You won't find many details of everyday life in typical history books. Those authors are concerned with the sweep of large events—they don't have time or space to mention irrelevant details such as what people wore or what they ate for breakfast. To lend color and authenticity to historical novels or nonfiction narratives, you need to look at materials from the time itself. Here are six resources that are sometimes overlooked:
- Timelines: If you want to know what else was happening in the world of your book, consult a timeline. Most libraries own at least one, such as the comprehensive four-volume Chronology of World History. Typically organized by year, timelines (or chronologies, as they're often called) provide an overview of important political, scientific, cultural, and natural events. For example, if you want to know what was happening in the rest of the world during the Civil War, a chronology will tell you that Russia's serfs revolted during that period. Timelines are also good for determining the starting date of some event, such as when automobiles first appeared on the road.
- Sheet music: Song lyrics capture the emotions that swayed people during a particular era. The words to the 1930s hit "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime" tell you a lot of what you need to know about how the Great Depression looked to those living through it. Songs that moved people at the time might just move your readers as well. Most libraries stock some sheet music collections. Secondhand stores also yield treasure troves of old musical scores.
- Cookbooks: What could be more tempting for your readers than descriptions of authentic dishes from your book's time and place? We're all curious about how other people ate. Cookbooks were being written as long ago as Classical Greek and Roman times, and menus and descriptions of typical meals are available for most times and places. Early cookbooks often provide bonus material too, in the form of etiquette rules, medical advice, servants' job descriptions, and other bits of daily household life. Again, libraries and secondhand bookstores are great places to start looking for old cookbooks.
- Travel journals: Travelers offer a unique perspective on the life of a place because they tend to notice subtle aspects of the culture that residents take for granted, such as unspoken social taboos or unusual customs. We know, for example, that colonial Americans ate large amounts of meat and considered whiskey a staple because European travelers often commented on these things. To locate a travel narrative for your era, check a general history book for that time to see which people are frequently quoted.
- Old magazines: If your period is the eighteenth century or later in the United States or England, magazines provide a snapshot of events and trends too fleeting to be mentioned in books. Even more valuable than the articles are the vintage ads, touting everything from the latest patent medicine to elocution lessons. They offer an unparalleled look at what people of the time considered important enough to spend money on. Occasionally you will even have the luck to discover a writer who conveniently lists all the slang words he or she thinks ought to be stamped out.
- Letters and diaries: For a window onto historic events as viewed by the participants, nothing beats the written commentary of a sharp observer. Letters and diaries let us in on daily schedules, memorable social events, unusually severe weather, and many other details of daily life that would otherwise be lost. As with travel journals, the best way to find a prolific letter writer or diarist for your period is to see who's quoted in history books. A good chatterer can provide a wealth of information on what people served for dinner, what they wore to be fashionable, and how they interpreted events in the larger world, as well as giving an example of how people talked when they were being informal.