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?)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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)

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?)

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.)

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.)

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.)

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.

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.)

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".)

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.)

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.)

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.

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.)

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.)

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?)

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.)

Wednesday, June 30, 1926

Wednesday, June 30, 1926
Hot

Got up early feeling fine. Canned a few red plums which we had got to eat but didn’t like and made 3 glasses of jelly. Cleaned up the house a little and made me a dress of lavender striped with black and white – sport style.

(More canning and on a hot day. It must have really been hot in that kitchen.

I am having a hard time visualizing what a "sport style" dress looked like in the 1920's. I also can't believe she made it in one day.)

Tuesday, June 29, 1926

Tuesday, June 29, 1926
Hot

Mama had to have help and as I had my ironing on hand I sent Dale over. He seeded her cherries, combed her hair, went to the store for her and came back in time for his news route.

(Awhile back, Grandma wrote in her diary that she couldn't get Dale to stop playing and help with anything. Seems like he was a big help on this day.)

Monday, June 28, 1926

Monday, June 28, 1926
Hot

Mama had a few cherries on her little trees which she picked this AM and afternoon started down town to get an electric treatment for her rheumatism, which still bothers her left hand and wrist, when she caught her heel on the step and fell injuring her right hand and bruising her shoulder and hip. She went on to town later and got her treatment which she needed worse than ever. Her wrist was sprained I guess. Swelled up a lot. I washed.

(I wonder what the electric treatments were like?)

Sunday, June 27, 1926

Sunday, June 27, 1926

All went to Sunday school.

(I think that nearly every Sunday Grandma went to church and/or Sunday School, unless she was sick or one of the kids was sick. We always had a picture of her in our living room that was of her in her Sunday best, standing in the foyer of the church. I would guess she was in her sixties in that picture, and I recall she had on a hat and was wearing white gloves.)

Saturday, June 26, 1926

Grandma resumed writing in her diary on the 27th.

I think from reading past Saturday entries in her diaries, that Saturdays were particularly busy, getting everyone cleaned up for church and also straightening up the house in case they had any family or friends stop by on Sunday.

Friday, June 25, 1926

No diary entry again today. I checked Grandma's diary entry from a year ago and they were picking and seeding cherries. Dick was sick at the time, and Albert was still recovering from the "glandular fever" that he had for so long. I assume they were working on cherries again this year.

Someone commented asking what was my favorite memory of Grandma. I guess it would be going over there on Sunday afternoons and picking Lily of the Valley flowers or being upstairs discovering all kinds of old things hidden away. Sometimes we would get to play the old record player, an Edison, that you had to crank by hand. What I wish now is that Grandma would have still had a piano so we could have heard her play it. Until I read these diaries, I did not know she ever played the piano.

I also liked to go in her backyard with her and see the old "cigar tree", which I now know was a Catalpa tree, and the remnants of a little fish pond nearby.

Thursday, June 24, 1926

No diary entry for this day. Aunt Marjorie has been sending me notes every few weeks with her comments on the diary so I can post those online, and my mom (Eleanor) comments frequently. In some of the notes Marjorie sent me, she wrote the following about their life:

"I loved clothes probably because I didn't have many. I supposed I was a typical whining kid who wanted 'things', and I remember wanting new shoes and told Mother that Joanne (a neighbor) had two pairs of shoes, and Mother said, "Joann has a father." End of discussion."

Gilbert, Ruth's husband and my grandfather, died in 1935, when Marjorie was almost 10 and Eleanor was almost 6. Following that, Grandma did go back to work, at Tech High School, but never made much money. The older boys helped financially as they could, I believe. Aunt Marjorie said that Grandma never discussed her finances with her or Mom.

Does it make a difference reading the diary to know that Grandma would be a widow in less than 10 years?

Wednesday, June 23, 1926

No diary entry again today. My guess is that during these days, she was too busy canning cherries to write in her diary. It seems like she often got overly tired or hot, and I would guess the kitchen was very hot with the stove going for canning. Plus, none of her other daily work like washing clothes, ironing (and ironing and ironing), cooking and caring for an infant, a toddler, and three young boys stopped just because the cherries were ripe.

Tuesday, June 22, 1926

I just realized that Grandma didn't write in her diary today, or for the next several days. This might be a good time for me to take a break for a few days or I can answer specific questions about Grandma that readers might have, perhaps clear up some confusion? Comment if you have any questions!

Monday, June 21, 1926

Monday, June 21, 1926

Washed and prepared to put up the cherries. The boys began picking them but our trees are so big they can not get so many that hang in the top and out far on the big limbs. Our ladder isn’t the right kind.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "Why don't I see cherry trees in Indianapolis yards these days? Is it because mothers are working in offices and companies and don't have time to seed cherries? What a loss!"

My other grandmother also did a lot of canning, in quantities we can't even imagine today. But if she didn't can, they didn't have anything to eat in the winter! They usually canned 2,500 quarts of fruits and vegetables every year. I don't think Grandma Ruth canned quite that much at all. I guess that was the difference of living in the city versus the country).

Sunday, June 20, 1926

Sunday, June 20, 1926

Took Ned to Sunday school and stayed with him in the baby room to get him accustomed to going but he is painfully bashful. In the afternoon Gilbert took the three boys to Broad Ripple to swim and I would have taken the babies to the folks but our trees are hanging red with cherries so I had to stay home to guard them but only caught one thief, Frances Miller who tumbled off the fence trying to get them while they have two trees fuller in their own yard. But her own mother told me once that “corn tastes better gotten out of some farmers field” so what can expect?

(My, my, a thief in the neighborhood! Who could believe that such a thing would happen? I guess Grandma knew what she was doing when she decided to stay home to guard her cherry tree!

By the way, this is the 500th entry posted from Grandma's diaries. We are about half way through the three years that I have. I hope you are enjoying this glimpse into the past, of how one woman raised her family in the 1920's.)

Saturday, June 19, 1926

There is no diary entry for this day. Instead, I will share some information that Aunt Marjorie provided on the family's reaction to Albert converting to Catholicism and becoming a Jesuit priest. He was ordained on June 14, 1954.

Aunt Marjorie wrote, "I saw your blog last night and saw that one of your readers asked how Albert became a convert and what was the family reaction. Someone asked Albert what started his interest in Catholicism and he said that in high school he learned type writing and was practicing by copying the dictionary and his interest was piqued by the word "sacraments". (I believe that was the word he said.)

When he went to Harvard, with a full scholarship (they probably thought he would someday make a lot of money and bequeath his fortune to the school), he majored in science and math. He apparently told some of his fellow students that a certain professor was a communist. That professor heard this and was so angry Albert was banned from the science department. So Albert changed his major to theology.

Apparently sometime later that professor was actually convicted as being a communist. I can't verify this - I have no names or dates. Being in high school at the time I didn't pay that much attention to my brother's life.

In college Albert made many Catholic friends, men and women, in an association or club, probably many students. One of his friends was Avery Dulles (son of John Foster Dulles) who graduated top in his class. He became a Jesuit priest and became a Cardinal. He also was a convert - his parents were Presbyterians, I recall. Albert graduated 2nd in his class.

Upon graduation, Albert went to a novitiate program on a mountain side in Los Gatos, California. (Albert told me Los Gatos meant "city of cats".)

Mother was disappointed Albert didn't marry and have children but there were no hysterics or trauma about Albert's decision to become a Jesuit priest. The different relatives were interested, surprised, maybe amused by Albert's conversion, except Aunt Bess who had stories to tell about Catholics taking young people in hiding to keep them away from their families.

One of the times Dale visited Albert he wrote Mother that Albert had found his niche in life and was happy in his life, which made Mother happy."

Friday, June 18, 1926

Friday, June 18, 1926

Still tired and my arms arched from holding Marjorie 6 hours Wednesday. Besides wearing my good shoes makes my foot hurt so badly. Pains run through that toe I hurt last winter till I can hardly stand it. The boys made a dam at the creek and think they really can swim. They are crazy to show Daddy.

(I think Grandma suffered with poor feet most of her life.

In her family history, Grandma wrote that Gilbert (Daddy) was a very good swimmer, in spite of having one leg shorter than the other. He swam well enough to once save another boy from drowning. Several times she mentions him taking the boys swimming; I think it was one sport he could participate in with them.)

Aunt Marjorie wrote, "The creek was two blocks away and runs thorugh Brookside Park and Spades Park, split by Rural Street over the bridge. When I was young, one of the Hildebrandt kids got typhoid fever by taking a drink out of that creek."

Yuck, seems like they had water pollution even back then. I suspect that raw sewage might have been dumped into those creeks. Still today in Indianapolis, if there are a lot of storms, the sewers can overflow into the creeks. They are working to correct that!)

Thursday, June 17, 1926

Thursday, June 17, 1926

Too tired to do much after yesterday’s stunt. Continued from yesterday anywa.

Then when things started up the Collins kids wanted to go on the sky rocket and that was one thing my boys thought was dangerous and didn’t want to go on so I told Mrs. C. to go on and take hers and my boys went somewhere else so from that time on till 3 when we left I sat on a bench and watched the coats and baskets, held the baby and hardly saw the others. When the time came I got my boys together and came home sore and tired. Good time! But never again. But I might have known. Mac’s dropped in while we were eating.

(I would guess that Grandma was not prepared for company when Mac's dropped. That would be one of Gilbert's best friends and his wife.

And why did they have coats with them in June?)

Wednesday, June 16, 1926

Wednesday, June 16, 1926
Cloudy

Well the East End Milk co. had a picnic at Riverside and the boys were all set to take their lunch and go alone when Mrs. Collins came over and urged me to go too. “Come lets go and take all the kids. I’ll help you with the babies and it will be fun” Well that way Albert would get to go so I consented and hustled to get ready. We got out there about 11 and the rest went on the caterpillar while I held Marjorie. But such a mob! They had to wait about an hour to get on. Then I started to go on something and they all stopped for lunch so we ate. (I don’t care for sandwiches) next page.

(What an adventerous day. Grandma continues the story tomorrow...)

Tuesday, June 15, 1926

Tuesday, June 15, 1926

Oh the boys are so cross and noisy they nearly finish me. I feel as if it will be a miracle if I remain alive when school takes up. They have cut loose and are just running wild. I do hope they quiet down and get used to vacation. I am thankful for the news route as it gives them a job and they go at three promptly and give me a little breathing spell.

(I have a hard time imagining my uncles as these "wild little boys". I wonder how bad they really were, or if Grandma was just extra sensitive to their noisy ways.)

Monday, June 14, 1926

Monday, June 14, 1926
Hot

The boys were gone all morning with the Millers to the Pure Oil barns wherever they are. They got good and tired – got caught in a thunder storm and said they didn’t see why they wanted to go there anyway – there was nothing to see or do when they got there. So I hope they are cured of wanting to go with them. They are just dumb hicks and have no ideals at all. By the way they were to move but that has all fallen through so we still have to contend with.

(I can't imagine that today anyone would let their kids go off with neighbors like that, not knowing where exactly they were going. It sure was different in the 1920's! I do admire Grandma for letting the boys have experiences like this, doing something with neighbors she didn't really approve of, so they could learn for themselves and figure it out themselves. I assume she judged the neighbors harmless, or she wouldn't let the boys go off with them like that.)

Sunday, June 13, 1926

Sunday, June 13, 1926
Hot – rain cooler

Had a long quiet restful day at home and I needed it too. Had a headache. Nerves I guess and then from getting so hot yesterday too I guess. Dad was here till late in the afternoon. He took quite a shine to Marjorie. Says she is just about the best and happiest baby he has ever seen. It seems to me he makes over her more than he ever did one of the boys. But there is no denying, the fact that she is a darling. Big, fat and pretty.

(It's nice to have a day to rest every week, and with all the work Grandma did through each week, she deserved some time to rest.)

Saturday, June 12, 1926

Saturday, June 12, 1926
Hot

Turned in and cleaned the bathroom and scrubbed the kitchen the first thing reaping a rich harvest . It’s a good thing I did for just before I got done the other rooms – in walked Dad. Luckily we had nothing planned for tomorrow only I did want to go to Sunday school as Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Philputt and several others from the church are leaving for Europe next Wednesday.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "A rich harvest? Must have meant the floor was pretty dirty!"

Dad is Gilbert's father, who lived in Crawfordsville.)

Friday, June 11, 1926

Friday, June 11, 1926
Hot

School out. The boys all got splendid marks. Albert got A’s for the last six weeks which brought his average up to B which is good, especially for a beginner. The boys are so joyous over the prospect of school out that one would think they didn’t like school. Continued from yesterday. After she left I went to the Sunday school party at Mrs. Weilands, left the children with Mama and getting back found that the three youngest had slept all the time and I had to wait till they woke up before coming home The big boys read.

(I guess Grandma believed it "let sleeping babies lie" along with toddlers and little boys!)

Thursday, June 10, 1926

Thursday, June 10, 1926
Hot

Went to Mama’s and the boys came out after school. Winifred left for Hollywood, Florida. Harry has rented a flat and has everything all ready and Mable tried to persuade her to put off going said she was cramping too much but Winifred said “No, I’m going today” very emphatically. It made me long to take a journey. I haven’t been on a train for twelve years except for four miles. Winifred looked awfully pretty when she left in a flannel ensemble for Florida!! I hope she learns to use better judgment when she gets way from Mable.

(Aunt Marjorie wrote, "I always thought Winifred was very pretty (she was about 14 years older than me). My youngest daugher has Winifred's large brown eyes."

Harry seemed to like living in Florida, and that is where he eventually settled, helping Winifred, who was widowed when her husband died in World War II, raise her twin boys.)

Wednesday, June 9, 1926

Wednesday, June 9, 1926
Fair and warm

Tried to iron but didn’t get near done. Mama came over and then when I tried to connect my iron after I bathed Marjorie I “blowed a fuse” so had to wait till the boys came back from their news routes to get me another. Then it was too late to start in again.

(I suspect blown fuses were quite common in th 1920's.)