Here's a sampling of what one could shop for in 1897 in the Sears Roebuck Catalogue, known officially as the “Consumer's Guide” but popularly as the...
Shopping from Home in 1897 with Sears Roebuck
read more
Jana Bommersbach
Outselling the Best Sellers–Sears Roebuck
Readers in 1897 were captivated by two books that have gained immortality in the literary world—Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkewicz, and Stephen Crane's...
She Was the Best Man of the Party
The name Juliet Brier doesn't leap to mind when thinking about the courageous women who endured the wagon train trip to California. But it should....
Western Wisdom Worth Remembering
Here's some western wisdom to give you a laugh and a good line when you need it! ”There's no place 'round a campfire for a quitter's blanket.”...
You Tell ‘Em Girl
Western women said some pretty interesting things: “Any woman who does not thoroughly enjoy tramping across the country on a clear, frosty morning...
Mapping Our Way
The smallest is just four inches by five-and-a-half inches, showing the Copernican Universe. The largest is 13 feet by 122 feet, showing railroad...
This Month in History: May
May is a great month for birthdays to celebrate icons of the west—both human and major events--so let's bake a cake. This year, we'd have put 180...
The Bisbee Deportation of 1917
What happens when a corporation, the sheriff and citizens are all in collusion to do something “wholly illegal?” The giant Bisbee Deportation of...
Don’t Go Wakin’ Snakes
Old West slang was colorful and inventive and often brings a laugh. But they sure got their points across. Consider these: Someone would tell you...
Stagecoach Etiquette
Thanks to an 1877 Omaha Herald article, we know how we should have behaved if we'd taken a stagecoach in the old west. First, we were advised that...
Don’t Bury Me Alive
Victorians had a bizarre fixation with premature burial—a fear that wasn't just hysterical, because poor medical knowledge meant that sometimes...
Mormons Ate Best
Of all the pioneers who settled Arizona Territory—Indians, Mexicans, the military, miners, cowboys—the Mormons ate best. As Daphne Overstreet...