18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Tuesday, March 17, 1914: Throat is about well.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Yeah—only 6 days after her tonsillectomy and Grandma is feeling almost as good as new.
Where was Grandma sitting when she wrote this entry? And, what time of day did she write it? I have a vivid imagination, and like to picture Grandma doing her daily activities, but I’ve never really been able to get a good sense of when and where she typically wrote entries.
Did the write them:
- At the kitchen table?
- While sitting on a chair or lying on a couch in the living room?
- At a desk?
- While sitting in bed just before she went to sleep? (I don’t really think that she wrote them in bed, since she shared a bedroom—and probably a double bed –with her sister Ruth during the winter months.)
I have another handwriting related thought. Perhaps the handwriting can give a clue. Do you have examples of other things that she wrote where she would have been at a table or desk? Often when writing in different positions your handwriting will vary.
I notice this often now when trying to sign for credit card transactions. The terminals are often at different angles and I find that my signature varies immensely.
My grandmother used a large lap-board for writing letters, etc. It was about 3 ft wide by 2 ft with a cut-out for your body. That was her desk.
All that you find from 100 years ago is a delight.
It sure is, I have learned plenty from all of your research.
These are always the great thoughts (as simple as they may appear) I have about people who lived so long ago. Very fun.
I’m guessing somewhere private – away from family, who might be asking questions about what she was writing…
Yes, where was her privacy?!