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My dad and brother also liked their motorcycles. As far back as my memory goes, they rode them to irrigate until Dad got a 4-wheeler in the 1980s. Dad had a scabbard on the side of his motorbike to hold his shovel, and he had an assortment of tools in case he needed them. I even had my own motorbike from the time I was eleven so I could help on the farm.
Karcher Mall was a very real place that I loved to visit. As a little girl, I thought it was so “fancy” with red carpeted halls and department stores unlike anything we had in our small town. There really was a big polar bear with a seal in a glassed-in case in the mall that was both scary and fascinating to look at! Karcher Mall was the very first mall in Idaho, opening in 1965, and remained the largest until Boise Towne Square opened in 1988.
Another real place included in the story is the Egyptian Theatre in Boise. It has been around since the 1920s, has the most fascinating style, and has been a landmark for decades.
My dad recently mentioned a store in Star called Jackson’s that carried, according to him, “a little bit of everything.” It was fun to work that into the story.
My sister had several health problems and one of the doctors she saw was in Boise. His name was Dr. O’Brien. I thought he was awesome, probably because I always got candy from him when my sister had an appointment, and decided to use him as inspiration for one of the doctors in the office where Grace works.
In the story, when Levi is hustling to close the shop door, that idea came from memories of Dad (or my brother) running to close the big shop doors if a storm was brewing because if the wind caught them, they were toast.
I have seen photos of the wagon wheel furniture my parents once had. In fact, when they built their new house (where I was raised) they kept the wagon wheel chandelier. It hung in our family room and roughhousing children were known to knock the little metal tops off the glass lamp chimneys from time to time.
I’m so grateful I had my grandma’s old 1961 Betty Crocker cookbook. It gave me so many ideas for the day-to-day things my characters would eat as well as recipes for special treats. I also looked to my 1970 Betty Crocker cookbook for kids for ideas. I loved that cookbook when I was first learning my way around the kitchen. I think it was a leftover relic from some of my older cousins, and several of the pages were missing, but the colorful images and illustrations made it such a fun thing to look through when I was young.
While I’m on the subject of food, I was a happy kid when Mom bought Carnation Breakfast Bars. They originally came out in 1975, so I fudged the timelines just a bit, but I so wanted to include them in this story. They were chocolate chip with chocolate coating, and I thought I was getting to eat candy for breakfast! I loved them, especially for an after-school snack! There is nothing out there today that compares to the taste of those original breakfast bars.
I also loved the assortment of gum and candy my dad often plied me with when we were off on an adventure (interpret as irrigating). We always had Life Savers (Butter Rum was a favorite flavor) and Big Hunk candy bars as well as Necco Wafers, Bit-O-Honey, and little boxes of Lemonheads. I was a fan of Fruit Stripe gum too. Of course, almost every trip Dad and I made to town included getting a bottle of icy cold pop from a vending machine. Those real glass bottles held more Coca-Cola than I could drink, so I’d drink what I wanted (which was usually a few sips), then Dad would finish the rest.
I included the mention of cocktail peanuts and buttermints at Delia’s wedding because it seemed to me every wedding we attended back in those days had bowls of peanuts and those melt-in-your-mouth pastel mints.
If you lived through the 1960s or 1970s, you’ll remember Pyrex bowls with a variety of patterns on the side, as well as the popularity of Tupperware. I even remember my mom hosting a Tupperware party, where you learned the proper way to make the lids “burp” as you sealed them. I also remember my mom having a big cake plate with a dome. I think it was in that funky poppy red color popular in the 1970s.
The mention of Red Steer and the Ham’oneer is directly from my childhood. We had a Red Steer in a nearby town (and there were locations in the Boise area too). It’s the town where Dad often had to go for parts in the summer, and we would sometimes swing by and get an ice cream cone or milkshake. When I got older, I remember ordering their famous Ham’oneer (that name was at one time trademarked). The hamburger was delicious on its own, but they added this thick, almost cottage-style bacon that elevated it to a whole new level of tastiness. Captain Cavedweller and I were both sad when all the Red Steers closed.
I had the best time looking through fashions from 1972. Mostly because they brought to mind clothes I remember seeing in Mom’s closet. There was even a pair of slingback sandals similar to those worn by Grace in the story. I do believe those sandals met a sad and untimely death on the banks of the river in our small town when my oldest brother decided to ride his horse in the annual Suicide Race. Mom got so nervous, she clenched her legs and dug her feet into the banks so hard, it broke the heel off one of her favorite pairs of shoes! It made me feel close to Mom again to see dresses similar to those she had worn. I even found one advertisement for the outfit she wore to my grandparents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary.
The dress Grace wore to Delia’s wedding is inspired by a beautiful gown like it that my mom made for my sister. I thought the blue velvet burnout roses were so pretty.
When I started thinking about the music that would have been playing on the radio and record players back then, I had no idea so many songs that are still popular today came out in 1972! Although I shared several of them in the story, there’s a great list my friend Cheryl shared with me. (Thanks, Cheryl! If you haven’t yet, be sure to read her Pink Pistol story,Love Under Fire!) So many of the songs are familiar to me from listening to my mom sing along to them on the radio.
If you’re wondering why I made Levi a recently returned soldier from Vietnam, I did it partly because I could just so clearly picture him as a wounded and struggling veteran. I also wanted to share a little about the war because it was such a big part of that time in our history. My deepest, most sincere thanks to anyone who is a veteran or is currently serving. Your service and sacrifices are appreciated more than you can know.
Check out the assortment of visuals that helped inspire tidbits in the story on my Pinterest board.
You can read more about the modern Gibson family in Savoring Christmas.
Special thanks to Katrina, Allison, Alice, Linda, and my Hopeless Romantic readers who make my books so much better than they’d be without their help. I appreciate you all so much.
Until we meet again between the covers of a book, wishing you joy in your heart and love in your home.
Shanna
