CSAs of Yesteryear

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Thursday, July 9, 1914: Nothing doing.

Source: Vegetable Gardening (1914) — Source: *Vegetable Gardening* (1914)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Since Grandma didn’t write much, I’m going to go off on a tangent. I was surprised to discover that some vegetables were marketed using a method similar to modern CSAs (community support agriculture) a hundred years ago.

H.B. Fullerton, of Long Island, has developed a package which he calls the home hamper. This is filled with a seasonable variety of vegetables and expressed directly to the consumer at stated times as may be agreed on.

This gives the customers the variety of vegetables they may desire and enables them to obtain them fresh. A cut of this hamper is shown in Fig. 58. A certain priced hamper is usually agreed on for the season or for the year.

Vegetable Gardening (1914) by Samuel B. Green

Good Houses Spoiled by Bad Painting

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Wednesday, July 8, 1914: Nothing doing.

Source: Ladies Home Journal (July, 1914)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Since nothing was happening in Grandma’s life, I thought you might enjoy some pictures in a hundred-year-old article titled, Good Houses Spoiled by Bad Painting. The pictures show the “right” and “wrong” ways to paint a house.

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Hundred-Year-Old Floral Basket Ideas

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Tuesday, July 7, 1914: Nothing doing.

Source: Ladies Home Journal (June, 1914)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Since Grandma didn’t have much to say a hundred years ago today, I’m going to share some pictures of floral arrangements in baskets.

According to the June, 1914 issue of Ladies Home Journal:

If one can afford to have only a few receptacles for flowers, then baskets would well be chosen. Nowadays the shops show inexpensive shapes to meet every requirement, and the clever woman will not find them difficult to make.

A Hundred Years Ago Chicago Schools Had a Female Superintendent!

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Monday, July 6, 1914: Nothing doing

Photo caption: Probably the most distinguished and influential superintendent of schools in this country, and especially revered in the West—Mrs. Ella Flagg Young, pictured in the electric runabout in which she goes from school to school. Married teachers are not discriminated against in Chicago, and the records in Mrs. Young’s office show that their efficiency marks are as high as those of unmarried teachers. (Source: Good Housekeeping. January, 1914)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Since Grandma didn’t write much a hundred years ago today, I thought you might enjoy this photo and caption that I found in an 1914 issue of Good Housekeeping.

Until I saw it I didn’t know that there were any female school superintendents back then—though I’m appalled that Chicago Schools considered it necessary to analyze whether married teachers were as efficient as unmarried ones. Thank goodness it turned out that they were.

(An aside: I wonder how they measured teacher effectiveness back then. Hmm. . . . maybe I’ll have to research that for a future post.)

Feather Imports Banned

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Sunday, July 5, 1914: Our new preacher took up his charge today. Am glad that one is secured at last.

Source: Ladies Home Journal (March, 1914) — Source: *Ladies Home Journal* (March, 1914)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

The McEwensville Baptist Church had a few difficult months. It hadn’t had a minister since January—and it must be have been a relief to finally have a new pastor.

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Did Grandma wear a hat to church? . . . with feathers? Did she know that some bird species were endangered because of the demand for feathers?

Our Girls’ Hats

The new feather law prohibits the importation into this country of feathers of wild birds, and it is being rigidly enforced.

We hope that our girls, everywhere, will realize what it means to wear the plumage of song-birds in their hats. Beautiful and becoming hats can now be made without the sacrifice of our feathered friends.

The appalling destruction of birds for milady’s hat is proved by figures from the last six feather sales in London this year: Crowned pigeons, 21,318; macaw wings, 5,794 pairs; quills of the white crane, 20715; hummingbirds, 4112; birds of paradise, 17,711; Of the kingfisher, one of the birds of bright plumage to be found on the English and Irish lakes, the skins of no less than 215,500 were on sale.

Isn’t that a terrible arraignment against the vanity of women who adorn themselves with the plumage of the birds?

Farm Journal (June, 1914)

Source: Ladies Home Journal (March, 1913)

A Quiet July 4th

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Saturday, July 4, 1914: And quite a fourth it was. Saw not a single flash of even one firecracker.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma’s July 4th celebrations seemed hit or miss, and very low key. The previous year, on July 4, 1913, Grandma wrote:

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.

I can remember going out on the hill behind the barn when I was a child on the 4^th to look for fireworks in the distance. Maybe Grandma’s family also went to a nearby hill and hoped to see fireworks from nearby towns in the distance.

Had Fun Out in the Hay Field

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Friday, July 3, 1914: Had a jolly good time out in the hay field. You see if you have to work, you might just as well make a good time of it.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma—

More details, please. It’s hot, hard work out in the hay field. It’s awesome that you had fun, but how did you make it fun? . . . Were you teasing and joking with other workers? . . . Who else was helping make hay? . . .