Researching for Historicals: Part Three by Pamela S. Meyers

Pamela S. Meyers

Hey everyone, Annette here. Pamela S. Meyers is back today to share her final installment on using newspapers to research for historicals. Wouldn't it be interesting to research menu items and current movies from a given time period? Read on!

Using Local Newspapers to 
Make Your Historical Setting Come Alive, Part 3 
By Pamela S. Meyers

In my final installment about using local newspapers to make your historical setting come alive, I want to discuss paying attention to the details.

To make my story as authentic to exact months and year in which it is set, I studied the weather reports, the events taking place in the world outside of Lake Geneva, and what movies were playing at the time of my story.

My heroine, Meg, and her best friend, Helen, love going to movies and they see at least one movie a week when they can afford it. I didn’t just have them see a movie that released in early 1933, from the microfilm, I made note of the movies playing at the Geneva Theater at the exact time they would be going to the “picture show” (as they called it) in my story. I even located the movies to rent so I could see exactly what they were watching. What was really fun was with one film, the movie heroine was struggling with a situation similar to Meg’s struggle, and I was able to incorporate that into the storyline.

Through research, I learned that back in 1933 the inauguration of the President of the United States took place in March, not January like it does now. I made sure to mention the newsreel was talking about the inauguration during another time they were at the movies.

Oddly, most restaurants didn’t advertise in the paper at that time. Perhaps that was because everyone knew where the restaurants were and what their specialties were, so the restaurants didn’t need a large advertising budget. I only found one small ad for an eatery called the Utopia Café. My characters ate there a couple of times. I also had them eat at another restaurant I found pictured a book. As for what kind of food they ordered, I searched for restaurant menus in 1933 and found one from an establishment in Milwaukee. From there, I could incorporate the offerings into my restaurant scenes.

I hope I’ve been able to spark some ideas for your story research. When I began this series of articles, I said I resisted writing historicals because of all the extra research involved. What I learned is that I really love research and making my stories authentic to the time. In fact, right now I’m working on a new historical set even earlier than the 1930s—in the nineteenth century.

Now if I can just remember that they ride in carriages instead of cars.

~~~~~

Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago. She served on the ACFW Operating Board for five years and has also served her local ACFW chapter in leadership roles. Her historical romance, which is set in her hometown, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, released in April 2013. You can find more information on Pam at www.pamelasmeyers.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pamela.meyers.



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Researching for Historicals: Part One by Pamela S. Meyers

Pamela S. Meyers

Hey, everyone! Annette here. Wave at me if you write historicals. Like so many writers I've spoken with, including our guest today, the amount of research required for accuracy intimidates some writers so much they avoid penning historical novels. But sometimes God has other plans. Pam Meyers is here to share this month on finding those elusive details. Read on!

Using Local Newspapers to Make 

Your Historical Setting Come Alive

By Pamela S. Meyers

Ever since I began writing fiction, I shied away from writing historicals because you also have to make sure you have all the details right down to what type of shoes they wore, food they ate, even whether or not their words were part of the vernacular at the time. Otherwise the historical junkies will be sure to spot your mistakes.

I stuck to writing contemporaries until I told the editor from Summerside Press that I was raised in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Intrigued that I was from the very popular Midwestern resort area, she wanted to know more because they were interested in resort settings. I instantly began plotting a contemporary in my head. Then the bubble burst when she said, “Why don’t you work up a historical proposal for me?” Of course I agreed and quickly decided on 1933 when the iconic lake shore building known as the Riviera was opened.

Growing up in the town did give me somewhat of an advantage but I still needed to know what the town was like in 1933, not when I was a child. I owned several coffee-table type books about Lake Geneva that featured pictures from the past, but I needed a more up-close-and-personal snapshot of the town. I decided what better place to find that than copies of the weekly newspaper from that time.

Fortunately I live about an hour away from Lake Geneva and was able to make frequent trips to the public library where I discovered a treasure trove of information hidden in the microfilms of the Lake Geneva News Tribune.

Not only did I find needed information regarding the building of the Riviera, but I also found the heartbeat of the town as I read about how everyone came behind the plan to make the lakefront a tourist magnet. Tourists meant money spent on lodging, using the beach and dancing up a storm in the Riviera’s new ballroom. After all, this was the time of the Great Depression.

I’d grown up seeing the Riviera daily, but as I read, I began to feel the same passion for the structure as the townspeople of 1933. And when I later began writing the story, I brought that same passion and excitement to my heroine and the other characters.

Not everyone can travel to their story setting to take advantage of the local library’s microfilm library, but there are a lot of newspapers from the past available on line. By typing “newspaper archives” in the Google search bar, I received dozens of hits to sites—some free and others by subscription—that just might have newspapers from your story’s setting. Some go back to the 19^th Century! So start exploring!

Next time I’ll discuss another way the newspapers helped me bring the setting alive for my readers.

~~~~~

LFY in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin by Pamela S. Meyers

A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago. She served on the ACFW Operating Board for five years and has also served her local ACFW chapter in leadership roles. Her historical romance, which is set in her hometown, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, released in April 2013. You can find more information on Pam at www.pamelasmeyers.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pamela.meyers.