Booth and Barrett Edwin Booth (1833–1893) and John Barrett (1838–1891), two prominent nineteenth-century Shakespearean actors, formed a theatrical troupe in 1887 and traveled around the country putting on dramatic productions.
Buying “findings” for Mrs. Thomas Findings are small articles used in various trades; in the case of Mrs. Thomas, a dressmaker, these would be buttons, hooks, fringe, and the like.
cinders any matter, as coal or wood, burned out or partly burned, but not reduced to ashes.
cut bands cutting pieces of twine or metal to be used for binding sheaves of grain.
commercial travellers traveling salesmen.
Get your back up an order to show some courage. Anson Kirkpatrick says this to Johnnie Gardener, who worries that his wife won’t like it when she hears that the hired girls have been dancing with the men who are staying at the hotel.
Marshall Field’s man a salesman representing Marshall Field’s large retail dry-goods store in Chicago.
Mary Anderson an actress (1859–1940) who was noted for her beauty and her flexible voice. She retired from the stage in 1889 after suffering a nervous collapse during a performance in Washington, D.C.
“retail trade” a customer, rather than a retail merchant, who is purchasing items for resale.
the spirit if not the fact of slavery persisted Although slavery was illegal, many white people treated blacks as inferiors and denied them rights and courtesies that they themselves expected.
threshing the act of freeing grain or seed from hulls.
