Tag Archives: World War 1

Pressures of the White Feather in L.M. Montgomery’s Rilla of Ingleside

2014, Children's Books and War, , , ,

© Copyright 2014 Nabila Islam, Ryerson University

Introduction

Montgomery, Lucy Maud. Rilla of Ingleside. Reprint. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1921. Print. Children’s Literature Archive, Ryerson University.

One popular title under the theme of Children’s Books and War is Rilla of Ingleside. The novel was written by Lucy Maud Montgomery and was published in 1921, after the Great War had ended. Although Montgomery had not written this novel specifically for children, by the 1920s all her books were being marketed for children and they became equally popular for children and adults alike (Rubio, Gift of Wings 289).

This particular copy is located in the Children’s Literature Archive at Ryerson University and was published by Grosset and Dunlap. It does not have the illustrated cover or the frontispiece of the first edition however, there are decorated end pages illustrated by Sheldon. Although this reprint was published in New York, there is a sticker in the book which reads, “711 The Old Corner Book Store, Inc. Boston, – Mass.” indicating that this copy was likely sold by the historic book store. There is also a name, “Jennifer Bevan,” written in pencil, indicating a former owner of this copy.

Illustrated endpages of Rilla of Ingleside
Illustrated endpages of Rilla of Ingleside

The novel follows the maturation of Rilla, a native of idyllic Prince Edward Island at the time when WWI shakes Canadian men and women into action. This is one of the few enduring titles of war fiction and it contains a cultural memory of the trauma and horrors Canadian men endured. Through Rilla’s older brothers, Jem and Walter Blythe, aspects of what Anglo-Canadian men faced can be discerned, allowing readers an understanding of WWI.

Summary

This coming-of-age novel opens with the news of the war breaking out in 1914. The 35 chapters focus on Anne and Gilbert’s youngest child, Bertha Marilla Blythe. Rilla is impetuous and oblivious, ready to take part in adult activities. But when WWI occurs, her brothers, friends and beau go off to war and Rilla has to grow up in ways she had not expected. The novel also shows the struggle young men (and their loved ones) had with the ugliness and death associated with war through the characters of Jem and Walter Blythe. These men also had to grow up too fast. They had to kill men like themselves and were unable to forget the aftermath of battles or worse, they never made it back from the battlefields. Through Rilla’s brothers readers understand the desire to fight as well as the desire to avoid the fighting and that the men that returned home were not the same as those who initially left.

Production and Reception

As a novel published after the war had ended, written by the author of the beloved “Anne” and focusing on Anne’s youngest child, this book did not sell as much as Anne of Green Gables did. By 1924 it had only sold 12 000 copies. This could be due to the fact that Montgomery did not give the US much credit in her novel. There are letters from her American publisher Stokes, griping that she had not “taffied up” America enough in her novel (Russell). To this Montgomery stressed that she had written about Canada and the war. Another reason for the poor sales could be that after the Great War came the Great Depression (Mitchell 144) and economic instability led to a decrease in book sales. It should be mentioned that Rilla of Ingleside went on to have various reprints, editions and translations published and that Montgomery herself expected the lesser sales.

Gender Pressure in the Great War

When England called upon Canada, the Anglo-Canadian communities rose up to the challenge. Many young men were anxious to go fight in the war, afraid they would miss out on the fun because the war was not expected to last long. Young women took up the jobs their brothers, fathers and friends left behind so that the country continued to run on a day-to-day basis while the men were away. This arrangement was suitable, at the start. However, many men were killed or maimed. They went missing or taken hostage and the war continued for 4 bitter years.

In this time Lucy Maud Montgomery saw the men in her Leaskdale community off to join the battles, along with her half-brother Hugh Carlyle Montgomery. Like Anne and her daughter Rilla, Montgomery had her ear out for any news of the men she knew, dreading to read a familiar name in the list of those killed in action (Waterston, Magic Island 105). Meanwhile on the battle fields, the men who were unlucky enough to be of age to fight were trying to survive. The pressure to fight and return victorious was strong and works such as Rilla of Ingleside is a way of holding broken spirits together in cultural memory.

The Leaskdale Boys

Canadian Grenadier 245th Guards Overseas Battalion

Montgomery had extensive material to use for this novel stemming from the letters of the young men from her community and from her brother. Robert Brooks, Morley Shier and Goldwin Lapp were from families within the Leaskdale community who were known to Montgomery, or rather Mrs. Macdonald the wife of their minister. There were many reasons for young men to join the war. Appeal of a man’s moral sense through religious analogy of good and evil, a sense of patriotism or of principle, a sense of disgust over stories of atrocities committed against others and for the fun of an adventure were the most common. There was also recruitment through pressure. Whatever their reasons, the Leaskdale boys joined the war through the 256th Royal Air Force Squadron (Brooks), 116th battalion of the 3rd Division of Canadian Corps (Shier) and the 20th Canadian Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (Lapp) and their letters provided a broad understanding of the war. Yet the tragic details of their service also provided poignant moments in Montgomery’s novel.

Gender roles in propoganda posters

In the stories of these young men readers can see Jem Blythe. He joins up right away and fights hard. He goes missing for some agonizing months and when he returns home, he has a limp. A character named for Montgomery’s half-brother Carl loses an eye (Waterston, Magic Island 108). The loss is similar to that actually sustained by Carl, who had returned from Vimy Ridge without part of his leg. In her novel Rainbow Valley, Walter, then a boy, has a premonition of the war (Carvert 20). He says “Jem will want to go – it will be such an adventure – but I won’t. Only I’ll have to…” Before news of Walter’s death reaches the Blythes, Dog Monday howls inconsolably. This detail was replicated from the story of the Lapp’s dog howling all night prior to the telegraph of George Lapp’s death. The novel does not detail actual battles and trench warfare. There is no detailed account in that regard. Yet Montgomery fully conveyed the anguish and dread, the myriad of emotions war generates and the little details that tell the story.

The Piper in Flanders Fields

Montgomery was once presented to the Governor General, Earl Grey (Rubio, Gift of WIngs 136). At this meeting, she would have also been introduced to John McCrae, as he was also attending the event. It is unclear if they interacted beyond this however McCrae was the type of man Montgomery held in high regard. Born in Guelph, McCrae’s family was originally from Scotland and they were devout Presbyterians and his background was a point of connection between the two. John McCrae would have rated himself as soldier first, doctor second and writer third (Granfield 23).

Although he had retired from the military in 1904, he offered himself either as a soldier or doctor for the purposes of the war when the news broke. McCrae was a well-respected surgeon, moving up the ranks over the course of WWI. May 3, 1915, McCrae’s friend Lt. Alexis Helmer was a casualty of war. His death was the inspiration for “In Flanders Fields” which McCrae wrote the very next day. Yet the poem was not published until Dec. 8, 1915, by the British periodical Punch. After which, it exploded across the globe.

“In Flanders Fields” published in Ottawa by Heliotype Co. Ltd

Regardless of how much she might have known of McCrae when they met, after the publication of his poem Montgomery would have gained knowledge of his background. McCrae then became the inspiration for her character Water Blythe. In the novel, Walter writes a poem titled “The Piper” which brought him fame similar to McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields.” Walter’s poem was never published in Rilla of Ingleside, although it is later published in The Blythes Are Quoted. McCrae inspires patriotism and an emotional link to the fallen soldiers, as well as referencing to eternal sleep or death through the symbolism of poppies (Waterston, Magic Island 103).

The Piper by Walter Blythe (Montgomery)
“The Piper” by Walter Blythe

However, Walter’s poem held a slightly different connotation. For Walter the piper’s call was answered by the young Canadians who joined the war front, yet the piper is mysterious and the call is dark and seductive. This piper is referenced in Rainbow Valley. He came in a vision to Walter, where the children followed the piper away from home. The piper inspires courage and his mythical call (the war rhetoric) is met by many young men over the course of WWI (Rubio, Gift of Wings 285). Yet the piper is also a reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin who led children to their death. Likewise, Walter’s piper is leading these men to their death on battlefields far from home.

Walter’s poem is much darker and fanciful compared to McCrae’s. Perhaps it is because Walter is known to have a sensitive soul and was terrified of joining the war and seeing death’s ugliness for himself. Yet it also shows Montgomery’s own confusion over the war, for as much as the war horrified her with its brutality, she also agreed it was the necessary means to triumph over evil (Rubio, Gift of Wings 286). The duality of the piper creates a rift and obscures Montgomery’s message. Where McCrae writes a call to arms, Walter writes a warning.

The White Feather Brigade

Walter Blythe had faced typhoid prior to the call of war in 1914 and it wasn’t until 1915 that Walter felt strong enough to join the war efforts. However, while he was regaining his strength and pursuing further education at Redmond College, Walter was continuously pressured to join the war. It was there that he was anonymously given a white feather, a symbol of cowardice.

No. 2 Central Central Recruiting Committee, No. 2 Military Division, Toronto

It is believed that this symbolism originates from cockfighting. Birds with white feathers were looked upon unfavourably. People believed the bird would likely lose the fight. However, the white feather also indicated that the bird was not a purebred. By the time WWI began, many people, especially those who were educated, would connect a white feather with cowardice. This is due to literature such as The Four Feathers by A. E. W. Mason (Duffy).

In Britain, Admiral Charles Fitzgerald initiated an “Organisation of the White Feather,” which urged British women to present feathers to able bodied men in hopes of pressuring them into recruitment offices. As popularity grew for this practice, it spread across the oceans. This led to a number of problems as the white feather campaign grew out of hand. By shaming men with these feathers, these female propagandists threatened the ideals of masculinity. The receivers of these feathers did not wish to be looked down upon. They questioned whether they were truly men and these doubts would usually lead them to recruitment houses and battlefields.

You are no exception, join now!
No. 4 Central Recruiting Committee, No. 2 Military Division, Toronto

Feathers were handed out without thought or sensitivity. They were handed to men who worked for the government, men who were in poor health, men who had returned home on leaves and, most troubling were the feathers handed to boys who were not old enough to join. Some problems were fixed, such as armbands in England that denoted a man was working for his “King and Country” (Hart 2). Other problems were ignored because the need for men in the trenches was great. Enlisting soldiers had to fill out a form called an Attestation Paper (Grandfield), which confirms under oath that the facts given on the form are true; a practice which became a neglected formality as the war went on. Every able body counted, regardless of age or health.

A New World

Montgomery recorded a legitimate fear in her journal on June 17, 1916: “Our old world is passed away forever – and I fear that those of us who have lived half our span therein will never feel wholly at home in the new.” (Montgomery, Selected Journals 186). The white feathers may have made men question their masculinity and measure it by the willingness to fight in war but it was the war that reshaped gender identities. It allowed women to surpass the stigma of the “weaker sex” and the end of WWI did not mean that the women reverted back to their old positions easily. The surviving men came home broken and racked with guilt and often unable to cope with returning to their old lives. Yet Montgomery attempted to hold on to the “old world” in her closing chapter in Rilla of Ingleside. With the return of her beau, Ken Ford, Rilla reverted back to her lisp, a habit she had outgrown during the war. Many feminist critics have railed at this show of retrogression in Rilla’s character. However, the years before writing this novel had been especially hard on Montgomery with a number of deaths, a miscarriage, her husband Ewan’s mental illness and most especially her beloved Frede’s passing. It is to Frede whom she dedicated Rilla and it is likely Montgomery’s yearning for days gone that she has Rilla slip into old habits.

Dedication to Frede Campbell

Conclusion

Deep in the roots of this novel there is propaganda present. It’s in the way the women take up the gendered identities of men when a country is left to them. It is in the way young boys like Shirley Blythe want to join in the war. It’s especially in the way Jem and Walter Blythe join silently, with or without facing the shame of the dreadful White Feather and in the way men such as these two fought bravely despite fears and reservations. Montgomery and McCrae bring to mind unspeakable horrors faced and survived. And keep alive a cultural memory of Anglo-Canadians fighting a war for their country and their families.

Epigraph in Rilla of Ingleside
Epigraph in Rilla of Ingleside

Visit the catalogue record of Rilla of Ingleside at the Children’s Literature Archive here.
Read an online copy of Rilla of Ingleside on Project Gutenberg here.

Bibliography

“Artillery Heroes at the Front Say ‘Get into a Man’s Uniform.’” n.d. Toronto Public Library. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.

“Canadian Grenadier 245th Guards Overseas Battalion” n.d. Toronto Public Library. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.

Carvert, Mary Beth. “The Very Soul of the Universe Must Ache With Anguish: L.M. Montgomery, Leaskdale, and Loss in The Great War.” The Shining Scroll Dec. 2011: 13–25. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

Cloutier, Stephen. “The First World War in Canadian Literature.” The Canadian Encyclopedia 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.

Duffy, Michael. “White Feathers.” First World War.com  22 Aug. 2009. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.

Gammel, Irene. Looking for Anne: How Lucy Maud Montgomery Dreamed up a Literary Classic. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2008. Print.

Granfield, Linda. Remembering John McCrae: Soldier, Doctor, Poet. Toronto: Scholastic Canada, 2009. Print.

Hart, Peter J. “The White Feather Campaign: A Struggle with Masculinity During World War I.” Student Pulse 2.2 (2010): 4. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.

“I Should Go BUT!!! You Are No Exception, Join Now” n.d. Toronto Public Library. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.

“In Flanders’ Fields” 1918. Toronto Public Library. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.

Lechowick, Frank, and Juanita Lechowick. A Collector’s Guide to L.M. Montgomery Firsts. Charlottetown: F. and J. Lechowick, 2009. Print.

Montgomery, Lucy Maud. Rilla of Ingleside. Reprint. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1921. Print. Children’s Literature Archive, Ryerson University.

—. The Selected Journals of L. M. Montgomery. Vol 2, 1910-1921. Ed. Mary Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print.

Morton, William Lewis. “Canada : World War I.” Encyclopedia Britannica 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.

Rev. of Rlla of Ingleside, by Lucy Maud Montgomery. New York Times Book Review and Magazine 11 Sept. 1921: 31. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

Rubio, Mary. Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings. Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2008. Print.

Russell, Ruth Weber. Lucy Maud Montgomery, a Preliminary Bibliography. Waterloo: University of Waterloo Library, 1986. Print. UW Library Bibliography no. 13.

Waterston, Elizabeth. “Rilla of Ingleside.” Magic Island: The Fictions of L.M. Montgomery. Ontario: Oxford University Press, 2008. 103–111. Print.

“Your Chums Are Fighting. Why Aren’t You?” n.d. Toronto Public Library. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.

Content & Context of World War I: Ideology, Gender, and Ruth Fielding

2014, Children's Books and War, , , , , , , , ,

© Copyright 2014 Kira Metcalfe, Ryerson University

(Fig. 1) Hardcover printed illustration of Ruth Fielding at College found in Ryerson University’s Children’s Literature Archive.                           Source: Emerson, Alice B. Ruth Fielding at College, or, The Missing Examination Papers. New York: Cupples & Leon, 1917. Children’s Literature Archive, Ryerson University Library and Archives.

 Introduction

By 1917 America dissolved any illusions of neutrality, and joined World War One (1914-1917) (Knock). Alice B. Emerson’s Ruth Fielding At College (1917) was published in the United States that same year. The subject matter and plot have no relation to the war. However, the ways in which the early 20th century was shaped by the Great War are mirrored in the text. The novel entertains many ideological parallels between its narrative content and its historical context. Ruth Fielding at College‘s production history displays this well.  As the product of the Edward Stratemeyer syndicate, the text shows  that relationships such as author/ reader, institution/ student, and even nation/ soldier were shifting at an increasing rate.

Throughout the text one sees gender, ideology, and power come together in the socio-economic structures experienced by the characters. This is notable considering that the Ruth Fielding series as a whole is marketed for young girls. Confoundingly, the concepts present in both content, and the history, all appear to not only be in transition, but rest upon a threshold. With this in mind the text could be easily seen as a potential response to the war efforts. However, if one is speaking of the actual impact of Ruth Fielding at College current gleanings need to be set aside.

Ruth Fielding At College

The 11th volume in the Ruth Fielding series, Ruth Fielding At College, or, The Missing Examination Papers continues the tale of orphaned filmmaker Ruth Fielding. Before arriving at Ardmore college for her freshman year, a lost girl named “Maggie” washes ashore at Ruth’s home. Little does Ruth know this is the same girl, Margaret Altoff, who went missing from Ardmore the year before—along with an Egyptian vase containing examination papers. After a hazing ritual “Maggie” had run away, causing the school’s sorority to close its doors.

The copy of the text located in Ryerson University’s Children’s Literature Archive is presented in Hardcover with a printed illustration on its front (fig. 1). Preceding the narrative is an illustrated page by R. Emmett Owen (Johnson “Alice B. Emerson” 119) (fig. 2). The illustration depicts a poignant moment in the text, where Ruth is caught in a storm. This eventually leads to the revelation of Maggie’s identity and discovery of the missing exam papers. Although the next page states that the novel is illustrated it is otherwise not; nor is the artist credited other than his signature on the illustration itself. A list of the Ruth Fielding volumes to date follows the title page. Several pages at the end of the book are dedicated to various advertisements for series books published by the publisher responsible for most of the Ruth Fielding series, Cupples & Leon.

 The Literary Syndicate and The Single Author

A literary syndicate produces books through a group of writers, usually under a pseudonym. Those writers are paid a flat rate for each series/ book they write (Herbert 189-190). The establishment of the literary syndicate coincides with other “efficiency” seekers of the early 20th century, such as Henry T. Ford and his factory assembly line (Stoneley 91). The Edward Stratemeyer literary syndicate produced the Ruth Fielding series under the pseudonym Alice B. Emerson. Between 1913 and 1934 a total of thirty volumes were commissioned for the series (Johnson “Alice B. Emerson” 119).

Edward Stratemeyer has become synonymous with children’s series literature (Johnson “Introduction: The People Behind the Books” xiii). He operated under at least eight pseudonyms at a time, quickly producing staggering amounts of written work (xvi). After ghostwriting for the late Horatio Alger, Stratemeyer officially established his Literary Syndicate in 1905 (xviii, xx). For Stratemeyer’s syndicate he would develop the concept of a series, along with chapter outlines for the syndicate writers to complete (xxviii). The completed chapters would be reviewed to see if they were up to Stratemeyer’s high standards (xxviii). Once a writer became part of the syndicate they would usually go on to write many Stratemeyer series books (xxi, xxviii). However, contracts signed by authors forced them to not only use pseudonyms, but also remain completely anonymous (xxviii).

(fig. 2)
(fig. 2) The frontispiece and the title page of Ryerson University’s Children’s Literature Archive copy of Ruth Fielding at College. Source: Emerson, Alice B. Ruth Fielding at College, or, The Missing Examination Papers. New York: Cupples & Leon, 1917. Children’s Literature Archive, Ryerson University Library and Archives

The presumption of a single author remains largely unquestioned in spite of producers like the Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate. It is obvious that, simply from the system of the syndicate, many more “authors” are involved. Also, the person most responsible for the content is often left unacknowledged. Fan mail was addressed to “Alice B. Emerson,” while the “real” author W.B. Foster is only attributed to the series as a result of Stratemeyer’s records (Stratemeyer Syndicate; Johnson “Appendix D – Series Contributors” 307). Little to no other information is available about Foster himself.

Series Books and Advertising Literature

Throughout his long career Stratemeyer did not go without his detractors. Notably the Chief Scout Librarian of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), Franklin K. Mathiews expressed caution. There was great concern about what was produced by the syndicate. Primarily the works were not in line with what children should be reading (Johnson “Introduction: The People Behind the Books” xxiv). In other words, series books were essentially frivolous and fruitless (xxiv-xxv). Other adults, and parents alike, questioned the effect of series fiction on adolescents. This barely dented the influence Stratemeyer, and other series fiction producers, had already established (Baxter Introduction 10).

The acknowledgement of series fiction’s apparent place in literature could be seen in its marketing. In 1917 Ruth Fielding At College, the newest volume in the Ruth Fielding series, is announced in a New York Tribune Article (“Choice Gleanings From the Publisher’s Spring Catalogues” 9). On the same page of the article is an advertisement for an arguably different “type” of book. My Unknown Chum’s advertisement (fig. 3) mimics what Mathiews would prefer to any Stratemeyer series book (Johnson “Introduction: The People Behind the Books” xxiv). The advertisement even references soldiers, stating that the book “Should be the Chum of Every Soldier—Officer or Private” (My Unknown Chum by Henry Garrity). This reference points to the purveyance of war at the time, and how service was the measure of society. Another smaller advertisement is for a book titled Woman (fig. 4). Although the book appears to be progressive, its exampled reception maintains a downgrading of women’s abilities. The advertisement states, “No woman could have written such a book ” (Woman by Vance Thomas). This thinking falls in line with the use of female pseudonyms for series fiction, as it was a lesser form of fiction. In the process, women are solidified in their respective place; that is, until effects of  World War I.

American Women during WWI

My Unknown Chum
(fig. 3) An advertisement for a book called The Unknown Chum that appeared on the same page as an announcement for the release of Ruth Fielding at College.                                                   Source: “Choice Gleanings From the Publisher’s Spring Catalogues.” New York Tribune 14 April 1917: 9. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Lib. of Congress.

American women made themselves a part of the war effort, even during the years leading up to 1914. The demographics consisted of high school educated, lower middle class women. (Hamilton-Honey “Two Miles Forward, One Mile Back” 135-139). From the Red Cross to car factories, women made their mark (159, 150). Ruth herself went on to work for the Red Cross in subsequent volumes of the series (167). The war had women enter many other areas of the otherwise male-dominated workforce (166). The opportunities of contention from their male counterparts made women increasingly aware of their position in the world (137). A symptom of these “gender wars,” the Great War became just as politically charged on the home front as the actual battlefield (145). At the time government authority figures both helped and hindered the progress of women’s involvement in the war (144, 150). Positions of power were held both by male detractors as well as champions of women’s active role (150). The tug-of-war that ensued results in a transitional mentality within women’s rights. Women found themselves in a peculiar place; a place where there was an opportunity to hold a potential position of potential power. On the other hand, even this potential meant that women were viewed as attempting to take the place of men. Literally, “their presence became an open threat” (162).

Power Plays

The character Ruth Fielding shows that the early 20th century heroine is just as much in transition as the girl reading their exploits (167). Ruth and her friends have access to a level of education that was still scarce for women at the time (139). Simultaneously the same pressures, stresses, and taboos remained. Like the women of her time Ruth never attempts to take on the male role (Hamilton-Honey “Running the Gamut and the Gauntlet” 181-182). Ruth maintains a primarily passive personality. It begs the question, whether or not these attributes make Ruth simply another cog in the wheel, or a liberator. After all, despite Ruth’s passivity she is referred to as a “dynamic figure of command” (Stoneley 94). More importantly Ruth exemplifies an ability to adapt. She was not always well off and successful; rather she always rose to the occasion (Baxter “Teen Reading at the Turn of the Century” 140). As Hamilton-Honey states, “Women were not always simply ‘placeholders,’ nor did they always see their work that way” (“Two Miles Forward, One Mile Back” 162). Women were essentially forced to “pick their battles.” Therefore, through the text much of the framework of many conditional freedoms experienced by young women is constructed. Women’s roles and “place” become increasingly apparent once shifted by the war.

Gender and Authority

(fig. 4) A book titled Woman was advertised alongside one for The Unknown Chum, as well as an announcement for the release of Ruth Fielding at College.                   Source: “Choice Gleanings From the Publisher’s Spring Catalogues.” New York Tribune 14 April 1917: 9. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Lib. of Congress.

Much of what occurs around Ruth and her friends is a result of being stuck in this sort of transitional state. The different sides of the transition are illustrated in a variety of ways. First, in how Rebecca Franye, one of Ruth’s classmates, is positioned through Ardmore’s social and academic circles. Both girls’ assumptions or evaluations of college and college life are problematic. Ruth was enchanted by the concept of college and Ardmore prior to attending. Ardmore becomes elevated as a sort of exotic wish fulfilment for Ruth—almost a “touristic experience” (Stoneley 94). In this case Rebecca, who is more worried about how she is perceived by classmates than her studies, contrasts Ruth’s personality. Rebecca’s expectations of school as only being for the wealthy are not the case. Rather than being ostracized for being poor, her fear, she is shunned for not following the rules (95-97).

According to Ruth Fielding at College, there is no good outcome from pretending to be part of a class you are not (97). The novel perpetuates the “knowing of one’s place,” which is one side of the threshold experienced by women in the early 20th century. Ruth herself is quite aware of both the freedoms and downfalls of being a girl, a woman, in early 20th century America. She expresses disdain for those who perform to be someone other than who they are. In this respect Ruth Fielding could be the ideal transitional female adolescent (Baxter “Teen Reading at the Turn of the Century” 140). She achieves this in relation to Rebecca and Maggie; both contrastingly, but also conditionally. The relationship is conditional because, without the contrast, Ruth’s idealilty would not necessarily be as apparent (Baxter Introduction 19).

Institution and Power Structures

How the characters of this text are treated, and seen as transitional characters, is a result of the systems they are placed into. Therefore, apart from gender role’s, the text aligns itself with these other transitional sentiments of the early 20th century. This is accomplished through the framework of power plays, consequences, and the submission to a higher authority. Ruth Fielding At College employs power and authority in two ways, and displays the transition between the two. Instantly the reader is shown how power structures can operate through the consequences of corruption and displaying the extremes of authority. In the text a failed sorority hazing leads to missed opportunities. Now both new and old students are not able to become part of a sorority due to its consequential dismantling. Misunderstandings and hardships surrounding this situation, and one sees it carry over into the next school year.

However, a second exercise of authority takes its place, that was arguably always present: the senior class. The removal of the sorority makes the presence more apparent. Throughout the remainder of the text the “regular” politics and dynamics of the college are framed as appropriate and justified. Initially one sees rejection and hostility on part of the “freshies” forced to wear specified coloured hats by the seniors (Emerson 39). Despite this initial rebellion the freshmen eventually obey the rule. The exercise of power is justified as a means of unifying each student-body class. These overarching sentiments of class distinctions can be seen as an affect of World War I, and the adjacent acceleration of industry (Hamilton-Honey “Running the Gamut and the Gauntlet” 181; Baxter Introduction 16). Ardmore, in this respect, represents a “social-industrial matrix” through the tension that arises within its hierarchy; made increasingly visible by the transition from the old “regime” (Stoneley 93). Transitional roles in Ruth Fielding at College, which consist of the positioned individual, positions the reader to make the most of their given situation (Baxter Introduction 13). It is through transitional states that the narrative of Ruth Fielding At College presents its contemporary and future readers with the ideology that became apparent with the advent of World War I.

Categories and the Growth of Industrialization

The relationship between exercises of power, agency and authority in the real world were experiencing a transition–Ruth Fielding is a product of that. These are notions that mirror themselves not only from the text itself, but through the producer, and the consumer. For one, the novel was increasingly seen as a commodity (Stoneley 104). Syndicate writing shows these changes in the book market throughout the 20th century (Baxter Introduction 13, “Teen Reading at the Turn of the Century” 142). It was “not uncommon” to work in movies at the time (Hamilton-Honey “Taking Advantage of New Markets” 205). Movies, and technology subsequently provided a “pull” for series fiction’s younger audiences (Stoneley 90). The content of material being published reflects an ever-changing world. Notions of consumerism, and nationalism meet artistic freedom, and escapism. Whether pertaining to the production of a book or the receiving of education, the goal becomes more about enabling a student body—a force—a body of work as a whole, than the work of one student or one writer. The individual soldier makes way for the nation, and the individual student does so for the institution’s hierarchy. Triumphantly the literary syndicate takes over for the single author.

Conclusion: Submission or Omission?

Another well-known girls’ series fiction brand, the American Girl series, was eventually styled into dolls that reflected different battles or moments in American history (Silvey 408). Along with Ruth Fielding one sees the establishment of series books as playing a prominent historic role in the formation of patriotism and ideology in America. The reader is not only positioned in the shift of a book’s production, but through it. The system and the person, the creator and the reader, the soldier and the country are in the process of converging–an affect exacerbated by Ruth Fielding At College in the climate of War.

In considering the power structures presented in the text, their subversive nature comes into question. When situated with the rest of the series, Ruth Fielding At College is a subversive text insofar as it represents another step closer, a transition, to gender equality (Hamilton-Honey “Taking Advantage of New Markets” 221). However, as a stand-alone novel the volume provides a snapshot for how women were still greatly operating “within patriarchal boundaries” at the turn of the 20th century (182). Therefore, the text will never become completely subversive. Series fiction was used as a means to define a problem and then provide the “possible solution” (Baxter Introduction 11). Instead it leaves readers and characters caught in a liminal space.

Works Cited

Baxter, Kent. Introduction. The Modern Age: Turn-of-the-Century American Culture and the Invention of Adolescence. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2008. 1-20. Print.

—. “Teen Reading at the Turn of the Century (Part II): Edward Stratemeyer.” The Modern Age: Turn-of-the-Century American Culture and the Invention of Adolescence. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2008. 136-154. Print.

“Choice Gleanings From the Publisher’s Spring Catalogues.” New York Tribune 14 April 1917: 9. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Lib. of Congress. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

Emerson, Alice B. Ruth Fielding at College, or, The Missing Examination Papers. New York: Cupples & Leon, 1917. Children’s Literature Archive, Ryerson University Library and Archives.

Hamilton-Honey, Emily. “Two Miles Forward, One Mile Back: Gender Battles During the Great War.” Turning the Pages of American Girlhood : The Evolution of Girls’ Series Fiction, 1865-1930. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2013. 135-168. ebrary eBooks. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

—. “Running the Gamut and the Gauntlet: World War I Series Fiction as a Catalyst for Change in the Cultural Landscape of American Girlhood.” Turning the Pages of American Girlhood : The Evolution of Girls’ Series Fiction, 1865-1930. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2013. 168-200. ebrary eBooks. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

—. “Taking Advantage of New Markets: Ruth Fielding as a Motion Picture Screenwriter, Producer, and Executive.” Turning the Pages of American Girlhood : The Evolution of Girls’ Series Fiction, 1865-1930. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2013. 201-222. ebrary eBooks. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

Herbert, Rosemary. “Syndicate Authors.” Whodunit?: A Who’s Who in Crime and Mystery Writing. Cary: Oxford University Press, 2003. 189-190. ebrary eBooks. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.

Johnson, Deidre. “Introduction: The People Behind the Books.” Stratemeyer Pseudonyms and Series Books: An Annotated Checklist of  Stratemeyer and Stratemeyer Syndicate Publications. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1982. xiii-xxxvi. Print.

—. “Alice B. Emerson.” Stratemeyer Pseudonyms and Series Books: An Annotated Checklist of  Stratemeyer and Stratemeyer Syndicate Publications. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1982. 117-122. Print.

—. “Appendix D – Series Contributors.” Stratemeyer Pseudonyms and Series Books: An Annotated Checklist of  Stratemeyer and Stratemeyer Syndicate Publications. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1982. 307. Print.

Knock, Thomas J. “World War I.” The Oxford Companion to United States History. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference. 2004. Date Accessed 8 Mar. 2014

Silvey, Anita. “Series Books.” The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 407-8. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 20 Feb. 2014.

Stoneley, Peter. “Serial Pleasures” Consumerism and American Girls’ Literature, 1860-1940. Ed. Ross Posnock. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. 90-104. Print. Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture no. 134.

Stratemeyer Syndicate. Fan mail to Alice B. Emerson. 1919-28. Box 31. Stratemeyer Syndicate Records 1832-1984. Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

My Unknown Chum by Henry Garrity. Advertisement. New York Tribune 14 April 1917: 9. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Lib. of Congress. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

Woman by Vance Thomas. Advertisement. New York Tribune 14 April 1917: 9. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Lib. of Congress. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.

Through the Eyes of a Child During 1918: Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Tales for Children

2014, Children's Books and War, , , , , , , , , , ,

Cautionary Tales for Children, by Hilaire Belloc

Fig. 1. Hilaire Belloc, Cautionary Tales for Children, Children's Literature Archive.
Hilaire Belloc’s, Cautionary Tales for Children, Children’s Literature Archive.

There is an abundant amount of literary texts published during the 19th century that addresses society’s expectations of appropriate child behaviour. Many of these beliefs were gender specific, focusing on the expectancy of what constitutes as obedient behaviour for young boys and girls (Frost 27). However, in response to these advisory texts, Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Tales for Children satirizes this style of writing and the messages they tend to convey. As there have been three separately published editions at various time periods, this exhibit will particularly examine Duckworth and Company’s 1918 edition, published in London, England, with illustrations provided by Basil Temple Blackwood (B.T.B.).

In relevancy to the theme of war, Duckworth and Company had published Cautionary Tales for Children towards the closing of the First World War (1918) possibly to provide a form of post-war relief for children. The following research intends to explore Belloc’s purpose for parodying cautionary texts for children by comparing it to conventional Victorian advisory children’s literature. The reason for republication during the end of the First World War will be further researched to provide clarification and understanding as to how child audiences of 1918 would receive this particular edition. Additionally, the following exhibit will explore how the theme of war is conveyed through the partnership of Blackwood’s illustrations and Belloc’s verses.

Hilaire Belloc, 1870-1953

2014-03-13 16.15.43
Hilaire Belloc (1902), Testimony to Hilaire Belloc (London: Methuen and Co. LTD, 1956)

Hilaire Belloc was an English writer, who had written a wide selection of biographies, essays, novels, travel books, poetry and children’s books (Lingen). Less known for his serious literary pieces, Belloc was better known as a children’s writer whose main focus was to produce works that opposed the culture of didacticism (Lingen). The Herald reports that Belloc’s children’s books were so successful that upon the production of More Beasts for Worse Children, there had been “heavy advanced orders” of the text, causing an inability to produce enough supplies (26). Belloc’s work in children’s literature aimed to satirize early 19th century writers who focussed on instructional texts for appropriate child behaviour; he did this by creating extremes of unnaturally obedient children and mischievous children, who would consequently suffer an ill fate due to their disobedience (Lingen).

Content Topics, Verses & Illustrations

Many of the sketched illustrations provided by Blackwood congregate to a common theme of ‘consequential death;’ meaning, that due to specific circumstances, these characters experience a morbid fate. Provided with some insight from Ian Cooke, a Lead Curator for International and Political Studies at The British Library, this close examination will explore how a child from 1918 may interpret the text.

Contrast of Victorian Expectations of Child Behaviour
Matilda Death
Fig. 1. Matilda’s Ashes. Basil Temple Blackwood. Illus. in Cautionary Tale for Children.

When it came to the behaviour of children, obedience and dutifulness was a major expectation among parents and guardians (Frost 11). Ginger S. Frost explains that it was assumed by most parents that females were morally superior in comparison to males, which enabled them to escape their way out of trouble. It appears that Belloc had written “Matilda” in parody of this belief. Although the plots of each tale are extreme, the duality of word and image make it clear that  Belloc believed that female superiority is inadequate, and that anybody who commits wrongful decisions will be prosecuted (fig. 1). 

Given the context of the poem, Blackwood’s illustration emits a sense of morbidity; that these are the ashes of a young girl who had burned to death because she had lied on numerous occasions, and thus could not be trusted by the townspeople. Although the sketch does not include typical images of gore – as some of the other illustrations do – the context of the poem enhances the gruesomeness of the tale.

Straightforward Illustrations of Morbidity
Dalton Father
Fig. 2. D’Alton’s Father. Basil Temple Blackwood. Illus. in Cautionary Tales for Children.

Blackwood alternates from indirect sketches of morbidity to unequivocal illustrations of the macabre, which can most especially be seen in the poem “Gordolphin Horne.” By including a graphic illustration of a man who had been hung, Blackwood effectively reaches out to the child audience a form of execution (fig. 2). The sketch is rather detailed in comparison to the illustration of Matilda, possibly to enhance Belloc’s attempt to create a parody of conventional cautionary tales, as the inclusion of death is unfamiliar to Victorian children’s texts.

Duality of Illustration & Verses

The closing verses of “Jim” work effectively with the illustration to produce a skin-crawling feeling. Belloc’s narrator states,

Jim Lion Death
Fig. 3. Jim, Cautionary Tales for Children. Illus.

“Now just imagine how it feels / When first your toes and then your heels, / And then by gradual degrees, / Your shins and ankles, calves and knees, / Are slowly eaten, bit by bit.”

The partnership of Blackwood’s sketch and Belloc’s set of verses offers additional gruesomeness to the poem, as the duality of word and image work together to produce an enhanced experience of death and violence (fig. 3). Although it may be clear to a child of 1918 that this is a tale of exaggeration and humour, this particular image reinforces the idea that this text functions as a means of leisure.

Analysis of Images in Relation to War & Reception of a 1918 Child Reader

It is clear that beneath the purpose of providing a parody of Victorian cautionary tales, these images represent underlying themes of death and morbidity as well as a commentary to Victorian ideals. The way in which Belloc produces his poetic verses, he creates an upbeat tempo that eliminates the sorrowful ways in which these characters die. This strategy of pairing poems and playful illustrations of death helps lighten the morbid themes, thus amplifying the notion that this text intended to be humorous.

During the time of its republication in 1918, the closing of the First World War was also in motion. As many lives had been lost to the war, it is sound to predict that the republication of Belloc’s text was to demonstrate that the Victorian era is now over. As mentioned before, Belloc had written this text to satirize the Victorian ideals of child behaviour. Therefore, in republication of this text, clarifies an end to the old world.

Cautionary Tales for Children. Book.
Cautionary Tales for Children Published by Eveleigh Nash. Book.

Moreover, as child audiences were the target for the original text, the republication was no different. Blackwood’s original illustrations were created in 1907, in which Cooke states that prior to the war, the use of morbidity for children’s humour was common (The British Library). Yet Cooke states that during the war, children, “experienced the loss of parents and other adults in their families as fathers and uncles joining the armed forces…” (The British Library). Thus, children may have been desensitized to concepts of death, violence and morbidity. Therefore, with the republication of this title, children of 1918 may have been able to identify with these images, and interpret them with humour.

Production and Reception Within the Media

HB 191 NY Tribune copy
Fig. 4. Hilaire Belloc’s War Article “German’s Sacrifice Divisons in Desperate Haste to Break Through. The New York Tribune. 1918.

Eleven years after its first publication by Eveleigh Nash, Cautionary Tales for Children was republished by Duckworth and Company in 1918. Although there are no sufficient articles that clearly discuss the production and reception of this particular edition, there are few speculations that this edition was a commemoration for Belloc’s son who had died in 1918, as well as for Blackwood, who had died 1907. However, given the time of its republication, the First World War was concluding. It appears that many journalists and newspaper companies were focussed on the outcomes of the war rather than publishing reviews on literary works. Even during this time, most of Belloc’s published works appeared in newspapers, where he offered his conclusions on the war rather than the recent republication of his text (fig. 4).

Walter Barnes does, however, provide some reception on Belloc’s text New Cautionary Tales which follows closely to the structure and style of Cautionary Tales for Children. Calling it a “Child’s book of necessary nonsense,” Barnes claims that New Cautionary Tales was Belloc’s:

Latest offering to the gaiety of the children of the nations […] No one since Edward Lear surpasses Belloc in the palatable mixture of sense and puckishness, of high spirits of nonchalant handling of intractable rhymes and meters. These are cautionary rhymes, but often set spinning with the ‘reverse English’ on them so that the Jane and Ann Taylor-ish morals are neatly and completely laugh out of court (303).

Although Barnes discusses the more recent text, I found that his review can be interpreted as a ‘secondary reception’ as its formulation had been inspired and structured according to Cautionary Tales for Children. Both texts share the same style of presenting virtuous lessons through poetic verses, while also ridiculing those who enforce didacticism (Lingen). However, direct reception for Cautionary Tales for Children remains unfound possibly due to the excitement of war ending.

The decision for Duckworth and Company to republish Belloc’s work appears to be an attempt to comment on the closing of the First World War. Duckworth and Company may have felt that with the closing of the war brought forth a time children needed to escape from the traumatic events and be enlightened with moralistic, yet humorous literary material. Cautionary Tales for Children presents illustrations and ideas of morbidity that children of this time could identify with, without having sorrowful feelings.

Carol Fox claims that, “literature is one of the most powerful media for communicating to children what war is, what it is like, what it means and what its consequences are, thus the project is not so much an ideological or moral enterprise as a literary one” (126). Thus, in the decision to republish this text, Duckworth and Company may have felt that a fun, playful piece of literature may assist children in healing from the war, and possibly answering any questions they may have of it. Therefore, the text fulfills two purposes – to parody the cautionary texts that were commonly distributed, but to also function as a response to the effects of war, by providing education as well as leisure to children.  

Outcomes of Duckworth and Company’s 1918 Republication

The end of the First World War had marked the closing of a chapter within the United Kingdom. Thus, Duckworth and Company’s means for republication expresses society’s outgrowth for orthodoxly modes of cautionary texts for children. The societal movement away from these ideals demonstrate the aspiration for a new beginning; which would mean an end to the period of instructional texts for children. The republication of Cautionary Tales for Children assisted the transformation within the society and its environment.

Conclusion: How Would a Child of 1918 Receive This Text?

A common experience of the First World War entailed death of male figures within a typical family household in the United Kingdom. Thus, given the effects of the war, children of 1918 may have had a sense of identification with the morbid concepts. Albeit the exaggeration and hilarity in Belloc’s prose, it is due to children’s close experience with death, that they are able to recognize these concepts and interpret them in a comical way. Thus, as a result, the children become desensitized to these normally, alarming topics.

While a juvenile audience from the Victorian era may express unease, children of 1918 had most likely approached the text with an understanding of Belloc’s intent – to pair the customary form of didacticism with playful verses and illustrations that mocked this form. With its republication in 1918, the child reader may have used this text as an instrument of leisure as it illustratively presented ideas that they could identify from their life experiences of the war.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Works Cited

Barnes, Walter. “Contemporary Poetry for Children (Concluded).” The Elementary English Review 13.8 (1936): 298-304. JSTOR. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

Cooke, Ian. “Children’s Experiences and Propaganda.” The British Library. N. p., n.d. Web. 10
Mar. 2014.

Jebb, Eleanor Belloc and Reginald Jebb. Testimony to Hilaire Belloc. London: Methuen, 1956. Print

Fox, Carol. “What the Children’s Literature of War is Telling the Children.” Reading 33.3
(1999): 126-131. Wiley Online Library. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.

Frost, Ginger Suzanne. Victorian Childhoods. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2009. Print.

Lingen, Marissa K. “Belloc, Hilaire.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature 2006.
Web. 8 Feb. 2014.

“Books and Their Makers” The Herald (Los Angeles [CA]) 30 Jan. 1898: 26. Chronicling
America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

 

© Copyright 2014 Carmen Jimenez, Ryerson University

Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures: Film as a Distraction during WW1

2014, Children's Books and War, , , , , , , , ,

© Copyright 2014 Bianca Perry, Ryerson University

Introduction

Book Cover of Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures, 1916. First Dust Jacket.
Book Cover of Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures, 1916. First Dust Jacket.

Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures Or, Helping the Dormitory Fund is a 208-paged juvenile novel situated in Ryerson’s CLA Collection. It was written by W. Bert Foster under the pseudonym Alice B. Emerson and published by the Cupples & Leon Company in New York, 1916. There is one illustration by W. Rogers on the frontispiece of a filming scene in chapter nineteen.

One of Ruth’s main passions in the novel Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures is, as the title suggests, film. As the book was published in 1916, cinema in the United States was still relatively in its early stages of development. This meant that cinema was a new and popular topic which the American people wanted to know more about. In this way, Ruth’s discovery of film coincides with the country’s discovery of film. Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures is associated with the Great War. The characters in the novel are not directly involved in or affected by the war since the United States did not join World War 1 until a year after the book was published. However, in association with the war, moving pictures acted as a distraction for people. This worked in several ways, including, but not limited to, the theatre environment, movies for the purpose of entertainment or escapism, and the glamour of movie-making.

Summary

Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures follows Ruth and her two best friends, twins Tom and Helen Cameron. At the outset of the novel, the trio spots a moving picture company filming a scene. When the main actress falls into the river, Ruth and her friends save the actress and bring her to Ruth’s non-biological Aunt Alvirah to recover at their home, the Red Mill. When Tom shows interest in the actress, Ruth feels a tinge of jealousy, demonstrating the possibility of a romantic future between the two. Even though this is the ninth book in the series, it was not all that difficult to tell what the relationships between the characters were like because the author gives a brief summary of each of the previous books in the third chapter.

The girls of Briarwood Hall film a scene.
The girls of Briarwood Hall film a scene.

Upon meeting the producer, Mr. Hammond, Ruth divulges that she plans to write a moving picture script and Mr. Hammond agrees to read it. An inspired Ruth secretly begins writing her scenario “Curiosity.” Ruth and Helen return to the all girls school, Briarwood Hall, for their final year. Ruth sends her finished scenario off to Mr. Hammond. While at dinner, the West Dormitory, housing all of Ruth’s and Helen’s possessions, burns down. With an expired insurance on the building, there is no money available to rebuild it. The girls each contribute what they can but it is still not enough. Ruth wants to come up with a plan where all the girls can contribute equally since money is not expendable for everyone. When Mr. Hammond replies, impressed with Ruth’s work, he sends her money and tells her he is going to start filming the scenario right away. This is when the two story lines intersect and Ruth comes up with the idea to write a moving picture scenario, aptly titled “The Heart of a Schoolgirl” set at Briarwood Hall, using all the girls as extras. All the profits from the film will go toward helping the dormitory fund. Mr. Hammond approves the idea and Ruth and her team get to work, finding huge success at the end of the novel. Both scenarios written by Ruth are met with enthusiasm by audiences while she gains personal satisfaction from earning money using her brain in something she is passionate about. And finally, Ruth and her friends graduate high school.

Production and Reception

Edward Stratemeyer started a company known as the Stratemeyer Syndicate in which he and hired writers wrote more than 800 books [for children] under 65 pseudonyms (McDowell). While Stratemeyer is a writer, he did not pen the Ruth Fielding series. The Ruth Fielding series was one of the series he produced. In a process detailed in an interview with newspaper Newark Sunday Call (Lawrence), Stratemeyer plotted the novels, gave the outlines to hired writers and edited the manuscript he received from them before sending it to publishers; therefore, playing a huge role in the creation and production of the Ruth Fielding series.

In an advertisement from a New York based magazine, promoting a department store, Ruth Fielding is listed with other girl-specific book series set at low, accessible prices. The fact that this book is listed in an ad for Christmas gift ideas gives a thorough idea of how the book was received and consumed by its audience.

The popularity of the Stratemeyer Syndicate books created much tension. It sparked debate on quality fiction versus literary merit (Soderbergh). Tensions also arose between what early 20th century girls wanted to read versus what their elders, specifically the librarians, thought the girls should be reading. Books with traditional cultural values (i.e. care-taking) and religious behavior were acceptable and promoted by librarians while series books were viewed as immoral and negatively influential (Hamilton-Honey). Despite being discouraged by many adults at the time, the series still soared in popularity and in sales. This speaks volumes about how girls at the time viewed Ruth and how they were interested in, if not inspired by, her path of self-discovery outside of the home.

Working Girls

The Girl Scouts were created in 1912. While there were women trying to keep girls traditional, there was also this entity teaching young girls that they could, if they wanted to, become more than a housewife. The message being promoted here to young girls is different than what they were likely hearing at home, at school, or in society (Revzin). The creation of the girls scouts (which today promotes well-roundedness in girls) around the time of the novel’s publishing date delineates the shift in some attitudes of girlhood.

Around the 1910s, there was also a shift in cultural attitudes toward moving pictures. To keep it relevant, it has been suggested that girl’s books series encouraged young girls to attend movies during that time (Inness). Ruth Fielding decides early on in the book that she wants to become a moving picture writer. Her interest in and pursuit of a career as a moving picture writer would have inevitably influenced many young girls in the world. Ruth unknowingly and unintentionally represented a business not entirely closed to women.

Furthermore, during America’s active war years (1917-1918), women contributed to the war effort. As men were conscripted and went off to war, women were encouraged to “do their bit” and pick up where the men left off, including anything from factory work to farming (Kim). While Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures was published a year before the war at a time when girls were being scrutinized for participating in work in the public sphere, it is interesting to see how only a year later women were being thrust into all sorts of fields outside of domestic work due to the war.

Overview of Film History

The history of film is long and complex. It includes many facets such as sound, color, lighting, cinematic technique, editing, and longevity. As such, this will be a very brief overview. No one inventor is credited with the creation of cinema. George Eastman, Thomas Edison, and the Lumière Brothers are noted as early contributors. However, many others have contributed to film’s progression. The first motion picture camera was invented in the 1890’s. Within a few years, practical systems for recording and reproducing motion using a single camera came about. Then, short silent films (usually scenes from a stage play or of everyday life) were projected on a screen before a paying (albeit informal) audience. By 1900, filmmakers began using basic editing techniques and film narratives. Around 1910, silent cinema was accompanied by a musical background. Technicolor did not come till much later in the 1930’s (Jacobs). World War 1 marked a transition in the film industry: short one-reel programs transformed into feature films. Theaters became larger and more expensive. Moreover, while war halted the growth of the film industry in other countries, the United States’ late entry into the war allowed the industry to grow exponentially.

First Row: Nickelodeon theatres, 1910s. Second Row: Upper-class Movie palaces.
First Row: Nickelodeon theatres, 1910s.
Second Row: Upper-class movie palaces.

Theatre Environment

Theatres have always involved a shared space with low lighting where everyone is in attendance for the same purpose: to watch the action occurring on screen. The Nickelodeon (1905) located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was the first theatre in the United States. The creators, Harry Davis and John P. Harris, moved about 100 seats and a projector into an empty store. Attendees were charged five cents (or, a nickel – the origin of its name). The success of this endeavor saw nickelodeon theatres pop up all over the country.

As I began mentioning earlier, a cultural shift occurs in the 1910s. The shift occurs in the idea that moving pictures were only for the working class as they were cheap and unintelligent in content. However, it became seen as something the upper classes could also enjoy as movies became longer and more varied in content and theatres became more luxurious. With advance tickets and reserved seating, these theatres, also known as movie palaces, became sort of replicas of opera houses (Jacobs). They had live orchestras, sloped seating and comfortable chairs. Venues served upward 2,500-6,000 people.

The darkness of the theatre environment suggests a place to hide away for a few hours. Depending on genre, films could move entire audiences to laughter or to tears. Shared experience brought the citizens of the country together in much the same way war propaganda attempted too. Ruth and her friends share the experience of attending the premiere of their film together to watch their work come to fruition. Emotions (nervousness, anxiousness, excitement) run high but are soothed in the darkness.

Movies for Entertainment or Escapism

Regardless of genre, films offered audiences the chance to be figuratively transported to another world, enthralling them with make-believe. While viewing a film, people could escape or be entertained in a few ways. A person could temporarily forget routine, mundane life and live vicariously though the character on screen. The characters on screen would be a part of an exaggerated adventure that everyday people would not or could not take part in. The rise of feature films and the increase in popularity of lengthier films may have suggested that people not only wanted to be entertained for a longer amount of time but that they also enjoyed the escape offered to them in that fixed setting. While Ruth’s second scenario is written in hopes that it will raise money for her school, her first scenario is written purely for the purpose of entertainment.

Glamour of Celebrity

The 1910s saw a rise in interest in the people starring in moving pictures. Certain faces and names became guaranteed to attract audiences (Jacobs). Thus, the glamour of moving-making and those involved in it was born. The creation of this “star system” (where a face equals movie ticket sales) suggests widespread adoration, if not obsession. What follows is the desire to know everything about that person through reading magazines or newspapers, and listening to radio interviews. The idea of a recognizable person, or rather, a celebrity, gave people something else to focus on and something else to speak about. Much like in the novel when Ruth and her friends fish actress Hazel Gray out of a river, not one of them can resist ogling in their own way. Tom thinks she’s beautiful and adores her instantly. Helen wants to be her. Ruth wants to know how she became an actress and question her about the process of becoming a writer.

Conclusion

Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures follows Ruth as she pursues and achieves her dream of becoming a moving picture writer. This positively influences and encourages other young readers of the series to do the same. As Ruth is discovering cinema in the mid-1910s, so is the rest of the country. At the same time, World War 1 is occurring outside the borders of the United States but remained a constant threat. One of the ways in which Americans distracted themselves from this grim and scary reality was to attend movie screenings. The idea of film as a distraction during the Great War worked in several ways: people could hide away together in dark, semi-intimate rooms, people could become swept away by the stories on screen, or people could become obsessed with the real lives of movie stars.

Link to CLA

Link to online version of book

 

Work Cited:

Emerson, Alice B. Ruth Fielding in Moving Pictures or, Helping the Dormitory Fund. New York: Cupples & Leon Co, 1916. Print.

Gimbels Department Store. Advertisement. The Evening World [New York] 16 Dec 1915: 15. Web. Feb.

Hamilton-Honey, Emily. “Guardians of Morality: Librarians and American Girls’ Series Fiction, 1890-1950.” Library Trends 60.4 (2012): 765–785. Web. Feb

Inness, Sherrie A. “The Feminine En-Gendering of Film Consumption and Film Technology in Popular Girls’ Serial Novels, 1914-1931.” Journal of Popular Culture 29.3 (1995): 169. Web. Feb.

Jacobs, Christopher P. “Development of the Cinema: From Scientific Novelty to a New Art and Entertainment Industry”. Guide to the Silent Years of American Cinema, Ed. Donald McCaffrey. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1999. 1-14. Print.

Kim, Tae H. “Where Women Worked During World War I”. Pacific Northwest Labor and Civil Rights Project. Washington State University, 2003. Web. 22 Feb 2014.

Lawrence, Josephine. “The Newarker Whose Name Is Best Known”. Newark Sunday Call [Newark] 9 Dec 1917: n.p. Web. Feb.

McDowell, Edwin. “Syndicator of Bobbsey Twins and Hardy Boys Purchased”. New York Times [New York] 4 Aug 1984. Web. Feb.

Revzin, Rebekah E. “American Girlhood in the Early Twentieth Century: The Ideology of Girl Scout Literature, 1913-1930.” The Library Quarterly 68.3 (1998): 261–275. Web. Feb.

Soderbergh, Peter A. “The Stratemeyer Strain: Educators and the Juvenile Series Book, 1900-1973.” Journal of Popular Culture 7.4 (1974): 864-73. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.

Encouraging Positive Behaviour From Children in Hunt’s About Harriet

2014, Children's Books and War, , , ,

© Copyright 2014 Jessica Almeida, Ryerson University

ABOUT HARRIET FRONT COVER
About Harriet – by Clara Whitehill Hunt, illustrated by Maginel Wright Enright

Introduction:

About Harriet is a medium-sized children’s book that includes a 152 pages of descriptions and pictures of a child named Harriet’s daily encounters and activities. Clara Whitehill Hunt, who was a teacher, librarian, author and supporter for children’s library services, wrote About Harriet. Maginel Wright Enright, who was an illustrator for children’s books and magazines, illustrated the pictures displayed throughout About Harriet. Houghton Mifflin Company and The Riverside Cambridge in Boston and New York respectively published About Harriet. This children’s book can be found in the Children’s Literature Archive Collection. Published in November 1916, About Harriet was read to children during the First World War. At this point the United States had not yet joined the war, but the fear of the American entrance was amongst the American citizens.

Hunt was well known for writing children’s books that focused on the positive rather than the negative. Knowing that the First World War was taking place, Hunt wrote About Harriet during a time when the world was at war to promote a positive atmosphere and peace. Hunt believed that it is careless to let children waste their time reading books with weak stories. Although they may have a strong storyline they lack the broadening of young minds and hearts, which Hunt believed a good children’s book should do.

The war can be scary for children who may not understand it, but books such as About Harriet can be used to reduce that fear and try to promote to children the idea that no matter what is going on in the world it’s important to stay positive and have a good outlook on life. The critical approach I will be taking when analyzing About Harriet will be focusing on Hunt’s use of children’s books to promote positive attitudes and good behaviour towards people. Children’s books have a substantial amount of influence on young minds and if we promote positive behaviour in our children’s books, the future could be without war.

Summary

About Harriet is a fascinating children’s book recommended for ages four to eight. This children’s book revolves around the endeavors of a young four-year-old girl who lives with her mother and father in the city throughout all the seven days of the week. There are also visually enjoyable illustrations that give graphics to Harriet’s daily actions.

This children’s book touches upon issues that families would go through on a daily bases and displays the way children should behave and act in each situation. By reading this children’s book, children should learn how to behave well and act in a well-mannered way. The story is divided into seven chapters that resemble the seven days of the week and tells the story of what she did on that day.

The story begins on a Friday morning where Harriet wakes up and helps her mother do chores around the house. For example she helps her mother wash dishes, bake and iron clothes. Then Harriet and her mother go to park where Harriet is confronted with dangerous situations in which she knows to avoid in order to be safe.

The weekend is spent at the beach with her family, which is where Harriet makes a new friend. Harriet also goes to church, which shows the importance of religion and morality.  The events that took place over the weekend introduce the importance of family and religion to the young impressionable children who are reading this book.

The remaining of the week revolves around Harriet and the series of events that her mother and herself engage in while her father is out at work. Events that took place include spending a day indoors because of horrible weather conditions, visits from various family members, going to the grocery store and spending the day downtown shopping and going to a fancy restaurant for dinner. Each event involved a well behaved young girl, who not once misbehaved.

ABOUT HARRIET ILLUSTRATION
Harriet and her mother eating dinner downtown. Illustrated by Maginel Wright Enright

This idea of a well-behaved young girl changed on Thursday. Harriet isn’t as behaved as he had been all week and her mother is not happy with her behaviour. She tells her mother that the reason why she is behaving naughtily is because of the book she had read, in which one of the characters was being naughty because they woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Harriet realizes that she is behaving naughty and apologizes to her mother. She tells her mother that she enjoys books of good people rather than books of naughty people. After her nap, they go to the library. Hunt includes the act of going to the library to show the significance of libraries and how important they are for children to visit. When they get home they play a game that makes Harriet realize that she will never be naughty again like she was that morning.

To end the story by having a day that is different than the others makes children realize that when you are a good person you do a lot more activities than when you are naughty. The moral of the story being that you should always be well behaved and never act mischievous. Essentially this children’s book promotes good behaviour in hopes that children will not act naughty and therefore there will be more peace in the world.

Production and Reception

The Riverside Cambridge and Houghton Mifflin Company published About Harriet. Henry Houghton originally started The Riverside Cambridge and in 1872, he entered a partnership with George Mifflin, thus creating the Houghton Mifflin Company (Dornbusch).

About Harriet was published a year before the United States entered World War One. Although it can be argued that Hunt wrote About Harriet with the possibility of America entering the war in mind, she wrote a book about a child that learns it is better to be good than bad in hopes that positive reinforcement of good behaviour would prevent future wars. Hunt believed that if a book promoted peace, there would less likely be future wars. This belief explains the production of About Harriet.

During this time period a lot of books about war were being published. About Harriet differed from most of the books because fighting and war were not included in Hunt’s children’s book. A month after About Harriet was published, it was advertised in the New York Sun under a listing of other children’s book that were also being published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. At the time About Harriet’s net price was $1.25. The book was well liked amongst parents and their children and was a favourite pick by children at bedtime.

The Purpose of Children’s Books During the First World War

America’s Entrance

Three years after World War One began, President Thomas Woodrow Wilson believed there was no alternative to war and declared America’s entrance in to the war in 1917. The Germans were the main reason for America’s entrance because of unrestricted submarine warfare. America’s ships were being bombed, leading to American merchant seaman and civilians being killed. This affected the American economy and caused the United States to join the Allies and invest a lot of money in them.  America believed that the only way to protect America’s financial investments was to join the war in hopes of a victory (Clements).

The entrance of America into the First World War instilled fear into many American citizens. While soldiers were preparing for war, parents at home were either worrying about their son fighting in a war or figuring out how they were going to explain to their children about what was going on in the world. This was seen as a prime time for the introduction of children’s books on war.  These books would give parents the materials they need in order to educate their children on what was happening.

Children’s Books on War

During war, it is not just the soldiers and citizens who suffer; children do too, even those who are not directly involved. Even if the child is not directly affected by the war physical or mentally, just simply worrying about the war can have a negative effect on children (Crowe).

How can children’s books on war be beneficial? Reading about war can lead to peace because today’s children are tomorrow’s adults. This idea of peace will benefit future generations. Good children’s books about war can inspire children to appreciate the sense of peace and realize the terror of war (Crowe). This inspiration can influence the children to cherish peace and promote it in order to prevent future wars.

Sustaining peace is not easy, but by having children’s books present the idea of peace reinforces that war can be avoided when people start to realize that foreigners and potential enemies are human just like they are (Crowe). Enforcing positive messages in children’s books can help create a brighter.

ABOUT HARRIET 2
Harriet makes a friend at the beach. Illustrated by Maginel Wright Enright

The Message Behind Hunt’s About Harriet

Clara Whitehil Hunt was best known for her work with children’s literature services. When she thought about war only one word came to mind and that was ‘selfishness’. She explains this selfishness as wanting the power to control the minds and souls of men. She believed that the only way to get rid of war was to change human nature. A person’s human nature is a reflection of how they were brought up. If a child was told at a young age that it is important to fight for your country and it is your duty to, the child will grow up believing that you have no other choice but to join the army and fight in the war (Hunt). Therefore the only way to change human nature is to make sure children are being surrounded by positive behaviour. This is where Hunt believes children’s books are effective.

About Harriet involves a girl who behaves well, has perfect manners and never misbehaves. It is only on the last day of the week she decided to misbehave and mimic a behaviour she read in a book. However, this changes when Harriet quickly realizes that being bad is unacceptable and that it is better to be good than bad. Hunt includes this moral to educate children to always behave and that it’s better to be good than bad.

This moral also teaches parents that what their children reads influences the way that they behave. Harriet is around the same age as the children who are reading this book or who are having this book read to them, which allows the child to relate to Harriet. Children start to think that if he or she behaves well they will do all the exciting activities Harriet does. If everyone is good rather than bad it makes for a better world. Bad behaviour can create hate towards other people, which can lead to war. Hunt wants parents to read About Harriet to their children to promote positive behaviour, thus creating well-behaved children. Children believe what they have been taught by their elders.

Conclusion

Hunt states that we cannot afford to let children grow up without good books to read (Hunt). It is important to have these books available for children to read because the war can cause a lot of chaos, but with the help of positive reinforcement from children’s books there is hope for no future wars. Children are the future and it is up to today’s adults to make sure they have all the knowledge they need to create a world they would want to live in.

Link to About Harriet by Clara Whitehill Hunt  

 

 

Works Cited
Clements, Kendrick A. “Woodrow Wilson and World War I.” Presidential Studies
Quarterly 34.1 (2004): 62–82. Project Muse. Web. 20 Feb. 2014

Crowe, Chris. “Peace-Keeping Forces: YA War Books.” English Journal, High school
edition 89.5 (2000): 159–163. Project Muse. Web. 20 Feb. 2014

Dornbusch, Erin. “Riverside Press”. Industry in Cambridge. Web. 19 Feb. 2014

Hunt, Clara Whitehill. About Harriet. Illus. Maginel Wright Enright. Boston and New
York: Hougton Mifflin Company and The Riverside Cambridge, 1916. Children’s Literature Archive, Ryerson University. Print. –Link to the CLA Catalogue 

Hunt, Clara Whitehill. “The Child and the Book in War Times.” The English Journal 7.8 (1918): 487–496. JSTOR. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

“Just the Books For Boys and Girls From the List of Houghton Mifflin Company.” The
New York Sun 2 December 1916. Web. 20 Feb. 2014

The Probationer: Women and Romance in the Edwardian Era

2014, Children's Books and War, , , , , , , ,

© 2014, Christina Anto, Ryerson University

Probationer01 - Cover
Fig. 1. P.B. Hickling’s cover illustration and design for The Frantic Misfortunes of a Nurse, or, The Probationer, by A. M. Irvine

Introduction

Amy Mary Irvine’s The Frantic Misfortunes of a Nurse, or, The Probationer is a romance novel published in 1910 by S.W. Partridge in London, England. Illustrated by the prolific, but little-known, artist Percy Bell Hickling (see fig. 1), it follows the story of a young woman’s ascent from the position of graceless and spoiled probationer to assistant nurse at a children’s hospital.

1910 also signals the end of the prosperous Edwardian era, an (approximate) decade of peace characterized by its shift away from Victorian morality and featuring the beginnings of Modernism. Britain’s entrance into the First World War in 1914 dramatically changed British economy and industry, and the roles of women changed with it. Both authors and readers of the Edwardian era were straddled between two perspectives, and the Great War changed this perspective into the Modern era.

The Probationer reflects Victorian ideas of femininity, maternity and romance. The novel is characteristic of popular Edwardian romance as it reinforces the ideal, but mandatory, behaviour of a woman as she enters adulthood. However, the novel also shows characteristics of the Modern, anticipating women’s rights by portraying an independent and gifted female protagonist’s professional and personal coming-of-age. The novel, like the Edwardian Era, straddles the past and the future and combines seemingly opposing sensibilities that reconciles the fantasy and the real.

The theoretical and historical context reflects on the reader of the novel. The Probationer had a young female readership a decade after its 1910 publication. The front inscription of the CLA’s copy indicates that the book was given to a young woman on her completion of

Fig. 2. Inside cover inscription. "Presented to Hilda Stebbins for Attending + Prep. of Lessons. March 14, 1919"
Fig. 2. Inside cover inscription. “Presented to Hilda Stebbins for Attending + Prep. of Lessons. March 14, 1919”

prep school lessons (see fig. 2). The societal context of the reader in post-war Britain would affect a reading of the novel, allowing a re-interpretation of the female protagonist that would foreshadow medical fiction, women’s rights and the rise of literary feminism.

The popularity of romance novels continued into the Edwardian era in their Victorian era form, and Edwardian perspectives of femininity were continuing Victorian ideas (Kullman 74). The Probationer, while a traditional Victorian formula romance, appears to have had a continued readership throughout the 20th century due to the copy’s inside cover inscription. The post-war reader differed greatly from the Victorian or Edwardian, and this longevity allows the book to be reinterpreted as a Modernist romance.

Summary of Contents

Probationer005 MESS TWO
Fig. 3. P. B. Hickling, “I whirled round at a muffled shriek from her” p. 57

The Probationer follows the story of an idle young woman from a wealthy family as she attempts to become a nurse. She envies an older family friend’s nursing occupation, and so she decides to become one herself. Her fantasies of rewarding, glamourous work are immediately dispelled upon her arrival, and the work proves to be gruelling and difficult. Her previous idleness is reflected in her ineptitude, and she drops pans, burns lunch, and endures all other sorts of mishaps that initially cause her to feel shame but contribute to her growing humility (see fig. 3). During these mishaps she begins to receive the teasing attention of the hospital’s leading doctor, Mr. Fleming. A fellow probationer tells her that Mr. Fleming is her fiancé, and Agnes is heartbroken until he refutes this claim. He confesses his love for her, and they decide to become engaged once she finished her term. The pro eventually receives the glowing compliments of her superiors, and decides to stay on at the hospital (fig. 4).

P.B. Hickling illustrates the six black-and-white plates included at key moments in the book. Each one shows Agnes Atherton at various moments in her journey from probationer to signed nurse.

Edwardian Era and Romantic Fiction

Fig. 4. P. B. Hickling, "I gazed at the fateful paper, and scrawled my name in the space indicated."
Fig. 4. P. B. Hickling, “I gazed at the fateful paper, and scrawled my name in the space indicated.” p. 177

The Edwardian Era is not exactly a literary era, and romance is not exactly a literary genre (Hynes 1). Critics are rarely in agreement to the definition of either, as the Edwardian Era extends to either 1910 or 1914 (Hynes 1), and definitions of romance are often reduced to a collection of features (McCracken 79). Virginia Woolf explains Edwardian literature as existing as a genre between genres (Hynes 9), and Edwardian romance novels straddled Victorian ideas of womanhood with the early shadows of Modernity (Hynes) and, ultimately, feminism. An Edwardian romance novel contained features of both prescribed Victorian propriety and the reinterpretation of femininity and womanhood of the war years and Modernity.

The Probationer quintessentially represents the features of a romance novel. Agnes is the perfect misunderstood heroine (the femme incomprise) (McCracken 78). Her object of desire (her fabula) is seemingly unattainable (barriers, or sjuzet). Only her ultimate acceptance of subordinate feminine to masculine authority allows her to overcome the barriers and receive her object of desire (McCracken 86), and she achieves this when she transforms into the idealized woman.

Agnes desires the love of Mr. Fleming, but it is also apparent that she desires acceptance and success in her profession. While her desire of the masculine authority figure is characteristic of the formula romance, Agnes’ self-actualization occurs outside of her romantic interests and this ultimately allows for a re-interpretation of the novel beyond Victorian tropes.

“Outer” Barriers to Love

Probationer03 - mr fleming
Fig. 5. P. B. Hickling, “He regarded me much as a naturalist might examine a new sort of animal” p. 160

The “outside” barrier to Agnes achieving her object of desire, Mr. Fleming, is Agnes’ fellow probationer Nurse Cotteril. Agnes’ peer confides in her that she is engaged to Mr. Fleming and this revelation sparks Agnes’ jealousy and passion for Mr. Fleming. Nurse Cotteril forbids Agnes from revealing this secret, citing a loss of position and stature for both herself and Mr. Fleming should their secret be exposed. Agnes’s jealousy thus has no outlet, and she translates this discontent into passive aggression towards her friend and Mr. Fleming (see fig. 5). Women are thus seen as competitive and spiteful, according to Victorian theories of biological determinism that explain the “natural” differences between men and women (Tanenbaum 60). Agnes, as the romantic heroine, is a representation of the typical, but imperfect, Victorian woman, and this imperfection is her sjuzet.

Agnes is also indiscriminate in her feelings, and these feelings translate into giddy and consuming preoccupation with her male object of desire. Rafford Pyke, in a 1901 treatise on “What Women Want in Men” explains that young, inexperienced women “flutter and blush” when the object of their affection is nearby, and that this is a distinctly British trait (46). Moving through her early years of maturity, the young woman is attracted to men of distinction, who inspire deference and admiration in their peers, rather than good looks (Pyke 47). As Agnes rarely comments on the attractiveness of her object of affection, her love for him appears to stem from his unattainability as both an engaged man and a learned doctor. The unattainability of Mr. Fleming underlies the conflict in the novel, and this conflict is mirrored in Agnes’ failure to be a proper, domesticated probationer.

Agnes’ Inner Conflict

Agnes’ “misfortunes” are also a feature of romantic fiction, as these represent an “inner” barrier to achieving her object of desire. She is the femme incomprise (Pyke 47), an identifiable and pitiable figure to the reader of a romance novel (McCracken 90). Agnes casts aside the traditional conventions of both the hospital and femininity by speaking her mind and displaying her ignorance. At first, these frank utterances are laughable, and her demands for the comforts of her previous life are juxtaposed with her domestic failure in the new setting of the remote children’s hospital. As she grows to be less demanding and more competent, her tactlessness becomes an endearing feature to the characters and the reader. By the end of the novel she receives praise from the head doctor, the head nurse, and her Mr. Fleming. This is the result of her transformation into the ideal woman while retaining her status as femme incomprise, the misunderstood woman that the reader identifies with.

These two barriers represent Agnes’ struggle to find love, which create the conflict in the novel. The barriers stem from her non-idealized feminine immaturity, and her maturation reflects contemporary ideas of the ideal woman in Victorian society.

Female Children’s Literature

Agnes’ barriers in the novel highlight the Victorian and Edwardian conceptions of girlhood, maturation and femininity. Pyke refers to young, maturing women as “young girls” as the stage of “young adulthood” did not exist as we know it today.

But children’s literature was a popular and surging genre of the time due to the growing acceptance of the child as a life stage and the rights of children expanding beyond the idea of required duty (Darton 299) The Victorian era abounded with classic, canonical children’s literature (Darton 293). Contemporary belief held that girls read more literature (Darton 305), and gift books were more often given to female children as novels were thought to be more accessible to girls (Darton 305). Tales for girls were written about adults, as girls were seen as more mature (Darton 305), and the stories took place in “adult” spaces. Darton calls this the shifting of the age curve, arguing that that girls grew up quickly in the Edwardian era.

World War One and Women in Britain

The onset of World War One for Britain definitively changed the remaining Victorian values of the early 20th century and ended the Edwardian era, and this impacted how women and children read literature after 1914.

Women began participating on the home front by supporting the men who went out to fight. The growing unequal gender distribution on home impacted the lives of children growing up in the early 1900s. Patriarchal lineage and household organization was questioned due to the lack of male adults in the home. This experience of young readers mirrors the experience of Agnes for multiple reasons. Agnes is transplanted into an intimidating occupation, and she is surrounded by women who offer little sympathy for her ineptitude and unfamiliarity with her new situation. Young readers would be suffering the loss of the familiar leadership of brothers and fathers, and The Probationer’s heroine is relatable in both her sudden loss of contextual familiarity.

As a nurse, she also represents the new representation of women in the workforce. Agnes leaves her home for her fantasy of noble work as a nurse, and has this fantasy replaced by a realistic, but still rewarding, occupation. Young women who acted as nurses were revered and romanticized, and those who read the book would also relate to the difficult, exhausting work that it was. However the book would still act as escapist fiction, since the nursing involves ill children, not war-torn soldiers, and it is not bloody or gory in any sense. It combines what McCracken explains as the romantic realism, the combination of real life into a romanticized and idealized setting. In this sense the novel still offers the satisfying children’s entertainment, but readers post-war would have engaged with Agnes’ profession in a unique way to readers of the Edwardian period.

She leaves the comfort of home for the noble cause, and this mirrors the showing of literature that says women should work outside of the home to support the troops. She believes in the noble cause despite the initially hard, unrewarding work, and its ultimate role in her happiness acts as propaganda for helping the nation achieve its war goals.

Probationer04 - coverside
Cover spine, illustrated by P. B. Hickling

Nursing itself becomes an interesting position of the book, as nursing was a popular and gendered occupation in the war.  The detailed aspects of nursing shown in the book foreshadows the rise of the genre of medical fiction.

Conclusion

The Probationer, as an Edwardian formula romance published on the cusp of the Great War, can be read as both a Victorian and a Modern novel, which prompts unique readings. As a product of the Victorian era, the novel can be seen as an affirmation of what was deemed to be proper women’s behaviour and the general role of a working woman in society. However, as the book was given to a young women in 1919, it can also be seen as a wartime or post-war story championing the independent heroine as she grows in her profession as a nurse.

Works Cited

Allen, Walter. The English Novel: A Short Critical History. New York:

Dutton, 1954. Print.

Darton, F. J. Harvey. Children’s Books in England: Five Centuries of Social Life. 1932. Ed.

Brian Alderson. 3rd Ed. Newcastle: Oak Knoll, 1982. Print.

Hynes, Samuel. Edwardian Occasions: Essays on English Writing in the Early Twentieth

Century. London: Routledge. 1972. Print.

Irvine, Amy Mary. The Frantic Misfortunes of a Nurse, Or, The Probationer. London:

S. W. Partridge and Co., Ltd, 1910. Print.

Kullman, Thomas. “Constructions of History in Victorian and Edwardian Children’s

Books.” Ed. Anne Lawson Lucas. The Presence of the Past in Children’s Literature.

Westport: Praeger, 2003. 73-80. Print.

McCracken, Scott. Pulp: Reading Popular Fiction. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1998. Print.

Pyke, Rafford. “What Women Like in Men.” Ed. Susan Ostrov Weisser. Women and

Romance: A Reader. New York: New York UP, 2001. Print.

Tanenbaum, Leora. Catfight: Women and Competition. New York: Seven Stories P, 2002.

Print.

Fairy Tales and War through Cyrus Macmillan’s Canadian Wonder Tales

2014, Children's Books and War, Fairy Tales, , , , , , , , ,

© Copyright 2014 Micheal Vipond, Ryerson University

Introduction:

Front Cover: Canadian Wonder Tales (1918)

F airy tales play a crucial role in childhood. They represent imagination and creativity while allowing children to have a safe way to experience and process mature content, such as poverty, violence, and death. Often, fairy tales act as the first form of exposure children have to other cultures, to morals and values and to the concept of death itself. This sentiment is reflected through Canadian Wonder Tales, published in 1918 by Cyrus Macmillan, which is a collection of Canadian fairy tales and stories located in the Children’s Literature Archive at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario.

First published in 1918 by the John Lane Company, Canadian Wonder Tales was largely written and edited while Macmillan was fighting in France during WWI. Macmillan, as a member of the 7th Siege Battery in France, played a crucial role in the Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge. Most of his correspondence and editing occurred in between regular military duties while serving in France (Macmillan xii). The collection features illustrations by British artist George Sheringham, who was widely recognized as an influential artist of hist time (“George Sheringham R.D.I. 1937”). The collection was edited and sponsored by Scottish scholar Sir William Peterson, who also contributed the Forward to the book.

The concept of the effect of fairy tales during times of war becomes a critical aspect of childhood development:  fairy tales act as an imaginative escape from the cruel reality of wartime and define foreign cultures in the minds’ of young and impressionable children. During times of heightened hostility amongst different nations and cultures – such as war, fairy tales act as the sole understanding children have of the world around them. These stories mold the perspective children have for their entire lives.

Summary:

Canadian Wonder Tales is a collection of fairy tales from a Canadian perspective. Macmillan, before he fought in WWI, travelled across Canada hearing stories and tales from fellow travelers, natives, fisherman, sailors, and townsfolk (xii). In similar fashion to how the Grimm brothers collected and wrote their collection of fairy tales a century earlier, Macmillan set out to experience a wide variety of tales that represented Canadian culture (vii). The stories in this collection revolve around the natural wonders of Canada: the fantastic environments of mountains and lakes, the extensive animal life, and the people that inhabit this country.

End Cover Illustration by George Sheringham

Many of the people that told stories to Macmillan brought their tales to Canada after immigrating to the country from foreign lands, specifically Europe. Through this influence, as well as Macmillan’s romanticised European writing style, many of the tales incorporate a European experience or understanding (vii). Combining this European influence with the Aboriginal stories and Canadian landscape, the result is a collection of tales that is uniquely Canadian. These tales focus on the natural wonders of life in Canada and express the multicultural aspects of the country. This collection features 32 various stories including “Glooskap’s Country,” ”The First Mosquito” and “How Summer Came To Canada.” Each story is accompanied by a beautifully drawn illustration from Sheringham in a native style. Sheringham also contributed the native-influenced front and end cover illustrations for a total of 32 pictures.

Production:

This collection of stories was largely written and compiled by Macmillan as he fought overseas with many of the stories being written during his time at Vimy Ridge. Canadian Wonder Tales was published in London, New York, and Toronto in 1918. The publishing company – John Lane Company and its subsidiary of The Bodley Head – directed the collection towards children as the target audience (viii). This is evident by their newspaper advertisements in the 1918 Saturday Review newspaper titled “John Lane’s New Books.”

However, this collection of fairy tales is featured directly alongside The Rough Road, which is a fictitious war novel by William J. Locke. The significance of this is that the publishing company recognized a wartime novel and a collection of fairy tales as equals:  they share a similar placing in the advertisement, suggesting they were of relatively equal importance to the company. While it was marketed as a children’s book, the reception of Canadian Wonder Tales demonstrates the crossover between childhood literature and adult literature. This is one significant example highlighting the reduced presence of innocence in childhood as a result of the violence of war.

john lane ad
Saturday Review Advertisement: “John Lane’s New Books” (1918)

 Reception:

Macmillan’s work was highly recognized in Canadian literature, especially in terms of his native stories and content. In a December 1955 review from the Globe and Mail, the author acknowledges another collection written by Macmillan called Glooskap’s Country and Other Indian Tales. This was published more than 30 years after Canadian Wonder Tales, yet features many of the native stories from Macmillan’s original collection. The author of the review recognizes Macmillan as a master craftsman of storytelling (Pratt 16). This demonstrates how Macmillan’s work continued to be relevant in a Canadian and native context for years after Canadian Wonder Tales was published, highlighting both the significance of the work and the importance of the author.

“The Great Eagle Made the Winds for Him” by George Sheringham

Another article from the Globe and Mail in November of 1956 recognizes Macmillan as the winner of the Bronze Book-of-the-Year medal from the Canadian Association of Children’s Librarians for his collection Glookskap’s Country and Other Indian Tales. This further demonstrates how Macmillan’s work in Canadian Wonder Tales continued to be relevant and significant to Canadian literature – especially children’s literature – even after his death in 1953 (“The Fly Leaf” 13).

According to Priscilla Ord and Carole H. Carpenter, Canadian literature is overshadowed by American and British literature. Very little Canadian literature is produced in comparison to these sister countries. However, they argue that the content of these books is uniquely Canadian, separating itself from the likes of American imperialism and British themes, and revealing critical cultural elements of Canada (Ord and Carpenter 3). This idea is reflected in Canadian Wonder Tales, which portrays an exclusively Canadian perspective and has been recognized for such an achievement.

Scholarly Significance:

Both Macmillan and Peterson were respected leaders in the field of education and literature. Macmillan, before going to France, was the Head of the English Department at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, while Peterson was the Principal of the University through wartime. Each man played a significant role in the Canadian war effort.

House of Commons, 1940: Cyrus Macmillan

Peterson led McGill’s contribution to the war, lending his campus and facilities to the training of Canadian troops. He was an avid supporter of volunteer soldiers, sending volunteer students and faculty to Europe in McGill regiments that came to be known as the No. 7 Siege Battery. Macmillan volunteered to fight in France as a member of the 7th Battery, which played a crucial role in the Canadian victory at Vimy Ridge:  both a defining moment in WWI and in Canadian history (Macmillan 261).

Men of Canada: Sir William Peterson

Each man was heavily involved in the Canadian war effort, and each acted as though this collection of tales was of utmost importance to produce during this time. Macmillan spent his shifts off writing and editing the collection, while Peterson spent his spare time editing Macmillan’s work (Macmillan vii). It must be acknowledged that these trusted and respected literary scholars believed in the importance of Canadian Wonder Tales so much that they wrote, edited, and published the book while contributing to the Canadian war effort.

Effect of Fairy Tales on Childhood Development:

According to literary scholars and analysts Marilyn Fleer and Marie Hammer, fairy tales play a key role in the cognitive development of children. They act as cultural devices that allow children to develop tools for emotional regulation (Fleer and Hammer 240). In their analysis, Fleer and Hammer suggest that children incorporate the ideas and concepts of fairy tales and other children’s stories to understand situations in their everyday lives. These situations are emotionally charged, allowing children to experience them and gain an understanding of the imaginative space without feeling threatened (256).

Furthermore, Fleer and Hammer argue that illustrations make the text more engaging for children (250). The detailed illustrations from Sheringham in both black and white and colour contribute to visual stimulation and imagination for children, making the collection more interesting and appealing for younger audiences. These theories of cognitive development directly apply to Canadian Wonder Tales. Both Macmillan and Peterson, as literary scholars, recognized the pedagogical merit of fairy tales and stories – especially during times of violence – and made it their goal for Canadian children to be able to experience these situations and process their emotions in a safe environment.

Fairy Tales and Violence:

During WWI, fairy tales were a safe and simple way for children to understand the perils of violence and death while seeing these evils presented with positive resolution:  the hero is almost exclusively victorious in these stories.

“The Girl Looked Through the Hole, and Saw the Earth Far Beneath Her” by George Sheringham

For example, in “Star-Boy and the Sun Dance,” the young man known as “Star-Boy” is born poor and with an ugly scar on his face which prevents him from marrying the girl he loves. After a long and treacherous journey, the boy meets the Sun and Moon, who promise to remove his scar and guarantee the love of this girl if he has an annual festival in their honour. They boy accepts this deal and they deliver on their promise. The boy marries the girl and lives the rest of his life in happiness (Macmillan 12). This story demonstrates that a child, born into poverty and a victim of violence, can rise from this situation to become happy. This tale is a perfect comparison to children who grew up as victims of poverty and the violence of war, offering hope and happiness and allowing them to cope with the perils of their reality.

Children are able to relate to the characters in these stories and better understand their role in the world through the experiences of these fictional characters (Fleer and Hammer 241). During a time in Canadian culture when the innocence of childhood was sparse, Canadian Wonder Tales was able to reintegrate imagination and creativity into the lives of children, helping them to cope with the mature content of violence and death that surrounded their everyday lives. By reading and understanding the situations in fairy tales, children are able to understand their own circumstances (Feuerverger 234). This learning tool helped mold an entire generation of Canadian children.

Fairy Tales as a Tool for Reflection:

This important role of fairy tales in childhood development is recognized through adulthood. According to researcher Donald Haase, fairy tales act as a point of reference for adults. These stories allow adults to reflect upon how they responded to cultural and societal revelations as children. Specifically, adults acknowledge how they were exposed to specific ideas – such as death, violence, and poverty – through stories (Haase 361). The significance of this is that is demonstrates the impact fairy tales have on children throughout their entire lives.

“That Night When all the Village was Asleep, The Boy Went to the Foot of the Mountain” by George Sheringham

Furthermore, these stories act as the foundation of cognitive development in adults; this understanding is recognized through adulthood (362). This idea supports the strong reception of stories in Canadian Wonder Tales through the 1950’s. Adults in the 1950’s reflect upon literature from their childhood, such as Canadian Wonder Tales, and recognize its significance in their cognitive development. These adults continue to acknowledge the text for its impact on Canadian literary society and its influence on their own lives as children. The strong praise the text and author received decades after its publishing support the concept that fairy tales play a pivotal role in childhood development and the education of society as a whole.

Conclusion:

Through analysing the effects of fairy tales on childhood development, it is evident that the imaginative space of the stories in Canadian Wonder Tales contributed to children’s understanding of the violent world around them during the years of WWI. By allowing children to both understand violence and explore the imaginative space of fairy tales in a safe way, this collection of stories acted as an escape for children who were thrust into maturity because of the violent era they experienced. After acknowledging the scholarly virtues of Macmillan and Peterson, as well as their extensive contributions to the war effort overseas, it should be recognized that the production of Canadian Wonder Tales was their contribution to the Canadian war effort at home.

Further Reading:

The Complete Collection – Canadian Wonder Tales by Cyrus Macmillan

Works Cited:

Cooper, John A. Men of Canada. Montreal : Canadian Historical Co., 1901. Internet Archive. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

Feuerverger, Grace. “Fairy Tales and Other Stories as Spiritual Guides for Children of War: An Auto-Ethnographic Perspective.” International Journal of Children’s Spirituality 15.3 (2010): 233–245. EBSCOhost. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

Fleer, Marilyn. “Emotions in Imaginative Situations: The Valued Place of Fairytales for Supporting Emotion Regulation.” 20.3 (2013): 240–259. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

“George Sheringham, R.D.I.” Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 86.4435 (1937): ProQuest. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

Haase, Donald. “Children, War, and the Imaginative Space of Fairy Tales.” The John Hopkins University Press: The Lion and the Unicorn 24.3 (2000): 360–377. ProQuest. Web. 24 Feb 2014.

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Macmillan, Cyrus. Canadian Wonder Tales. Illustrated by George Sheringham. Second Edition. New York: John Lane Company, 1918. Print.

Macmillan, Cyrus. McGill and Its Story, 1821-1921. New York: John Lane Company, 1921. ProQuest. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.

Ord, Priscilla, and Carpenter, Carole Henderson. “Canadian Children’s Literature: A Cultural Mirror.” Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 2.3 (1977): 3–6. Project MUSE. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

Pratt, Viola. “Classic Canadian Legends.” The Globe and Mail (1936-Current) 10 Dec. 1955. ProQuest. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

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“The Honourable Cyrus Macmillan, P.C.” Parliament of Canada. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.