Photo of Ruth Muffly and her Students

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

Tuesday, September 1, 1914:

The summer flowers we bid adieu

To brighter days and balmier hours

There short brief life is well nigh spent

For with the summer goes the flowers.

It seems rather lonesome here without Ruthie, but still have enough to take up my time.

Source: The History of McEwensville Schools by Thomas Kramm (Used with permission)

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

It was the first day of school for Grandma’s sister Ruth. She taught at the Red Hill School during 1914-15. This school was at the south end of McEwensville. It was a different school than where she’d previously taught.

Whew, it looks like Ruth had 9 boys, and 1 girl in her class. I bet she had a handful.

Monthly Poem

For more information about the poem on the first day of each month see this previous post:

Monthly Poem in Diary

Watsontown Cemetery

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

Sunday, May 24 – Thursday, May 28, 1914: Nothing much doing.

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

This is the second of five days that Grandma lumped together into one diary entry. Her infant niece, the daughter of her sister Besse, died on May 23–and she apparently didn’t feel like writing.

Did they have a funeral for the baby? . . . I don’t know where is she buried.

I haven’t had a chance to get to the library to go through the microfilms to see if I can find the obituary—but I know that when I looked two years ago after the death of Besse’s first baby that I wasn’t able to find anything.

I also know that Besse and her husband Curt are buried in the Watsontown Cemetery—and that the two infants are not buried in that plot.

Memorial Day wasn’t until May 30 in 1914, but on this Memorial Day week-end I thought you might enjoy seeing some additional photos of the Watsontown Cemetery. It is on a hill overlooking the town—and has an awesome view of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River and the mountains in the distance.

The statue in the distance is a Civil War monument that was erected in 1902.

“Don’t Buy Booze”

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

Saturday, May 16, 1914: Same as yesterday.

Milton Evening Standard (April 9, 1914) — *Milton Evening Standard* (April 9, 1914)

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

Since not much was happening at the Muffly house, I’ll share an intriguing 1914 article from Grandma’s local paper, the Milton Evening Standard. I’m not quite sure what to make of the article, but it’s definitely thought-provoking.

Prohibition in the US began in 1920 when the 18th amendment went into effect—but, as this article indicates, there was a strong movement against alcohol in preceding years.

The article is about the town of Mount Carmel. Grandma lived in the northwestern part of Northumberland County. Mount Carmel is at the eastern edge of the county, and was in the heart of the anthracite coal region.

Influence of Seasonal Variation on Health

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

Monday, April 20, 1914: There really isn’t much to write about.

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

Yesterday, I shared information from a book published in 1914 about the relationship between weather and health. Since Grandma didn’t write much a hundred years ago today, I’ll share some more from the book about the relationship seasonal variations and health.

At low temperatures, but more especially at high temperatures, the relative humidity of the atmospheres plays a most important role in determining the healthfulness of the climate of a locality.

The seasonal variations alone in the temperate zone are of great influence upon mortality aside from the general climatic conditions of a locality.

Mild winters and cool summers both lower the mortality, the former exerting a special influence upon the aged, and the latter upon the young, more particularly the infantile population. A cool, damp summer is always accompanied by a low mortality.

Season has also an important influence upon the character of the prevalent diseases—intestinal diseases being most prevalent in summer and respiratory diseases in winter.

The Principles of Hygiene (1914) by D.H. Bergey, MD

Parcel Post Packages Sold at White Elephant Sale

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

Saturday, April 18, 1914: Went to a social this evening up at town. Parcel post packages were sold at an auction. I bought a package, which, when unwrapped disclosed a handkerchief. That wasn’t a misfit, but there were some that were more. Who ever heard of a man wearing a sun bonnet or an apron? Well that’s what some of them got.

Source: Milton Evening Standard (April 28, 1914)

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

Wow, occasionally I just tingle, when a post pulls together like this one did. I never would have guessed that I’d find a newspaper story about this diary entry—

Several weeks ago, I was browsing through old Milton Evening Standard microfilms at the library looking for interesting stories and advertisements that I could use on days when Grandma didn’t write much—and suddenly this column jumped out at me. Grandma attended the party described in the paper!

Parcel post in the US began in 1913—and apparently it was such a cool thing that people had fundraisers with White Elephant sales—but with a twist. Instead of bringing the wrapped items to the party, they mailed them via parcel post.

Two days before this entry, Grandma mailed several packages that apparently were sold at the party:

Went up to town this afternoon to mail some parcel post packages. Oh dear me, and it cost eleven cents . . .

April 16, 1914

1914 Mansion House Advertisement

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

Saturday, April 11, 1914: Nothing much doing.

Source: Watsontown Star and Record (April 3, 1914)

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

The previous day Grandma went to shopping in nearby Watsontown. Did she walk past the Mansion House? It’s still around—though it’s morphed over the years from being a “modern” hotel to being a bar and grill.

Recent picture of Mansion House Bar and Grill

A New Soda Fountain

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

Friday, April 3, 1914: Don’t remember having done anything worthwhile.

Milton-Evening-Standard-4-2-14-d — Milton Evening Standard (April 2, 1914)

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

Since Grandma didn’t write much a hundred years ago today, I’m going to share another article from the Milton Evening Standard. Milton is about 4 miles from McEwensville.

It sounds like Milton now had a super trendy soda fountain. I wonder if Grandma ever went there with her friends (or a cute guy), and had a malt or a root beer.

Pictures of the drug store and the soda fountain are on the Milton History.org site.