Jane Austen Society of North AmericaIndianapolis Region

Vol. 13, No. 1Winter 2018Jacquie Carroll Editor

Jane Austen Society of North AmericaIndianapolis Region

Vol. 13, No. 1

The person, beit gentleman orlady, who hasnot pleasure ina good novelmust be intol-erably stupid.—JANE AUSTEN

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Can you believe its 2018? Where did2017 go? I do know that Jane Austenis responsible for a huge amount ofthe money spent in 2017 by yourstruly! Thankfully the 200th anniver-sary of her death only comes aroundonce. There were so many eventsand so much merchandise availablethis year that I got carried away withmy spending. I seriously doubt thatany Region or state for that matterdid as much to celebrate Jane’s lega-cy as Indiana did! I have heard thatnearly 90% of all public libraries inIndiana did something Jane relatedin 2017. The events began in earlyFebruary 2017 and the celebratingwent strong until her birthday onDecember 16th. I could not be moreproud of our Indianapolis Region aswell as Indiana.

Libraries were not the only venuefor Jane in Indiana. The theme ofthe 2017 Indiana State fair was“The Wonderful World of Food.”Jane Austen was featured as part of

the History of Food Exhibit at theIndiana State Fair which was spon-sored by JP Morgan Chase Bank. Idiscovered it by chance on theopening day of the fair and was soexcited that I squealed so muchonly dogs could hear me!

In the mid-August our regionalmeeting took place at the historicBenton House in Irvington. We dis-cussed Regency mourning customsas apparently every region wasrequired to discuss this topic in2017! (See above my earlier com-ment about her thankfully onlydying every 200 years!). Honestly ifI never hear anything more hairjewelry for the deceased again, Iwill be a happy Janeite! During themeeting we held our annual Janeiteauction where many fun itemswere bid on and we ended up rais-ing $300!

Our September meeting tookplace at one of the two survivingCarnegie libraries in Indianapolis.

The Jane Austen exhibition at theIndiana State Fair, 2017.

We explored and tried our hand atRegency writing complete withquills and ink! Even though it ismessy and I clearly do not have thetalent for it, we all had fun! It issomewhat miraculous to think thatJane wrote all of her novels usingthis cumbersome method!

October was AGM month! HeidiGreen, Laura Elliott, Fran Willis andyours truly travelled to sunnyHuntington Beach, California. I putmy feet into the Pacific Ocean forthe first time! We were all excited toremember Jane and all that herworks have done since her passing!

I was happy to see my favoriteJaneite and friend, Author andProfessor of English, Department ofEnglish, Arizona State UniversityDevoney Looser and her awesomehusband George and their twoteenage sons. Having raised twoteenage boys myself, I shared someadvice, “buy wine by the case-it ischeaper that way!”

I also had a lovely discussionwith Walt Stillman, the director andscreenwriter of Love and Friendship.

It was a welcome surprise when Ilearned that he spent some time atIndiana University. We talkedabout some of the current indiefilms as I had just seen Victoria andAbdul a few days before the AGM.The speakers were great and theshopping was excellent!

We visited The Huntington Librarywhere I got the opportunity to flirtwith President of the Library (who isBritish!) and see Jane’s signature in abook that she had owned! It was avery good day! I returned home withrecently released “Jane” money!

At the Christmas tea, I told thestory on how I got 8 of the 2 poundcoins. You Hoosier Janeites knowjust how ruthless I can be when Iwant something! On the 1st Fridayin November, The Historic ArtcraftTheatre in Franklin hosted a show-ing of Sense and Sensibility with abook discussion prior to the movie!Several of us attended! It was bittersweet when the audience saw AlanRickman’s first appearance in themovie. It moved the crowd cheersand tears.

On Remembrance Day, a groupof us gathered to plot out our 2018calendar of events. 2018 isPersuasion year! This is my favoriteof her novels. So get out your copyand reread it! Our Region yearended with our annual JaneAusten birthday tea at Tina’sTraditional Tea Room in Carmel.Indianapolis Region members thetearoom filled with. It was a greatpleasure to have my son Nicholas’sgirlfriend Cassandra Haynes as myguest. She stepped right in, manag-ing our “fish” raffle, and assistingme with the money! Tina wasamazed when Cassie figured outthe final bill faster than the com-puter! Cassie is excels at math! Itmay be difficult to top 2017 as aRegion but we can certainly findout! Details on upcoming 2018events are included in this newslet-ter so make note! And thank youagain for the privilege to serve asyour Regional Coordinator forIndiana—I am honored!

Photos from this busy year are below!

TOP LEFT: Attendees at the showing ofSense and Sensibility at The HistoricArtcraft Theater in Franklin: Erin Weir,Kirsten Long, Mary Miller TOP RIGHT: Indianapolis Region mem-bers at the 2017 AGM in HuntingtonBeach: Mary Miller, Laura Elliot, FranWillis and Heidi Green.BOTTOM: Auction items and writingwith quills at the August IR-Regionmeeting.

5 Questions forSondra Bowers

Sondra was the first treasurer of ourRegion. She is currently downsizingand moving from her lovely homein Carmel, which was the locationof several meetings in the earlyyears of our Region. She has givenme several dozen books that I willbe sharing with our membersthroughout the upcoming year!

Q: When did you first readAusten?A: 1974, Colorado Springs, AGM,because Sue invited me (and others)to go with her.

Q: What is your favorite Austenbook and why?A: Persuasion. Capt. Wentworth hasalways been my favorite character.

Q: How long have you been amember of JASNA?A: 43 years (I think).

Q: As you have been to severalAGM's, which one was yourfavorite and why?A: I enjoyed almost all of them - per-haps Montreal since I got to seemany new to me areas.

Q: What would you discuswith Jane Austen if you mether for tea?A: Her favorite female character (orher engagement).

Upcoming MeetingSchedule

2/9: Ladies event for CivicTheatre, Carmel

2/11: Civic JASNA performance ofS & S, Carmel

3/4—Tea at MauraHutchinson’s/Persuasionbook discussion/20 peoplelimit, Greenfield

4/20: Bridget Jones’ Diary movie &book discussion in Franklin.

6/2—Box Hill Picnic. Place TBD.7/13-15: Louisville Festival8/18: Main Street Books. Lafayette.

Persuasion book discussion.9/8: Tour of the Indiana State

Library9/27-30: AGM in Kansas City, MO10/20: Crafts Day/Regency Home

Ec at Fishers Library (tenta-tive location).

11/10: Planning meeting,Northside IN

12/2: Christmas Tea at Tina’s inCarmel

REMINDER:Don’t forget that membership

renewal is due in August!

TOP: Swag from the AGM. BOTTOM: Jane Austen 2017 UK 2 pound Brilliant Uncirculated coin.

More Scenes from 2017

AS JANEITES many of us are perfect-ly content with studying and dis-cussing all the literary aspects ofMiss Austen’s work. There alwaysseems to be a treasure trove todelve into, with juicy nuggets ofinformation about the text of hernovels, of her letters, and of her lifeto discover – plenty to keep a schol-arly heart and mind occupied formany years to come.

That said, there are many of usstill who revel in exploring otheraspects in Miss Austen’s life as well:cooking, gardening, traveling, let-ter-writing, dancing, etc. But one ofthe aspects that many a Janeiteloves to indulge in is the clothing,

shoes and accessories of theGeorgian and Regency periods inwhich our beloved Jane lived. Anew book by the founder ofAmerican Duchess, Lauren Stowell,and her costuming partner, AbbyCox, is just the reference guide an18th century “cos-player” needs.

Actually, the garments created bythese worthy seamstresses are morethan mere costumes. Filled with peri-od stitches and sewing techniques,the gowns are well-researched and ashistorically accurate as we 21st centu-ry sewers can make them. The bookincludes sewing instructions for fourdifferent styles of gowns: The EnglishGown (1740s); The Sacque Gown(1760s-1770s); The Italian Gown(1770s-1790s); and The Round Gown(1790s). Each section starts from theunderpinnings and adds the variouslayers, all the way to caps, bonnetsand other accessories, and includespatterns, fabric measurements andnotions, etc.

Is it technical? Honestly, yes. Asan intermediate sewer, I’m not readyto rush to the fabric store to fashionmy next period creation for theupcoming JA Festival or an AGMquite yet. However, in pouring over

the gorgeous, instructive photo-graphs and reading the engagingand encouraging text from these twoexpert seamstresses, I begin tobelieve a lovely Georgian gown isnot completely out of my reach, ifonly I will take my time and followtheir guidance. In the meantime,seeing how each “look” is assembledgives even a novice ideas of how touse ready-made items to pull togeth-er a costume that is perfectly appro-priate for an Austen-style event.

I think the book will also appealto the scholarly Janeite, as well, giv-ing even the casual reader impor-tant references regarding the day-to-day trials an 18th centurywoman may have to endure as shewears stays, several layers of cloth-ing, cap and bonnet each day.

Throughout all, the enthusiasmand attention to detail of Ms. Stowelland Ms. Cox makes this a worthyreference in any Janeite collection.The American Duchess Guide to 18thCentury Dressmaking: How to Hand Sew Georgian Gowns andWear Them with StyleLauren Stowell & Abby CoxPage Street Publishing Co.Copyright 2017

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How to Hand SewGeorgian Gowns and Wear

Them with StyleA Book Review

by Lisa C. Whitaker

JASNA's Membership YearThe membership year begins September 1 and ends August 31, and all annual memberships renew inSeptember. Members who join before June 1 are enrolled for the current year and receive the currentyear’s edition of Persuasions. Members who join between June 1 and August 31 will be enrolled forthe next full membership year that starts September 1. URL: www.jasna.org/join

Jane is everywhere!Notable links provided

for you to enjoy:

http://austenvariations.com/jane-in-january-and-you-2-5/

https://sarahemsley.com/2018/01/19/miss-morland-do-but-look-at-my-horse-horses-john-thor-pe-problem/

https://austenauthors.net/

SENSE & SENSIBILITY at Civic Theatre InFebruary, Civic Theatre is doing the playof Sense & Sensibility. We have a specialJASNA showing on Sunday, February 11thfor the 2pm matinee. There will be a dis-cussion with the director/cast after theperformance. And on Friday, February 9th,there is a special event prior to the 7pmperformance that night called Sisters andSpirits. This is an additional cost but wewill have a table to promote JASNA and Ihave some passes if you want to attend.Watch the Facebook group page and youremail for details on tickets and such!

Scenes from Tina’s Tea Room

TOP: Tina Jesson of Tina’s Tradition Tearoom in Carmel poursthe champagne for the annual toast to Jane Austen to celebrateher birth.RIGHT: Tea luncheon at Tina’s at our annual celebration of JaneAusten in December.BOTTOM: December 2017 tea guests Cassie Haynes andMelissa Hook with the Civic Theatre.