19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Thursday, November 12, 1914: Mother and I went shopping. She’s doing more than I did of course. I got a coat, which is a blue and black boucle, a dress, gloves, and other things of lesser importance. I had a suit case full of stuff and then some more. Ma had her share, too. Fortunately we got a ride part way home.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
I found this purple and black boucle coat on ebay. The era’s wrong (this is a 1950’s coat), and the color isn’t quite blue; but it can give you an idea of what Grandma’s coat looked like. I bet she looked awesome.
—
Grandma–
What a fun day! Nothing cheers a woman up like clothes shopping—especially when her mother pays for the clothes.
A Hundred Years Ago 
so remarkable! ❤
It’s fun to see the similarities (and differences) between a shopping trip today and one a hundred years ago.
Great -:)!
I’m glad you enjoyed this post.
i really enjoy your blog. its really fascinatingly wonderful.
It’s nice to hear that you enjoy it. Thanks for the kind words.
“Fortunately we got a ride part way home.” I was enjoying reading Grandma’s post when that sentence struck home. They weren’t tossing their purchases in the back seat as they made them – they were CARRYING them! A SUITCASE full!
Great reminder of how much easier life is these days, isn’t it? 🙂
Yes, life is so much easier today! It’s hard to imagine how they must have started walking from town out into the country toward their farm carrying a suitcase of new clothes.
Laura, in the comment above, had the same thought I did. Sounds like Grandma got quite a few things and her mom bought more? It’s fun reading about their shopping trip.
I never heard of boucle til a few years ago; guess it’s been around a long time.
I had a red bouclé coat when I was in high school. I think I was a sophomore — that would have been aout 1961/1962. I loved that coat! They are so warm.
This post, and your comments, make me wish that I had a boucle coat. It’s cold here. I need a very warm, stylish coat.
You’re not going to believe this. I am such a doofus. I just went in the closet, and there, in my collection of coats I never wear because it doesn’t get that cold here, is a boucle coat. It’s forest green, with great buttons. It had a mink collar once upon a time, but I didn’t like it and took it off. It’s from the Jones Store in Kansas CIty, and has my monogram inside. I’m sure I had it in high school!
I love it! I bet you looked awesome in it back then–even if it doesn’t quite work for you now.
When I read the word boucle in the diary, I knew it was some kind of cloth, but wasn’t quite sure what it looked like-so I googled it. Once I saw pictures of it, I immediately realized that I was familiar with this fabric, I just hadn’t known what it was called.
Thanks for the story.
I’m glad you liked this post.
What a fun day it was for Helena…a pick up from the blues.
I’m guessing that her mother may have taken her shopping to cheer her up.
I can’t imagine going shopping and carrying my suitcase along. So that’s what shoppers did before plastic bags.
I suppose that a suitcase would protect new clothes as they walked on dusty country roads. 🙂
Nice to hear her so cheery and that’s quite a haul! Perhaps it was her winter wardrobe? My mother recounts that back in her humble beginnings – a new dress for the season was such a big deal.
Sometimes I think about how the old farmhouse where I grew up had few closets (and they were very small). People just didn’t have nearly as many clothes years ago as they have now.
Glad to hear Helena had an outing and got some nice things–she needed a little pick-me-up!
I agree!
Wonderful!! I love this coat and I’m happy Grandma had something similar. Very fun post.
I like it, too. I’m almost tempted to buy the coat in the ebay picture. 🙂
And here’s a true shopping story from my junior/senior high school days. If I needed a new dress for something, sometimes my dad would stop by the store and ask Dave, the owner/manager, to pick out a few things he thought I’d like. Then, Dad would bring them home. I’d try them all on when I got back to school, decide what I wanted to keep, and the next day either Mom and I or Dad would take the rest back to the store and pay for what we kept.
It was called “taking things out on approval.” Can you imagine?
I love it! It’s almost like having a personal shopper.
My grandmother always ‘took things out on approval”. I thought it was a wonderful way to shop.
With so many purchases, I am surprised that the store didn’t offer delivery. Maybe that only happened in the big cities.
You’re probably right. I suppose that it was too costly for stores to deliver things to people living out in the rural areas.
Shopping and it’s joys must be nearly as old as man. It would be a great documentary to trace shopping through the ages.
It would make a fun documentary!
Yes and it’s so good to hear from Helena again! ❤
Diana xo
I agree!
That must have blown the dress budget for the year. What excitement to buy so much all at once.
I also was surprised by how much they bought. Based on past diary entries, it seems like Grandma and her family generally made relatively few purchases.
That’ s what I thought. Perhaps there was a sale on.
That is a gorgeous coat! I bet she had a blast shopping! It is a lot more fun when mom buys!! Hugz Lisa and Bear
I bet her mother enjoyed the shopping expedition, too (even if she ended up spending more than she really wanted to spend).