Tried to Make Sister Miserable

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Sheryl

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Wednesday, May 21, 1913:  Didn’t feel very well with morning, so I tried to take it out in making Ruthie miserable. Although I don’t I succeeded.

Ruth Muffly

Ruth Muffly

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

What did Grandma do to her sister Ruth? It must have been pretty bad if she admitted that she wasn’t nice in the diary.

Usually when Grandma and her sister Ruth weren’t getting along, Grandma would use her author’s prerogative and blame the problem on Ruth—though Grandma generally called Ruth, Rufus when she was angry.

For example, on October 28, 2012 Grandma wrote:

 Got mad at the Rufus tonight. I think she can be so mean sometimes.

And, on June 5, 2012 she wrote:

Trotted up to McEwensville this morning on an errand for Rufus, the dear little mortal.

Filed under: Other | Tagged: , | 10 Comments »

Hauling Milk Over to the Spring for Storage

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Sheryl

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Monday, May 20, 1913:  Ruthie and me a nice little wooden wagon in which to haul milk over to the spring, and this would save us from breaking our backs for that can of milk is almost a dead weight.

milk can (photo source: Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site)

Milk Can (Photo Source: Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma’s family had several milk cows. The milk from the cows was put into large cans. The cans filled with milk were then stored for a day or two until it was sold to a dairy or made into butter.

Spring houses were used in the days before electric refrigeration to keep the milk cold. A small building was built over a spring, and the milk cans were placed in the cool water that flowed through the building.

an example of a spring house (This spring house is not on the Muffly farm.) (Source: Wikipedia)

An Example of a Spring House (This spring house is not on the Muffly farm.) (Source: Wikipedia)

I’d have demanded a cart, too. Milk cans filled with milk were heavy. I don’t know where the spring house was located, but it probably was some distance away from the barn.

Did Grandma’s mother take the suggestion seriously—or did the request go in one ear and out the other?

Filed under: Farming and Gardening | Tagged: , , | 26 Comments »

New Wall Paper in the Kitchen

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Sheryl

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Monday, May 19, 1913:  Saw the kitchen papered this afternoon. It looks quite stylish.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Whow! I’ve totally missed the context of the diary entries the past few days. (I probably should read further ahead.)

I thought that spring housecleaning lasted for a couple weeks when I read diary entries that said things like, “Nothing much doing, but the doing of rubbing, scrubbing, etc.” (May 14, 1913).

Really, they probably did the spring house cleaning in early May, and then moved on to removing old wall paper from the kitchen wall in preparation of re-papering.

1913-10-52.bThe caption on this black and white picture in the an article called, “Good Taste in the Farm House” in the  October, 1913 issue of Ladies Home Journal says:

 ”Here striped wall paper in two tons of green was used to give the effect of great height to this low-ceiled room. The furniture was painted a willow green to harmonize with the walls and the cretonne curtains.”

Did the rather stylish Muffly kitchen look anything like the picture in the magazine?

Filed under: Other | Tagged: , , | 23 Comments »

A Celebration of Something

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Sheryl

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Saturday, May 17, 1913:  Went to Watsontown this afternoon. There was a big time going on in there. The celebration of something. I don’t just know exactly what. There must have been at least four or five different bands. I’m pretty tired by this time. Had to do all the milking after I came home.

DSC03659.cropWere the bands marching down Main Street?

Recent photo of the park in nearby Watsontown.Or maybe they were playing at the Watsontown Park.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Hmm—Sounds like fun, though  it’s interesting that Grandma wasn’t quite sure what the event was about.

Did her sister Ruth stay at the celebration in Watsontown?

Based on previous diary entries, I think that Grandma and Ruth typically each milked several cows.

They sometimes traded  the milking chore so that one of them could do something else. Grandma might milk  Ruth’s cows one day—and Ruth would milk Grandma’s a few days later.

Filed under: Other | Tagged: , , , | 26 Comments »

Washing the Kitchen Ceiling

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Sheryl

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Tuesday, May 13, 1913:  Started to earn my dollar washing off the kitchen ceiling. Want to get it finished by tomorrow. The Bryson girls were down.  

DSC03888.Blanche.BrysonBlanche Bryson (Source: “Cut” from picture in History of the McEwensville Schools by Thomas Kramm. Used with permission.)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Really??  Washing the kitchen ceiling?? Why?? I’ve knocked a few spider webs down from ceilings, but I’ve never washed a ceiling in my life.

Whew, it must have been a lot of work, if it was going to take two days.  At least Grandma got paid for doing it.  $1 back then would be worth about $24 today.

The Bryson Girls

One of the Bryson girls would have been Blanche. She was a friend and Grandma’s and her sister Ruth, and is mentioned several places in the diary.  Blanche was a teacher at the Keefertown School, a one-room school house, near McEwensville. Both Blanche and Ruth went to the Sunbury teachers’ meeting that I showed a picture of a few days ago. I’m not sure what the other Bryson girl’s name was.

Filed under: Other | Tagged: , , , | 36 Comments »

Mother’s Day Celebrated a Hundred Years Ago

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Sheryl

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Sunday, May 11, 1913:  Mother’s Day. Went to Sunday School this morning. Managed to while away the time for I didn’t go any place, because I didn’t.

Mothers.Day.5.15.11

Source: Milton Evening Standard (May 15, 1911)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

According to Wikipedia, Anna Jarvis organized the first modern Mother’s Day celebration in 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia to honor mothers and motherhood. Ms. Jarvis promoted the holiday, and it soon spread to other places. It became an official US holiday in 1914.

It’s surprising how quickly Mother’s Day caught on throughout the country. Grandma considered it important enough to mention in the diary in 1913—only 6 years after the first celebration of Mothers Day.  And, the local newspaper, The Milton Evening Standard, had an article about it two years earlier.

Filed under: Holidays | Tagged: , , | 14 Comments »

Was Grandma’s Name Helena or Helen?

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Sheryl

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today: 

Saturday, May 10, 1913: Nothing much doing today. I got my diploma this evening. The ones we had at commencement were fakes.

DSC07488

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Congratulations, Grandma! It’s official now, you’re a high school graduate.

Your diploma hangs in my house, and is one reason that I’ve always been so fascinated with you.  I’ve told the story before, but I’ll tell it again.

—

I’m going to repost part of what I wrote on Day 2 of this blog,  January 2, 2011:

Helena, Helen or Grandma?

As I work at posting this diary I’ve struggled with what name to use when referring to the diary’s author.

The diary’s author called herself Helena. My grandmother called herself Helen.

I grew up in the farmhouse where my grandmother lived when my father was a child. When I was a teen I found Helena Muffly’s high school diploma in the attic.

I saw Grandma the next Sunday at church. After church I asked her whether her name was Helen or Helena.

She said Helen. When I told her about the name on the diploma. She laughed and replied, “Oh, that was just kid stuff.”

My cousin Stu did a little research on Grandma’s name using the Family Search.org tool. He found that her name is listed as Helena in the 1900 and 1920 censuses–but that it is Helen in the 1910 one.

Helen? Helena? Grandma? It seems strange to call a teen Grandma, but that’s how I think of her. Maybe I’ll just call the author Grandma when I write about her even though she was many years away from becoming my grandmother.

When I was in a college I visited the home of my roommate’s parents. Their family room was decorated with framed old family documents—marriage certificates, birth certificates, diplomas, baptismal certificates and so on.

I immediately thought of Grandma’s diploma in my parent’s attic and the mystery surrounding her name—and asked if I could have it. I framed the diploma and it’s been part of my household décor in the many apartments and houses that I’ve lived in since then.

Filed under: Genealogy | Tagged: , | 33 Comments »

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