New Diary Entries for 1927

I've been looking through Grandma's 1927 diary and appears she took advantage of the new year to renew her commitment to writing something every day. So, there will be new diary entries beginning January 1st!

Christmas Candy

Making Christmas candy was a big part of the holiday celebrations for the Grandma.

Here is Grandma's father's cinnamon candy recipe, provided by Aunt Marjorie. We still use it today.

Grandpa Campbell's Cinnamon Roll

2 cups sugar (granulated)
2 Tablespoons flour (slightly rounded)
1 cup milk
1 lump butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pie pan with 1/4" +/- cinnamon spread in the bottom)

Have everything ready before you start. Have a clean marble slab or countertop greased with butter, and have a small lump of butter ready to grease your hands when ready to knead candy. Have 2" - 3" cold water in the sink, and have a lump of butter (Mother used to say "size of a walnut") and vanilla standing by the sink. I use a 3 or 4 quart dull pan (shiny stainless steel would scorch the milk).

Mix sugar and flour, mashing flour lumps into sugar with spoon so all is smooth, then add milk. Start cooking while stirring till sugar pretty well dissolved, but never stir once simmering commences. When gently boiling, cover for a few minutes. On my stove, I cook halfway between medium and medium-low to soft ball stage (234 degrees on my thermometer).

Immediately move pan to cold water in sink and add butter. Let it cool a few minutes and add vanilla, then beat (slowly will do it) till it becomes dull & no longer shiny. Turn it onto a greased counter, rub butter on your hands, and knead until you can form rolls (about the size of a roll of quarters) and roll each formed roll in the cinnamon. When firm, store in a tin until needed, then cut into little slices.

Enjoy and Merry Christmas. The next post will be Grandma's diary entry for January 1, 1927.

Saturday, December 18, 1926

This would be Grandma's birthday.

She had a ring with the birthstone for December in it, which she gave to my youngest sister, her only granddaughter who also had a birthday in December. And, if she hasn't already, we would expect my sister to give that ring to one particular niece some day, the only girl in the next generation with a December birthday.

Friday, December 17, 1926

Grandma had no more diary entries until she started her new "book of remembrance" for 1927.

At the end of her 1926 diary, she included these names and addresses, some friends long forgotten, others (the Jordan's) were her uncles, brothers of her mother.

Mrs. CC Cunningham
26 Fowler Ave
West Lafayette, Ind

H. L. Barnhart
2615 Mills Ave.
Indianapolis

Flora M. Hipp
222 Central Ave.

Andrew Jordan
208 S. Seventh Ave.
Maywood, Ill

James Jordan
221 N. Wood St.
Gibson City, Ill

John Jordan
716 N. Market St.
Bloomington, Ill

J. J. Morgan
4841 N. Capitol Ave.

Tomorrow, December 18th, is Grandma's birthday. Born in 1892, she would be 115 years old if she were alive today. Remember, the oldest person in the world lives in a nursing home not far from Indianapolis, and she was born in April 1893.

New posts of the diary will start on January 1. In the meantime, check back as I will post some of Grandma's candy recipes. Candy making was always a big part of her holiday preparations.

Friday, December 10, 1926

No diary entry today! I guess Grandma was too busy making candy, getting ready for Christmas. She made candy every year for Christmas, as she had quite the sweet tooth.

Thursday, December 9, 1926

Thursday, December 9, 1926
Rainy

Mama came over early to let me go down town. Papa took me out to lunch which I enjoyed very much. I shopped and got everything from furniture (doll) to fire engines and was so laden down I hardly got on the bus. However, I made it and felt after I got home and inventoried that I hadn’t got much after all. I’m afraid my little gifts will seem cheap to the others, they are the best I can afford.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "Mother seemed to give us gifts we liked. Except... when I was 12 or 13 she refused to get me the Max Factor make-up I saw in the drugstores, which I was very sure would make me beautiful!"

Is anyone really satisfied with the gifts they get others?)

Wednesday, December 8, 1926

Wednesday, December 8, 1926
Warmer

Ironed and mended and put the clothes away. I answered the door when sweaty from ironing, stood there a minute in the draft and felt myself taking cold began to sneeze right away so began doctoring up but felt awfully bum by supper time. Went to bed early instead of sewing as I wanted to.

Tuesday, December 7, 1926

Tuesday, December 7, 1926
Cold and rain or sleet

A glare of ice everywhere. Gilbert started out but couldn’t walk except on the grass and as there was no grass down town where he would have to transfer he came back and called a taxi. The $1.15 was cheaper than a broken leg. All had melted by noon. I washed. Dick and Albert busy writing “po yems”. Albert is interested because Dick is of course. But I think Dick writes some pretty clever rhymes for a kid but I realize I may be prejudiced.

(A glare of ice could be our weather forecast for this same day in 2007. Gilbert had one leg shorter than the other so I would imagine that it was worse for him to walk on snowy or icy sidewalks than for others.

And what mother doesn't think her kids are clever and talented? I doubt any of those "po yems" were kept, but they'd be interesting to read.

Aunt Marjorie wrote, "Dick and Albert always liked "po yems". I still have a little book called "A Child's Garden of Verses" that I believe Dick & Albert gave me for Christmas when I was probably about eight. Several years later they gave me a big book of James Whitcomb Riley's "Complete Book of Poems". I gave that to my youngest granddaughter. I also remember that Dick was clever at drawing cartoons and caricatures."

Sunday, December 5, 1926

No diary entry today. I assume it was a typical Sunday... church, Sunday school, visiting Grandma's parents... maybe see a movie. I am still surprised that movie theaters were open on Sundays in the 1920's. Must have been about the only thing open!

Saturday, December 4, 1926

Saturday, December 4, 1926

Found of the floor of living and dining room while cleaning house. Not mussed up as much as sometimes.
1 airplane
1 doll chair
1 base ball
1 doll bed
1 market basket
1 tin cup
Pad for kitchen
Felix
1 piece toast
1 can rubber
1 tin cart and horse
1 revolver
1 cake box
Gilbert’s slippers
Ned’s hat
1 news bag
1 can opener
1 bather belt
Dale’s good pants
Albert’s good pants
Dale's news bag
1 box lid
1 box (garage)
1 iron truck
1 piece broken airplane
1 crayon
1 pencil
1 toy racer
2 rag dolls
1 tin box
1 leather whip
1 skate key
Doll's shoe
1 empty box
1 tin man
1 pair scissors
1 pencil
1 “blown up” Jack
2 rubber bands
3 paper clips
1 wheel
1 safety pin
11 Lincoln logs
6 blocks
1 doll dress
2 handerkerchiefs
1 button
1 clothes hanger

Lots of paper for Dick just got through eating a bunch of butterscotch and chocolates with tin foil on them. I don’t know how it happened that there were no gloves in the pile or marbles.

(I guess it was hard to keep the room nice and neat with four boys and a baby girl!)

Tuesday, November 30, 1926

No diary entry today. In fact, the next diary entry, and therefore the next post here, will be December 4th!

Monday, November 29, 1926

Sorry, there was no diary entry for today.

Being a Monday, Grandma would have been washing clothes. And I would guess in the winter there were more clothes to wash than in the summer time.

Sunday, November 28, 1926

Sunday, November 28, 1926
Fair

Dick and Albert have been writing to Nell while Dale was outdoors playing football. I’ll have to write to Nell and tell her not to pay any attention to the Christmas lists as so many of the things have been supplied. Dick has his shopping done and all his things wrapped. He could hardly wait to get home from Sunday school. I went and took Ned but Gilbert and Marjorie stayed home. A Mrs. Boaz from Antioch church called but I’m sure she didn’t get much encouragement. She lives close to Central!!

(I assume the "Central" Grandma referred to was their church, Central Christian Church. Just like today, it seems like people who wanted you go to their church in the 1920's showed up at the door on a Sunday morning to invite you, assuming that if you were home, you didn't go to any church.)

Saturday, November 27, 1926

Saturday, November 27, 1926
Cold

The man came to fix the window. Dick and I went down town and completed his shopping at the ten cent store. Then we met Dale who stayed with Marjorie till Daddy came. And we got them all caps. Dale got a pair of high top shoes and a sheep skin coat or rather leatherette lined with sheep skin. He is awfully proud of them both and oiled his shoes twice during the evening. I met Florence Chister and had quite a chat with her. She has three boys. Got a letter from Nell inviting us for Christmas.

(Such early gift buying and planning for Christmas surprises me!)

Friday, November 26, 1926

Friday, November 26, 1926
Rainy

Made Albert and Ned each a pair of pants and Dale a waist and Albert one out of an old shirt of Harry’s. Albert and Dale went bright and early to do their Christmas shopping

(Two pairs of pants, two shirts (that what a 'waist' is) in one day! That's amazing.

I'm also surprised that the boys shopped so early for Christmas. I thought that was a more recent (last several decades) phenomenon, of people shopping so early. I thought in the 1920's they wouldn't think about Christmas shopping until well into December.)

Thursday, November 25, 1926

Thursday, November 25, 1926
Rainy and cold

Had a pretty good Thanksgiving Day. The boys had to go after their papers at one but had to wait till 2:20 in the cold. The folks came here for dinner which I had at four o’clock. We had chicken, etc. and plum pudding!

(I wonder what the "etc." was. We've never had plum pudding on Thanksgiving, but I do remember that growing up Grandma always brought potato rolls for Thanksgiving. We rotated between our house (Eleanor's), Marjorie's and Ned's each year, and always had turkey.)

Wednesday, November 24, 1926

Wednesday, November 24, 1926

Gilbert got home a little early and Dale and I went to the Piggly Wiggly and got supplies which I have been wanting for a long time. I feel this week that I will have a little money free from now on but of course not so for when I got home, Gilbert went to the library and while I was bathing the babies, Dale, and Dick got to romping. Dick picked up a rubber horse shoe and threw it at Dale who threw it back at him. Dick dodged and it went through the blind and the big front window, so there’s that to pay for. It’s getting colder, too.

(I had never heard of grocery stores called the "Piggly Wiggly" until I saw the moving "Driving Miss Daisy". I didn't know there were ever Piggly Wiggly stores in Indianapolis.)

Tuesday, November 23, 1926

Tuesday, November 23, 1926

Ironed all day. It was a big job for my starch stuck something awful.

(I have never used starch in my life to iron anything. What a difference there is in the clothes I wear, and how to care for them, compared to what Grandma wore in the 1920's and how she had to care for them.)

Monday, November 22, 1926

Monday, November 22, 1926
Fair

Had a good wash day for the first time for a long time. The clothes looked nice and white and smelled so clean! But I had no linet so used Argo starch and it got all lumpy for the colored clothes. Got Dale and Dick ready for a party at the church this evening. They took their own sandwiches and so had their supper. Dale went from Brightwood after he finished carrying his papers and Dick came home and went and had to take Robert Collins.

(Grandma finally got back to updating her diary after not updating it since November 5th.)

Wednesday, November 17, 1926

Grandma writes again in her diary on November 22nd.

I'm going to take a break from posting until then. Please come back on the 22nd for the next diary entry!

If you feel so inclined, you can delurk and leave a comment!

Tuesday, November 16, 1926

No diary entry today. Grandma took several days off from writing in her diary in Novembe 1926.

Monday, November 15, 1926

No diary entry today. Aunt Marjorie wrote:

"My brothers always called Mother "mama". When I was young (probably in school by then) my playmate next door, Joann Fries, told me her mother said that calling my mother 'mama' was babyish. That embarrassed me very much, and I started consciously calling my mother 'Mother'.

It was difficult for a while but I became able to easily call mother 'Mother', always. Eleanor started using 'Mother', too. Mother never made any comment. I suspect she knew what was going on. I think one of her powers was in not telling everything she knew. The boys called her 'mama' the rest of her or their lives."

(I don't recall what my mom (Eleanor) called Grandma, but I know my Dad always called her 'Mother Smith'.)

Sunday, November 14, 1926

No diary entry today.

Being a Sunday, some or all of them would have gone to church at Central Christian Church in Indianapolis. It was approximately 2.5 miles away, so they would ride a bus, catch a ride with a neighbor or maybe walk. After church, they might go to Grandma's parents for a Sunday dinner, especially if one of her brothers was visiting.


In some diary entries, Grandma wrote about some of them going to see a movie on Sunday afternoons. I was a little surprised that movie theaters were open on Sundays in the 1920's. I assumed everything would be closed.

Saturday, November 13, 1926

No diary entry today.

Looking back over the various Saturdays in 1925 and 1926, and what Grandma wrote, I was surprised to find out that her husband, Gilbert, often worked on Saturdays. He worked in Accounting at the local gas company.

Friday, November 12, 1926

No diary entry today. We continue with Aunt Marjorie's memories.


"When Daddy had to retire from work, Dale said he would leave college, but family friends and our family doctor urged him to stay in school. Jobs simply were very scarce those days and being at home he would just be another mouth to feed. Every summer, Dale worked at Swartz & Love, later Swartz & Warren, an ice cream shop at 10th and Rural St. in Indianapolis. Two months after Dale's graduation from Lake Forest, Daddy died, August 18, 1937

Thursday, November 11, 1296

No diary entry today, we continue with Aunt Marjorie's memories of Dale.


"Dale was active in the alumni affairs (of Lake Forest College) through out his life. Being very interested in Hollywood stars when I was a kid, I remember Dale telling me Richard Widmark was a class or two ahead of him at Lake Forest."


(I will admit that I had to look up Richard Widmark, as I did not know who he was.)

Wednesday, November 10, 1926

No diary entry today, we continue with Aunt Marjorie's memories.

"Dale also got a job as assistant gardener in a at least one of the nearby estates in Lake Forest. He was assistant to a Swedish gardener who taught Dale a lot about raising plants, which Dale loved doing and did the rest of his life. He also learned that the Swedish people ate six small meals a day."

Tuesday, November 9, 1926

No diary entry today. We continue with Aunt Marjorie's memories, this time about Dale.


"Dale had a scholarship to Lake Forest College in a suburb of Chicago. He worked as a waiter in the school cafeteria."

Monday, November 8, 1926

No diary entry today. We continue with Aunt Marjorie's memories of Albert.


"At night, Albert was living in their (the Dulles's) elegant home. Albert wrote Mother that John Foster Dulles had important guests at dinner every evening where they "dressed" for dinner. I should have asked if Avery loaned Albert clothes to wear, or did he eat dinner in the kitchen?"

(Remember that Albert was very poor while attending Harvard. He would not have had the money to buy a suit or other clothes suitable for wearing where they "dressed" for dinner. I wonder how he felt about the whole experience?)

Sunday, November 7, 1926

No diary entry today.

We continue with Aunt Marjorie's memories of Albert.


While staying with Avery Dulles in New York, "Albert became a volunteer at "Friendship House" in Harlem, which at that time was being run be a former Russian baronness, Catherine de Hueck Doherty. She taught Albert how to knit, and he later taught Mother how to knit European style. At Friendship House, they distributed clothes, maybe food, to poor people."

Saturday, November 6, 1926

No diary entry today. Regarding Albert's time at Harvard, Aunt Marjorie wrote, "When the camp where Albert worked closed for the summer, Albert was a guest of Avery Dulles and his parents in New York."

Avery Dulles was a classmate of Albert and went on to also become a Jesuit priest and is now Cardinal Avery Dulles.

Friday, November 5, 1926

Friday, November 5, 1926
Warmer – fair


(Not much of a diary entry today. In fact, Grandma doesn't write in her diary again until November 22nd, so we'll continue with Aunt Marjorie's memories of her brothers and childhood, starting tomorrow.)

Thursday, November 4, 1926

Thursday, November 4, 1926
Cold, cloudy

Expected to all go to the church for supper but Dick was still weak and sore from a severe attack of indigestion he has last night. He was not able to go to school so, as it was so cold, we thought best to leave him at home. So left Marjorie with him till Gilbert could get home to them, and I went with the three other boys. Had a fine time at Grace Morgan’s table. Ned cried when left with the children so I took him to prayer meeting with me and he was too wiggly so I spent the rest of the time with Albert’s bunch making clay articles.



(Dick was 8 at this time, when Grandma left Marjorie with him for a short time. According to Aunt Majorie, Grace Morgan was "Aunt Grace" to them.)

Wednesday, November 3, 1926

No diary entry today. A year ago on this day, Grandma went to the polls to vote. I noted then that women did not get the right to vote until 1920. It amazing to think that what we take for granted, voting, was something that my Grandma couldn't do until she was 28 years old.

Tuesday, November 2, 1926

No diary entry today. Someone commented wanting to know how the children were at this time. Dale was 10 years old, Dick 8, Albert 6, Ned 3 and Marjorie 1.

Grandma was almost 34 years old and Gilbert was 37.

Monday, November 1, 1926

Grandma did not have a diary entry for this day. I suppose this was a typical Monday, which means she spent most of the day in the basement doing the laundry.

Sunday, October 31, 1926

No diary entry for today, but we know they did dress up for Halloween each year. I've posted a picture on the companion photo blog of Dale and others in Halloween costumes.

Happy Halloween. Don't let the goblins git cha!

Saturday, October 30, 1926

Saturday, October 30, 1926
Colder and rainy

Went down to the bank for Gilbert and ran into Mama. We got awfully cold waiting for the bus and thought of Dale without his “heavies” today. He outgrew his good ones he got last spring so we went to Ayres and got him 3 suits and shirt on Mama’s charge account. Came home and found he had been out collecting all morning and was wet and cold so had him bathe and crawl into his new clothes but afraid he has taken a heavy cold anyway.

(It's curious to me how Grandma ran into her mother at the bank, which I assume was downtown, since that's where the Ayres store was. Indianapolis was surely a big enough city even in the 1920's that it would be unusual to run into someone like that.)

Friday, October 29, 1926

Friday, October 29, 1926

Well I guess I won’t have to wean Marjorie after all so gave her some more dinner today. She got real sick. Wouldn’t eat, bowels tied up and she has not cracked a smile since Tuesday. On consulting my calendar I see it is just exactly the wrong time in the moon. Almost believe there is something in it as I believe she would just pine away if I held out any longer.

(The wrong time of the moon for weaning a baby? I've heard of planting by the moon, but not this.)

Thursday, October 28, 1926

Report cards out today.

Dale Dick Albert
Reading A A- B
Composition B A
Grammar C A
Spelling A+ A B
Writing S S S
Arithmetic A B+
Geography A A
Art S S S
Music S S S
Phys Education S S S
Woodworking B+
Obedience S S S
Industry S S S
Respect for property S S S
Physical Record
Height in inches 54 50½ 46½
Normal weight 71 60 49½
Actual weight 66½ 55½ 49
The “S” means satisfactory. I’m proud of my boys. The other kids of the neighborhood get such miserable marks.

(Sorry I couldn't get those grades to spread out and be in columns under each name. Suffice it to say, the marks are all pretty good. It's not surprising that all were successful as adults, and Dick and Albert went on to get PhD's in philosophy (Dick) and theology (Albert)).

Wednesday, October 27, 1926

Wednesday, October 27, 1926

Having an awful time with Marjorie. She refuses to eat at the table. Nurse her once in the middle of the night to get a little rest myself.

Tuesday, October 26, 1926

Tuesday, October 26, 1926

Marjorie seemed to sicken on the breast milk this AM so decided to cut it out pronto. Consequently, I spent the bigger part of the day with a crying baby. Was going to go to the Missionary society, taking Mama as this is guest day but Marjorie was so cross I decided it would be better not to go. It really is not much pleasure going a place like that and taking two babies. No one can keep them but Mama but if there is anyone going she always wants to go too! So I stay at home.

(It seems that most of the time, Grandma stayed home with kids, and didn't go very many places, with them or without them.)

Monday, October 25, 1926

Monday, October 25, 1926
Winter

I washed and the clothes stuck and froze on the line. Went and got my hair cut. Then went with Collins to a party at Pegg’s for this section of the church. Had a very nice time.



(Finally, Grandma started writing in her diary again. I wonder what happened all those other days that she didn't write in her diary?

We always wonder every year when we'll have a killing frost. It would seem that it was on this day or before in 1926).

Sunday, October 24, 1926

No diary entry today. Aunt Marjorie wrote,


"The summer before Albert's senior year (at Harvard) he didn't have money to come home so he got a job in a camp in the mountains as a curator or something. He slept in a cabin where the snakes were in cages. One snake escaped and a couple of weeks later Albert found it in the rafters where it had shed its skin."

Eleanor comment about the same thing a few days ago.

I would not have slept very well that summer!

Saturday, October 23, 1926

No diary entry today. We continue with Aunt Marjorie's memories.

"Albert was trying to decide whether to marry his girlfriend, Marjorie, or become a priest. He asked Marjorie, and she apparently turned him down, so he became a priest. Later she wrote to Albert that if he would ask her again she would say "yes". They must have stayed in touch because I remember hearing later that she eventually married someone else."

Albert obviously never asked her again.

Friday, October 22, 1926

No diary entry today. We continue with Aunt Marjorie's memories of Albert.

"I don't remember Mother talking about the actual graduation ceremony (when Albert graduated from Harvard) but I remember she said she met Albert's girlfriend and her parents in Cambridge. Her name was Marjorie Sears. Her parents took Mother and Albert to their vacation cottage on the ocean. Mother talked at length about how soothing it was to walk barefoot in the sand."

Apparently Albert's girlfriend was not as poor as he was.

Grandma often wrote complaining how her feet hurt all the time, caused by a combination of bad feet and poor fitting shoes, we think. It would feel nice to walk through the sand on a beach if you were always used to walking around in ill-fitting shoes.

Thursday, October 21, 1926

No diary entry today.

Aunt Marjorie provides more memories...

"For his graduation from Harvard, Albert wore a suit. Where did he get it? When he came home one Christmas one year he was wearing a loud striped pair of trousers. He said they were his only pants and he had purchased them in a dime store. Grandmother Campbell gave Albert new trousers for Christmas."

We can only imagine how poor Albert was, at a school generally attended by fairly affluent students.

Wednesday, October 20, 1926

Still no diary entry.

But Aunt Marjorie has written some more memories about her brother Albert.


"I wish I had asked more questions when I was young. When Albert graduated from Harvard University, Mother went to Cambridge for the graduation. My father was dead and we were very poor. I wonder where she got the money to go? Probably Dale , and maybe Dick, got the money together for her. Or maybe Grandmother Campbell? I guess we'll never know!!"

Aunt Marjorie commented once before that Grandma never shared information about her financial situation with Marjorie or Eleanor.

Tuesday, October 19, 1926

No diary entry today.

Aunt Marjorie wrote, "When Dale was young, he was an Eagle Scout. Dick and Albert apparently weren't interested in such a structured program. Ned enjoyed scouting but wasn't as serious as Dale was. I remember the aroma Ned always had - his clothes and blankets - when he got home after a week at camp. The scent of the campfire smoke was very pleasant and not like any other scent I have ever smelled since."

In our current family, my nephew Ty is an Eagle scout. He is the only one in the extended family that I know of. As my sister said, anyone can be an Boy Scout, but very few make it all the way to Eagle Scout.

Monday, October 18, 1926

No diary entry for today.

Continuing Aunt Marjorie's memories of Grandma working...

"Mother worked there (Tech High School) in the attendance office for 20 plus years, starting, if I remember correctly, at $15.00 a week, until she was 72 years old. For some years, only teachers were qualified to have pensions, and finally rules were changed so other workers connected with schools could, I suppose, buy into the pension program. Mother had to stay long enough to qualify for a pension, thus she was 72 years old, when she retired."

I didn't know that Grandma worked for that long!

Sunday, October 17, 1926

No diary entry today. We continue with Aunt Marjorie's memories from the 1930's.

Regarding Grandma's job as an assistant to the head of the state P.T.A. ...

"Eventually the job required a college degree, so Mother started job hunting. She decided her greatest interest was education, so she went to the Superintendent of the Indianapolis Public Schools, DeWitt Morgan. His daughter had graduated in Dale's class at Lake Forest in 1937, where Dale was top in their class. Mr. Morgan and his wife had invited Mother to accompany them to Chicago for the graduation. Having gotten acquainted before, Mr. Morgan hired Mother to work at Tech High School where Mr. Morgan had originally been the principal."


So it appears Grandma started to work at Tech in 1937, two years after Gilbert died from Parkinson's disease.

Saturday, October 16, 1926

No diary entry today. We'll continue with Aunt Marjorie's memories from the 1930's...

"One lady whose house Mother went to didn't buy the book but started questioning Mother and realized she was fairly well educated and spoke well and immediately hired her to work in her office as her assistant. Mrs. Davee ran the state P.T.A. office in downtown Indianapolis. Mother earned $10.00 per week and worked there several years."

Using this web site, a wage of $10.00/week in 1935 would be the equivalent of about $396/week today. But don't quote me on that!

Friday, October 15, 1926

No diary entry today, so we'll continue with Aunt Marjorie's memories of the 1930's.


Regarding Grandma selling irons... "they (the irons) were so heavy, she switched to selling a book called "Volume Library" door to door. That made her feet hurt so badly!"


I assume Grandma sold the irons door to door, too. Times have sure changed. Does anyone try to sell anything (other than religion) door to door?

Thursday, October 14, 1926

No diary entry today.


I'll continue with some of Aunt Marjorie's memories of the 1930's, when Grandma had to get a job because her husband Gilbert could not work due to Parkinson's disease.


"The first job Mother got was selling irons (to iron clothes)".


I did not know that! I always assumed she went right to work in the office at Tech High School. However, Grandma did seem to spend quite a bit of time ironing her own family's clothes, so maybe she thought it was a product that she knew a lot about and thus it would be easy to sell them.

Wednesday, October 13, 1926

No diary entry today.

Aunt Marjorie wrote some more notes about what happens a bit later, in the 1930's...

"When it became apparent that Daddy (Gilbert) couldn't work much longer, Mother went to Tech night school and learned shorthand and typing. I hated the nights Mother wasn't home!"

Gilbert had Parkinson's disease, which eventually forced him to have to leave his job. In the 1930's, there was no long-term disability, social security, or other financial safety nets so Grandma had to face getting a job. I wonder why Grandma didn't consider going back into the hat making business, since she worked as a milliner before she got married?

Tuesday, October 12, 1926

No diary entry today. More memories from Aunt Marjorie...

Aunt Marjorie wrote, "When Albert was teaching, he was friendly with some of his students. He wrote to Mother about a married couple of students who were worried about their child who hadn't started to talk. Mother wrote back and asked if they talked to their baby. He wrote back later saying that when he suggested to them that they should chat with the baby, then the child quickly started talking."

(Albert was a college professor and taught theology.)

Monday, October 11, 1926

No diary entry today, but some more memories from Aunt Marjorie...



"Mother wasn't a chatterbox, but she always chatted with us kids, especially at dinnertime. The family always sat down together in the dining room at dinnertime, which I guess not every family does these days. She had a lot of funny things to tell us about work during the day (she worked at Tech High School for 20 years), or about the sermon at church, or letters our older brothers sent while they were away in college."



More later about why Grandma ended up working in the school office at Tech High School for 20 years....

Sunday, October 10, 1926

No diary entry today.

Aunt Marjorie send a note with some more memories of growing up. She wrote, "I remember getting up very early one morning when Mother was eating breakfast and reading the paper. She sent me back to bed saying, "It's the only time all day I have time for myself!"

Morning... the calm before the storm in a house with four young boys and a baby girl.

Saturday, October 9, 1926

No diary entry today. I do have some more information on Anna Mock and Helen Lewis Mockford, compliments of a "random act of geneaology". Thanks, Annie!

Anna and Helen are the two friends that Grandma wrote about on Thursday, October 7.

"...Anna Mock's birthdate is probably Oct 13, 1889... Anna would have been just a couple of years older than Ruth, and Helen Lewis Mockford's marriage record says she was born March 19, 1893, a few months younger than Ruth. "

It is fun to speculate how they met. Anna had been married for 12 years by this time, so perhaps the last time they were together was around the time Anna got married to her husband, Ray.

According to the 1920 census records, Helen was a "single piano teacher", so perhaps she and Grandma had music and piano playing in common. Helen married her husband in 1920. In addition to her son, James, who was around Marjorie's age, she also had another son, Robert, born around 1928, making him a year or so older than Grandma's daugher Eleanor.

So how did these three become friends, who after not seeing one another for twelve years, got together to spend an afternoon catching up?

Friday, October 8, 1926

No diary entry from today. Grandma must have been quite busy, or something was going on, because after consistently writing in her "book of remembrance" on a near daily basis for over a year, she started to miss a a few days.

Thursday, October 7, 1926

Thursday, October 7, 1926

Went out to Anna Mocks and spent the day, leaving the boys’ lunch on the table and arranging for them to meet Gilbert at the church for supper. Anna had invited Helen Lewis Mockford out too and we had such a very pleasant time. It has been twelve years since we three had been together before. Helen has a baby boy three days older than Marjorie. They are about the same in development except he has seven teeth. He is taller than Marjorie but weighs a little less. Helen weighs 96.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote that she had never heard of Helen Lewis Mockford, so perhaps she was someone Grandma went to high school with? Grandma graduated from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis in 1910.

According to Eleanor, there was a supper every Thursday at the church and you could eat there for 25 cents or something like that, so they often did that. There was one woman who cooked all the food.)

Wednesday, October 6, 1926

No diary entry today. After being so faithful in updating her diary on a near daily basis for over a year and a half, for awhile here in October, Grandma wrote in it less frequently. Was there a reason? Will she reveal that reason in later diary entry? I guess we'll find out later.

Tuesday, October 5, 1926

Happy Birthday to Aunt Marjorie, born 82 years ago today.

Monday, October 4, 1926

Being the mother of five young children must have been catching up with Grandma, as she went through a time here when she was not as faithful about writing in her diary every day.

Mondays, as usual, would be wash day. Grandma would be down in the basement/cellar, washing all their clothes. In general, they had far fewer clothes than we have today, and none were wrinkle free, so a day of washing meant a day of ironing the next day.

Sunday, October 3, 1926

Sunday, October 3, 1926
Fair and warm

Took the baby’s pictures on her Taylor Tot this PM as I probably won’t get a chance on her birthday. Took her to Sunday school in the morning and had the birthday candles. Also heard that Georgia’s girl arrived last evening. Everything ok. Was so glad to hear it. Georgia deserves something good to happen to her, she has had it so unpleasant all her married life on account of her “pilly” mother-in-law and her own bad health.

(Not quite sure who Georgia was, but it sounds like she didn't have an easy life.)

Saturday, October 2, 1926

Here are links to tell you more about Dale, Dick and Albert, the three older boys. Grandma did not write in her diary on this date.

Friday, October 1, 1926

No diary entry on this day. I'll just imagine that it was a pretty fall day, the kind we have in Indiana, not too hot, not too cool and Grandma took the younger ones on a walk. Or maybe her mother came to 'help' with sewing.

Thursday, September 30, 1926

Grandma didn't write in her diary on this date. It must have been a busy time, as she next writes in her diary on October 3rd. Now might be a good time to look over some of the pictures I posted in this companion blog.

Wednesday, September 29, 1926

Grandma did not write in her diary on this day. A year earlier, she was awaiting the birth of her first daugher Marjorie and trying to get her 3rd son, Albert, to stop sucking his thumb.

And 69 years later, on this day, a great grandson would be born, and then 71 years later, a great granddaughter would be born. Happy Birthday to Sam & Sophie!

Tuesday, September 28, 1926

Tuesday, September 28, 1926
Rainy

Mama came out and kept the babies while I went to a missionary meeting at Grace’s. Nola Pegg took me, and I had such a nice time. It seemed as if people were more friendly there than they are at the class meetings. Maybe it is imagination but it seems as if they are a little bit “snippy” and “clannish” in the class. I suppose if such is the case I should appoint myself s a committee of one to see that no other poor member is “left in the cold” but I feel a little self-conscious myself because I am always about the poorest dressed one there.

(Grandma's social life seemed to be centered around her church and Sunday School class.)

Monday, September 27, 1926

No diary entry today. I suppose with Gilbert going out of town the day before and all the kids getting over whatever flu/food poisoning they had the week before that Grandma was backlogged with laundry and cleaning. And Mondays were always laundry day!

Sunday, September 26, 1926

Sunday, September 26, 1926

Gilbert gone to Crawfordsville. I sent the three boys to Sunday school and got the babies ready to go to the folks for the day. The boys came back here to the show in the afternoon and I came home about five o’clock to find a W. Lafayette church program in the door, signifying that Jessie and Clarence must have been here. I was so sorry to have missed them. There is no one would rather see.

(According to Aunt Marjorie, Jessie was a friend of Grandma's from when they were teenagers. Gilbert problably went to his cousin's funeral.)

Saturday, September 25, 1926

Saturday, September 25, 1926
Colder and rainy

Got a letter from Bess that Gilbert’s cousin, Dora Francis was dead, so he went in the evening after fixing the crack in the furnace and building a fire. The boys were so good to work today. Cleaned out the basement, the furnace and the registers. It was too cold and rainy to go out but they didn’t fuss about it a bit. Dale is getting interested in wood working and is going to buy himself tools to work with. Is making himself a tool box.

(This is the first mention of Dora Francis. As far as I know, Grandma never mentioned her in the family history. I don't know if Francis was a middle or last name.)

Friday, September, 24, 1926

Friday, September 24, 1926

Such a relief to have the children on the mend and able to go to school. It seems as if I don’t get anything done when any one is sick.

Thursday, September 23, 1926

Thursday, September 23, 1926

Dale stayed home this morning but was better by noon and this PM they all went back to school, a pale, peeked looking bunch.

(It appears whatever this illness was, they all got it eventually.)

Wednesday, September 22, 1926

Wednesday, September 22, 1926

Dick and Albert still bad. Dale has a touch of the same. Let the two sick ones spend the night on the couch near the bathroom.

(Whatever they had was either contagious or if it was food poisoning, it was affecting everyone at different times and to varying degrees.)

Tuesday, September 21, 1926

Tuesday, September 21, 1926

Albert and Dick both up a dozen times in the night, their bowels so loose. Then all day they lay on the couch or scrapped over the stool in the bathroom. They like to scrap anyway and feeling so sick, they are cross and so lay and quarrel by the hour. It is hard on nerves. Ned is getting better and though pale and thin is soon going to be well again,I believe. Marjorie getting as devilish as ever again. Got Robert Miller to carry Dick’s news route.

(Whatever they had, it seemed that nearly everyone got it.)

Monday, September 20, 1926

Monday, September 20, 1926

Dick didn’t feel a bit well when he got up this AM but the thought never entered his mind that he might stay home from school, he had not been absent for two years. But at noon he was real sick, fever and dysentery like Ned so of course gave up school but felt he had to take his papers, though I know he shouldn’t have gone. Albert too insisted he was sick but I wasn’t so sure about him. He doesn’t like to go to school very well. However I let him stay at home and I doctored him too, for it is only just to give the benefit of the doubt. Cleaned the bedroom and moved back upstairs.

(Whatever they had that was making them sick seemed to be affecting others in the family.

For someone who didn't like school, Albert sure went to a lot of school including college and then another four years of theological studies to become a Jesuit priest. Or was it eight more years of school after college? Dick eventually went to enough school to get his PhD in philosophy.)

Sunday, September 19, 1926

Sunday, September 19, 1926
Fair and warm

Would be a good day to get out if the children were all well. Gilbert and I both having a little bowel trouble. Papa came out to see Ned and left a tonic for the rest of us. Ned seemed brighter this PM and played a little. So afraid he will over do himself again. Sent the boys to the show again for the sake of a little peace. Don’t like to do it. Don’t want them to feel they are in the way, here at home. But this is an unusual situation as I have not slept only little snatches at a time all week and am awfully nervous and done up.

(It was a rough few days with sick children, but now it seems others were starting to get sick, too.)

Saturday, September 18, 1926

Saturday, September 18, 1926
Fair and warm

Dick needed a pair of shoes so I sent him to Papa to help pick them out on our account at Goldsteins but instead he went to Stouts and bought them outright, also a belt. Guess it is all right as he keeps Winifred and spends lots of money on her in spite of Harry’s brags on how much money he makes! Ned seemed brighter this afternoon and sat in the window and called to Phillip and the boys who played in front. An hour or so of this and then he wilted – had over done himself and lay so still after that. Poor little sick baby boy!

(Goldsteins is no long around that I know of, but Stout's Shoes is still in business, in the same place where Dick and great-grandpa Campbell would have gone!)

Friday, September 17, 1926

Friday, September 17, 1926
Fair and warm

Such a day! Ned was so restless and feverish from 1:30 last night and still had such a diarrhea with bloody stools. He cried for me to hold him all day and Marjorie who is about to get two “butter teeth” through would cry when I took him. She didn’t sleep much but wanted to be nursed so much of the time. Mama came over and helped me or I never would have got through. Finally washed out their clothes but that’s all. Marjorie is about as near well as she will be till she’s through teething I imagine. A little Dickens she is. But pour little Ned, so sick!!

(With Ned so sick, perhaps his was food poisoning?)

Thursday, September 16, 1926

Thursday, September 16, 1926
Fog then fair

Ned got sick in the night, had convulsions. I was so scared alone with him, I called Gilbert who was having asthma upstairs but he didn’t hear me. I couldn’t leave Ned for a minute. He was cold with pain and I was afraid he would pass out. I never saw convulsions before and never want to again. The plums he ate caused it I think. He throwed up some which seemed to be pure plum and I found so many seeds on the floor when I swept. I was so busy yesterday I didn’t notice how many he did get. He seemed better in the evening and talked a little. Gilbert had asthma and stayed home till noon.

(Today if a child woke up with convulsions, we would call 911 and go right to a hospital. Not in 1926!)

Wednesday, September 15, 1926

Wednesday, September 15, 1926
Fair and hot

Marjorie some better but wanted lots of attention when she was awake, I tried to sew on a new fall dress I want to wear to the class party tomorrow if I can go which is doubtful. However I want to get the dress done anyway and did quite a lot to it with Marjorie on my lap. Ned played so hard out in the sun with Philip that I’m afraid he overheated himself. He came in at supper time and lay down on the floor and went sleep. He had been eating some plums and I thought his stomach needed a rest so I let him to sleep through supper. When I put him to bed he was feverish.

(Perhaps Ned was coming down with whatever ailed Marjorie?)

Tuesday, September 14, 1926

Tuesday, September 14, 1926
Fair

Marjorie’s fever is about gone but she still looks so pale and her bowels are moving so many times I have to be careful of her. She has always been so husky and such a rowdy that I forgot what a delicate flower she really was and she had to get sick so as I would be more careful of her I guess. I’ve such had a scare, but I believe she will get all right again.

(I wonder if this is a bug that others in the family would get?)

Monday, September 13, 1926

Monday, September 13, 1926
Rainy

Gilbert home till noon and probably would not have gone then but his stenographer was home sick. Marjorie slept a little but wanted to lay in my arms most of the morning. After noon she took a long nap and seemed a little better after that, but still lots of room for improvement.

(Days are longer, it seems, when someone is sick.)

Sunday, September 12, 1926

Sunday, September 12, 1926
Cloudy and cool

My darling baby sick, she took such a diarrhea and she had high fever all day. She’s never been this way before. She is usually such a romp but today she only lays in my arms. Mama met the boys at Sunday school and took Ned out of their care for his birthday candle ceremony. Albert got his silver star at last although he should have had it months ago. Sent the boys to the picture show in the afternoon to have it quiet for the baby. They are too peppy to keep still here with nothing to do.

(Does anyone know what the birthday candle ceremeon at Sunday School was all about, or what a 'silver star' was for?

And to think that the diapers were not disposable and all had to be washed up.)

Saturday, September 11, 1926

Saturday, September 11, 1926
Cool

Cleaned up the house then went down town with Dale to get him some shoes and myself a new dress. Dick took care of Marjorie. She loves him and he adores her. She cried and he rocked her and had put her to sleep when we got back. We met Miss Donnan in the store and talked a few minutes with her. I was glad Dale saw her she is such a character.

(Aunt Marjorie noted that Dick was about seven and a half years older than she was, which means he was about eight and half years old when he took care of her on this day. She did not know who Miss Donnan was, perhaps she was a teacher or someone from church. And I wonder what made Miss Donnan "such a character"? We will never know.

And we may never know who, but I suspect that based on the "hits" counter for this blog, someone found it yesterday and read the whole thing. Normally, this blog gets about 30 hits per day, I assume mostly from readers who come by and read the current post each morning to find out what was going on 81 years ago. I am curious about yesterday, when there were 319 hits. "Come out come out, whoever you are!" Leave a comment and let me know how you found this blog and what you think of it. Are you a long-lost cousin perhaps? Or if you would prefer not to leave a comment, email me at mdg_blog AT comcast DOT net.)

Friday, September 10, 1926

Friday, September 10, 1926
Fair

A dandy fall day. I finished my ironing and got quite a bit of other work done. Marjorie got a bad fall today down the front steps. I always lay the wagon on its side in front of the steps when I put her out in her Taylor Tot and I did this time but Ned moved it to get his kiddy car down and of course didn’t put it back. So she followed him I supposed and must have turned a somersault. She bruised one cheek badly and scraped it.

(Falls in the Taylor Tots are why we don't see those sold any more! Ned would be about two years old, maybe three. Hardly old enough to know to put back the wagon to block the stairs.)

Thursday, September 9, 1926

Thursday, September 9, 1926
Cooler

Big rain last night. It just poured down for several hours. Of course it laid Gilbert up again. He didn’t go to work at all today. The folks are still having visitors and Aunt Mat. Posy and Mama all came over this afternoon before I got my ironing done. So I still have some to do. Ned is three years old today. I made fudge while Dale went down town to get him some toys. I sent Dick to buy a cake as I would have no time to make one when I found the folks were coming. He got two halves – all Anderson had and they were molded.

(According to Marjorie, Dan Anderson owned the grocery store two blocks down the street from them. I hope they didn't eat the moldy cake!)

Wednesday, September 8, 1926

Wednesday, September 8, 1926
Cloudy

Gilbert did some work here in the morning and then went to work at noon. I tried all day to get my ironing done but finally gave up. I have no pep these days. This evening I began to take the beads off of a dress of Mama’s she gave me. It is beautiful material and black is so stylish I could make a good dress if I ever get the beads off, but there are so many.

(They certainly tried to reuse and recycle in the 20's. Today, who would try to reuse material from one dress to make a new dress? I assume Grandma's mother still wore dresses that were fairly long and full, so there would be plenty of material there.)

Tuesday, September 7, 1926

Tuesday, September 7, 1926
Clear and warm

Mama called up that Uncle Jim is sick in bed there so they could not come out but she wanted them to see the children, so I had to take them over. However I took time to make up my juice into jelly as this was a clear day for it and the paper said cloudy again tomorrow. I got a late start and was late getting home for supper but Gilbert is so good natured, he never says a word. He did not go to work today and coughs all the time. Poor boy, I wish I could help him but I can’t so I was glad to be where I couldn’t hear him.

(Aunt Marjorie commented, "Mother always accomplished more than any other person I ever knew". Grandma was certainly a busy person washing, mending, sewing, cooking and cleaning for her family.)

Monday, September 6, 1926

Monday, September 6, 1926
Cloudy

Tried to wash even if it was Labor Day but had a hard time of it. My washer finally refused to work and I had all the things to wring by hand wringer and the colored clothes didn’t get washed as much as they ought but I had no wash board to supplement that so I left the worst for next time. Mama called about the reunion yesterday. Uncle Jim’s and Posy Keens and her husband all came home with them and wanted to see us but considering the fact that I was washing and having trouble they didn't come today.

(Grandma seems to be consistent in her routine, washing clothes every Monday.)

Sunday, September 5, 1926

Sunday, September 5, 1926
Rain

The Jordan reunion was held today at Turkey Run . The Smiths were not there. Gilbert said I could have gone but I would have to go alone with the kids on the train and bus and it would have been a bad trip. It was a miserable day for it. We found out what the medicine is Gilbert took and I had to go to Brookshire after Sunday school and get some as Gilbert was out completely and had a terrible attack of asthma last night. He felt he couldn’t breathe any position so he came down and took a morphine tablet so as he could get a little sleep.

(How times have changed regarding drugs, to think they had morphine on hand.

Aunt Marjorie wrote regarding the reunion, "Grandmother Campbell was originally a Jordan, so her four brothers' families and usually all of Grandmother's family congregated together on Labor Day weekend for a picnic and business meeting regarding Great-Grandpa Jordan's farm, originally about 1,000 acres near Gibson City, IL, which was to be sold after all his five children died. Grandmother outlived all of her brothers by many years. During the recession years when property prices were low, I used to hear many relatives say, "Aunt Lizzie hang on!" and Grandmother accomodated them. She was about 91 when she died."

Saturday, September 4, 1926

Saturday, September 4, 1926
Cloudy

Gilbert went to the plant but didn’t feel very much like it. But so near the 1st of the month he had to get some of his reports back to the office. Then he brought a big grip full of work home with him he intends to do Sunday and Labor Day.

(Even in the 1920's, people brought their work home to finish!)

Friday, September 3, 1926

Friday, September 3, 1926
Rain

Gilbert felt better this AM and went to the plant about 10:30. After that it cleared up and his nose started up. It was fair in the afternoon but sultry. I took Albert, Ned, and Marjorie down town and got Albert and Marjorie some shoes.

(Gilbert must have suffered terribly from asthma and allergies!)

Thursday, September 2, 1926

Thursday, September 2, 1926
Rainy

Had tomatoes to can but had to buy cans. Have some juice to make jelly in some cans and if the weather were fit could make that up but cloudy days do not make good jelly. Canned 5 qts of plums and some tomatoes about 13 qts. After supper I ran down town on the bus to get Gilbert some more asthmador.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "I wonder if Mother had to go to Grandpa's office to get asthmador or did she go to the drugstore at Meridian and Ohio Street where they made up medicines from Grandpa's recipes sometimes?"

I wish we still had copies of those old recipes that Dr. Rolla Campbell had for making medicines, not to make them but just to see what kinds of ingredients he used.

Grandma is doing a lot of canning these late summer days. I don't know why "cloudy days do not make good jelly", is that "for real" or just an old wives' tale?)

Wednesday, September 1, 1926

Wednesday, September 1, 1926
Rainy

Had a near cloud burst last night. Gilbert had the asthma and wasn’t real bad but didn’t feel like going to work all day. The weather is all to the bad for him. The air is damp and oppressive. I canned 16 qts. of peaches.

(I can imagine how hot Grandma's kitchen might get when she was canning.)

Tuesday, August 31, 1926

Tuesday, August 31, 1926
Fair

Gilbert worked this PM seemed ok till about 5 o’clock it sprinkled a little and he got the asthma.

Monday, August 30, 1926

Monday, August 30, 1926
Warm

Gilbert had the asthma last night and felt so ill in the morning he didn’t go to work. I had a time getting my washing done as the machine went back on me, but I finally worked and coaxed it to go and finished my washing with it. The basement is so damp this rainy weather, I wonder if that is what the trouble is.

(As usual, washing clothes on Monday...)

Sunday, August 29, 1926

Sunday, August 29, 1926
Hot rain – cooler

Took Ned to Sunday school and just time to leave it poured down rain. We waited a few minutes till it was over then went to town on the car to take a bus and met Papa. He treated us to ice cream and bought the other boys some candy. Came home and found that the rain had brought on Gilbert’s asthma. Was showery all day and he had a bad time of it. Had thought Papa’s medicine kept him from it but he either hasn’t taken enough of it or it has lost its effect.

(How awful to have asthma and hayfever in the 1920's without some of the medicines we have today. It must have been quite miserable.)

Saturday, August 28, 1926

Saturday, August 28, 1926
Hot

(I guess it was too hot for Grandma to write in her diary. Aunt Marjorie recently wrote a recollection of eating canned peaches. "I remember eating canned peaches for dessert topped with whipped cream. No homogenized milk in those days - the top of each bottle of milk had rich cream on it that could be whipped. The glass milk bottles were washed and returned to the milk man to be refilled.")

Friday, August 27, 1926

Friday, August 27, 1926
Fair and warm

Mama came out and as she went home I went down town and got Marjorie some shoes, but she curls her toes up under as I can’t get the shoes on now that I have bought them. Also got Gilbert a book “the book nobody knows” for his birthday also got goods to make his shirt I cut wrong and to make a boy one, too.

(What is this book she bought? I'm going to try to find it online someplace.)

Thursday, August 26, 1926

Thursday, August 26, 1926
Cool

Had a discouraging day. Went to cut out a shirt for Gilbert and for the first time in my life cut it wrong and had to wait till I can get some more goods. Then I worked all afternoon and evening to make a dress out of a beautiful piece of goods that was a coat lining of Mama’s. She took the coat and made a dress of it and gave me the lining. After I got it to where I could try it on I found it all crooked and not big enough any way so I guess I’ll just have to put it away for Marjorie. But I did hope I could have a dress out of it myself.

(Can you believe that Grandma made a dress out of the lining from a coat? They didn't throw anything away, which is probably why she was discouraged after cutting the shirt wrong.)

Wednesday, August 25,1926

Wednesday, August 25, 1926
Cool

Put up the rest of my peaches I bought Monday and bought about half a bushel more. I feel that every dollar I spend to put up fruit now means two saved on my grocery bill next Winter. So I am broke most of these days, but Smith trusts me till pay day and I’m getting a lot of fruit put up – almost got my cans full.

(I wonder how many cans of fruit and vegetables she put up each year? My other grandma was on a farm and she wrote the following about how they put up nearly 2,500 cans of fruits and vegetables every year:

“We always had a big garden and would can lots of vegetables. The boys would pick lots of blackberries and some years we would can up to 400 quarts. We always canned around 225 to 250 quarters of peaches as Carl had an uncle… who had a big orchard. We would go down and pick about 10 to 12 bushels of peaches. Next day my Mom and Dad would come out to the farm to help. Everyone would sit on the front porch. The younger boys would sort and wash peaches; older boys would use a peach peeler. One would push the peach onto 3 prongs to hold it, the other would turn a crank and a knife revolving at a faster speed would peel the peach in about 2 seconds.

My Mom and Dad and Grandpa would cut peaches in halves to remove the seed and cut off any spots. Loretta (their hired girl) and I would take the peaches and cook in an open kettle about 15 minutes and can and it was a continuous process. By evening we would have about 125 to 150 quarts canned and lined up on the cupboards. It usually took two days to can 200 to 250 quarts. We gave Mom and Dad part of them.

Later when it was time to freeze corn in summer to put in the locker in Dale (Indiana), my father’s sister, Aunt Margaret from Cincinnati, would always plan her visit so she could be there to help cut off corn. Again Mom and Dad, Grandpa, and all the boys would each have their certain job to do and we would freeze about 50 to 60 quarts in a day.

We canned fruits, vegetables, pickles, jellies, etc. all summer, then when winter came, we canned meats both pork and beef to last all summer so during a year we usually canned 2,500 quarts.We baked bread twice a week, then rolls, coffee cakes on Saturday. On Friday, we always baked several cakes. All this on the old coal stove which really heated up the kitchen and whole house in summer.

I never will forget around 1935, one day Carl brought home a can of food from the store. I thought it was almost a disgrace to buy canned food. That was a sign of a lazy housewife. I took the empty can way over in a field and buried it so no one would see it around my house.” Written by Grandma M, 1982

One of the big differences seems to be that Grandma worked alone to can the produce she bought. Grandma M. grew most of what they canned and it was a family operation to can a lot of food.)

Tuesday, August 24, 1926

Tuesday, August 24, 1926
Rain, cool

Ironed all day and did a little of my mending.

(It seems Grandma always washed clothes on Monday and then ironed on Tuesday, every single week.)

Monday, August 23, 1926

Monday, August 23, 1926
Partly cloudy

Smith brought my peaches just after I got done washing, had intended to iron but got a few plums and put them up and a few of the peaches that might be a little bruised.

(Smith was the vegetable man.)

Sunday, August 22, 1926

Sunday, August 22, 1926
Hot

Went to the folks and had fried chicken dinner. Winifred was there. Guys came in when we were about to leave. Guy had had a bad sick spell and is still as yellow as a pumpkin. Gilbert felt fairly well, his hay fever bothering him some but I was miserable with pain in my bowels - they didn’t let up all day.

(What illness would cause Grandma's brother, Guy, to turn all yellow?)

Saturday, August 21, 1926

Saturday, August 21, 1926
Partly cloudy

A busy day – made a little jelly out of my concord grapes – just a few this year but before this we had none. They weren’t ripe but just right for jelly and I picked them before the kids got them. The yard is full of boys most of the time – about a dozen from the age of 13 down. Cleaned up the house and finished Gilbert’s shirt, cut some grass, weeds, etc. played the piano and what not? Something I have eaten disagrees with me and I have pretty severe pains in my bowels again this evening. The little dog next door at Miss Dunlea’s is howling for “Wayne”. I’d like to choke it.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "Who's "Wayne"? I don't remember Miss Dunlea ever having a dog. Anyway, she must have had a talking dog! I don't have a problem with kids getting my concord grapes - the birds get them first."

I think the dog's howling must have sounded like "wayne" I hope it wasn't hurt or something.)

Friday, August 20, 1926

Friday, August 20, 1926
Partly cloudy

Got my work done up and made a hurried trip down town leaving the babies asleep with Dick. Had a few little things to see after and wasn’t gone long. Got Gilbert a madras shirt. He wants to try it out and see whether they wear longer than the percale as they cost more. Papa sent his piano out so of course I didn’t do much after that but play. Am dreadfully out of practice and my hands are so stiff I can scarcely stripe an octave. The piano sounds fine and I am so glad to get it.

(Dick was kind of young to watch two little ones, by today's standards.)

Thursday, August 19, 1926

Thursday, August 19, 1926
Rain

Mama was over. Papa bought a piano off a patient of his who had to sell hers. He thought it was a bargain so he might as well get it. I sold my old ebony one Guy gave me 25 years ago to a junk man named Crossen and only got a dollar for it, but I guess its days as a “piano” were passed and it was a dead weight on my hands as I haven’t been able to play it for years with any satisfaction. However it was almost like parting with an old friend.

(I think I may have commented before that until I read her diaries, I had no idea Grandma played the piano.

Aunt Marjorie wrote, "We had to have a tall piano! How else could our kitty have a place to sleep where Ned wouldn't bother him? I remember Ned sadly wondering why the cat alway ran from him - "I like cats!", he'd say.

Here's another post about pianos and piano playing.)

Wednesday, August 18, 1926

Wednesday, August 18, 1926
Clear and cool

Ironed and mended some, also practiced on the typewriter. I really haven’t time to do it but Gilbert says that it would be harder to learn after I got into wrong habits, so I had better learn right in the first place, as will want to write letters occasionally, etc. Marjorie plays in her Taylor Tot part of the time and crawls around getting into things and getting dirty. She does not want her bottle any more but she doesn’t seem to be losing any, so fat and sweet. Gilbert “run me out” of the room last night for the first with his smoking “asthmador” for hay fever.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "I guess the 'asthmador' smoke must be the aroma I still remember. This is the date that Daddy (Gilbert) will die in eleven more years. Fortunately, Mother kept practicing her typewriting, in nine or ten years she would need the skills.")

Tuesday, August 17, 1926

Tuesday, August 17, 1926
Rain

Was awfully sick in the morning beginning at 3:30 – a severe diarrhea, pains, vomiting, etc. Papa came about 9 but I was better by that time. Sent Dale down after some more Asthma medicine for Gilbert as he would no doubt have it if it weren’t for the medicine. The weather is sure asthma weather – but his hay fever bothers just the same although you would think there was no pollen in the air. The doors all stick so and everything in the house feels clammy. After noon I sewed some and practiced on the typewriter. Felt better.

(It was nice to have a doctor in the family, I'm sure (Papa)).

Monday, August 16, 1926

Monday, August 16, 1926
Cloudy

Washed and slowly the clothes dried so I ironed some, but did not get a great deal done. For some reason the boys elected to stay in the house and play and they were so noisy Marjorie couldn’t sleep so she bothered me and delayed me with her crying, so I felt I never would get my washing done to dry.

(I think Grandma hung clothes outside to dry, whenever the weather permitting, year around. If she couldn't hang them outside to dry, I think I recall reading that she would hang them in the attic. I guess with high humidity, clothes would dry slowly on a cloudy day.)

Sunday, August 15, 1926

Sunday, August 15, 1926
Rain

Ned and I went to Sunday school between showers. The other boys had gone on before. Afterwards we walked up town and got Gilbert some medicine for his hay fever and window shopped. The boys looked in the drug stores, sporting goods windows and I looked at dresses as I have one to make over and I want to get pointers. After dinner it poured rain and we had a nice quiet day at home together. We really like these days the best. I put in most of the evening learning the touch system of type writing. I feel it will be quite a help in writing letters and lots of fun, too.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "When I was young, Mother would go window shopping to get "pointers" for making Eleanor and me dresses".

And can you imagine how Grandma enjoyed the typewriter, once she learned to use it, how it made letter writing easier? Fast forward 80 years and imagine a young mother learning how to use Outlook to send emails to her friends and family to make exchanging letters easier. Every generation learns something new.)

Saturday, August 14, 1926

Saturday, August 14, 1926
Showery

Sultry and sticky weather. Albert’s jaw all swelled up. A new molar trying to come through I guess. Marjorie stands the heat very well but she doesn’t want to take her bottle any more. Won’t take it if she knows it. Wants to nurse to sleep but does not get enough to satisfy her unless I slip a bottle in her mouth after she gets to sleep. The boys swiped the door off of the garage and took it to the creek for a raft. Then some big kids took it from them. We made them go down after supper and get it.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "The 'garage' was little more than an old barn - I believe it was much older than the house. I don't ever remember seeing a door there."

Perhaps they boys retrieved the door, but never put it back up? I don't even remember seeing the foundation of a garage or shed in the back yard when I visited Grandma as a kid.)

Friday, August 13, 1926

Friday, August 13, 1926
Sultry

Yesterday morning I slipped down town and left Marjorie with Dick and got me some shoes and some goods for Gilbert shirts and the boys some school waists. That means get busy sewing. Mama came over and brought her dress she is making over and I had to help her a little today. However I made a shirt for Gilbert , after about three o’clock. Sat up until midnight and made the button holes as he had to wear it to work tomorrow. Got so sleepy I could scarcely see and that made me slow.

(Grandma made most of the clothes they wore. I wonder why Gilbert had to wear his newly made shirt to work the next day?)

Thursday, August 12, 1926

Thursday, August 12, 1926
Cooler

Last night there was a terrible electrical storm but it didn’t disturb us any. We went to sleep downstairs. Gilbert, Marjorie and I and I was awakened by the wind. I went up stairs and put down the windows just as the rain started. Took the baby upstairs and went right to sleep again and never heard the thunder. I am so thankful I can sleep like that. My nerves are not nearly so bad as they used to be. I believe I am in better shape now than I ever have been.

(A good storm does cool things down. There were two bedrooms upstairs, and a small bedroom downstairs. I wonder where everyone slept?)

Wednesday, August 11, 1926

Wednesday, August 11, 1926
Hot

The two news boys went to the annual picnic at Broad Ripple today. Packed up the babies and went to Mama’s and roasted. Finished Ned a little suit for play. The babies went to sleep and I hated to wake them up, so I was pretty late getting home. Of course, Gilbert was unusually early so he beat me, but he is good natured about it and I got supper in a jiffy so we weren’t very late – no later than last night. Got a card form Mrs. Smith mailed at Florence Italy.

(The "news boys" were Dale and Dick who had the afternoon newspaper routes. They must have had a picnic for all of them each summer.

Mrs. Smith was Grandma's Sunday School teacher, who had no children, but apparently traveled.)

Tuesday, August 10, 1926

Tuesday, August 10, 1926
Hot, sultry

Ironed till about 2 then wrote a letter to Nell on the typewriter. Did a little mending but was too sleepy to do much. The boys scrapped over who got to write and I was so afraid they would do some harm. The “w” got to sticking but Gilbert soon fixed it. Gilbert was late and I waited supper on him. It was so hot in the kitchen then. Was so anxious for him to come so we could get out and cool off before bedtime.

(I think my mom might still have this typewriter? I might be the one that we played with when we were little.

And did you notice that in the 1920's they went outside to cool off when it was hot, and now we go inside to cool off in air conditioned homes. When it was really hot, I think everyone slept on the floor downstairs, as the upstairs rooms would be stifling hot, even with windows open. Downstairs they could open the front door and back door and get a breeze to blow through the house. Today the neighborhood where the house is is one of the worst in the city for crime and no one would leave their doors unlocked, let alone wide open, all night long.)

Monday, August 9, 1926

Monday, August 9, 1926
Cloudy and cool

Washed and scrubbed and ironed some. Put Gilbert’s pants in the washer and then pressed them. They looked like new. I was afraid to try it but they were ruined anyway. He sweats till the dried salt covered the goods in spots and they were stiff. Gilbert had a typewriter sent out on approval – a used machine but it seems to write ok. I sat up till 1o’clock to write a letter to Uncle Jesse. Marjorie learned to say “Mom”. Gilbert started “doping” his hay fever as symptoms appeared.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "I still can smell the scent of the smoke or mist or whatever Daddy used in their bedroom to ease his breathing in hayfever season. Ned inherited hayfever and Dick had allergies. Uncle Jesse was Grandpa Campbell's brother. Mother met him once when he visited when she was a child but never saw him again. He lived in Denver at that time. Mother and Uncle Jesse corresponded as long as he lived. She seemed to idolize him and wrote a lot about him in the family history."

Here's what Grandma wrote about Uncle Jesse in the family history:

"Jesse E. Campbell married Della Kelsey on October 30, 1881, and had one son Kelsey Burnett Campbell, who died in infancy in 1885. Della died February 2, 1885. For years Jesse worked as a telegrapher in, or near, Denver Colorado. It was during this time in 1904 or 1905 that he came here to visit us for several weeks, where we lived on Fifteenth Street. That visit from Uncle Jesse was one of the highlights of my childhood, for he took me to see "Sis Hopkins", my frist stage show, and bought me my first box of "store chocolates". He was lots of fun and I never forgot how much I enjoyed his visit, though I never saw him again. We kept up a correspondence for the rest of his life. Sometime after his visit here, he married Aunt Mattie. They lived in Colorado for awhile, then bought a small truck farm near Francitas, Texas where they lived the rest of their lives. They somtimes had a hard time financially but were always cheerful and well liked, and hoped that they would find oil on their place, as there was some hear there. Jesse spent his spare time writing poems which for years were published in The Palacios Beacon, the weekly paper of Matagorda County, under the headings of "Sass and Sentiment from Orchard Place" or "Crumbs from a Country Cupboard". They were a mixture of wit and homespun philosophy that must have made him noted in that part of the country. I still have a number of his poems in a scrapbook. He died on December 23, 1931."

Oddly enough, on the other side of my family, there was also an Uncle Jesse who wrote poems which might also be described as "a mixture of wit and homespun philosophy", I think.

Sunday, August 8, 1926

Sunday, August 8, 1926
Hot

Marjorie had her first tooth thru this morning when she woke up. It does not seem to bother her any and I would not have known it it she had not kept chewing her lower lip. Ned was still below par. The three boys went to Sunday school but I didn’t try to go as Ned was not able and is too much of a mama boy to leave when he feels bad. Gilbert had work to do and then went to the plant to do some typing. Took the boys along and the babies and I napped and read. Saw a dog –apparently mad - bit two others out in front.



(Oh my! A mad dog. I assume when she wrote that the dog bit two others, it was two other dogs and not two people. Rabies would definitely be fatal in the 1920's!)

Saturday, August 7, 1926

Saturday, August 7, 1926
Cooler

Ned got to ailing – by Noon he had a high fever. I believe he is cutting some jaw teeth. Gilbert had promised to take the boys swimming this afternoon but it got too cool. They were very reasonable about it. They did their regular Saturday collecting, then scouted around in the park with Glen Kanouse of Pana, IL who is visiting on 13th St. Seems like a nice boy. Older than Dale but they are good friends and apparently well matched pair.

(Dale and Dick were collecting for their newpaper routes. They were fairly young businessmen but seemed to do well and still have time to play.

It has been awhile since Grandma wrote about anyone being sick. They seemed to do better in the summer time, probably because they were outdoors more and got fresh air. Though reading about the boys swimming in polluted creeks and streams makes me wonder how they didn't get sick more often.)

Friday, August 6, 1926

Friday, August 6, 1926
Hot – Thunderstorm

Too tired to wiggle. Loafed mostly all day – or rather sat and mended. Of course I washed dishes and did what house work I had to do and let the kids run. Harry Doyle was here most of the morning and what a noisy boy he is! Teases Ned and has him squealing most of the time. Then shouts “Keep still Ned, your Mom is trying to put the baby to sleep” does not realize he is the cause of all the noise. Not a bad boy though so much better than the Millers and Johnson boys. A thunderstorm came up while the boys were on their route, their first bad day but they didn’t care.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "Harry Doyle was a very friendly, likable boy, Dale's age or slightyly older. He lived just two houses away. He didn't got to our school, he went to the Catholic schools."

I think the nearest Catholic school would have been St. Philip Neri.)

Thursday, August 5, 1926

Thursday, August 5, 1926
Hot

Made 29 glasses of jelly and canned the rest of the juice. After the boys came home we ate a lunch, met Gilbert down town and went to Ravenswood to Mildred’s house and the boys went swimming. We had bad luck waiting for the bus so it was late when we got there. Ned fussed and wanted to go home – he was sleepy and likewise Marjorie but we had a very good time. The kids brought us to the car line and we made better time getting home. The boys take to water like ducks and can swim fairly well for youngsters.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote in her notes, "I don't recall a swimming pool in Ravenswood. I think there is a creek there, and I believe there is usually flooding in the Ravenswood area after a heavy rain.")

Wednesday, August 4, 1926

Wednesday, August 4, 1926
Hot

Tried to put up blackberries and wanted to make jelly too, but I didn’t get to that. Felt pretty bum and Mama came over for a little while right in the middle of the day to get me to cut out a dress for her. Felt heart sick to boot for in the morning, on coming downstairs after putting Marjorie to sleep I found Dick had cut the top off of my penny bank to get the money out. It had belonged to my brothers and then I had used it and all my babies had cut their teeth on it. I told Dick yesterday he could use it but to take care of it and he deliberately ruined it.

(I hope Grandma didn't mean her babies had "literally" cut their teeth on a penny bank. As Aunt Marjorie wrote that would not be all that clean. She also wondered if Dick wanted pennies for candy because he always had a sweet tooth.

Grandma had written in a diary entry sometime last year, on a day when the boys knocked over and broke a little bedside table lamp, that it was hard for her to keep anything nice for very long.)

Tuesday, August 3, 1926

Tuesday, August 3, 1926
Hot

Ironed all day. All the decent clothes we had were dirty. I took an awful cold getting so wet yesterday and felt miserable all day but finally got done. Smith the vegetable man brought me 20 qts of blackberries.

(Aunt Marjorie said, "I'll bet Mother was one of Smith's best customers. Smith was a Swede with an accent and his wife sometimes rode along with him. I wonder what his real name was? I remember how happy I was when he came; good fresh fruit to eat!"

I'd guess Grandma made blackberry preserves or jams with most of those berries.)

Monday, August 2, 1926

Monday, August 2, 1926
Partly cloudy but warm.

Got my washing done, but seemed to get myself awful wet doing it. But it was hot and I didn’t change clothes. Did some ironing.

(Washing clothes was not the same as today. Marjorie provided more information on how they used the washing machine to wash clothes.

"Mother had a roller-type washing machine. She had 3 galvanized tubs to rinse the laundry. She could open the drain in the bottom of the washing machine, but the large rinse tubs had no drains. She used a bucket and dipped out the water to the floor (there was a drain in the basement floor) until there was only a little water in the large galvanized tub - then she could tip it over and let the rest of the water run out."

Washing clothes was a completely manual effort. Wash the clothes, rinse them several times, and run them through the rollers to get the water out of them. No wonder Grandma got wet doing the laundry, both from sweating and from the wash water.)

Sunday, August 1, 1926

Sunday, August 1, 1926
Cool and rainy

Was tired and didn’t try to go to Sunday school as it was showery and I didn’t want to risk getting the babies wet so we sent the 3 boys and we took our time and got ready and went on the bus to Mama’s. All 21 members of the family was there for dinner. We had a very enjoyable day. Mama had a hired woman to help and do the dishes so we had nothing to do but visit. Winifred sat on Harry’s lap and kissed him all the time. I’m afraid she will be her mother over again. Has the idea that she doesn’t ever want to work.

(Winifred's mother, Mabel, never wanted to work, it seems.

Aunt Marjorie wrote, "Winifred dropped out of high school to go to art school. Aunt Mabel showed me a picture Winifred had sketched of a nude woman. Onarga (another cousin) and a friend had a shop in downtown Indianapolis where they made clothes on order, where Winifred helped them when they were overwhelmed with work. She made her own clothes and clothes for her sons later on. When her boys were in school she worked a number of years in a library in Memphis, and from the birth of the twin boys she kept house for her sons and her father (Harry). I don't know what other jobs she may have had. So I don't think Winifred was lazy! She was affectionate. I remember how pleased Daddy looked one time when Winifred came to our house for dinner and she threw her arms around Daddy's neck and kissed him."

Previously, I wrote the following about Winifred:

Harry was Grandma's brother, Mable was his wife and Winifred was their daughter. I think later Harry ended up with Winifred, but I'm not sure how it all worked out that way. I know that Winifred joined the Army during WWII and married a solder, who was killed in the war. She was pregnant when she was given the news of her husband's death, and ended up in labor, giving birth to twin boys. She and her father, Harry, ended up raising the two boys.)

Saturday, July 31, 1926

Saturday, July 31, 1926

Cool and rainy just a good day to loaf which we did good and proper except for sewing which is fun and restful for me. However I didn’t get done what I wanted to and had a little suit for Ned to finish after supper so he could wear it in the AM. Gilbert and the two boys went to the show and I did the dishes and had the three little ones to bathe when Collins came in. They didn’t stay a great while but enough to delay the bathing and putting Marjorie to bed at her sleepy time, so she stayed up till midnight and I didn’t get Ned’s suit done and retire till 2:30.

(Grandma, we now know, actually liked sewing.)

Friday, July 30, 1926

Friday, July 30, 1926
Hot

I got an early start leaving the kiddies and house in Gilbert’s care and went down town. Got the boys some play clothes and did a lot of picking around at the pretty things. Got home at noon, got a little lunch, bathed the babes and by that time Harry, Winifred, and Mama came, spent the afternoon and Papa came out for supper. Harry is quiet – won’t say anything but josh around and tell about the south and how much money he is able to make down there. Is spoiling W. and no can say anything.

(What a rare treat for Grandma to have a morning to herself to shop a bit and "pick around at the pretty things" in the stores.)

Thursday, July 29, 1926

Thursday, July 29, 1926
Pleasantly cool

Gilbert went to the plant at noon to get his pay. I put in most of the day mending. Mable called me twice to find out what I knew of Winifred’s whereabouts. She is in the habit of letting her know every move she makes and as Harry and she went to Brownsburg to see Guys with out telling her and she found out Winifred was gone all day – she didn’t know where except that Mama was not with her, she was frantic. I felt sorry for her but was not at liberty to tell her anything as Harry didn’t want her to know she was here. However she went out to Mama’s and found out.

(Clearly, Mable and Harry had separated at this point and based on the diary entry from July 12, Mable is staying with someone named Attilla. Aunt Marjorie wrote me several days ago and provided more information...

"Attilla was Aunt Mable's sister. After Aunt Mable married Carl Lout (Mable and Harry were divorced at some point) they bought a home next to Attilla's on University Avenue in Indianapolis. Carl's son was Howard who stayed in that house for years after Carl died. Howard and his wife (and a son) took care of Aunt Mable until she died at age, I believe, of 104 years. Carl had built a studio at the back of their lot for his accounting business. Howard redecorated that studio for Aunt Mable's use. We visited her there once, and I remember how cozy and attractive it was.

According to Mother's family history, Uncle Harry was born 09-23-1883, and married Mable Jones, who had been his high school sweetheart in Irvington, on the east side of Indianapolis. I presume Aunt Mable was born near 1883, so I calculate she died about 1987.

Winifred came to town for the funeral, and on a Sunday afternoon before the Monday funeral, Onarga (another cousin), Winifred, and I had a very pleasant 2 hour reunion at the mortuary. If I remember right, Winifred was killed in an auto accident near her home in Florida, near her sons' homes a few months later after her mother died. A couple of weeks later, Howard phoned me to tell me Winifred had died, and that another car had crossed the road and hit her. She was alone and died instantly.

I met Howard when visiting Winifred and Aunt Mable when I was an early teenager, and I calculate him to be at that time a late teenager, so he would be pretty old if living now. I can't find any Lout's in the phone book. I'm not sure if I spelled it right.

Why would anyone name a baby girl Attilla?"

That's a lot more than we knew before about Aunt Mable and Winifred and what happend to them!)

Wednesday, July 28, 1926

Wednesday, July 28, 1926
Cool but Pleasant

Gilbert home on a vacation. Talked to Mama on phone early and heard enough of Papa’s trip I wanted to hear more from him so we decided to go over this PM for supper. Before we got there Harry stopped in so we had a visit with him and didn’t hear a great deal from Papa. Harry has been loafing and visiting Memphis and other places for two weeks now. Winifred was tickled to death to see him, but wanted to sit on his lap and kiss him all the time.

(Papa had been back to Fort Recovery, Ohio to go to the funeral of his friend "Doc Denney". I think at this point Harry and Mable had more or less separated and Winifred was staying with her mother, Mable, perhaps still at Ruth's parents' house.)

Tuesday, July 27, 1926

Tuesday, July 27, 1926
Cloudy

A little rain this morning. I got up early to finish my ironing and had done most of it before the family got up. After breakfast the boys decided to clean out their “places” and so got all their things out on the floor to rid out and sort over and Marjorie did her first real crawling. She has been squirming around for some time but never covering any distance to amount to anything. She was such a “help” at sorting the things!

(I wonder if they donated what the wanted to get rid of?)

Monday, July 26, 1926

Monday, July 26, 1926

Washed and did part of my ironing. Mama came out and brought a little red vase Ethel sent me and my quilt that just got back from the quilters. She had her hair water waved in Elwood and learned to do it a new way, she parts it on the side and does it low and it is real becoming. I think Ethel is trying to persuade her to box it but I hope she doesn’t, it is too pretty the way it is. I don’t lie to see white hair bobbed.

(It sounds like my great-grandmother (Mama) had a good visit in Elwood with her son Bur and his wife Ethel. What is a 'water wave'? I'm picturing her hair as wavy, but flat against her head, which is how I think of hair styles from the 1920's.

It's interesting that Grandma mentions getting a little red vase from Ethel. I have a little purple vase from Grandma, but no one knows how she came to have it. I would not mistake the one I have for red, so it is most likely not the same vase.

And I always thought Grandma did her own quilting. I wonder if she pieced her quilts together and then had someone else do the actually quilting?)