Bluebonnet Belle

Dignity, Texas August 1876"Ladies, ladies! Please! May I have your attention! There's no need to shove! There's plenty to go around for all!"As Lydia Pinkham shouted to gain order, April stood behind a long table piled high with bottles of Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, eager to sell to those brave enough to try the revolutionary new cure-all for female complaints."Sickness is as unnecessary as crime," Lydia declared as the women pressed closer, trying to get a better look at the small brown bottles. "And if I may be so bold, no woman should be condemned to suffer when there is a curative readily available!"Eyes widening, the women drew back as if a snake had bitten them."Ladies, ladies! Don't be alarmed. The Pinkham Compound is a special formula of nature's own elements," Lydia explained.Having accepted April's offer, Mrs. Pinkham and her entourage had arrived late yesterday afternoon. The women of Dignity were about to be catapulted into the modern age. Lydia was clearly skilled in marketing. Offering her product directly to women seemed to be a shrewd sales tactic.Ladies were hesitant to talk about such things, but the group who'd come today to hear Mrs. Pinkham's theories on women's health issues seemed eager to learn what the product would do. April was excited by the response and delighted to be part of the Pinkham team.Lydia brewed her compound on a stove in the cellar of her home. The rows of brown bottles lined up on the table in front of April had labels detailing all the ailments the tonic could cure.Lydia was usually too busy making the compound and writing advertising copy to conduct a rally herself, but she'd decided to take the campaign on the road to the Houston area.April considered today a plus. Since Grandpa was unaware of her involvement, she was relieved when the small Pinkham entourageLydia; two of her sons, Dan and Will; Henry Trampas Long and April herself had left Dignity to conduct sales in a small town closer to Houston.So far, Dignity residents chose to overlook her involvement with Mrs. Pinkham in order to keep word of her activities from an aging Riley. The town mortician and cofounder was narrow-minded on the subject of Pinkham's Compound."The perfect woman," Lydia continued, "should experience no pain, but that individual would be rare indeed."Lydia Pinkham's sad but compelling eyes met the gaze of every woman in attendance as she walked the length of the table, holding aloft a bottle of her vegetable compound high for all to see. Tall placards held by Dan and Will displayed copies of advertisements that had run in newspapers in Houston. The headlines decried the major complaints of women of the day. I Am Not Well Enough to Work, one stated, followed by the photo of a contrite woman standing before an angry husband who had no dinner waiting on the table and no clean shirts in the wardrobe. In the descriptive, Lydia E. Pinkham offered her "sympathy and aid," but reminded readers that there was a ready remedy. Lydia E. Pink-ham's Vegetable Compound would, the ad stated, "restore to vigorous health the lives of those previously sorely distressed."Another claim boldly stated Operations Avoided; another, I'm Simply All Worn-out, followed by the picture of a woman who had collapsed from fatigue.Yet another touted Social TragedyWomen Who Brave Death for Social Honors, detailing how one very socially prominent woman suddenly leaped from her chair with a scream of agony, then fell insensible to the floor. The doctor told the victim's husband that she was suffering from an acute case of nervous prostratioCopeland, Lori is the author of 'Bluebonnet Belle', published 2007 under ISBN 9780373785919 and ISBN 0373785917.