A first family tree

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The Whittaker Saga: the setup

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 I  was vastly inspired when reading the decades challenge, and as a history teacher, I could not stop myself from giving it a try. Of course, true to my nature or refusing to do things by the book, the first thing I did was break the rules. How? By creating as my protagonist a single, working woman living on her own! Gasp! Why? Partly because a story popped into my head, but also, partly, to honor the many women who - by choice or necessity - actually worked, and worked hard for their living in the 1890s. We tend to forget them, but the working women were there - from the hard working farmers that we often downgrade by calling wives, as if they weren't an essential part of the economy of the farm, to the working class women working as domestic help or in the factories where they were only payed half of a man's wages.  So with that, I introduce Abigail Spencer, a single, working, middle class woman in 1890s Willow Creek:  As middle class there is only a few jobs avai...
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An interlude: The 1940s, WWII-gameplay and the latest family tree:

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As we go into the 1940s, I thought I'd take the time to reflect on what this new decade might mean for gameplay. The 1940s were, naturally, dominated by WWII. In the US this is especially true after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. Things that are reflected in the original rules of the challenge by feeding sims cow plant cake and sending them to live elsewhere. Anyone who read this story through WWI knows that's not how I play. So let's take a look at the facts and figure out what this will mean for this particular story and my gameplay: WWII: going to war (or work) and deaths. In the US 16,1 million men were either drafted (10 million) or volunteered (6 million) in WWII. Yet what did that mean in relation to the population? According to the 1940 census, there were a total of 65 million men in the US, of which 35 million were between the ages of 18-45 (draft-age after the Pearl Harbor attack). So in other words, 16 million men out of a pool of 35 million. Tha...
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1890s: Starting out in a new town

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After moving into her small house, getting some chickens and some simple crops to extend her pay, Abigail started her life and work in Willow Creek. She likes her students and quite enjoy her work as a teacher:   Still she is a bit stressed about fulfilling her aspiration, and finding love when it's entirely inappropriate to be the one to initiate flirting is apparently hard! But she tries, and she has met all four eligible bachelors at this time. She met Joseph while taking a stroll in the park. They got along quite well and enjoyed a game of chess together:     They have really hit it off and quite enjoy each other's company, and after Sunday service in church, Joseph even flirted with her for the briefest of moments before becoming friendly with her again.   In general, Abigail is really happy about Sunday services. It's a great place to meet all the people in town, the reverend is nice, and holds good sermons (although the congregation is very bad at l...
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