17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, December 20, 1912: Ruth came home this afternoon. Wonder if she has a fine and dandy present for me.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Ruth had been in Sunbury since the 16th. I think that she was attending a teachers’ training institute over winter break. What Christmas present did she buy for Grandma? Maybe Ruth bought Grandma some slippers. They would have been a fine and dandy present.
Source: An advertisement by the Daniel Green Felt Shoe Company in the December, 1912 issue of Ladies Home Journal
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Thursday, October 17, 1912: Wish my cold would bid me farewell, but instead it seems to like me pretty well and is in not hurry about leaving.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Grandma first mentioned having a cold six days prior to this diary entry.
I came across the Ayer’s Ague Cure advertisement, and wondered if ague was the same thing as a cold. According to the dictionary, ague refers to fever, chills, and sweating—so Grandma probably won’t have used this patent medicine to treat her cold.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Wednesday, October 16, 1912: How fast the days fly by. Soon it will be Christmas time. As for me it seems as if I am doing some things all the time, yet have nothing but a heap of rubbish to write about.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
What was Grandma thinking about? Christmas gifts she planned to give others? . . . or gifts she hoped to receive? Here’s a fun advertisement in the December, 1912 issue of Farm Journal that alerted parents about a potential Christmas gift (though it seems like it was aimed more at the parents of teen-aged boys than at the parents of girls.)
“Here’s your chance!”
It looks like fun, but you never can tell about this exciting game. The slightest inaccuracy will change the entire situation.
Keep Close To Your Boys!
Don’t let them grow away from you. Do you know why so many boys leave home for the city? Not many of them because of the difference in the work they will have to do. It usually is because of the difference in fun and entertainment they can have. Youth needs an outlet for its energy and enthusiasm. Don’t make your boys go away for the amusement. Bring it to them! A
BURROWES
Billiard and Pool Table
Provides just the sort of clean, wholesome, fascinating sport young men want. It enlivens the entire home atmosphere. These games probably are played and enjoyed by more people than any others in the world. Every member of your family will find constant pleasure in a Burrowes Table. It needs no special room—can be set up in a minutes on dining or library table or on its own legs or stand. Instantly dismounted and set aside. Burrowes Tables are perfect in every detail of construction. The most delicate shots can be executed with the upmost accuracy. Sizes range up to 4 1/2 x 9 foot (standard).
$1.00 DOWN
It is very easy to own a Burrowes Table by our monthly payment plan. Prices are from $15 up and terms of $1 or more down (depending on size and style selected), and a small amound each month. Balls, cues, etc. included.
Free Trial – No Red Tape
On receipts of that installment we will ship Table. Play on one week. If unsatisfactory return it, and upon it’s receipt we’ll return your deposit. This ensures you a free trial. Write today for illustrated catalog, giving prices, terms, etc.
E.T. Burrowes Co. 273 Spring St., Portland Me.
Whew, it sure plays up farm parents fears that their sons will move to the city. But, no fear, for only $1.00 down they’ll stay on the farm.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, October 7, 1912: Am in a dilemma as to what to write.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Since Grandma didn’t write much a hundred years ago today, I’ll share an old advertisement for Dr. Denton Footed Pajamas that I found in the September, 1912 issue of Ladies Home Journal:
Protect Your Little Ones at Night with the Improved Dr. Denton Sleeping Garments
and secure unbroken sleep for yourself.
The Dr. Denton Garments cover body, feet and hands. Feet are part of the Garment. Hands are covered by cuffs that turn down and close with draw-string. Made from our Elastic, Knit, Mixed Cotton and Wool Fabric, specially devised to give most healthful sleep. The knit fabric carries off perspiration, maintaining even warmth if bed covers are thrown off. Prevent cold which often leads to pneumonia and other dangerous ailments. Made in eleven Sizes for children up to ten years old. Prices, 50¢ to $1.10, according to size and style.
Soft and Durable. Do Not Shrink.
Write for booklet giving Dr. Mary Wood Allen’s practical ideas on “Healthful Sleep for Children.” Be sure you get genuine Dr. Denton Garments. Our trade mark, shown above, is attached to each garment. If you cannot get them of your dealer, write us and we will see that you are supplied.
Dr. Denton Sleeping Garment Mills
500 Dean Street, Centreville, Michigan
Did Grandma’s 7-year-old brother Jimmie wore Dr. Denton Sleeping Garments?
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Wednesday, July 17, 1912:About the same as yesterday.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later
Sounds like another boring summer day. I’ve been posting Grandma’s diary entries for more than a year and a half now. In that time period she’s never gone more than a few miles from her home.
Grandma went to Milton (which was about 5 miles from her home); to Turbotville (which was about 4 miles); to Montandon (which was about 8 miles); to Ottawa –Limestone Township, Montour County (about 8 miles). She also regularly went to McEwensville and Watsontown—both of which were about a mile from the Muffly farm.
Did Grandma ever dream of seeing the world?
Source: Farm Journal (April 1911)
Reo
$1250
Top and Merger Automatic Windshield extra
New York to San Francisco
10 days 15 hours 13 minutes
steady going and not a wrench touched to the Reo engine.
That’s your answer to every question you can ask about the Reo.
The Reo must have speed and power, to keep going like that over bad roads and hard climbs found in the Great American Desert and the Rocky Mountains.
The Reo must have strength, to stand the constant and tough strain.
The Reo must be reliable. A car that stands a test like that, and then breaks the record from New York to Los Angeles, and then hill-climbing record up Mount Hamilton, and then the record from Topeka to Kansas City, and still is in perfect condition—that is the perfect proof of reliability.
Comfort? Prove it yourself. Get the nearest Reo dealer to take you for a ride.
Send for the catalogue and “Reo and the Farmer.” Plain facts.
R M Owen & Co. General Sales Agent for Reo Motor Company.
You can do it with a Reo.
Whew—10 days 15 hours 13 minutes sounds brutal.
According to Mapquest, today you can get on Interstate Route 80 in New York City and end up in San Francisco 1 day 19 hours and 48 minutes later (assuming you drive straight through).
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Tuesday, July 16, 1912:I don’t just exactly remember what I really did today.
Jell-O with black raspberries
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Since Grandma didn’t write much a hundred years ago today, I was thinking about what to write, and remembered that a reader commented several weeks ago that many people were getting ice boxes in the early 1900s—and that Jell-O was becoming popular.
I recalled that I had seen an advertisement for Jell-O and flipped through a couple magazines hunting it.
I found this advertisement in the July, 1912 issue of Ladies Home Journal.
For Summer Appetites
In hot weather when the appetite is just a little off, and there is a peculiar craving for something cool and satisfying, nothing touches the spot like
JELL-O
It is so deliciously cool, so light, so wholesome, so nutritious—so tempting and good every way—that it satisfies the summer appetite as nothing else can.
Fruit of almost any kind can be added, as the housewife chooses, or left out, and in either case the dessert will be delightful.
There is no other dessert worth serving that can be made without cooking, and in hot weather no housewife wants to cook and fuss more than is necessary.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Wednesday, July 3, 1912: Did the same things today as I usually do on other days. Got so mad at a cow who took a notion to run over the whole creation.
Advertisement in June 30, 1911 Issue of Farm Implement Magazine
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Sounds like Grandma again was having problems with a cow escaping from the pasture. Grandma also occasionally had to deal with other cow behavior problems. For example, on March 31, 1911 she wrote:
I got kicked today, and it was such a violent one that it caused me to land on my back. It was by a modest cow, who happened to kick me and the bucket at the same time. I guess I was as much surprised as she was.
Here’s an abridged version of what a 1908 book called The Farm Dairy by H.B. Gurler had to say about cows that kick:
Find the Cause of a Cow’s Kicking.—When a cow kicks, the first thing the milker should do is look for the cause. Do not fly into a rage and scold the cow, but remember that the cow must have had cause for the kicking. You may think the cause was not sufficient, especially if she hit you where it hurt, as she probably did for cows have a facility for doing that.
When a cow kicks she is either frightened or hurt, and if she is frightened and kicked you it is strong circumstantial evidence that you have at some time hurt her and she is afraid that you are going to hurt her again, and she feels that her safety depends on her ability to defend herself.
Sometimes cows are hurt. For example, the cause for one cow that kicked was a pond of water in the pasture in which the cow stood fighting flies, getting her teats wet, and causing them to chap, but not so deeply that the milker discovered it until the healing process had commenced. A few applications of linseed oil on the teats remedied the trouble.
There is always a cause for a cow’s kicking and it is not to our credit not to be able to find it.
Source: An advertisement by the Daniel Green Felt Shoe Company in the December, 1912 issue of Ladies Home Journal
