by Roseanna White | Jun 8, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
I’m cheating today. For your taste of something historical, I’m going to direct you to
Colonial Quills, a blog for which I’m a contributor. Today one of our members is posting on
18th century dancing, and it’s a fun, informative post. =)
Why am I being so lazy, you ask? Well, in part because my kids won’t let me sit still for five minutes thus far this morning, and my son’s going to need another breathing treatment here in a few minutes. In part because I’m staring at the screen with a total lack of genius when it comes to blog posts today. And
that is the case largely because I got my edits for
Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland last night, and all spare brainpower is now engaged in brainstorming a few small changes. =)
So.
Hop over to the Quill. Say a prayer that my boy-o’s breathing issues are resolved by the time I need to leave him with his grandmother tomorrow. And say another prayer that I do justice to the potential in my book with these edits. =)
by Roseanna White | Jun 1, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
As I’m researching this Revolutionary War story, as I’m reading a few other novels set in the same era (though concerning very different aspects of the time and places far removed), I’m learining so much! And it’s challenging some of my basic perceptions.
I knew going in that when push came to shove with England, many folks living in the colonies couldn’t bring themselves to openly revolt against the crown. I knew many of the soldiers in those snazzy red coats were in fact from America. I knew that.
But still it didn’t really show me how, outside the seats of Patriotism, the Glorious Cause was not only unpopular, it was deemed a ridiculous idea. I think this is the first time I’ve really studied what went on in New York instead of in the war in general, so it’s the first time I’ve really looked at how they perceived things. But the citizens of New York were, for the most part, firmly against the Patriots. When Washington fled the city and the British marched in, they welcomed them as liberators.
That said, over the years of British occupation, the harsh rule of those liberators did cause most Loyalists to revise their terminology and call them oppressors. But did that make them turn Patriot?
A few, maybe. But in general, no. They may have begun to think, “Hmm, the Patriot tyrants couldn’t be any worse.” But they still didn’t believe in the cause. They were still pretty sure Washington wouldn’t be able to mount another campaign, that this “United States” would crash and burn.
It’s one of the many things that gets blurred over in school when we’re learning about our nation’s glorious founding, about the Sons of Liberty and the Boston
tea party, the boycotts and the Declaration. I’m glad I first learned about the dream. But it’s been really interesting to get a glimpse at the head-shakers.
Is there anything about our nation’s history (or your nation’s, if you’re not in the U.S.) that it surprised you to learn?
Sidenote: I’m the blogger on Colonial Quills today, so come on over to hear what happens when the one church in town has to hit the road!
by Roseanna White | May 25, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
I’m always amazed by how long counterfeiting has been around. Don’t know why it surprises me, but yeah. Pretty much ever since there was paper money, there have been counterfeiting.
The big counterfeiting rings, however, often seem to be official. Ever heard the story about how Hitler had a massive operation set up to counterfeit British pounds and American dollars? Well, he sure wasn’t the first leader who decided that was another way to fight a war. The British did it to the Americans too.
During the Revolution, the British began counterfeiting Congressional dollars pretty much as soon as Congress started printing them. The result? Well, a dollar was, shall we say, not off to a great start. In many parts of the young country prices had already risen to absurd numbers because of the boycott. In New York, they had the opposite problem–imported goods were still reasonably priced, but they couldn’t get staples. The price of a pound of beef raised something like 800% in three years. And if you tried to pay with dollars? Ha!
They were, literally, using the dollars as wallpaper.
The British were so set on this plan to undermine the new American economy that they set up a counterfeiting headquarters on a ship the New York governor used as a floating state house. They’d sprung a forger from jail and put him to work. Nice, eh? The one flaw–their paper was too thick.
Until, that is, they stole several reams of paper from the press in Philadelphia.
It’s a wonder our economy ever recovered, isn’t it? Well, I’ll now leave you hanging as to what happened and get to writing the novel about what happened. 😉 Happy Wednesday, everyone!
by Roseanna White | May 18, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Last week I told everyone how I created my own invisible ink from household items like lemon juice, honey water, etc. A super-fun experiment, I gotta say. Of course, then I learned that those heat-developed inks were seldom used by the 18th century because they were so easy to develop. Anyone could just hold any letter to a flame and see if a message appeared. I can still use it in my story for not-crucial correspondence, but the actual letters of espionage to General Washington during the war used something very different.
Something called “the sympathetic stain.” Historians still don’t know exactly what it was, though they have a pretty good guess, based on the clues left to us as to where they had to procure the ingredients. Interestingly, it was John Jay and his brother who came up with this stain–and the first time it was used was when said brother wrote a letter of warning from England when that nation was gearing up for war.
The awesome thing about this stain is that is can be developed only by a very particular reagent, which only the folks corresponding regularly had in their possession. You couldn’t just stumble upon it. And because of that, letters written in the stain were very secure.
And the stain was very precious. So precious, in fact, that a few of the folks in possession of it were afraid of running out and so did not use it on some key correspondence–and got wrist-slapped by Washington for it, LOL.
The stain was nonetheless difficult to use. You needed high quality paper for it to work well on, and just the right amount of reagent to develop it. Too much would wash away the ink, too little just wouldn’t make it reveal. Apparently they took to using a paint brush to apply it.
The code name for this stain was “medicine,” and the Jays shipped it to Washington in a medical supply box. Had anyone intercepted it, it would have looked like any other vial of liquid medication.
But it wasn’t. It was the agent that allowed key information to pass to the Patriot army. Information that may have saved us from becoming British colonists again.
Hooray for the Sympathetic Stain! =)
by Roseanna White | May 11, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
I’m in the process of doing research for a historical spy novel. And boy is it fun! This being before the age of super spy gadgets, most espionage was conducted through secret messages. And some of those secret messages were written in invisible ink. Ooo, fun!
I did some basic searching on what they used for this stuff, how it worked, etc. First I found simple instructions on household items you could use to make invisible ink. Though my source didn’t bother telling me what they looked like, what the ratio of substance to water should be, which developed best, etc.
Well, I decided, why not figure it out for myself?
Can you see me rubbing my hands together in delight? I can’t remember the last time I did an impromptu science experiment that had nothing to do with my daughter’s home school. I may have been heard cackling as I got out a piece of paper, a paintbrush, and then pulled out my spy tools.
Vinegar.
Lemon Juice.
Honey.
Sugar
Saliva (the least-gross of the recommended bodily fluids)
And of course, water.
Nothing gave me ratios, but I knew that the whole point was to dilute the substance so that it would not dry visibly on the paper, but only appear when heat is applied. So I mixed each substance with water (totally guessing on the recipe) and wrote a line with each, just the name of which substance I was using at the time.
Imagine me fidgeting while it all dried, and wondering which would make the paper wave the least. Though that was more a matter of silly me using too much, I think . . .
Finally we were dry. Because I’m just so silly, I got out my pot of ink, my glass stylus (no quill right now, though I used to have one) and wrote a “real” message too. Time to develop!
These are all heat-revealed, and one resource recommended a light bulb, an oven, or an iron. But come on–who had those on a battlefield (Or in this era in general, if we’re talking light bulbs)? I turned on my gas stove (no matches handy for a candle, LOL) and held out the paper.
Nothing.
I help it closer, just briefly. Waved it over the flame.
Nothing.
Grrrrrrrrr. I know this works. So swallowing my fear of burning the whole house down for a stupid experiment for a novel, I take the paper closer. I can smell the paper heating. I watch it begin to discolor above the flame. And there! Words appear.
“Lemon juice dilute.”
Yay! We have a winner! Not to give up on the others so easily, I moved the paper and watched “Sugar water” appear next. Along with a smoky brown spot that made me think any amateur spies had better practice this a few times to learn how to best develop without burning the message whole. 😉 Also learned that these must not have been the inks used in National Treasure, because they sure don’t disappear again, LOL.
Later that night I had my chemistry-inclined hubby help me figure out some of the more complicated inks, but I gotta say, this impromptu experiment was a ton of fun!
Happy researching to you all! 😉
by Roseanna White | May 4, 2011 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
This past Saturday saw me in Annapolis, back on the campus of my alma mater, St. John’s College. The last time I was in this beautiful Chesapeake town was to play sight-seer to research Love Finds You in Annapolis, Maryland, which I was still writing back in December. It was pretty fun to be there again, knowing the book is only a few months from reality.
We came back for the annual croquet tournament between St. John’s and the Naval Academy. The what, you say? Yeah, that’s right. Croquet. Big deal. Fun stuff. 😉
Here’s how the tradition got started.
Annapolis has long been a college town, home to two very different schools. St. John’s is liberal arts, small, and very academic . . . but also prone to hippies and free spirits who sit down right beside the New Englander in the three-piece suit. Contrasted with that is the Naval Academy, which is strict, huge, and gives equal billing to physical things as academic. So naturally, we’re rivals. Friendly rivals, kinda like a giant might be theoretically a rival with a pygmy of a cousin, LOL. But back in 1983, apparently some Johnnies and some Middies (Midshipmen) were at a pub downtown and got into a tiff about how Johnnies had no athletic prowess. The Middie said, “We can beat you at any sport, any day of the week. Just name one.” And the Johnnie said, “Okay. Croquet. Last Saturday in April.”
Now, neither group actually knew how to play croquet at that point, but both quickly learned, and the
Annapolis Cup was born. For the last 28 years the two teams have been meeting on the front campus of St. John’s on the last Saturday in April, and this event has grown so huge that the campus is literally packed, wall to wall, with people. Some Johnnies, some Middies, some Townies (Annapolitans), and a whole lot of alumni from both. And St. John’s has won all but 2 or 3 of those years. (OH YEAH!)
It was so cool this year. We spread our blanket right where the Liberty Tree used to tower, and I thought, “Wow, it was still here when Lark would have been here. Though the only building here was McDowell Hall, right there. And of course, St. John’s didn’t exist yet, it was still King William’s School. Where Emerson and Wiley had attended. And the Naval Academy was still 50 years away . . .”
Yeah, I had a lot of fun thinking of my story while watching the event. There were hats there to rival those at the royal wedding (slight exaggeration, but only slight–note in the picture that even Xoe has an adorable pink hat on!), people love to dress in turn-of-the-century attire, everyone brings a champagne picnic, and it just feels so . . . nostalgic. Nothing beats it.
Croquet . . . who knew? LOL.
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. 