Women Earning a Living in the 19th Century
It might have been illegal (as with prostitution) or performed in unregulated sweatshops (a further reason for failure to record). Women may have also have preferred that their husbands not know about their income-earning.
Female employment in the 1850s, 60s and 70s appears to have been higher than any recorded again until after World War II. Family budget evidence suggests that around 30-40 per cent of women from working class families contributed significantly to household incomes in the mid-Victorian years. This might have been even higher during the industrial revolution decades, before the rise of State and trade union policies regulating female labor and promoting the male breadwinner ideal.
Domestic service was the largest employer for women,
closely followed by work in clothing and textiles. Other work included
confectionery, brewing, sewing, mending, seamstressing, laundry work, cleaning
and waitressing.
For my heroine in Maisy's
Gamble, dealing faro in saloons proved a better choice not only for its
earning power but for safety since her nemesis considered ordinary saloons
beneath him. Being born in a brothel and raised in a gutter gave Gold Kingsely
an exaggerated disdain for the type of life his mother lived. Maisy used this
to her advantage.
Dealing faro also gave her the freedom to move around
a lot, making her more difficult to find. She spent her adult years finding
ways to evade Gold. But time is against us all, and she knew he would find her
someday. Fortunately, that day waited until the hero, The Preacher, came into
her life.
The Preacher spent his adult years allowing the
vagaries of life to rule him. That ended once Maisy entered his life. Bonded by
a common enemy and the need to stay alive, Maisy and Preacher joined forces to
battle Gold but only time could calculate their odds of winning the biggest
gamble of their lives.
Buy links:
EXCERPT:
In
this scene, a patron in the saloon where Maisy works is mistreating his dog.
On impulse, Maisy stood and said,
"Play me for him, Mr. Siddens. One hand of Draw. I'll wager twenty dollars
I can beat you. If you lose, the animal is mine, and you leave Pandora."
Crude laughter burst out of the man,
splattering her with spit. "Ya joshing me, Maisy? He ain’t worth a plugged nickel."
Marshal
Harker
moved to her side. "What are you doing?"
She ignored him. "Well, Mr.
Siddens...?"
The drunken bully looked from her to
the marshal and shrugged. "Why not? I don't mind takin' money from a
woman."
Harker leaned close and whispered,
"He's drunk, and he cheats."
"I know. Don't worry. I can beat
him."
Shaking his head, the marshal lifted
his hands in resignation. "Fine. One hand of Draw. But win or lose, Mr.
Siddens, you're done for tonight."
"Whatever ya say,
Marshal." With that, Siddens righted the chair he'd knocked over, sat down
and gathered up the scattered pasteboards.
Taking the opposite seat, Maisy drew
a sealed deck from her skirt pocket. "You don't truly think I'd let you
use your cards, do you? I've known too many gamblers who cheat."
"Why, you..." He raised a
hand, ready once more to strike out. At the cocking of a six-gun, Siddens
dropped his arm and sat back.
Maisy looked up in surprise to see
Preacher slip his Colt back into its holster. He tipped his hat, and she
acknowledged it with a nod. Why had he protected her? Did it mean he didn't
work for Gold or had Gold ordered that she be kept alive until he got his hands
on her?
"Maisy?" Jake said,
bringing her back to herself.
Determined to finish what she'd
started, she reached into the small drawstring purse dangling from her wrist to
find a gold eagle which she placed on the table.
Eyeing the coin, Siddens sneered,
"Want me ta put the dawg on the table, too?"
She forced a smile. "We'll just
pretend, shall we?" She shuffled and offered him the deck to cut. After
dealing, she picked up her cards. An ace, two jacks, a ten and a five. After
setting the ten and the five aside, she placed the remaining three cards face
down on the table. "How many would you like, Mr. Siddens?"
"Three shiny new ones," he
said, tossing down his discards.
She dealt the cards. "Dealer
takes two."
Aware of the throng gathered around
the table, Maisy let her eyes roam the faces, quickly passing over Preacher's.
The spectators murmured among themselves and money exchanged hands.
"Well, Mr. Siddens, what do you
have?" she asked.
He grinned as he spread out three
queens on the table. "Three ladies. Can't top that, now can ya,
sugar?" He laughed and swapped looks with a few men.
She smiled and laid down her cards.
Three aces and two jacks. A full house.
"What the...?" Siddens
leaped to his feet. "Marshal, arrest her. She musta cheated."
Jake gave his head a firm shake.
"No, she's just a damned fine player."
Grumbles erupted from losers as bets
were paid off. Maisy called for paper and a pencil. When they arrived, she set
them in front of Siddens and ordered him to write out a bill of sale.
"Bill o' sale!" he ranted.
"I didn't sell the mutt. I got cheated out o' 'im."
"Write."
Siddens did. "Damned dawg ain't
no good nohow."
The crowd dispersed. A deputy
appeared to escort the gambler from the saloon.
Back at her table, she settled the
dog on the floor in the warmth of the stove and called for food scraps and a
wet cloth to clean the animal's wounds. "I think I'll call you Hock,"
she told him, "after the last card played in a hand of faro. When we go
home, you'll meet Soda. She's named after the first card played."
He wagged his tail as if he
approved.
Jake Harker returned and took his
usual seat, grinning at her. "Dammit, Maisy, I can't believe you pulled
that off. That piece of crap is a good card player, even without
cheating."
"Yes, well, two can play at
that game."
He stared at her a moment. "You
mean what I think you mean?" Leaning forward, he gave her a stern look.
"Did you cheat, Maisy?"
Avoiding his gaze, she began
arranging her faro gear on the table. "Someone had to get the poor animal
away from him. He's a brute, and you know it."
Author Bio:
Charlene Raddon is a bestselling author of western
historical romance novels. Originally published by Kensington Books, she is now
an Indie author. She grew up on old western movies and loved them, but never
intended to be a writer. That part of her life just happened. Besides writing
and reading, she raises orchids, designs book covers, and spoils her
grandchildren.
No comments:
Post a Comment