18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Tuesday, November 18, 1913: Nothing much.
Source: Watsontown Star and Record and Star (April 3, 1914)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Nothing much???? The previous day Grandma’s maternal grandfather died. What was Grandma thinking? Was her mother involved in the funeral preparations?
I found an advertisement by an undertaker in the nearby town of Watsontown. Her grandfather lived in another nearby town—Turbotville—so this probably was not the undertaker that the family used.
But, I don’t understand the ad. What does “a share of patronage is solicited” mean?
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Tuesday, October 21, 1913: It’s been so rainy and dreary this week that I begin to feel awful grouchy. I certainly am under the weather these days. Any way October never was a favorite month of mine. I don’t have much to write about for her.
Source: Ladies Home Journal (October, 1013)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Did Grandma read Ladies Home Journal to while away the time on cold, rainy days?
And, now that the corn harvest was finished—and Grandma had been paid for helping husk corn—did she dream of using her money to improve her looks? . . . Maybe she wanted some of the hair switches advertised in the October, 1913 issue of Ladies Home Journal.
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Wednesday, October 8, 1913:
10/6 – 10/8: I’ve husked about ten loads of corn by this time. My hands are sore and roughened, but I didn’t care very much. I’m thinking of what I’m earning.
Source: McCall’s Magazine (September, 1913)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Since Grandma didn’t write a diary entry specific for this date, I’m going to go off on a tangent—
I found this advertisement for tulip bulbs in the September, 1913 issue of McCalls magazine. I wondered if I could buy these old varieties so I googled them. Here’s what I found:
Crimson King
Nothing popped up when I googled “Crimson King tulip”. I wonder if the Crimson King tulip and the Red Emperor tulip are slightly different names for the same variety. The Red Emperor tulips are so common today.
White Queen
I couldn’t find any place where I could buy the White Queen tulip, but I did find a photo of them on The Tulip Gallerywebsite.
White Queen Tulip
Yellow Prince
I found a picture of the Yellow Prince tulip on theOld House Gardens Heirloom Bulbs website—though I don’t think that they had any bulbs available for sale this year.
Yellow Prince Tulip
Cottage Maid
I couldn’t find any place where I could buy the Cottage Maid tulip, but I did find a photo of them on theHortus Tulipus Old Tulipswebsite.
Cottage Maid Tulip
Keiser’s Kroon
The Keiser’s Kroon tulip is still sold by several companies—though it generally goes by its Dutch name, Keizerskroon. One source for the bulbs is Old House Gardens Heirloom Bulbs.
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, October 6, 1913:
10/6 – 10/8: I’ve husked about ten loads of corn by this time. My hands are sore and roughened, but I didn’t care very much. I’m thinking of what I’m earning.
Farm Implement Magazine (November, 1913)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Yeah, Grandma. I’m glad that you’re happy about how much money you’re earning. Ten loads sounds like a lot.
—-
I asked my resident expert (aka, my husband) how many bushels of corn the wagon in the picture would hold. He estimated that if it was 10 ft. long by 3 ft. high by 4 ft. wide that it would hold about 100 bushels of corn. So if Grandma husked about 10 loads of corn, she husked about 1,000 bushels.
Grandma probably actually wrote this entry on the evening of October 8, 1913. She started husking corn on September 25 (14 days prior to this entry). She did not work on either Sunday, and I think that she didn’t husk corn on the day that her father went to the fair—so I believe that it took her 11 days to husk 1,000 bushels. In other words, Grandma husked about 90 bushels a day.
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, October 5, 1913:Went to Sunday School this afternoon. Am now the possessor of a troublesome cold.
Source: The Etude (March, 1914)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Grandma, get well soon! Colds aren’t any fun. All the corn husking that you’ve been doing on cold, damp days probably made you more susceptible to the germs.
Do you have a sore throat? Cough drops might help.
Source: Watsontown Star and Record and Star (April 3, 1914)
