay, that’s enough for now. I’ll finish the rest of the decade the next time I post. Stay tuned for more…

It’s County Fair Time! by Charlene Sands

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 Did you know that the longest continually running county fair began in Watertown in New York’s Jefferson County and has been ongoing for 193 years! Watertown is also known as the birthplace of the Five and Dime and the safety pin of all things. What was once a way to bring the community together with livestock and horse races, for farmers to share ideas and see who had grown the best fruit, who baked the best pies, the county fairs of modern day has all those things along with so much more.

Our local county fair runs for the entire month of September and brings in hundreds of thousands of people from all over the state.  The LA County Fair has a list of attractions such as Carnival Rides, Midway Games, Zipline, Kiddie Zone, Wild West show, Rawhide Dude Ranch and Farm Animals. As an parent, spending the day at the fair meant lots and lots of walking, trying to find shade, since it was usually the hottest part of the summer, consuming snow cones to keep cool and trying to keep track of my very excited children. It was crowds and heat and junk food eating.  It was a farm animal petting zoo and horse races and cowboys strutting their stuff. 

As a child, I was most excited about the midway games. I especially loved ski ball games. And shooting waterguns at a target to fill a balloon, with my seated opponents ready to outshoot me.  I remember riding on a carousel and eating yummy funnel cakes.   I remember walking grounds and seeing beautiful garden exhibits, listening to country music all day long and at night watching concerts under the stars. I’ve seen Travis Tritt and Sonny and Cher perform live! I have missed out on some really big name artists though. Toby Keith and Martina McBride recently performed in fairs close by. I’ll have to catch them next time. Ugh, they are two of my favorites and I’m sorry I missed seeing them!   But I’ll always have great memories of spending the day with my family, eating hot dogs on a stick, the party-like atmosphere and festivities.

Tell me about your county fair experiences. Did you ever go?  If not, what do you think you’d enjoy the most of the activities listed?  One commenter will win a Two-in-One book from my Desire backlist.

Stop by my website at www.charlenesands.com  or if you’d like a free magnet or pen send a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope to:

Charlene Sands

PO Box 4883

West Hills, CA  91308

 October and August releases. 

 Both are Available now on Amazon.

 

 

 

Bunco in the West!

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So, I was at Bunco on Sunday, my once-a-month dose of social activity and one of my favorite days of the month because I get to spend time with my mom, mom-in-law and the best bunco bunch around. There’s lots of laughter, dice rolling, and quite a bit of teasing the local rooomance writer and much-appreciated prodding about the new series I’m working on. The question came up of whether I’d have bunco in the new series and that got us to talking about how long bunco has been around. Some gals remember their mom’s moms’ being bunco players. Of course, I had to do some digging—was there bunco in the old west?

Indeed, Bunco was played in the old west! In fact, the dice game was introduced in the United States during the Gold Rush! Seems a shady fellow making his way from the east to west coast in 1855 brought a dice game from England he called “Banco” into gambling parlors as he made his way to California gold fields. The game originating in England was called 8-dice cloth, though our English traveler, also known as a crooked gambler, had made several changes to the game. As its popularity spread across San Francisco, Banco became known as Bunco. According to the World Bunco Association (that was news to me too!), bunco was also played by groups of women, school children and couples throughout the 1800’s.

 

The game was repopularized in the 1920’s during Prohibition, Bunco often being associated with those notorious speakeasies–so much so that the law enforcement squads sent to raid these clubs became known as “Bunco Squads”. This movie poster on the right is from a 1950’s film.

Quite the rip-roaring start for what I always thought of as a rather innocuous ladies game–though I will admit we might tend to spike the punch 😉

These days bunco isn’t limited to living-rooms and club rooms, there are Bunco Cruises! There’s even a bunco app for iPhones. I think I’ll be sticking with my monthly gathering of friends.

How about the rest of y’all? Ever been part of a bunco bunch? Any bunco cruises in your past or future?

 

COWBOY SASS – Single Action Shooting Society

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While on vacation recently, my husband and I spent a morning visiting the Arizona Cowboy Shooters Association in action. Every second Saturday, enthusiasts of period weapons, dedicated to preserving and promoting the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting gather together to talk history, weapons and shooting.

The Single Action Shooting Society–SASS–is for folks who “…share a common interest in preserving the history of the Old West and competitive shooting.”  [SASS website, www.sassnet.com.] There are clubs all in all fifty states, andCanada,New Zealand, Europe,Australia andSouth Africa, too.

Personally, spending a Saturday or two a month enjoying the sport of shooting sounds like a lot of fun. And every club member we met agreed. The day consists of target shooting with revolvers, a shotgun, and a lever-action rifle.

“Cowboy Action Shooting is a multi-faceted shooting sport in which contestants compete with firearms typical of those used in the taming of the Old West: single action revolvers, pistol caliber lever action rifles, and old time shotguns.” [www.sassnet.com]

Every member of the ACSA carried reproduction or original period firearms. There were Colt Peacemakers,Winchester1873s, Model No. 3 “Russians” (pictured to the left), Model 1873 repeating rifles, 1866 “Yellow Boys”… You name it, someone was probably carrying it.

We saw 1897 pump-action and 1887 lever-action shotguns–that one “Terminator” fans would recognize–and lots of double-barreled or side-by-side Coach guns.

There were stations set up on the range, with different targets, arrangements and distances. At one station, participants emptied both revolvers at steel gunslinger- shaped targets, or “steels,” then switched to their rifles and pinged off nine shots at five dinner-plate sized targets from 10 yards away. At the next station, the targets were 25 yards away. And at another, knocking down one “steel” tossed a clay target into the air. Bonus points were awarded for shattering it. There’s also a long-range rifle competition, but we didn’t get up early enough to observe that.

Another fun aspect of the sport is that every participant got to be someone else for a day. “One of the unique aspects of SASS approved Cowboy Action Shooting™ is the requirement placed on costuming. Each participant is required to adopt a shooting alias appropriate to a character or profession of the late 19th century, a Hollywoodwestern star, or an appropriate character from fiction. Their costume is then developed accordingly. Many event participants gain more enjoyment from the costuming aspect of our sport than from the shooting competition, itself. Regardless of a SASS member’s individual area of interest, SASS events provide regular opportunities for fellowship and fun with like-minded folks and families.” [www.sassnet.com]

For sheer fun while shooting, you’d be hard pressed to beat Cowboy Action Shooting. Unless it was mounted cowboy action shooting–but that’s for another post.

Tennis Anyone?

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I’m a huge tennis fan, and this weekend the finals of the last Grand Slam tournament of 2011 will be going on in New York at the US Open. I’m always amazed at the athleticism and power of the top contenders, but I wonder how they would fare if someone turned back the clock 120 years and gave them the equipment and clothing of their predecessors.

Like most sports, the game of tennis evolved over several centuries, but it wasn’t until the 1870s that the first lawn tennis club was established in England. The first tennis championship took place in 1877 at a lovely little place called Wimbledon. Just a few years later in 1881,  the United States National Lawn Tennis Association was formed, and the US National Men’s Singles Championship (later to become the US Open) was held in Newport, Rhode Island. 

The sport became a fashionable rage in the 1880’s and 90’s, especially among the middle classes, and soon men and women both were taking up racquets and installing private lawn tennis courts at their homes. However, women’s clothing of the time made few concessions to the sport. Men were able to play in loose-fitting trousers, shirt sleeves, and a bare head while women were still expected to wear dresses with high-neck bodices, floor-length skirts, layers of petticoats, hats, and yes. . . corsets. The restrictive clothing made it nearly impossible for a woman to bend over and retrieve a ball, so beautifully embroidered tennis aprons with large pockets became the style.

In the beginning, tennis was simply a recreational activity, much like croquet. The fun came in the gathering of friends. Players stood close to the net and simply patted the ball to each other. Yet competitive natures prevailed, and it soon became a sport for athletes. During this time of change, women began making strides in adapting their clothing to better accommodate the physical aspects of the game. Maud Watson became the first female champion at Wimbledon in 1884 and she shocked many with her agressive style of play and *gasp* her short skirts. They barely reached her ankles!

American MaySutton stunned spectators when she rolled up her sleeves during a match and bared her forearms.

However, it was Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen in the 1920’s who took women’s sportwear to a whole new level. Her calf-length cotton dresses were considered indecent since she wore neither corset nor petticoat. And instead of a hat, she wore a silk bandeau around her head to help keep her hair out of her eyes. But it was her grace and skill on the court that made her a sporting heroine and inspired women everywhere to give up the shakles of fashion to embrace functionality when it came to sport apparel.

Can you imagine trying to play tennis or any serious sport while trussed up in a corset? I don’t know how they did it. But if it weren’t for those early competive females like Maude Watson who started taking small revolutionary steps, the women’s movement might not have gained the momentum it did at the turn of the century.

Are any of you tennis fans? Want to strap on a corset and long skirt and join me for a reenactment match?

No?

I’m shocked. Truly shocked.

Petticoats & Pistols