18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Thursday, July 10, 1913:Ditto
Source: Ladies Home Journal (July, 1913)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
The previous day Grandma wrote, “Not so very much doing today,” so I guess that a hundred years ago today was another quiet day.
Sometimes I wonder where Grandma was sitting when she wrote these diary entries. Was she at the kitchen table? . . . sitting in a chair in the living room? . . . .sprawled on her bed?
And, what was the room like? The windows were probably open and the curtains may have been fluttering in the breeze. Were the curtains stylish—and similar to ones shown in 1913 issues of Ladies Home Journal; or were they old and a little tattered?
Ladies Home Journal (July, 1913)Ladies Home Journal (July, 1913)Ladies Home Journal (August, 1913)Ladies Home Journal (August, 1913)
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Wednesday, July 9, 1913:Not so very much doing today.
Source: Milton Evening Standard (June 26, 1913)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Sounds like Grandma had another boring day on the farm. Did she ever attend baseball games or other sporting events in the nearby towns?
A hundred years ago, the headlines of the local newspapers, The Milton Evening Standard, focused on the rivalry between two local baseball teams.
LARGE CROWD SEES FRONT ST. WALLOP BROADWAY BUNGLERS
Three hundred persons witnessed the game between Front Street and Broadway last night, and all agreed that the exhibition was in many senses, marvelous beyond description.
Spectators gained from five to ten pounds each in laughing, and the players, besides paying about $10 for errors, lost twenty pounds apiece in perspiration and nervous tension. Front Street won the battle, but had the game continued indefinitely Broadway might have nosed out.
Barrett, champion strikeout artist, fooled the critics by plugging the ball no less than three times and he also crossed the plate twice.
F. Follmer’s ineffectual attempts to hit the ball featured the game. At one time he was given five strikes, but never managed to connect with the sphere. The Broadway crowd today assert, of course, that the umpire robbed them of the game, and are now busy inventing excuses to apply to their horrible exhibition. . .
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Tuesday, July 8, 1913:Pa picked up a little boy who is going to work for him. I have to room with Ruth now.
Recent picture of the barn on the Muffly farm
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
It sounds like Grandma’s father decided that he needed to hire someone to help with the farm work.
How old was the “little boy”? . . . 9? . . . 12? . . . 15? Children often held jobs a hundred years ago, but the term “little boy” seems like an unusual way to describe a new farm laborer. I’d think that the individual would have had to have been fairly strong—and that he would have been a teen-ager not a boy.
Who was the boy? . . . a relative? . . . the son of a friend? . . . the child of someone who was struggling financially?
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, July 7, 1913:Went into Watsontown this afternoon to see if my camera was there, nor was I mistaken. It was in a big box. I carried it home any way. Wonder if anyone one laughed at me. Perhaps I did look funny.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Yeah, Grandma got her camera. She’d ordered it about two week prior to this entry on June 25, 1913.
. . . Nothing less than that I sent off for a camera. I’ve wanted one for a long time, but thought I could hardly afford it. I was reminded that I really wanted it only by finding a camera catalog up in the garret yesterday. And as I had earned almost five dollars during the last two weeks, I carried the project through.
What a typical teen reaction—wondering if anyone thought that she looked funny carrying the large box the mile and a half home from Watsontown.
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, July 6, 1913: I went through a solemn duty this morning. I jointed the church and was baptized. I must strive to keep the promises.
Recent photo of the site where the McEwensville Baptist Church once stood.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
In the past I’ve wondered which church Grandma attended as a teen—and finally decided that it probably was the Baptist one. This entry provides further confirmation that Grandma was Baptist when she was young.
In 1913 there were three churches in McEwensville—Lutheran, Reformed (United Church of Christ) and Baptist. After Grandma married Raymond Swartz she attended the Lutheran church.
In the diary Grandma mentioned the Lutheran and Reformed churches by name when she visited them for a special event—but she provided no church name when she attended her regular church. This suggests that she didn’t attend either the Lutheran or Reformed church–but rather that she went to the Baptist one.
I’ve been a little uncomfortable with that conclusion since the Baptist Church closed in the late 1910s or early 1920s—and the building was torn down many years ago. In the diary, Grandma seemed to really enjoy attending Sunday School almost every week which suggests that the church was still very active in 1913—but I’m now almost certain that she attended the Baptist Church.
I wonder if Grandma was baptized in Warrior Run Creek. It flows through McEwensville (as well as along the edge of the Muffly Farm).
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, July 5, 1913:Ruth and I went up to McEwensville this evening. I wanted to go up to church. There was a festival, so I went there for awhile, but didn’t have a very good time.
The satisfying beverage—in field or forest; at home or in town. As pure and wholesome as it is temptingly good .
Delicious—Refreshing
Thirst—Quenching
Demand the Genuine—
Refuse substitutes.
Send for Free Booklet.
2-A
At Soda Fountains or Carbonated in Bottles.
THE COCA-COLA COMPANY, ATLANTA, GA.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
It sounds like fun to go to a festival on a Saturday evening after a hard week of work. Why didn’t Grandma have a very good time?. . . Did her sister Ruth enjoy herself?
What foods did they eat at the festival? Was Coca Cola sold?
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, July 4, 1913: Wasn’t much celebrating done at this house today. I saw a balloon go up or rather I saw it after it had gone up. Saw a few fireworks this evening, but that was at a distance.
Source: Milton Evening Standard (July 2, 1913)
STATE FIRE CHIEF ISSUES WARNINGS
Says Care Should Be Taken to Safeguard Life and Property on the Fourth
The department of the state fire marshal at Harrisburg has issued the following Fourth of July proclamation:
The Fourth of July, which is and should be a day of patriotic rejoicing has become a day of apprehension and terror to all persons who have any concern for the safety of life and property. It is a day when fire departments in all cities and towns are generally kept on the run. The people have not yet learned the significance of the day in its highest and best sense. They have not yet learned the noise is not patriotism. Other countries show their patriotism in a more quiet manner with considerably less loss of life and property and this country in the earlier days celebrated the Fourth of July by the unfurling of the stars and stripes, a salute of guns, ringing of church bells and patriotic songs and speeches. . .
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Sounds like Grandma had a pleasant and safe 4th.
A hundred years ago many leaders thought that electric light displays could be a modern replacement for fireworks. You might enjoy reading this post I did last year:
