Tiffany Girl (62 page)

CREDITS

1
. Henry Collins Brown,
Valentine’s Manual of Old New York
(New York: Valentine’s Manual, Inc., 1928), 39.

2
. “Gown of Black Plissé Crépon with Velvet Sleeves,”
Harper’s Bazar
, November 9, 1895, vol. XXVIII, no 45, 913.

3
. “Back View of Worth Cape on Front Page,”
Harper’s Bazar
, September 14, 1895, vol. XXVIII, no 37, 744.

4
. Moses King,
King’s Handbook of New York City
(Boston: Moses King, 1892), 285.

5
. “Selecting the Plating,”
The Cosmopolitan
, January, 1899, vol. XXVI, no 3, 244.

6
. Monica Bruenjes,
A Woman Selling Flowers
, ©Pressing Matters Publishing Co., Inc., 2014. Original Bruenjes artwork specifically commissioned by Deeanne Gist for
Tiffany Girl
.

7
. “Making a Cartoon at the Tiffany Studios,”
The Art Interchange
, October, 1894, vol. XXXIII, no 4, 86.

8
. Monica Bruenjes,
Place Card
, ©Pressing Matters Publishing Co., Inc., 2014. Original Bruenjes artwork specifically commissioned by Deeanne Gist for
Tiffany Girl
.

9
. Gold Dust Washing Powder Advertisement,
Harper’s Bazar
, May 27, 1893, vol. XXVI, no 21, 433.

10
. 
Monica Bruenjes,
Game Card
, ©Pressing Matters Publishing Co., Inc., 2014. Original Bruenjes artwork specifically commissioned by Deeanne Gist for
Tiffany Girl.

11
. The Acme Giant,
The Sears, Roebuck Catalogue
, 1902, 825.

12
. “The Making of Stained-Glass Windows,”
The Cosmopolitan
, January 1899, vol. XXVI, no 3, 243, 246, 250.

13
. Hubert Howe Bancroft,
The Book of the Fair
(Chicago: The Bancroft Co., 1893), 71.

14
. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, L. Prang & Co. Collection, LC-DIG-pga-04050.

15
. “How Miss Miggs Fitted Herself For Matrimony,”
The Cosmopolitan
, March 1899, vol. XXVI, no 5, 511.

16
. “View of the Glass Room with Women at Work,”
The Art Interchange
, October, 1894, vol. XXXIII, no 4, 87.

17
. “The Gathering of the Winterbournes,”
The Ladies’ Home Journal
, September 1894, vol. XI, no 10, 1.

18
. King, 603.

19
. Maud Howe Elliott,
Art and Handicraft in the Woman’s Building of the World’s Columbian Exposition
(Chicago: Rand, McNally & Company, 1894), 50.

20
. Henry Collins Brown,
Delmonico’s: A Story of Old New York
(New York: Valentine’s Manual, Inc., 1928), 50.

21
. Bancroft, 553.

22
. Ibid., 392.

23
. Monica Bruenjes,
Tiffany Chapel
, ©Pressing Matters Publishing Co., Inc., 2014. Original Bruenjes artwork specifically commissioned by Deeanne Gist for
Tiffany Girl
.

24
. Elliott, 290.

25
. King, 575.

26
. 
Shepp’s World’s Fair Photographed
(Chicago: Globe Bible Publishing Co., 1893), 513.

27
. “The Board Game of Old Maid,” Courtesy of The Strong®, National Museum of Play, Rochester, New York.

28
. 
“Paris Dinner Toilettes,”
Harper’s Bazar
, April 30, 1892, vol. XXV, no 18, 349.

29
. Brown,
Valentine’s Manual,
85.

30
. “Garden Party Gown,”
Harper’s Bazar
, July 27, 1895, vol. XXVIII, no 30, 597.

31
. Peter Fauerbach,
1910 Fauerbach Beer Wagon
,
http://www.fauerbachbrewery.com
(Madison, WI), May 24, 2013.

32
. 
Telegraphic Journal and Electrical Review
, January 24, 1885, vol. XVI, no 374, 3.

33a
. “The Zoopraxiscope: A Couple Waltzing,” Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Eadweard Muybridge Collection, LC-DIG-ppmsca-05949.

33b
. Helen Campbell,
Darkness and Daylight: Lights and Shadows of New York Life
(Connecticut: Hartford Publishing Company, 1899), 691.

34
. “Dragonfly Lamp by Clara Driscoll,” Courtesy of Lillian Nassau LLC, New York.

35
. 
Fifty Photographic Views of Greater New York
(New York: Rand, McNally & Co., 1900), 41.

36
. “26th Ward Branch of the YMCA,” Courtesy of the Gomes Collection,
http://www.tapeshare.com
.

37
. “Winter Costumes,”
Harper’s Bazar
, November 16, 1895, vol. XXVIII, no 46, 936.

38
. Monica Bruenjes,
Christmas Card
, ©Pressing Matters Publishing Co., Inc., 2014. Original Bruenjes artwork specifically commissioned by Deeanne Gist for
Tiffany Girl
.

39
. Monica Bruenjes,
A Little Girl in Central Park
, ©Pressing Matters Publishing Co., Inc., 2014. Original Bruenjes artwork specifically commissioned by Deeanne Gist for
Tiffany Girl
.

40
. Monica Bruenjes,
Frontispiece
, ©Pressing Matters Publishing Co., Inc., 2014. Original Bruenjes artwork specifically commissioned by Deeanne Gist for
Tiffany Girl
.

41
. “Miss Consuelo Vanderbilt’s Wedding Gown,”
Harper’s Bazar
, November 9, 1895, vol. XXVIII, no 45, 908.

42
. 
Honor Bilt Modern Homes
(Chicago: Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1926), 118.

43
. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-91532.

READING GROUP GUIDE

Tiffany Girl

Deeanne Gist

Introduction

The heir to Tiffany’s jewelry empire is left without a staff when glassworkers go on strike just months before the opening of the much-anticipated 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and the hyped mosaic Tiffany Chapel. Desperate and without another option, Tiffany turns to a group of female art students to finish the job. Flossie Jayne answers the call, moving into a New York City boardinghouse with high hopes of making a name for herself as an artist and defying those who say that the work can’t be completed in time—least of all by a set of young, inexperienced women. As Flossie flouts polite society’s restrictions on females, her ambitions become threatened from an unexpected quarter: her own heart. What or who will claim victory? Her dreams or the captivating boarder next door?

Topics & Questions for Discussion

1. What is the historic significance of Louis Comfort Tiffany’s idea to hire women workers as replacements for the striking glass cutters? Do you think the move would have been as controversial had their employer and his project been of lesser notoriety? Would it have been as significant? Why or why not?

2. On
page 6
, Flossie compliments her mother: “every gown you make is nothing short of a work of art.” Do you think Flossie’s glass cutting or Aggie’s foil wrapping are merely supportive to Tiffany’s art or are they art forms in and of themselves? How would you define what is and is not art?

3. Why is Flossie’s father so upset about her living in a boardinghouse? Explore the concept of a lifestyle that is “appropriate” for a woman of her station. What types of behaviors, tasks, activities, and even purposes are clearly designated as belonging to the world of women in the novel? What about the world of men? Do you find these boundaries logical, or are they rooted in something else? If you can, use examples to support your opinion.

4. It’s clear all along that Tiffany has created an enormous opportunity for both the Tiffany Girls and for the greater “New Woman” movement, but in doing so also creates enormous tension. After all, the women’s opportunity comes at the expense of the “hundred-plus men who were striking for reasonable hours and better wages” (
p. 38
). How does this factor influence your feelings about the situation? Imagine yourself in Flossie’s shoes—what would you do?

5. What is it about the New Woman that so threatens and offends men and women alike? How do you feel about the reasons characters give in opposition to the movement?

6. Flossie “merely wanted to be paid for her labor so she could go to art school. She had a hard time seeing how that was going to lead to the deterioration of the entire human race.” (
p. 84
) Reeve’s arguments against the women’s liberation movement were drawn from actual articles written at the turn of the century. How do his opinions differ from Flossie’s parents’ or the striking protesters? If you had to take a position against Flossie, would you go with Reeve’s, Papa’s, or the strikers?

7. Identify some of the ways in which Flossie and other New Women suffered for their efforts to step outside of their prescribed roles. Discuss the dichotomy of the men in the novel who are against the women’s movement because they want to respect and protect the “fairer sex,” yet they mistreat the working women and even students. How did you expect Flossie to react to the men who harassed her? If you were a nineteenth-century woman, what would you have done in her place?

8. Reeve acts out of deep hurt caused by abandonment and isolation in his childhood. In what ways does he re-create these familiar environments and feelings as an adult? Why do you suppose present-day society is accepting of depression, yet loneliness is taboo?

9. Why do you think Reeve has such affection and feelings of obligation toward Mrs. Dinwiddie? What is it about Flossie that at first drives him mad and then later drives him mad with love? Discuss these two primary relationships in Reeve’s life and consider their differences and similarities.

10. Despite Reeve’s initial impression of the New Woman, he comes to understand that there are many reasons a woman may choose to take on a “man’s responsibilites.” For example, when he visits his childhood home he finds himself discussing finances
with Mrs. Gusman. How does this make him feel? How does he ultimately come to grips with the situation? Identify some of the circumstances in the novel that necessitates women taking on roles commonly ascribed to men.

11. When Nan goes home ill, Flossie takes it upon herself to make new choices for the glass panels she will cut to use in a nativity scene, and the results are not as she expected. What does this experience teach Flossie about her work and about herself?

12. Reeve thinks Flossie is spoiled. Do you agree? Why or why not? When Flossie berates herself for being selfish on
page 320
, do you think she’s finally getting clarity or is she being too hard on herself? Do you think a modern woman would assess herself the same way? Would you?

13. Reeve seems to suffer from two main “walls”: the emotional one that maintains his isolation, and the one that bars his understanding of what the New Woman truly wants and why. What begins to open his eyes to the realities that girls like Flossie face? What instigates the first trickle of empathy for their cause and how does he react to this revelation? Did his reaction surprise you? Why or why not?

14. Flossie decides before ever moving into the boardinghouse that all the other borders will become the large family she never had but always longed for. What series of events cause Flossie to realize that her “family at 438” is not what she thought? How does this realization change her? Do you think it’s for the better, or for the worse? Why?

15. When Flossie discovers that Reeve is the infamous I. D. Claire and that he has based his protagonist on her, she is furious because she feels he’s made a public fool of her. But Reeve protests that she
and his fictional character Marylee are not the same person. At what point does Reeve himself begin to understand this distinction? Later, how does Flossie identify with Marylee?

16. In many ways, this novel plays with the theme of perception, or how you see yourself versus how you are seen by others. What do you think the novel says about the weight you give to what others think of you? Do you believe there is value in questioning perspectives and ideas, either about others or about yourself? Why or why not? How might the story have unfolded differently if Flossie did not challenge her own perspectives, or Reeve’s his?