Monday, May 31, 1926

Monday, May 31, 1926
Rain part of time

I got Gilbert to clean the paper in the stairway so I could finish the rest. Then I put my clothes to soak expecting to get a lot of work done this week. Then of course I had to make fudge, in the absence of cocoa I made it white with nuts and raisins in it. It was good, too.

(Grandma had a sweet tooth, I think.)

Sunday, May 30, 1926

Sunday, May 30, 1926

The boys went to Sunday school by themselves as usual and Gilbert and I started out together and I helped him on the College car with the babies then walked on to church. I waved at Mrs. Smith across the church and wanted to speak to her but when I got to her place she was gone. Then a lady asked me if I was a stranger, the new minister doesn’t know me at all and I felt like crying as I left the church although the sermon was fine. The boys read most of the time and behaved better than usual so we are enjoyed the day very well.

(I think Grandma knew the previous minister quite well, as he performed her wedding ceremony. But it is was a fairly large church, so it was probably difficult for the new minister to meet everyone. Here's a link with some more information on the history of the church they attended.)

Saturday, May 29, 1926

Saturday, May 29, 1926

Was pretty tired today and didn’t get my room finished. I felt like I could never go anyplace it tires me so the next day that it takes away all pleasure.

(Grandma seems to have a good day followed by a bad day most of the time).

Friday, May 28, 1926

Friday, May 28, 1926
Hot

Wanted to get the boys' room cleaned but had to get clothes, etc. ready to go to the May festival of the school at Caleb Mills hall this evening. Each room was represented and they certainly presented a lovely program of song, dances and drills. Dale was in a flag drill but the other two boys' classes were represented by girls only. We took the babies and all went. Marjorie was a little noisy and hard to hold but she wasn’t bad and Ned did fine too till just at the last he got tired. We all enjoyed it very much.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "As I recall Caleb Mills Hall was at Shortridge High School. Apparently, School 54 did not have an auditorium yet.

Grandma graduated from Shortridge High School in 1910 and her graduation program indicates it took place in Caleb Mills Hall, too.

Another famous Shortridge graduate was the author Kurt Vonnegut. He wrote, "“It's my dream of America with great public schools. I thought we should be the envy of the world with our public schools. And I went to such a public school. So I knew that such a school was possible. Shortridge High School in Indianapolis produced not only me, but the head writer on the I LOVE LUCY show. And, my God, we had a daily paper, we had a debating team, had a fencing team. We had a chorus, a jazz band, a serious orchestra. And all this with a Great Depression going on. And I wanted everybody to have such a school.”

Senator Richard Lugar also graduated from Shortridge.

All of Grandma's children graduated from Arsenal Technical High School (If you click on that link, be aware it plays some music.))

Thursday, May 27, 1926

Thursday, May 27, 1926

Cleaned the front room up stairs. Wall paper, etc., got it all done, even the curtains up.

(Spring cleaning continued!)

Wednesday, May 26, 1926

Wednesday, May 26, 1926
Fair and warm

Cleaned the attics. Mama came over before I got through. She always thinks she has to help me in whatever I do and it is laughable only hard to get my work done. I guess she really means to help, but she really comes to tell me her latest troubles with Winifred and Mable, and she talks so much, she forgets what she came for and I can’t work half so fast with anyone talking to me.

(The house as I knew it had one long attic room, which was really a room under the eaves on one side of the house. It was a dark, dusty place that we were all afraid to go into because along one wall there was a long box about the size of a coffin. Who knew what was in there?!

There were two rooms under the eaves on the other side of the upstairs, which at one time might have been attic space, but these were made in to two small rooms at some point. In one of the rooms, there was a small table next to a cot and on it was the skeleton of long-dead scorpion brought back from somewhere by one of the boys, no doubt.

There are some jobs that go faster with two people, other jobs are best done alone. I guess Grandma preferred to work alone, especially if her Mama wasn't all that interested in getting the work done, anyway.)

Tuesday, May 25, 1926

Tuesday, May 25, 1926
Hot

Got all my ironing done and some left from last week, and all put away too. Have plenty of pep again I am so thankful.

(I want some of "Papa's Tonic", whatever it was!)

Monday, May 24, 1926

Monday, May 24, 1926
Hot

Washed and got done fairly early. I feel lots better than I did last week. The men came this afternoon to put on the new roof.

(Coincidently, I'll be getting a new roof one week from today, meaning 81years and 1 week after Grandma got a new roof, I'm getting a new roof. I plan to be home when they do it, at least in the beginning to make sure they use the right shingles. But after awhile, I think the pounding on the roof will be annoying, so I'll leave.

"Papa's Tonic" must have done the trick to make Grandma feel better!)

Sunday, May 23, 1926

Sunday, May 23, 1926

Had Papa and Mama come for dinner.

(Grandma must have been feeling better, to have company for Sunday dinner).

Saturday, May 22, 1926

Saturday, May 22, 1926

Felt a little better.

(The tonic that Grandma's papa sent over must have helped.)

Friday, May 21, 1926

Friday, May 21, 1926
Hot

Mildred and Carl were here for supper.

(Mildred was Grandma's niece and Carl was Mildred's husband.)

Thursday, May 20, 1926

Thursday, May 20, 1926

The Sunday school entertained their mothers at Mrs. Chantilla White on N. Meridian St. so I got the babies ready. Met Mama at Penn. St. and went. Marjorie went to sleep going and slept all afternoon upstairs on a bed till time to put our wraps on. Everyone admired her then and I certainly am proud to “show her off”. She is such a pretty little baby – not little either – big for her age. But just so sweet and jolly and lovable.

(From reading the diaries, it appears as though most of Grandma's social life was related to her church acvtivities.)

Wednesday, May 19, 1926

Wednesday, May 19, 1926

Felt like I was at the end of my string today. Had to lie down most of the time. Called Papa up and told him my troubles so he said he would send a tonic out. I haven’t an ache or a pain but feel as if every step would be my last.

(I wonder what was wrong with Grandma, and what was in the tonic her father sent to her?)

Tuesday, May 18, 1926

Tuesday, May 18, 1926
Fair and warm

I got up pep enough to wash and that’s about all.

(Seems Grandma was still wiped out from their day-trip to Crawfordsville.)

Monday, May 17, 1926

Monday, May 17, 1926

Dead tired. I talked to Papa about the twins and he told me to tell Nell to stop boiling their milk and to put lime water and essence of pancreatin in their feedings, so I wrote to her right away. Was too tired to do any work anyway. I do hope I can help do those babies some good. Bess says she won’t listen to anybody and seems to think they are ok although they can not hold their heads up at five months. But I suspect it is Bess she won’t listen to. She thinks she knows so much more than anyone else, and really knows the least, and is overbearing I don’t blame Nell for not heeding her.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "By the time the twins and I were running around and playing my recollection was that they were as husky and big as much as I was."

By the way, here's a picture of Bess from when she was younger.)

Sunday, May 16, 1926

Sunday, May 16, 1926
Fair and warm

Gilbert and I with the two babies got the seven o’ clock inter urban for Crawfordsville without any trouble or rush with the three biggest troublemakers gone. Nell and Mike came in to Dad’s for dinner and we took pictures of all the babies. Nell’s poor little twins are so weak and poor. They cry so pitifully and their eyes look so pitiful and their little faces drawn up and wrinkled like little old women. They remind me of Mother Smith the day before she died. Their hands like bird claws. I wish I knew something to do for them. Marjorie was so lively. She rompered all day in the pink of condition, made friends with everybody.

(I had to laugh about Grandma referring to Dale, Dick and Albert as "troublemakers". Marjorie wrote that "the boys must have had to walk about half a mile to Grandpa Smith's house. Grandpa must have met the boys where they got off the interurban", referring to their trip yesterday.

Nell is one of Gilbert's older sisters, and Mike is her husband. The twins were born on Christmas Day 1925, so were just a few months younger than Marjorie. Grandma wasn't too complimentary on how they looked, but I think was genuinely concerned for their health and well-being.)

Saturday, May 15, 1926

Saturday, May 15, 1926

Got the boys off to Crawfordsville, their first trip out of town alone.

(I think this is why Grandma didn't have time to post on the 14th. She was too busy getting her oldest three boys ready to go out of town, alone. I think they took a bus, the "interurban".)

Friday, May 14, 1926

No diary entry for today. Based on what is coming up for Grandma for the weekend, I can understand why she was too busy to write an entry on this day. Stay tuned to see what happens tomorrow.

Thursday, May 13, 1926

Thursday, May 13, 1926
Partly cloudy

(Another day when it seemd that Grandma had time to only record two words about the weather. We all have days like that at times!)

Wednesday, May 12, 1926

Wednesday, May 12, 1926
Fair and warmer

Mildred’s wedding day

(Mildred, born on March 13, 1904, was the daughter of Grandma's brother, Guy, and his first wife Ella. According to the family history that Grandma wrote, Mildred married Carl Nash and lived in Brownsburg, Indiana all of her married life. She had two children, Joyce Eileen, born June 1, 1929, and James Carl, born June 6, 1932.

It's interesting how the generations overlap. Mildred is my mom's cousin, but my mom (Eleanor) was not born until 1929, so she was more the age of Mildred's children.

Guy and Ella had another daughter, Onarga, and two sons, Robert and Donald. Guy divorced Ella in 1930, and married a woman named Vangie, who worked for him. Onarga (who went by Nan) was also working for her father at the time, but left after the divorce.)

Tuesday, May 11, 1926

Tuesday, May 11, 1926
Fair and cool

("Fair and cool" is all Grandma wrote on this day.)

Monday, May 10, 1926

Monday, May 10, 1926
Cool and rainy

Built another fire

(It must have been quite a bit of work to heat a house with a coal furnace. I assume that's the fire they built because they didn't have any fireplaces in the house. It must have gotten very cold for them to build another fire in the furnace.)

Sunday, May 9, 1926

Sunday, May 9, 1926
Hot – rain – cooler

Mother’s Day – took Marjorie to Sunday school for her first time and finally got the prize for having the youngest daughter there. When Albert, Dick were both little they were the youngest but they never gave the prize to boys, so they didn’t count. But now I have it at last. After Sunday school we went to the folks and I had to give my prize flowers to Mama as I was too poor to buy her anything. Guys came in and brought us home and I was so grateful as I was afraid Marjorie was too cool and would take more cold.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote that Grandma told her the flowers were sweet peas.)

Saturday, May 8, 1926

Saturday, May 8, 1926
Hot

The boys took their lunches and with four others of the neighborhood followed the creek up to where they call “Cherry Hole”. They left at 8:00 and were gone to 3:30. Had a big time - saw a snake, etc. These boys don’t appreciate their privileges or what a good time they are having. That’s all right. I want them to look back on their childhood as happy days. I don’t , only a few days – most of them were long, lonely days, and I guess the same is true of Gilbert. Of course I was uneasy about them but I shant let my fears spoil their fun.

(These boys were young by today's standards to be going off like that for a day. Dale, the oldest, was not quite ten, Dick was about eight, and Albert was six. But I guess it was different back then, it must have been.

Grandma wrote in her family history that her family moved around a lot when she was younger, and because she was shy, she didn't make friends quickly. So she spent a lot of time by herself or with her mother.

Gilbert suffered as a child from something they called "white fever" which affected his hip, so he was bedridden for several months and didn't start school until he was almost 8 years old. And then he had to use crutches or a cane because the illness, whatever it was, left him with one leg shorter than the other. I'm sure it was not easy to be different and older than your classmates, but Grandma wrote that he quickly caught up with schoolwork and I think eventually ended up at least going to school with kids his own age. He also had two older sisters that, according to Grandma's history, tried to tell him what to do all the time!)

Friday, May 7, 1926

Friday, May 7, 1926
Hot

After school we all went down town on the bus and got Marjorie the sweetest little hood. Met Papa and he bought the three bigger boys a pair of nice pants a piece. He certainly got good ones, the prettiest they ever had, paid more than we could have, and I do hope they can keep them nice a long time.

(That must have been quite a trip with all five children!)

Thursday, May 6, 1926

Thursday, May 6, 1926
Hot
I ironed and got along pretty well with it. Then I had lots of mending to do. This morning Ned went out with the brown pants on that Mama patched yesterday and came in in a few minutes with them torn. I said “Why Ned did you tear your pants again?” “Oh, Momma be back” he said. Nell is going to have a surprise on Mike's birthday Sunday and wants us to come, but we are undecided on account of Marjorie’s cold and it is too near the first of the month to be convenient, too.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "Why is it too close to the first of the month? Maybe payday was on the 10th? Anyway, I don't understand what she meant." Eleanor wrote that she thought the same thing, that the concern was about when payday was. Actually, I think the problem is that Gilbert was an accountant, so this would be a busy time at work, trying to close out the books for the previous month. We know from other diary entries that he often worked on Saturdays, at least. I don't know if he also had to do some work on Sundays when it was a busy time.

Nell was one of Gilbert's two older sisters, and Mike was her husband. Here's a link to a picture of Nell when she was much younger.)

Wednesday, May 5, 1926

Wednesday, May 5, 1926
Fair and warm

Scrubbed the porch this morning and got so hot at it that I started a head ache that almost put me out of business for a few hours. Mama came and Mrs. Collins was over so I wouldn’t have gotten at my ironing till afternoon anyway, so after I got my work done I sewed and Mama patched Ned’s new brown wool pants we made last week. In the evening after school Dale put the old swing of Don’s that Guy had given me for Ned so Marjorie could be outdoors and watch the world go by.

(Click here to see what the front porch looked like.)

Tuesday, May 4, 1926

Tuesday, May 4, 1926
Fair and warmer

Dick 1 ½ lbs underweight, his height 49 inches, weight 53 ½ lbs. Dale 1 lb. underweight. His height 53 inches, weight 67 lbs. Albert is 2 ¾ lbs overweight. His height is 44 ½ his weight is 47 ¾ lbs. Wash day. Got done early enough to do quite a bit of ironing, too. Marjorie still has a bad cold but I am hoping warm weather will come and I can put her out in the sum and she will be better.

(This seems like an odd combination of thoughts for one day's diary entry. I wonder if she measured and weighed the boys or if they did that at the school? I would think if she had taken them to a doctor, she would have mentioned that.

And I thought Monday's were wash day?)

Monday, May 3, 1926

Monday May 3, 1926
Cooler

Report cards out, second report. They read

Dale Dick Albert
Reading AA AA CB
Language – Oral AA BB
Language – Written AA AA
Spelling AA AA
Arithmetic AA AA
Abstract AA AA
Reasoning AA AA
Nature Study BB
Geography AA
Civics AA
History AA
Writing AA AA+ CB+
Drawing AA BB
Music BB BB+
Physical training AA

Dale perfect in “habits and attitudes of good citizenship” Dick lacking in promptness, self direction, self control and respect for his own property. Albert perfect in “attitudes”.

(I think Albert had fewer grades because he was either still in kindergarten or just in first grade.

Eleanor wrote, "Albert got the low grades in reading and writing, but he's the one who ended up learning languages like Latin, Greek, Hebrew, etc."

Albert is the one who became a Jesuit priest and taught Theology at the University of San Francisco. I posted about that here.

Dick must have over come his lack of self-direction. He eventually taught Philosophy at the University of Louisville. I posted about him here.

Dale was a successful businessman and was depuy mayor of Modesto, California at one time.)

Sunday, May 2, 1926

Sunday, May 2, 1926
Cooler in evening

Marjorie slept most all day, seemed to breathe a trifle easier. She must feel better to sleep so. Gilbert took Ned to Sunday school and Ned cried in the baby room but was as still as a mouse in the Men’s class after they took him to Gilbert.

(Ned must have been "daddy's little boy". I always thought that in the 1920's, fathers weren't too involved with their children. I probably got that perception from the movies. Does anyone else have that perception, or just me? But Gilbert seems to be a "hands on" father to take his two-year to church on Sunday.)

Saturday, May 1, 1926

Saturday, May 1, 1926
Hot

Marjorie gets her breath so hard, is cross, can’t sleep and does not take her bottle. Ned got up too with an awful cold a little feverish, etc. But after breakfast he went outdoors and sat in the warm sunshine all day watching the boys and by evening his cold seemed to be gone. We all changed to summer underwear. Ned tore his new brown pants.

(I would guess that today most people don't have different summer underwear from what they wear in the winter time. But back then it was probably a necessity to stay warm in a house heated with a coal furnace.

Eleanor wrote, "I wonder if some of their problems were allergies? Ned did suffer from hayfever... I remember the change to summer socks and how good the air felt on my legs after wearing long socks all winter.

And just like in 1926, today in 2007, it will also be hot.)