19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Tuesday, May 5, 1914: Jimmie and I had a knock-out.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Hmm. . . Grandma was 19, and Jimmie was her 8-year-old brother. What the heck could they have been fighting about? I’d think that with such a large age difference that they’d seldom fight.
Here are links to some previous posts about Jimmie Muffly that you might enjoy:
Whatever Happened to Jimmie Muffly?
Muffly Magnetic Retriever Used to Remove Metal Objects from Cows’ Stomachs
A Hundred Years Ago 
I wonder what ‘knock out’ really means? A physical fight?
I wondered the same thing. It sounds like a physical fight–but it doesn’t quite make sense given the large age difference.
Little brothers must be annoying, sometimes. 🙂 Or maybe they were playing some sort of game. Marbles?
Maybe. . .
I’m sure he could be a pest at times. 🙂
You’re probably right.
Could a ‘knock-out’ be something other than a row~ more of a positive thing, like having a ‘helluva day?’
Maybe. . . I guess that could make sense within the context of the diary entry.
Having never had a little brother, I realy can’t comment. (But I had much younger nephews that could be a pain in the……) I’m guessing it was maybe just a heated argument!
That’s what I tend to think, too.
There would have been plenty to fight about. I am #7 down the list of 9 kids in our family.
You sound like the voice of experience. 🙂
I’m sure he could have gotten in the way such as during cooking or cleaning! ps. I hope she has finished the spring cleaning 🙂
So do it. The spring cleaning sure has lasted a long time.
What if he tracked in mud, right after she had really cleaned the floor? She’s pretty sick of cleaning–that might’ve pushed her over the edge!
Ooh. . .I like that suggestion. I’d be furious!
As with one of the other commenters, I wondered if a “knock out” means a physical fight …. doubtful, but interesting use of the term
Maybe this usage of this word has evolved over time.
The age difference between my youngest brother and I is exactly the same as between Helena and Jimmie, and let me tell you, I’ve fought with him more than I’ve ever fought with my other siblings!
I don’t know what it is, but he has always been VERY skilled at getting on my nerves. He knows how to push my buttons and he never lets a chance by to do so! The tiffs we’ve had were related to how he would not “use his manners” at the dinner table and things like that, though! 🙂
Interesting. . . I’m getting a better sense of how Grandma and her brother might get on each others nerves.
What a great photo of Jimmy… And the dog!