annsepstein@att.net

Learn History Through Fiction: Sidney Luft Before and After Judy Garland

(A Hollywood romance in honor of Valentines Day) Sidney Luft (1915-2005) was a Hollywood producer and impresario. Of German-Russian-Jewish descent, he started out as an amateur boxer and barroom brawler, nicknamed “One Punch Luft.” He is perhaps best known as the husband of Judy Garland (1952-1965), responsible for orchestrating her comeback in the 1950s and 1960s, notably in A Star is Born. Luft was married once before and twice after Garland. They had two children, Lorna and Joey. Read more about Hollywood and movie history in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

Judy Garland & Sidney Luft in happier days

A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (Alternative Book Press) by Ann S. Epstein

Learn History Through Fiction: Post-Civil War Exodusters

After the Civil War and the arrival of railroads, Kansas was populated by German immigrants, migrants from the Eastern U.S., and Negro Freedmen from the South called “Exodusters.” Farmers tried to grow corn and raise pigs, but failed because of a shortage of rainfall. They switched to soft spring wheat and later to hard winter wheat, which did well in the temperate Kansas climate since it does not have prolonged periods of heat and cold. Read more Kansas and wheat farming history in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

Post-Civil War wheat farmers in Kansas included “Exodusters,” Negro Freedmen from the South

Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press) by Ann S. Epstein

Learn History Through Fiction: Midwives Safer Than Doctors 100 Years Ago

Midwives, like physicians, practiced without education or regulations until the early 1900’s. In an era before germ theory was known, doctors moved between anatomy labs, medical wards, and surgery without washing their hands, thus transferring germs. As a result, midwives’ patients were less likely to die of infection than those delivered by doctors. Read more about pregnancy and childbirth 100 years ago in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

In the early 1900’s, midwifery at home was more antiseptic and safer than doctor-assisted births in hospitals

Publishing News: Ponder Review to Publish “David’s Crossing” Memoir

My creative nonfiction piece “David’s Crossing” was accepted for publication in Ponder Review, 2019, Volume 3, Issue 1. Here’s the log line: “David’s Crossing” captures my father’s uncertainty as a young boy aboard an immigrant ship, the SS Rotterdam IV, journeying from a Polish shtetl to an American city during World War I — a century-old tale with resonance for today. The publication is particularly meaningful to me because my late father’s acceptance into this country is in such stark contrast with today’s harsh policies toward immigrants, migrants, and refugees. More about the publication in MEMOIR and more about the SS Rotterdam IV in BEHIND THE STORY.

The SS Rotterdam IV, a passenger liner that also transported European immigrants and refugees to the U.S. from 1908 to 1940)

Learn History Through Fiction: Oz’s Horse of a Different Color

In the 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz, the horse pulling Dorothy and her friends around Emerald City changes from white to purple to red orange to yellow. The ASPCA would not let the crew paint the horse, so they tried food coloring and liquid candy but it was too pale and tasted so good that the horse licked it off. Arnold Gillespie, in charge of special effects, finally used paste made with Jell-O powder. The horse still licked it, but with frequent touch-ups, the paste stayed on long enough to complete the filming. Read more about the movie in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

A horse of a different color, thanks to grape-flavored Jell-O powder

What I’m Reading: The Library Book by Susan Orleans

My Amazon and Goodreads review of The Library Book (Rating 5) – Ablaze With Affection, Awe, and Archives. If you love to crack open a book, you will consume this attempt to crack open the case of the conflagration that consumed the Los Angeles Central Library in 1986. In Susan Orlean’s entertaining and absorbing The Library Book, the story of the fire is interwoven with the library’s history, its diverse patrons and their sprawling city, the impressive past and creative hope of tomorrow’s libraries, a cast of dedicated and endearingly eccentric librarians, the science of book burning and salvage, and the author’s early memories of visiting the library with her beloved mother. Orlean’s usual talent for empathy, imagination, and solid research glows here, luring you inside a subject you never thought you’d be curious about but are delighted to have discovered.

Learn History Through Fiction: When Donkey Labor Pressed Olives

Pressing when olives are at their maximum freshness produces vibrant flavor and a bright yellow and green color. Huge stone wheels, six feet in diameter, grind the fruit. Unlike the grindstones of a flour mill, which are horizontal and turn one atop the other, the grindstones of an olive press are vertical and rotate in a tub, crushing the olives against the floor. The mill (frantoio) is chilly, to keep the fruit fresh. In the early 1900s, in the olive-growing regions of Italy, local fruit growers brought their olives to a communal mill, where donkeys turned the presses. Today the process is largely automated, but some presses are still turned by hand to minimize the bruising of the fruit. Read more about olives and olive farming 100 years ago and today in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

Learn History Through Fiction: What You Are is What You Wear

Social class was evident in women’s fashions in the 1930’s Depression era. The sophisticated chic look promoted by designer Elsa Schiaparelli, with its bold colors, wide padded shoulders, and belted suits, was popular in high-end stores where the angular look flattered slim, athletic bodies. Working class women, who had no time for sports and subsisted on starchier diets, favored soft fabrics in floral and other prints which disguised their heavier bodies. However, women of all backgrounds were drawn to the fancy names that designers used to christen everyday colors: Pernod green, apple blossom pink, mimosa yellow, and carnation blush. Read more about fashion trends in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

1930’s fashions exclusively for the “never too rich or too thin”

Learn History Through Fiction: No More Coin Flips for the Price of a Drink

Bad timing! Soon after the city of Las Vegas was incorporated, Nevada became the last western state to outlaw gaming. At midnight on October 1, 1910, a strict anti-gambling law became effective, even forbidding the western custom of flipping a coin for the price of a drink. Despite the law, gambling thrived in speakeasies and illicit casinos. By the time gambling was re-legalized in 1931, organized crime already had deep roots in the city. Read more Las Vegas history in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

Bad timing! Nevada was the last western state to outlaw gambling, soon after the city of Las Vegas was incorporated

Learn History Through Fiction: Henry Ford Just Says No

At the beginning of WWII, American public opinion was against joining the war or even supporting European Allies. In 1940, Henry Ford refused a U.S. government contract to build Rolls Royce aircraft engines for England. Other automotive manufacturers didn’t want to turn making cars over to war production either. It took the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 to change American minds and convince U.S. industry to become patriotic. Read more about WWII in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).