Chapter 4
217 Words
By 1905, when the bulk of this story is set, the use of the telephone was well established. From 1901, Brown and Son was installing telephones in schools throughout Kansas for teachers to use when wishing to contact parents. It is no distortion of history to imagine telephone use in other areas of the United States at this time.
The camera was made popular by Eastman from 1900, with his invention of the ‘Brownie’. By 1905 there would be many such cameras in everyday use. Indeed, from earlier periods, we have many historically valuable images from the Old West, most markedly from the period of the Civil War.
Similarly, the idea of ‘supermarkets’ has to be considered as it would appear that Kestler has created such a store in this novel. The ‘Piggly Wiggly’ stores in which customers could purchase all their needs under one roof were not established until 1916, but Kestler’s is not a supermarket in the truest sense of the meaning. It is a large store, providing a range of merchandise for ranchers and farmers, so it should not be confused with those large hypermarkets in which we now do the bulk of our shopping.
not I hope these brief explanations add rather than detract from your enjoyment of this tale.
- Writer
