August 2020 is here and that means it is time to celebrate the hundred-year anniversary of the passing of the 19th Amendment on August 18th, 1920. I was planning on celebrating with a lot of in-person events, but instead, I’m celebrating from behind my computer screen in many ways. One way is by writing blog [...]
I know that there are a lot of Laura Ingalls Wilder or Little House on the Prairie fans in the Recollections community. I am a fan myself and reading the books as a child is one reason I am so interested in women’s history still today. As I was writing my post about holidays on [...]
I have always been quite intrigued by Mrs. Claus and the work that she does behind the scenes. She is the perfect example of “beside every successful man is a strong woman.” I also think that there is an opportunity for more exposure for Mrs. Claus so that more young girls will get to see [...]
Whether or not you wear bikinis, July is the month most commonly associated with the tiny garment. Have you ever stopped to wonder about how we got from swim machines and wearing tights on the beach to a suit that can fit in a coin purse? There is a lot more to the shrinking of [...]
I remember pictures of Betsy Ross in my American history textbooks in elementary school and 184 years after her death many still know her as the seamstress who created the first-ever American flag. While I am glad that she is remembered, the image that many have of Betsy Ross undermines her real accomplishments as a [...]
By the end of the Victorian Era, society was changing so fast that some people had a hard time keeping up, much less accepting it. From a cultural standpoint, the first two decades saw advances for women that were more rapid than the Western world had ever before seen. The status quo held on tight [...]
Queen Latifa as Hattie McDaniel in Hollywood If you haven’t already seen the Netflix miniseries Hollywood, I strongly recommend binging it this weekend. It is a retelling of the “golden age” of Hollywood that seeks to imagine how things could have been different if it had started off on the right foot in regards to [...]
Last week we took a look at three modern mermaids and their audacity that helped pave the way for us to frolic on the beach today. One of these women was Annette Kellerman, the famous water ballerina. Another was Esther Williams, who would play Kellerman in the biopic about her life. Million Dollar Mermaid covers [...]
Last week we covered the bathing machine and how women in prim and proper Victorian Europe and America enjoyed a day at the beach. The demise of the bathing machine led to the quick transition to co-ed sunbathing as more women demanded more public space. Opening up the shores to women was followed by more [...]