Isabella’s Books – Page 16

Furnishing a Dream Home

Published on October 27, 2015October 26, 2015 by Isabella Alden1 Comment

Some of Isabella Alden’s most memorable heroines were single, strong-willed, and determined to make their own way in the world. Miss Sarah Stafford was one such heroine. In Missent; the Story of a Letter, Miss Stafford decided to buy and furnish her own home, a remarkable and unusual plan for a young woman at a time when women couldn’t vote, and were legally barred in many states from owning property.

A 1906 Jordan Marsh advertisement for library furnishings

But Miss Sarah Stafford was looking for her dream home. She was alone in the world and though she’d found some happiness boarding in the homes of others, what she really wanted was a place to belong. And so she decided to buy her own house.

A 1907 Jordan Marsh ad for furnishing a reception hall

Once she made her decision, Miss Stafford turned to her friend David Durand for help. With his expertise, she was able to find a house to buy and negotiate a fair price with the seller. But Mr. Durand’s help didn’t stop there. Isabella wrote:

Then began the delightful task of furnishing. In this, as in the matter of selecting and buying, Mr. Durand was an invaluable assistant.

Parlor illustration from a 1911 furniture store trade card

Day after day, Miss Stafford met Mr. Durand at furniture stores, or carpet warehouses or any of a number of establishments as he helped her select the furnishings for her new house. Together they chose items for every room, even for a little section of the house she had named her very own “cozy corner.”

Dining room illustration from a 1912 furniture store advertisement

We know from Isabella’s story that both Miss Stafford and Mr. Durand had exquisite taste and chose lovely items for the house. But what did the furnishings look like? The illustrations in this post give some clues. They illustrate what the fashions in home furnishings were like around the time Missent was published in 1900.

Illustration from a 1912 furniture store advertisement

After several weeks of shopping together, Miss Stafford realized something rather important:

It was nearing completion, and was as nearly perfect as taste and skill and care could make it; but it was growing daily more lonely to her. … She had done her utmost for it, and Mr. Durand had been most kind and patient, and had hunted through many shops in search of certain old-fashioned things for which she had expressed a wish; yet, as often as she thought of herself there, a sense of loneliness and dreariness stole over her.

1912 advertisement from Flagg and Willis House Furnisher

Sarah Stafford came to realize that “rooms and furniture did not make a home.” Suddenly, the prospect of being alone again—even in a house she owned—was not at all what she wanted. Little did she suspect that Mr. Durand understood exactly what she was feeling.

1912 advertisement for bedroom furniture from Flagg and Willis House Furnisher

Very soon, Mr. Durand had a plan of his own that would both help and surprise Sarah Stafford … and ensure that she would never know a lonely day again.

You can find out more about Missent; the Story of a Letter by clicking on the book cover.

Downton Abbey Hair Styles

Published on October 20, 2015October 19, 2015 by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

In her novels, Isabella Alden often described a character’s hair style as an indicator of the character’s personality and lot in life.

Lady Sybil Crawley's hair; Downton Abbey — Lady Sybil Crawley’s hair; Downton Abbey

For instance, Mrs. Carpenter, who took in laundry to support herself and her husband in Her Associate Members, dressed very plainly, “her hair stretched back as straight and as firmly as comb and hairpins will accomplish.”

By contrast, this is how Isabella described wealthy Elsie Chilton in John Remington, Martyr: “Elsie Chilton, dressed in brown, her gold hair in a knot below a jaunty little brown cap, escaping here and there in waves and rings about her forehead.”

There was quite a difference between the two women’s hairstyles. Elsie wore her hair in a fashion that proclaimed her to be a lady of leisure. As a general rule, the more elaborate the hairstyle, the higher the probability someone dressed the lady’s hair for her.

If you’ve watched the TV shows Downton Abbey, Selfridges, or The Paradise—all set in the early 1900s—you may have marveled over the elaborate hairstyles worn by the female characters.

Ladies of rank—like Downton’s fictional Countess of Grantham and her daughters, Mary, Edith and Sybil—employed maids to dress their hair for them every morning; but the heroines of Isabella Alden’s books lacked such privileges. They had to dress their hair themselves, and it was not an easy task to achieve the fashionable hair styles of the early 1900s.

Ladies’ magazines often published pictorials instructing women on how to create the latest hairstyles. Below are step-by-step instructions for assembling intricate coils and puffs, as featured in a 1911 edition of The Woman’s Home Companion magazine:

Not every woman had thick, lush hair like the model in the instructions. Ladies with hair of a finer texture often augmented their own hair with purchased hair pieces.

Hair on Approval

Ladies could purchase hair pieces in different lengths they could style along with their own hair. This ad, from the same 1911 magazine, offered to ship high class hair “on approval” to women.

And this ad proclaimed, “Send no money” to order human hair, either in different lengths or clusters of puffs:

Rules for Writing

Published on October 12, 2015October 15, 2015 by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Rules for Letter Writing

Have you any unkind thoughts?
Do not write them down;
Write no word that giveth pain—
Written words may long remain.

Have you heard some idle tale?
Do not write it down.
Gossips may repeat it o’er,
Adding to its bitter store.

Have you any careless jest?
Bury it, and let it rest—
It may wound some loving breast.

Words of love and tenderness,
Words of truth and kindliness,
Words of comfort for the sad,
Words of gladness for the glad,
Words of counsel for the bad—
Wisely write them down.

Words, though small, are mighty things,
Pause before you write them.
Little words may grow and bloom
With bitter breath or sweet perfume—
Pray, before you write them.

These words of advice were published in the December 11, 1886 edition of The Pansy magazine. They’re just as wise and relevant today as they were in 1886!

Isabella and the Young People’s Society

Published on October 6, 2015October 4, 2015 by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Isabella often received invitations to speak to Christian organizations and she accepted as many as she could. Sometimes she would speak to the group on a topic that was dear to her heart, but often she would read one of her not yet published short stories.

One day she received an invitation to go to a small town and read one of her stories to the “Y.P.S.C.E.”

“It was the first time I had seen those five letters of the alphabet so grouped,” she said, “and I could not decide what they meant.”

She puzzled over those letters for some time and finally decided that the first three initials stood for “Young People’s Society.” But what about the C and E? Why hadn’t the writer explained what the letters meant? How was she supposed to select the right story for her audience when she had no idea of the purpose of the organization?

At last she went to her husband for help and found him reading a newspaper.

“I was just coming to consult you,” Reverend Alden said. He pointed to an article in the newspaper. “I found a splendid name for our young people! This name suggests the very thought we have been struggling for. ‘Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor.’”

Suddenly Isabella realized the meaning of the initials on that invitation.

An artist's illustration of Reverend Francis E. Clark, 1897. — An 1897 artist’s illustration of Reverend Francis E. Clark, founder and president of Christian Endeavor.

The very next day she set out to learn everything she possibly could about the Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor. She wrote to the Society’s founder, Dr. Francis Clark, or “Father Endeavor Clark,” as he was affectionately called by the young people in the organization. He immediately wrote back with information about the Society, and he invited Isabella attended a Christian Endeavor Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. There she met Dr. Clark in person.

Her first thought as he cordially shook her hand was, “Why, he is just a young man!”

But she soon realized, after watching Dr. Clark interact with the young people at the convention, that he was an earnest and deeply spiritual leader who had a special gift for inspiring young people in Christian work.

A 1914 postcard depicting Williston Church, where the first Y.P.S.C.E. meeting was organized on February 2, 1881.

Isabella used her own experiences with the Y.P.S.C.E as the inspiration for her book, Chrissy’s Endeavor. She even incorporated into the story her first encounter with those baffling initials, “Y.P.S.C.E.”

After the book was published, Isabella received an astonishing number of letters praising her book. One such letter read:

“We want to say that we think here that the book ‘Chrissy’s Endeavor’ is doing a work in the world which will be to its author one of the surprises of heaven.”

Isabella remained actively involved in the Y.P.S.C.E, as did her husband and other members of her family. Over the course of many years, she saw the results of the Society’s good works, and she was thankful for having had the chance to know Dr. Clark in person.

In 1897 The San Francisco Call published a full-page article about the Society of Christian Endeavor, with details about how it came to be organized, and it’s growth world wide to over two million members. Click on this link to read the article.

You can find out more about Isabella’s book, Chrissy’s Endeavor. Click on the cover to read reviews and sample chapters.

Read a Banned Book

Published on September 28, 2015September 26, 2015 by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Today begins Banned Book Week, an annual event coordinated by the American Library Association intended to celebrate Americans’ freedom to read.

There are all sorts of reasons books are banned by different organizations in different parts of the country. Even Isabella Alden’s books were once banned from a public library for being “immoral” (you can read more about that in a previous post here).

Article in the San Francisco Call on August 1, 1910

Here are some other books that suffered the same fate:

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
Gone with the Wind, By Margaret Mitchell

The American Library Association has Banned Books Week events planned in many states (click here to find events in your area). Their website contains a lot of interesting information about books that have been banned over the last two decades, who makes the most demands to ban books, as well as the most common reasons given for banning books.

All this talk of banned books begs the question: What would have happened if Isabella Alden hadn’t stood up to the individuals who tried to remove or limit access to her books? What would have happened if she had taken no action and allowed a library to label her novels as “immoral” and “improper”?

Answer: Most people wouldn’t have an opportunity to read her wonderful, inspiring books today.

Thankfully, Isabella Alden knew an injustice when she saw one, and she took action to have her books put back on library shelves for readers to discover and enjoy.

The Child-Wife; and a New Free Read

Published on September 22, 2015September 22, 2015 by Isabella Alden6 Comments

“Child-wife” or “child-bride” was a term used in the late 1800s to describe a young bride in her late teens or early twenties who had little experience in the ways of the world. A child-wife was an innocent, unsure of her footing, and sometimes easily influenced.

Isabella used the term a couple of times in describing some of her characters, but Mrs. Harry Harper is probably her most winning example of a child-wife.

“Mrs. Harry Harper’s Awakening” was a short story Isabella published in 1881. It’s a quick read and on the surface, it’s a simple story of a young woman who blossoms after she unintentionally becomes involved with a ladies’ Christian mission society.

But what makes the story unique is the heroine’s progression from a “child-bride” with no life purpose to a woman who is strong in her faith and determined to live her convictions.

She is introduced to us simply as “Mrs. Harry Harper.” She has no identity of her own outside of her husband’s. In fact, we never learn her Christian name; and even her husband calls her “wife” or “wifey.” Although he says those words with affection, he—like everyone else—doesn’t see her as anything more than an extension of himself.

He leaves her alone every day while he works, and expects her to simply fend for herself in some ladylike way while he takes care of the important business of earning a living. How Mrs. Harry elects to spend her days and how her involvement with a ladies’ mission society impacts all areas of her life illustrates Mrs. Harry’s progression from child-wife to confident worker for Christ.

As with all of Isabella’s stories, “Mrs. Harry Harper’s Awakening” is an allegory that illustrates Christian duty. Mrs. Harry Harper considered herself a Christian and she attended church, but it wasn’t until she began actually working for the Lord that she received the blessings and fulfillment of living the Christian life.

You can read “Mrs. Harry Harper’s Awakening” for free. Just click on the book cover to begin reading now.

Faith and Love is Now in Paperback

Published on September 10, 2015November 4, 2018 by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Faith and Love is now available in print! This exclusive collection of short stories by Grace Livingston Hill and her mother Marcia Livingston is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever print books are sold.

Get the print book:

Download the e-book:

Daisy Bryant’s Wall of Pictures

Published on September 8, 2015September 22, 2015 by Isabella Alden1 Comment

In Miss Dee Dunmore Bryant, little Daisy Bryant loved beauty. Even at the tender age of eight she recognized that the home she lived in with her mother, brother and sister was far from beautiful.

The walls of the little cottage were not lathed and plastered; were not even painted; their weather-stained unsightliness had been among Daisy’s trials.

Little Daisy dreamed of covering those unattractive walls with pictures.

From Godey's Lady's Book, April 1895 — From Godey’s Lady’s Book, April 1895

Mrs. Bryant laughed. “You dear little dreamer,” she said, “where do you suppose the pictures are to come from, and how much paste and time do you suppose it would take?”

“Oh, but I don’t mean all at once. Be a long, long time, you know; and take just a tiny teaspoonful of flour at a time; we could afford that, couldn’t we? When we found a real pretty picture anywhere, paste it up in a nice place, and in a g-r-e-a-t many months the walls would be covered.”

It was impossible not to laugh at the bright face and dancing eyes, and there was something so funny about it to Line and Ben, that they laughed loud and long.

Mrs. Bryant was the first to recover voice. “It is a pretty thought,” she said, “and I will certainly try to furnish the spoonful of flour for my share; but we have almost no chances for pictures, darling, and I’m afraid you will be old and gray before the walls are covered.”

“Well,” said Daisy cheerily, “then I will put on my spectacles and sit down and enjoy them.”

Godeys Ladys Book 1895 April Vol 130 pg 97 — From Godey’s Lady’s Book, April 1895

The first picture to be pasted to the wall was one Daisy’s brother found in a magazine a friend had given him. Magazines in 1890—the year Miss Dee Dunmore Bryant was published—often printed pictures and photographs that were suitable for framing.

From Munsey's Magazine, 1905 — From Munsey’s Magazine, 1905

In fact, many magazines encouraged readers to clip out pictures and frame them even though the images were in black and white.

Sometimes the images were simply of the latest fashions.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 1896 — From Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, 1896

Sometimes the images were of famous people or events.

And other illustrations gave readers a window onto faraway places and the works of popular artists.

From Woman's Home Companion, September 1922 — From Woman’s Home Companion, September 1922

From Woman's Home Companion, 1922 — From Woman’s Home Companion, 1922

By 1910 some magazines began printing two-color pictures. And by 1920 many magazines featured pictures and advertisements in full color. Copies of the Old Masters or religious paintings were very collectable.

While other pictures illustrated places and lifestyles most people could only dream about.

From Woman's Home Companion, October 1922 — From Woman’s Home Companion, October 1922

Since magazine issues ranged in price from five to fifteen cents, they were an affordable source for pictures. Unfortunately for Daisy, even five cents was an unattainable sum. So she sacrificed her dream of having a beautiful wall of pictures; but by the end of the book, Daisy and the Bryants would find themselves surrounded by beauty and blessings of a very different kind.

You can read more about Daisy and her dreams in Miss Dee Dunmore Bryant. Click on the book cover to find out more.

God’s Portion (and a Free Read)

Published on September 1, 2015November 4, 2018 by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

As the wife of a minister, Isabella Alden was very familiar with her husband’s congregation. She wasn’t the type of minister’s wife who simply went to teas and receptions and other social events, and never got involved in anything related to the church. Not Isabella.

She was an “old-fashioned minister’s wife,” said her niece, Grace Livingston Hill:

She made calls on the parishioners, knew every member intimately, cared for the sick, gathered the young people into her home, making both a social and religious center for them with herself as leader and adviser; grew intimate with each personally and led them to Christ; became their confidante; and loved them all as if they had been her brothers and sisters.

Isabella’s experiences as a minister’s wife inspired many characters and events in her books. She wove her stories around real incidents and real people, their foibles and inconsistencies, and lessons learned.

Like the country congregation that couldn’t raise the funds needed to keep their church clean in Interrupted.

Or the woman in Aunt Hannah and Martha and John who placed a large donation in the offering plate to impress the congregation, only to slip into the church office later when no one was looking to demand her change because she didn’t really want to give the full amount.

And the Ladies’ Aid Society members who only donated pennies because they believed missionaries and others who did God’s work didn’t need nice things (this happened in a few of Isabella’s novels).

When it came to the subject of money, Isabella had heard all the arguments before. She knew why people preferred to spend their dollars on anything but God’s work. But she also knew her Bible, and believed its instructions about money were just as important as any other commandment.

Isabella was a strong believer in the Biblical concept of tithing, and she knew how important it was to teach children to tithe beginning at a young age. She believed that when we follow God’s instructions about money, we grow to trust God in other areas of our lives, as well.

She illustrated the point in her short story, “Pictures from Mrs. Pierson’s Life.” The story centers around a couple who ignore God’s instructions about money, and what their children learn by the parents’ actions.

“Pictures from Mrs. Pierson’s Life” first appeared in Mrs. Harper’s Awakening, published in 1881. You can read it here for free. Just click on the book cover to get started.

Isabella wrote about money and the importance of tithing in many of her books, including:

Miss Priscilla Hunter (read it for free!)

Aunt Hannah and Martha and John

Interrupted

Household Puzzles and The Randolphs

Spun from Fact (read it for free!)

The Pocket Measure

Doris Farrand’s Vocation

Overruled

New Grace Livingston Hill Book and Giveaway

Published on August 27, 2015August 28, 2015 by Isabella Alden4 Comments

Although there was a nine-year age difference between Isabella and her older sister Marcia, they were as close as sisters could be.

They had a lot in common—they had the same sense of humor, they both married ministers, and they were both talented writers.

Isabella Alden (left) and her sister, Marcia Livingston in an undated photo

Marcia and Isabella co-wrote several novels together, including:

Aunt Hannah and Martha and John
John Remington, Martyr
By Way of the Wilderness
From Different Standpoints

Isabella and Marcia wrote some books while they lived together in the same house in Winter Park, Florida; and when miles and circumstances separated the sisters, they wrote some of their books “by mail.” What’s extraordinary is the way the sisters’ writing styles blended seamlessly so that it’s impossible to tell which sister wrote which sections of their books.

They were both tireless writers. In addition to novel writing, Marcia contributed stories and articles to The Pansy, which was Isabella’s magazine for children. And Marcia’s short stories for adults were regularly published in The Interior, a Christian magazine.

Marcia’s husband Charles was a minister who wrote his own weekly sermons, as well as theological papers. Like Marcia, he, too, wrote stories and articles for The Pansy.

Their daughter Grace Livingston Hill grew up in a home filled with creativity, a love of reading, and a strong work ethic. She learned the letters of the alphabet by clicking on the keys of her Aunt Isabella’s typewriter. She learned the art of writing a short story from her mother Marcia.

At an early age Grace discovered she could earn a living by her writing, just as her mother and aunt did. Her first book, A Chautauqua Idyl was published in 1887. Soon Grace joined her mother and her Aunt Isabella in creating inspiring, uplifting and memorable Christian fiction for women. Marcia encouraged Grace and often edited her manuscripts before Grace sent them off to her publisher.

Grace wrote over one-hundred novels, all of which remain popular today. Less popular are her short stories—not because they are any less well-written, but because they are more difficult to find. Her short stories appeared in magazines and newspapers in the early years of the 1900s and copies of those publications are rare finds today.

Grace working in the out of doors at her home in Swarthmore, PA. 1915.

The same is true for stories written by Marcia Livingston. They were published in the 1890s in magazines that went out of business long ago, their records scattered or destroyed; only a few issues can be found in libraries and museum collections. Their scarcity makes them all the more precious.

A new, exclusive collection of those hard-to-find short stories by Grace Livingston Hill and Marcia Livingston is now available …

… And we’re giving away free copies!

We’re giving away four copies of Faith and Love in e-book format to subscribers to this blog. The winners will claim their e-book through Amazon.

We’ll announce the winners on Friday, August 28. Good luck!

Faith and Love is available at these e-book retailers:

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Hair on Approval

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Rules for Letter Writing

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… And we’re giving away free copies!

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