WWI Tidbit - Dancing

Before and during the Great War, ballroom dancing was all the rage. Professional dancers Irene Castle and her husband Vernon brought ballroom dancing or ragtime dancing to the masses. And suddenly the fox trot, waltz, tango, one-step, and two-step were being danced everywhere.

Isn't she beautiful?

Public dance halls were also popular, where young people could get together and dance these ragtime dances. Livy and Friedrick share a love of dancing in HOPE AT DAWN. In fact, their first meeting is at a public dance hall! Later, when they go dancing again, they end up dancing a very romantic waltz.  

Would you have enjoyed ragtime dancing in its heyday? 

Cover for Hope Rising!

HOPE RISING, Book 2 in my Of Love and War series, has a cover - and a very lovely one, I think. :) The art team at Grand Central does such a fabulous job with these. The book releases mid-December.

If you haven't yet entered my Goodreads giveaway for one of three, free copies of HOPE AT DAWN, Book 1, there's still time to enter before the giveaway closes on April 29th. HOPE AT DAWN releases in a little over two months - June 24th. I seriously can't wait!

WWI Tidbit - Fashion

The start of WWI marked the end of the Edwardian era - a period of lavish clothing and small waistlines. As the Great War raged on, women's hemlines crept up to mid-calf and the clothes took on a looser fit.

McCall's patterns -  fashion plate

Military inspired clothing became popular. Shoes were no longer the tall, laced boots of the past - now there were different styles and colors of high-heeled pumps to choose from.

source

The majority of women still kept their hair long - the popular 1920's bob was still a little ways off for most women - but they did wear their hair in such a way that it appeared to be much shorter.

While the opulent styles of the Edwardian era and the flapper styles of the Roaring 20's have long been popular, there's still real beauty and uniqueness to the fashion of the Great War.

What do you think of WWI fashion?

WWI Tidbit - War Posters

From now until HOPE AT DAWN releases on June 24th, I'm sharing WWI tidbits here on my blog! Today's is about war posters. 

War posters were all the rage during the Great War, inviting citizens to join the war effort, buy liberty bonds during loan drives, support the troops, etc. This particular poster plays a part in Livy and Friedrick's story in HOPE AT DAWN.

This is one of my favorites from Great Britain at the time!

While many of these propaganda posters inspired American citizens to greater patriotism, others may have contributed to a growing fear and mistrust of German-Americans during WWI. HOPE AT DAWN explores the anti-German sentiment that swept the nation during America's involvement in the Great War and the role propaganda may have played in this.

Would these war posters have inspired you?

*Want to win one of three advanced reader copies of HOPE AT DAWN? Then enter my Goodreads giveaway by clicking the "enter to win" button at the right of this post!