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Jane Austen Society of North America,

Southwest Region

January 2024 Newsletter

RECAP OF DECEMBER 2023 SOUTHWEST REGIONAL MEETING

“MEDITATIONS ON JANE AUSTEN”

On December 2, 2023, we welcomed 100 Southwest members and guests to the UCLA Faculty Club, which was festooned with a Christmas tree and poinsettias for the season. Our meeting featured a Holiday Emporium of Southwest members: Erika Kotite and her She Shed Shoppe; and authors Diana Birchall, Melissa Buell, Frederick James and Tracy Neis who signed their books for attendees. In the morning we heard compelling and lively presentations by Dr. Lana Dalley, Professor of English at California State University, Fullerton and Southwest Board Member Melissa Buell. After lunch, we enjoyed a staged reading of a comedic play written by Syrie James. This event was underwritten by Claire Bellanti in memory of Robert Bellanti.

Dr. Lana Dalley, Professor at California State University, Fullerton, presented her talk, “Meditations on Value in Mansfield Park, or Jane Austen Tries to Balance the Books”. Professor Dalley spoke on “values” reflected in Mansfield Park and the various social and economic concepts examined by Jane Austen throughout her novel. The characters, events and stories presented in Mansfield Park explore the economic and financial circumstances which Fanny Price and other characters of this novel —and Jane Austen herself—confronted in Regency England. 

Professor Dalley presented Mansfield Park as a “meditation” upon various concepts of “worth”—Fanny Price’s “value” to the Bertrams, the “value” of the Mansfield Park experience to Fanny, and the economic realities navigated by Mrs. Norris, Mrs. Price, Lady Bertram and their respective families. Dr. Dalley demonstrated that Jane Austen’s characters’ relationships reflect the financial uncertainties that challenged all classes in British society in the early 19th century. Jane Austen lived in a world gripped by bank failures, unstable currency standards, international upheavals and political uncertainty which impacted all social dynamics in Regency England. Jane Austen’s characters were each affected by these events in dramatically different ways.

Professor Dalley’s exploration of the various “gifts” exchanged throughout this novel revealed the varying “values" of Austen’s characters, and demonstrated the importance of money and value in the world of Jane Austen. The professor’s examination of Austen’s letters revealed the independent, sophisticated, and active interest of the author in making money as a writer and in seeking financial security as an unmarried woman in an economically challenging society.

Southwest board member Melissa Buell spoke on “British Christmas Traditions from the Regency and Victorian Eras”. She started with a brief history on Christmas being outlawed in 1644 by Parliament. Once the ban was lifted in 1660, Christmas celebrations began anew. By the Georgian period (1714 to 1830), it was once again a popular celebration. The Georgian Christmas season ran from December 6th (St. Nicholas Day) to January 6th (Twelfth Night). 

Jane Austen wrote about Christmas in several of her novels: In Mansfield Park, Sir Thomas gives a ball for Fanny and William; in Pride and Prejudice, the Bennets play host to relatives; in Sense and Sensibility, John Willoughby dances the night away, from eight o’clock in the evening until four o’clock in the morning; in Emma, the Westons give a party; in Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s brother and sister-in-law come to spend Christmas with the family; in Persuasion, Lady Russell visits the Musgrove family after Louisa’s injury and return home. 

Queen Charlotte introduced the German tradition of Christmas trees to England in the late 18th century. Britain's aristocrats were quick to adopt this German tradition and by the time she died in 1818, the tree was already a holiday fixture in many aristocratic houses in Britain.  Queen Adelaide, King William IV’s German wife, continued this tradition and always had one for the holidays. A young Princess Victoria recorded her delight of having a Christmas tree at Kensington Palace in 1832. Prince Albert later introduced the Christmas tree to the populace. In 1840, he imported spruce firs from Coburg and it was this Christmas tree that remains popular to this day. Before that, any hard-wearing tree was good enough to be up-rooted and dragged inside.

A ball of mistletoe, ornamented with ribbons, would be hung around Christmastime, and no unmarried girl could refuse a kiss if she was underneath it. At every kiss, the boy would pluck one of the mistletoe berries, and when there were no more berries, the ball was taken down until the next year. If a girl didn’t receive a mistletoe kiss by the time the ball was taken down, she couldn’t expect to marry in the following year. By the Victorian era, there was scarcely a house or cottage that did not have mistletoe at Christmas time.

Another Christmas tradition is the Yule log which was chosen on Christmas Eve. It was wrapped in hazel twigs and dragged home, to burn in the fireplace as long as possible through the Christmas season. The tradition was to hold back a piece of the Yule log to light the following year’s Yule log. Nowadays in most households the Yule log has been replaced by an edible chocolate variety!

A food tradition we discovered was the Christmas Pudding. The Oxford English Dictionary credits Anthony Trollope with pioneering the term “Christmas pudding” in his 1858 novel Dr. Thorne, but it was actually poet and cook Eliza Acton who first used the term 13 years before Trollope. Nestled in Acton’s 1845 cookbook Modern Cookery, in all its Branches: Reduced to a System of Easy Practice for the Use of Private Families is a distinctly plum pudding-like dessert called “Cottage Christmas Pudding.” This recipe represents not only the first traditional Christmas pudding to be identified as such, but also a revolution in cookbook publishing. In A Miscellany of Christmas Pies, Puddings and Cakes, Joanne Major describes the typical foods that were served: Christmas pudding, which started out as plum porridge or pottage (and is also known as plum or figgy pudding); sweet and savory mince pies; Christmas cake; and a savory Yorkshire Christmas-Pie. 

For a less wealthy family, perhaps that of a junior clerk, earning as little as £100 a year in the mid-Victorian era, beef and turkey were far beyond even a special occasion-budget. In the book What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, Daniel Pool writes, “Fuel was expensive and those who cooked had to do so over an open fire, since few of the poor had ovens. On Sunday and Christmas, the poor therefore generally took their geese or other meals to the local bakehouse or baker’s to get them cooked.”

Christmas presents were less common during the Regency, but gifts of charity were extended by the gentry and welcomed by poorer members of society especially in the colder months. In 1798, Jane Austen wrote to Cassandra on Christmas Eve documenting her ‘charities to the poor since I came home… I have given a pair of worsted stockings to Mary Hutchins, Dame Kew, Mary Stevens, and Dame Staples; a shift to Hannah Staples, and a shawl to Betty Dawkins; amounting in all to about half a guinea.’

At the end of November 1812, Austen suggests to her friend Martha Lloyd that Miss Benn might appreciate ‘something of the Shawl kind to wear over her Shoulders within doors in very cold weather might be useful, but it must not be very handsome or she would not use it. Her long Fur tippet is almost worn out.’ Charity and the sharing of bounty with the less fortunate was an appropriately pious response to the season. Thus did clothing help warm the bodies, hearts and souls of Christmas celebrators in the age of Jane Austen.

We learned about the first Christmas card sent by Mr. Henry Cole in 1843. A few unique Christmas cards were shown. 

On a stage at the UCLA Faculty Club, JASNA Southwest member Syrie James presented a staged reading of her new comedy Jane Austen in 48 Minutes with a company of six professional actors from the Little Fish Theatre Company in San Pedro. Syrie James portrayed Jane Austen as narrator of the play which was a send-up of all six of Austen’s novels condensed and delivered at a lightning pace. The play was directed by Branda Lock and featured actors Melissa Booey, Ben Campbell, Kathryn Farren, Shirley Hatton, Syrie James, Brendan Kane, and Don Schlossman.

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Half-Day Meeting

Los Angeles City College (LACC), 

855 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles 90029.

"Jane Austen in American Periodicals: Highlights of the First Hundred Years"

Presented by JASNA President Mary Mintz

References to Jane Austen appear more than one thousand times in U.S. magazines and journals during the nineteenth century. The articles that discuss Austen provide an interesting story of a woman author who was deeply appreciated for her writing and for her biography--for the most part. Perhaps, not surprisingly, her greatest advocates and defenders were other prominent women. Critical standards and critical language were vastly different from the twenty-first century interpretations we enjoy today. Continuous attention, appreciation, and even controversy helped ensure that her reputation remained alive for the first hundred years of her afterlife among American readers. 

Mary Mintz holds two master's degrees, one in library science and one in English literature with a specialization in nineteenth century British literature. Her master's paper focused on one of the prominent Victorian poets. After a forty-year professional career, she retired as the Associate Director for Outreach at the American University Library in Washington, D.C., as well as the Humanities and Honors Librarian. Now an emerita member of the faculty, she enjoyed working closely with history and literature students to support their original research. She has served JASNA nationally as the chair of the Nominating Committee, as an at-large-member of the Board of Directors, and as vice-president/president-elect. On December 16, 2022, she became the president of JASNA. She says, however, that one of her most rewarding roles in JASNA so far has been serving as Regional Coordinator of the DC Metropolitan Region. She took JASNA's third tour of England in 1999 and became a life member in her first year of membership. Meeting JASNA members in their home Regions and at the Annual General Meeting is the part of being President that she enjoys the most. 

JASNA-Southwest is Hosting an Emporium at the

February In-Person Meeting.

We invite you to be a part of our emporium at the February 24, 2024 meeting at Los Angeles City College (LACC) 3rd Floor Multi-Purpose Room. Local artisans can apply to sell their handmade goods such as jewelry, crocheted and knitted goods, ceramics, wall art, dolls, aprons, candles, lotions. Local authors are also encouraged to sell their own books and sign them at the event. Keep in mind that this is a family-friendly event, and all merchandise must be appropriate. Vendors must also purchase a ticket to attend the in-person meeting. 

For applications and more information email Melissa Buell

April 20 - 21, 2024 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Saturday & Sunday at USC

LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS AT USC

JASNA Southwest will celebrate our 12th year of participation at the Los Angeles

Times Festival of Books on the campus of USC, taking part in the largest book

festival in the nation. In 2023 over 3,300 attendees visited our large booth over the

two-day weekend. We will once again offer Austen-related books and merchandise

for sale. Please consider volunteering at our booth — it’s a wonderful opportunity to

engage with other Austen enthusiasts. We seek help in setting up the booth,

greeting visitors, handing out information ‘postcards’ and selling books and

merchandise. Each shift is only 2 hours long. Please feel free to enjoy the festival before and after your shift. It’s always a tremendously rewarding experience to participate as a

volunteer. Every year some of our volunteers dress in Regency attire which sparks

interest, so volunteers should feel free to do so if they wish. Please contact

jasnasw.fob@gmail.com for further information.

IMPORTANT HOTEL INFORMATION FOR 2024 AGM

October 18 - 20, 2024

Hilton Cleveland Downtown

100 Lakeside Avenue East

Cleveland, OH 44114

JASNA-discounted rooms for the 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) to be held at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown will be released in January, 2024.  Be on the lookout this month for emails from JASNA regarding the opening of the JASNA room block for the 2024 AGM hotel. It is recommended to reserve your room ASAP after you receive this notice since the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony to be held during our AGM weekend will render hotel space scarce in the area. If your plans change, there will be plenty of time to cancel without penalty. In reserving your hotel room, you might want to consider that after the end of the AGM on October 20, a special Sunday evening dinner cruise on the Cuyahoga River has been planned.

LOCATION AND DATE ANNOUNCED FOR 2026 AGM

The 2026 JASNA Annual General Meeting (AGM) has been announced as Tucson, Arizona, October 30 - November 1, 2026 at the Marriott Tucson Resort & Spa, 3800 W. Starr Pass Boulevard, Tucson, AZ.  

JASNA Southwest Board 2024- 2025

Nominees Elected at December 2, 2023 Regional Meeting.

Interview with Singer, Songwriter, & Playwright Sam Wright

Jan 11, 2024,

7:00 PM – 8:30 PM EST

YouTube

Sam Wright is a professional actor, writer, and producer in Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas, where he has worked for the last 20 years. He holds a BFA in Theater Art, has won two Best of Kansas City awards, an ARTSKC Inspiration Award, and an Artist Residency Award at Music Theater Heritage. His writing credits include the solo show, Crazy Horse: A Dream of Thunder, a zombie apocalypse rock opera, SlaughterHouse Opera, and, along with co-creator Nicholas Collett, the new folk musical Prejudice & Pride. Prejudice & Pride is a full-length, modern, American, gender-flipped musical reimagining of Austen's novel with an original folk score by Wright. It won Sinners Review's #1 Best Show at Edinburgh Fringe 2022, and then ran for six weeks Off-Broadway last summer, where Playbill named it one of the Top Ten Off-Broadway Shows To See This Summer.

Unofficial Jane Austen Day at

The Huntington Library



Sunday, January 28, 2024

Event by Historical Tea and Dance Society, Reed Wilson and Laura McWilliam Bartak

Go back in time, and in style, for a Jane Austen-style day at the lovely grounds of The Huntington Gardens. Please join us for a pleasant day of strolling the grounds, viewing magnificent works of art, and enjoying the day in Jane Austen style. “Costumes admired but not required!”

MAKE A RESERVATION:

Use your best methods to book a reservation to enter the grounds.

Reading group leaders, please send your next meeting updates to JASNA Southwest News. For any further reading group questions or assistance, or to suggest formation of a new group, please feel free to contact Nancy Gallagher.

Please send in a current image of your group to be featured in future newsletters.

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