Tuesday, July 31, 2007

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.)

Monday, July 30, 2007

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.)

Sunday, July 29, 2007

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!)

Saturday, July 28, 2007

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.)

Friday, July 27, 2007

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?)

Thursday, July 26, 2007

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?)

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Sunday, July 25, 1926

Sunday, July 25, 1926
Hot

We all went to Sunday school. Winifred came out to dinner as Papa was out of town and Mama hadn’t got in yet. She is awfully sweet but so shy and quiet I feel sorry for her. Marjorie took a long nap from the time we got home till after we got the dishes washed. She is a darling these days, and folks call her pretty, too. She is such a bright looking jolly baby, that she makes friends of everyone who sees her. A little bit shy, but a smile for everybody who doesn’t get too familiar.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote me a few days ago with more information on what happened to Winifred and her mother Mable. I'll post about it in a few days.)

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Saturday, July 24, 1926

Saturday, July 24, 1926
Hot

Papa got a letter by air mail that Doc Denny was dead and would be buried at Fort Recovery next Tuesday so he decided to go to the funeral. Mama is in Elwood so he called me up to get me to tell him to go I guess. Gilbert took the day off and sat around and read all day. Albert went with Dick on his news route.

(Air mail letters, that something we don't have today. I wonder when the last air mail letter was sent? According to this site, the post office eliminated domestic air mail in 1975 because at that point, all mail was sent by the fastest route. It must have been cause for excitement to get an air mail letter back in the 1920's, or maybe dread if they usually contained bad news.

Doc Denney refers to James Denney, who like Grandma's father, Rolla Campbell, was from Ft. Recovery, Ohio. They were room mates when they attended medical school in Cincinnati. At one time, Doc Denney corresponded with "Lizzie" Jordan, but then later suggested Rolla write to her and he would write to another girl, Emma Creary, who Rolla had been corresponding with. Once Rolla started to write to Lizzie, Doc Denney wanted to trade back, but it was too late, Rolla and Lizzie eventually got married, and the rest, as they say, is history.

"Mama" would have been visiting Grandma's brother Bur and his wife Ethel in Elwood. They had one son, Harry Wilbur, born in April 1916.)

Monday, July 23, 2007

Friday, July 23, 1926

Friday, July 23, 1926
Hot

Gilbert worked this morning and spent the afternoon down town where he happened to run into lots of people he knows. Dale and Harry Doyle spent most of the day upstairs reading and playing games. I hardly knew they were in the house. Harry is a nice boy and I shall feel as if it were a good turn if we could get him interested in books. After supper he and Carroll Walls and our three all were here reading. Little Mary Welles is here quite a lot playing with Dick today usually its Albert and Ned.

(Sounds like the boys slowed down a bit mid-summer and are enjoying reading. It might have been too hot to do much else, other than sit and read.)

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Thursday, July 22, 1926

Thursday, July 22, 1926
Hot

Gilbert stayed home and nursed a pair of sunburned shoulders he got Tuesday. They look like they were cooked and they hurt so he could hardly sleep last night. He started to the office at noon but his shirt hurt him so he decided to make it a whole day off. He is not as anxious to swim as he was. Dale went to the library and Harry Doyle was very inquisitive about the trip, books, etc. It seems he knows nothing about going to the library. Marjorie got on to pushing her self backward in her Taylor Tot.

(I guess they didn't have sunscreen in the 1920's. And I guess not all kids went to the library or knew about it! Grandma read a lot and she wrote several times about the boys all reading.)

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Wednesday, July 21, 1926

Wednesday, July 21, 1926
Hot

Anna and Betty Jane spent the day with me.

(I don't know who Anna and Betty Jane were, must have been some friends of Grandma's)

Friday, July 20, 2007

Tuesday, July 20, 1926

Tuesday, July 20, 1926
Hot

Georgia was to have come today but it is too hot for her. It is just as well for me as I had to iron. I didn’t get it touched although I hoped to get it all done yesterday. Marjorie was fretful, and I had uphill business to work at all. Gilbert took the day off and took the boys this morning to the 26th St. bathing beach. Got home in time to carry their papers. They report a fine time and plan to go again soon.

(Ironing continued to be a focus for Grandma. I am much more appreciative of the fabrics we have today, which don't need to be ironed, after reading Grandma's diary. I wore a cotton blouse today that never needs to be ironed, and just will not wrinkle. Grandma would not believe it.)

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Monday, July 19, 1926

Monday, July 19, 1926
Hot

Robert Collins came over to play with the boys but Dale and Dick hiked off to the creek regardless. Dick came back at noon and thought Dale was following soon but Dale didn’t come. I found that he was with Robert Miller and Robert Johnson so I began to worry when he didn’t appear at 3 to go for his papers. I visioned all sorts of mishaps with those two cowards along and in fact worried myself sick. Finished the day with a nervous head ache that lingered long after he blew in with a little fish about like my finger and he was sore because I wouldn’t clean and cook them for supper!

(Another day when Dale seemed to worry Grandma. I remember earlier in the summer she couldn't get him to do any chores for her. I hope he got his papers delivered!

Robert seemed to be a popular name in the early part of the 20th century.)

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Sunday, July 18, 1926

Sunday, July 18, 1926
Hot

Went to Sunday school and Guy met us and took us to their house. The folks and Mildred’s folks) were out and we had a lovely fried chicken dinner. Sat on the porch till Mildred’s (folks) left and took Mama and Bob, Dick and Dale to Mama’s. Then we were going to follow when some old friends of Ella’s came. We enjoyed their visit and found out they have five just 2 squares from us and Dunums. Very pleasant people. Guy took us to the folks where we filled up on watermelon and learned Bess had called up and left some beans at the terminal station so Guy brought me and the babies home and Gilbert and Dick and Dale got the beans and went to a show.

(I'm not sure what she meant by "they have five just 2 squares from us and Dunums".

Sounds like a very nice day of visiting with family and taking it easy.)

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Saturday, July 17, 1926

Saturday, July 17, 1926
Hot

Worked all AM making jelly. Then cleaned my windows and the house. Sprinkled the lawn, cut some grass in the back, etc. The boys cut the front grass but the back is too long for them and Gilbert absolutely won’t try to cut it. Unless I do it, I’ll be ashamed of it all summer. Besides there are lots of weeds that are going to seed.

(I sure don't clean my windows as often as Grandma did, but I think even in the summer, there was a lot of soot in the air that caused them to get dirty more often in the 1920's.

It sounds like the backyard was almost a field if they had weeds going to seed.)

Monday, July 16, 2007

Friday, July 16.1926

Friday, July 16, 1926

Bought currants and started to make currant jelly and jam. Didn’t get as much done as I expected to.

(I don't believe I've ever had currant jam. I'll have to try that sometime.)

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Thursday, July 15, 1926

Thursday, July 15, 1926
Hot

Mama went out to Guy’s for a little visit. I put in a pretty good day sewing. The boys spent all their time except when they carried papers in their swimming hole. Poor little Ned was lost without them. “What can my do Mama”? he asked. Gilbert came home a little early with a Taylor Tot for Marjorie but she has no idea she could run it herself. The boys had a fight over which one was to pull her and could hardly wait their turn. She squealed when they stopped and has no idea it is made for her to run.

(Guy and his family lived in Brownsburg, I think, which is west and north of Indianapolis.

A Taylor Tot is a type of baby carriage that toddlers can push themselves in. I could not find a picture of one online from the 1920's, but did find this one from the 1940's)

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Wednesday, July 14, 1926

Wednesday, July 14, 1926
Cool

Sewed after I got the house straightened. But didn’t get much done except the mending and I was behind on that.

(It seems like there was also something to sew or mend. I wonder what women who couldn't sew in the 1920's did for mending and clothes?)

Friday, July 13, 2007

Tuesday, July 13, 1926

Tuesday, July 13, 1926
Cool and rainy
Miss Dunlea had a fire. I saw the smoke. It was bad in the morning but had cleared by noon and I took the little ones and went to Mama’s and left the two oldest boys to come after they had carried their papers. That way we got to see Papa. Had a good supper and enjoyed a little visit without the boys fussing about what to do.

(Miss Dunlea was the neighbor next door. I assume the fire was perhaps a brush fire and not a house fire!. You can read more about Miss Dunlea on this post.)

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Monday, July 12, 1926

Monday, July 12, 1926
Cool

Winifred arrived from Florida. Harry is out of a job so he had to send her back. Poor kiddy, she is so lost up here. Her mother is at Attilla’s where there isn’t room for Winifred and I know the poor child is just naturally timid, the reason she is so quiet. She never had a normal life. I wish I could take her in, but of course I haven’t a room for her. I washed and ironed everything today. Too tired for anything went to bed before dark – about 7:30 I guess.

(I do not know who Attilla was, or even if that is a first name or last name. Harry and his wife Mabel seemed to have trouble providing a stable home for their daughter Winifred. You can read more about Winifred on this post.)

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Sunday, July 11, 1926

Sunday, July 11, 1926
Cool

Took all the family to Sunday school and then after dinner I rested – had an awful headache for a couple hours in the middle of the day – while Gilbert took Dick and Dale for a bike. They went to Riverside, then walked south along the river to the 26th St. bathing beach and report it a fine place although too cool today to go in.

(I'm not sure if Gilbert would have ridden a bike, since his right leg was shorter than his left leg and there were times he had to use a cane to walk. Perhaps he walked along as the boys rode their bikes? I imagine after an afternoon out with the boys, Gilbert might have had some aches and pains from all the walking.)

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Saturday, July 10, 1926

Saturday, July 10, 1926
Cool

(Must have been a busy day if all Grandma put in her diary was "cool" for the type of weather. Aunt Marjorie sent me some more info on what they did for 4th of July fireworks.

"Eleanor and I usually stood on the front porch and tossed lady fingers to the ground (about one inch long). The boys used larger firecrackers. I only remember one time Dale shot a roman candle from the porch, stretching his arm out over the yard. Apparently he thought it wasn't a good idea. The rest of the family stayed on the porch while Dale shot roman candles, fountains, on the walk close to the street. I sort of remember Mother making Ned and me wait until 8:00 AM to start shooting off firecrackers. Mother also wouldn't let us run with our sparklers.

The only mishap we ever had was when Mary Wells dropped her punk (what they lit fireworks off of) in a box of Ned's firecrackers on the front porch. Firecrackers, fountains, roman candles, etc. were shooting all over the porch. All the kids in the neighborhood jumped off the porch rails to the ground except me. I remember crouching against the wall, terrified, when Dick pushed out the window screen and pulled me into the house. I was probably 3 or 4."

Marjorie also noted that Dick died on July 4th when he was 54 years old and that we had severe storms that day.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Friday, July 9, 1926

Friday, July 9, 1926
Rain

Went down town and got me a pair of white shoes, not much for looks but so comfortable. The two older boys are in and out all the time so I put Marjorie to sleep and left her in Albert’s care. Took Ned with me. Marjorie slept all the time I was gone. I bought some more berries of Smith and made jelly and Jam all afternoon in my new shoes and they didn’t hurt a bit.

(Albert was six and a half years old when Grandma left him in charge of the baby, Marjorie, who was around 9 months old at the time. I think it was much different in the 1920's or she would not have done that.)

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Thursday, July 8, 1926

Thursday, July 8, 1926

Managed to get some sewing done by letting the house go. The boys all got together and made a dam down at the creek and had a swimming hole. They think they are great swimmers. Take their bathing suits and have a great time. I hardly saw them today.

(I'm still amazed at the amount of freedom the older boys had, to go to the park where the creek was and dam it up to great their own little swimming hole. I suspect the water was not all that clean, even though we think that there wasn't pollution "back then".)

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Wednesday, July 7, 1926

Wednesday, July 7, 1926

Got some raspberries and canned a few and made some jelly. With ironing, etc. I was pretty busy. Mama wants me to come over one day but I don’t see how I can. I just must go down town one day my shoes hurt my feet so I go around bare footed half the time.

(Grandma had a busy day. I wonder where she got the raspberries? I know she has written about "Smith the Vegetable Man" who went door to door selling vegetables, I think.)

Friday, July 06, 2007

Tuesday, July 6, 1926

Tuesday, July 6, 1926

I washed and the boys cleaned the yard. They did a pretty good job of it too.

(I assume the boys had to clean up all the debris leftover from their fireworks from the day before.)

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Monday, July 5, 1926

Monday, July 5, 1926
Cloudy

The boys celebrated the 4th of July and for once they had plenty of fireworks. They shot them continually except when they carried papers and in the evening they gave some to the neighbor kids so as to get them all shot today. The baby laughed in glee at the sparklers but she and Ned both went to sleep long before we had shot them all.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Sunday, July 4, 1926

Sunday, July 4, 1926
Hot

The kids of the neighborhood fired all day but our boys never shot a cracker. They are pretty good that way. They went to the show when it opened at 2:30 and stayed till dark. Gilbert went down town to see one so the babies and I stayed home and rested. While they napped I lay and read. Mama and Papa went with Guys to Turkey Run.

(Apparently, the boys didn't shoot off their fireworks because it was Sunday. Sundays were different "back then". I don't usually read about Grandma doing laundry or ironing or anything like that on Sundays. They did sometimes go to a movie or swimming in the afternoon.

Turkey Run is a state park, and "Guys" refers to Grandma's brother Guy and his family.)

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Saturday, July 3, 1926

Saturday, July 3, 1926
Hot

The boys bought another News route of 28 customers of a boy named Virgil Dove. Paid 10 cents a customer, but found there were really only 27 customers and the boy was behind and owed the news man about $1.25 more than he told Dale. But at that, the route was cheap and although Dale was disgusted that a boy should be so lax about paying for his papers he said “Well, I’ll bet when I get paid up once I’ll never fall behind like that.” And I’ll bet he won’t either. He takes the new route and leaves Dick the one of 18 customers.

(Sounds like Dale showed signs early on of having a talent for running a business.

I didn't realize newspaper routes were bought and sold like that. Today, around here, there are no young boys (or girls) delivering papers. It is all adults.)

Monday, July 02, 2007

Friday, July 2, 1926

Friday, July 2, 1926
Hot

The truck from the plant brought the fire works out and such a bunch of boys as gathered on our porch to see them!

(Fireworks, the delight of every little boy, even in the 1920's. I wonder how safe they were? Mom talked about the boys shooting Roman Candles off the front porch, what else did they have?)

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Thursday, July 1, 1926

Thursday, July 1, 1926

Got a good early start and went to Mama’s. Papa had saved all the dishes since Tuesday as he has to do all the work out there and doesn’t like the job. Mama is doing fine doesn’t feel so bad except her hands are both crippled now, one with rheumatism and the other swollen from her fall.

(I don't know why, but I found it humorous that my great-grandfather (Papa) didn't like to wash dishes, so left them for Grandma to do.)