Hello everyone today I have hopped in my handy dandy time machine and have gone back to the year 1904. 1904 was a big year some things that happened are: the US gained control of the Panama Canal, the Benfica soccer team was founded in Portugal, and Kaiser Wilhem II of Germany makes the first political recording using Thomas Edison's cylinder. There is also a huge fire in Toronto that destroys much of the city but had no fatalities. There is a tornado in Moscow and the 3rd modern olympic games opens in St Louis Missouri as part of the World's Fair. In Russia the Trans-Siberian railway is completed and the first underground line of the NYC subway opens. In November, Theodore Roosevelt is reelected President of the US and in December Charles Dillon Perrine discover's Jupiter's largest irregular satellite, Himalia and in NYC the first Times Square New Year's Eve celebration is held. This is the world that Maggie was born into where the modern age is really just beginning and taking off but that the old traditions of seasons and society are still holding on.
Full Name: Margaret Bennet
Nickname: Maggie
Age: 16
Favorite food: Trifle – it’s a dessert with layers of sponge cake, custard and fruit. Not that I can make it, but Cook does it wonderfully. It’s very rich and yummy. I have to let out my corset after I eat it.
Favorite color: Green
Favorite number: Seven
Favorite kind of music: The new thing called “ragtime.” But I wouldn’t tell Papa I listen to it – he’d disapprove. It’s too light-hearted for him.
Please tell us a little about you.
I’m still trying to find out who I am. I think I’m getting an idea – I like photography, now that I’m learning something about it from my friend Mrs. Gale. But what could I do with photography? Women don’t work after all, do they? I’m supposed to get married to the right man, have children, do charity work…but as I think about it, that sounds so boring. But I do like pretty clothes. I like being taken care of. I guess you could say I’m confused. Do I want someone to take care of me, or do I want to be independent?
Tell me about your parents. How well do/did you get along with them?
My father – Papa – he’s very depressed. We have a kind of wall between us. My Mama went away. Some people think she’s dead, but I don’t. I just want her to come home. We were very close. We used to spend time together, shopping and gossiping. But, when I think back, there was always something about her that I can’t put my finger on – some deep sadness. And Papa knew it. Oh, gosh, I think he loved her something awful, but he knew she wasn’t happy. When she left – disappeared – Papa went into a funk. I can’t get near him. I want Mama back so we can all be together again, like we were, happy, all three. Well, there. You’ve made me get emotional.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to ride. My horse – Ghost – he’s my first love. We understand each other. When I’m riding, Ghost and I are in our own world and nothing can touch us.
Could you share with us about your life in Newport before you made the trip out west?
Parties! Well, of course, there was school. I was decent student – not brilliant, but good. I worked even harder to please Papa after Mama left. But Kitty and I, we love parties. We were just coming into our season – when things really get lively – when I went west. When I look back, all those gorgeous dresses, the balls, the dancing…I do miss it.
What do you like the most about Montana? The least?
I love the landscape out west. The sky! It goes on forever – like a vast bowl stretched overhead. And the great mountains, with their snowcaps, and the rolling hills and the plains dressed with wildflowers. The animals, too, the elk with their towering antlers, and those foolish-looking moose. Except the bears – I could do without those. Yes, the bears scare me. Fascinate me, but scare me.
Is there anything else you might want people to know about you?
I’m not silly. I’m not like Kitty. Please don’t tell her I said that. But it’s true: I want to find out who I am and be taken seriously for who I am.
Nickname: Maggie
Age: 16
Favorite food: Trifle – it’s a dessert with layers of sponge cake, custard and fruit. Not that I can make it, but Cook does it wonderfully. It’s very rich and yummy. I have to let out my corset after I eat it.
Favorite color: Green
Favorite number: Seven
Favorite kind of music: The new thing called “ragtime.” But I wouldn’t tell Papa I listen to it – he’d disapprove. It’s too light-hearted for him.
Please tell us a little about you.
I’m still trying to find out who I am. I think I’m getting an idea – I like photography, now that I’m learning something about it from my friend Mrs. Gale. But what could I do with photography? Women don’t work after all, do they? I’m supposed to get married to the right man, have children, do charity work…but as I think about it, that sounds so boring. But I do like pretty clothes. I like being taken care of. I guess you could say I’m confused. Do I want someone to take care of me, or do I want to be independent?
Tell me about your parents. How well do/did you get along with them?
My father – Papa – he’s very depressed. We have a kind of wall between us. My Mama went away. Some people think she’s dead, but I don’t. I just want her to come home. We were very close. We used to spend time together, shopping and gossiping. But, when I think back, there was always something about her that I can’t put my finger on – some deep sadness. And Papa knew it. Oh, gosh, I think he loved her something awful, but he knew she wasn’t happy. When she left – disappeared – Papa went into a funk. I can’t get near him. I want Mama back so we can all be together again, like we were, happy, all three. Well, there. You’ve made me get emotional.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to ride. My horse – Ghost – he’s my first love. We understand each other. When I’m riding, Ghost and I are in our own world and nothing can touch us.
Could you share with us about your life in Newport before you made the trip out west?
Parties! Well, of course, there was school. I was decent student – not brilliant, but good. I worked even harder to please Papa after Mama left. But Kitty and I, we love parties. We were just coming into our season – when things really get lively – when I went west. When I look back, all those gorgeous dresses, the balls, the dancing…I do miss it.
What do you like the most about Montana? The least?
I love the landscape out west. The sky! It goes on forever – like a vast bowl stretched overhead. And the great mountains, with their snowcaps, and the rolling hills and the plains dressed with wildflowers. The animals, too, the elk with their towering antlers, and those foolish-looking moose. Except the bears – I could do without those. Yes, the bears scare me. Fascinate me, but scare me.
Is there anything else you might want people to know about you?
I’m not silly. I’m not like Kitty. Please don’t tell her I said that. But it’s true: I want to find out who I am and be taken seriously for who I am.
To learn more about Maggie and her journey west head to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy of Faithful by Janet Fox.
This interview is cross-posted on Ticket to Anywhere.
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