Did you ever wonder about those old Westerns we love so much? Could women of that era really get away with wearing skin tight slacks and blouses like Audrey Barkley in The Big Valley? Did they really wear button down shirts like the Barkley boys? Could anyone get injured, shot, and generally abused as often and as seriously as Little Joe Cartwright and still look like a Greek Adonis? Did the women really wear beehive hairdo's like they did on Bonanza? Did cowboys really wear hats like Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes in Alias Smith and Jones? Did the cool gadgets that James West and Artemus Gordon use in The Wild Wild West really exist? Did the Indians depicted in most of the shows always wear braids, war paint and go Whoo woo?

As entertaining as our old beloved shows were, I much prefer to read about them in more realistic terms with realistic plots and accurately portrayed problems and solutions. To that end, I have written a series of Historical Tidbits to help the amateur writer imagine what their favorite characters would have truly lived like in the time period in which the TV shows are set. I have given the reader a rudimentary overview of history as it was in the latter half of the 19th century in the hopes that it will spark not only their imagination, but a curiosity to delve deeper into a part of our history that was shaping the world at an amazing pace.

My series will only brush the surface of history, but still allow everyone to get a real sense of what it would have been like to dress, eat, speak and live in the Wild West. If anyone wishes to have a deeper knowledge of any particular subject, I would be more than willing to assist. I will also provide an extensive bibliography at the end of this series so that folks can track down information on their own.

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Thanks for the interest in these articles and happy writing.

Barb