19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, December 18, 1914: <<no entry>>
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Since Grandma didn’t write anything a hundred years ago today, I thought that you might enjoy these hundred-year old suggestions for how to create a “Christmassy” table.
It is the little extra touch that makes a table festive in appearance.
The table itself must be Christmassy in its setting and decorations, however simple, and once our eyes have taken it all in we settle down to the enjoyment of turkey and all the “fixins.”
A Hundred Years Ago 
blessings for everything good!
Thank you! I hope that you have a wonderful holiday season.
Outstanding, Sheryl. I keep saying – nothing can beat the classics!!
It’s nice to hear that you like it. I agree. They are beautiful.
So beautiful. I especially like the poinsettia cake.
By the way, Sheryl, my “entry” for the bake-a-thon is on my blog today (publishing in just a few minutes). Did you want me to provide a link here in a comment or did you want me to send the link to you by email? Wasn’t sure how you wanted to do that! Thanks!
I just visited your blog and the applesauce cakes you made are perfect for the bake-a-thon. They look delicious, and your story about them is wonderful.
You can put the link here so that others can find it–well, actually I guess that I can add the link for you:
http://thesedaysofmine.com/2014/12/18/im-sharing-a-recipe/
You may also want to go back and add a comment with the link on the post I did about participating in the bake-a-thon since I think that is where readers would be most likely to look for these posts.
Very pretty. Hardly room for the food dishes. 🙂
They do look like they’d take up a lot of space. 🙂
I would go for the “simple” version of a “Christmas-sy” table. I love looking back to see what folks did “then.” Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Simple works for me. 🙂
Love that cake!
So do I. They way they decorated cakes back then was so much more creative.
Wow, that poinsettia cake is amazing. I can imagine it sitting on a side table for everyone to admire 🙂
Your scenario is perfect. I can almost see it sitting on the side table with everyone oohing and ahhing over it.
So pretty
I agree. They are beautiful. .
I was curious about Theresa H. Wolcott, whose name is on two of today’s pictures. Searching Google and Ancestry.com, I found that she was born about 1872 and lived in Burlington County, New Jersey, across from Philadelphia. In addition to being an editor of the Ladies Home Journal, she wrote at least three books: “The Minister’s Social Helper”, “500 Ways to Help Your Church”, and “The Book of Games and Parties for All Occasions”. Apparently she never married. In 1930, at age 58, she was the head of her household and her two younger sisters lived with her.
Thanks for researching this. It’s nice to hear that she was an editor at Ladies Home Journal. A year or so ago, a reader asked me whether the people listed on the masthead of the old Ladies Home Journals were male or female. When I looked at an issue of the magazine to answer her question, I was surprised how many of the editors were male.
It would be fun to find the books she wrote. I bet they’d have some perfect quotes that could be used to add context to some of Grandma’s Sunday diary entries. . . .Oh, never mind. . . I don’t need to write many more Sunday posts. 🙂
I love the table scapes and think they are pretty!!!! Love the cake!
These are beautiful tables! I love the idea of place cards if there are enough people. I am inspired!