Spanish Needles–A Pesky Plant or a Home Remedy?

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

Monday, December 9, 1912: Get in the Spanish Needles and had to pick them off of my clothes.

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

Spanish Needles are so annoying—

I have often gotten Spanish Needles on my clothes, but when I read this diary entry I couldn’t picture what the plants looked like . I never seem to notice the pesky plant until after tiny barbs are embedded in my cloths.

I googled Spanish Needle and discovered that it is part of the Astor family. There are several different closely related plants that are called Spanish Needle. Some have yellow flowers. . others have white flowers.

Grandma probably was just distracted and bumped against the Spanish Needle plants, but there’s a slim possibility that she was trying to gather Spanish Needle leaves (Are the leaves still on the plants in December?) to make tea and got the needles on her clothes.

For the past week or so, Grandma’s been sick with a bad cold and sore throat—and Spanish Needles are an old-fashioned remedy.

Its leaves are chewed for sore throat or boiled to make a tea that is said to help with upper-respiratory infections.

Our Local Life: What We Need is Here

Old-fashioned Crocheted Bags

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

Saturday, December 7, 1912: Am still ailing. Glad tis Saturday, so I don’t have to miss school.

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

It’s no fun to be sick! I often do handwork or crafts when I don’t feel well. I wonder if Grandma was feeling good enough to make any Christmas presents.

The November, 1912 issue of Ladies Home Journal showed some awesome crocheted bags that she might have been able to make.

Visit From Last Year’s Teacher

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

Friday, December 6, 1912: This morning arose feeling quite miserable for I believe I have the sore throat. Had an awful day of it at school, nor did I do much studying. Our last year’s teacher Mr. Northrop visited us this afternoon.

Building that once housed the McEwensville School. It was a 1-8 school when Uncle Carl attended it. (When Grandma was a student, the building housed both elementary and high school grades. — Building that once housed the McEwensville School.

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

Poor Grandma, it’s sad that she felt bad on the day her old teacher visited.

Grandma always really liked Mr. Northrop—though she often gave him a hard time. For example, she once got into trouble for snooping at his desk. She found a drawing of a ring on his desk, and wrote “My Diamond” beneath it.

I think that Mr. Northrop was a very young teacher and that he often socialized with the students. For example, one evening he fell through the ice while skating with students.

Mr. Northrop’s first name was Howard, but Grandma always referred to him in the diary as Jake or Jakie, which I never could figure out. He must seem a little older now to her, and deserving of the title “Mr.”

Looking Forward to Christmas Vacation

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

Wednesday, December 4, 1912: Will be glad I think when vacation is here. Have ever too many things to do then.

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

I can read this diary entry two ways.

There’s so much that needs to be done in December, and sometimes I feel like I’m being pulled in a thousand directions –so it seems like Grandma must have felt the same way. When I first read the diary entry, I thought that Grandma was very busy with school and looking forward to her upcoming Christmas vacation.

But. . . when I read carefully, I don’t think that is exactly what she meant.

It almost sounds like she was bored now, and was looking forward to her vacation when she’d be busier. . . with shopping? . . . with holiday baking? . . with Christmas parties?

Did Grandma Write December Poem?

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

Saturday, November 30, 1912:

It often seems the best comes last,

And so it must be with December.

As the end of the year recedes into the Past,

We see her last holiday, Remember.

Wanted to go to McEwensville tonight but Ruth won’t, so I didn’t. Made me feel sore for awhile.

McEwensville at dusk on a December evening

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

The first day of each month, Grandma began the diary entry with a poem. I’m still trying to figure out if she wrote them herself or copied them from somewhere. This month it almost seems like Grandma struggled to find a word to rhyme with December—so I’m leaning towards her writing the poems herself.

Why did Grandma want to do in McEwensville on a Sunday evening? . . to visit friends? . . . to attend an evening church service ? (Though, based on the diary, I don’t think that there generally were evening church services.)

And, (I guess I have more questions than answers) why did Grandma feel like she couldn’t go if her sister Ruth won’t go with her?

Angry! Lost the Debate

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

Friday, November 29, 1912: Came out a licked dog in the debate. Did feel so mad at first. Felt crosser than the dickens this evening.

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

GRANDMA, WHY DIDN’T YOU WRITE MORE?!?! Your frustration and anger are so clear, and you’ve been preparing for a week, yet you never told us what the debate was about.

Okay, that’s unfair. I know that you were writing for yourself and couldn’t have possibly known that we’d read this a hundred years later. . . And, I know that I can’t talk to a dead person. . . .

But, one thing that I do know is that your future husband, Raymond Swartz, was one of the other students in your small senior class. Did you debate against him?

I’m going to imagine that the debate was about women’s suffrage—and that the debate was the guys against the gals. Did the guys make “obvious” points during that debate that would horrify us today, but that you were unable to rebut to the satisfaction of the teacher and other students?

I sympathize—Sometimes I also can’t adequately explain things that are really important to me in ways that others understand.

Notes to my readers—

1. For more about Raymond and Helana’s marriage, see a previous post about their 40th wedding anniversary.

2. I don’t usually “talk” directly to my Grandmother in these posts, but I had so many questions and it seemed like the best way to write what I was thinking. Does it work when I talk to her? . . .or are my usual more straight-forward descriptions better?

Don’t Want to Miss School

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

Tuesday, November 26, 1912: Ma’s so sick. Hope I don’t have to miss school. That would spite me something dreadful.

Her mother probably needed help with both housework and barn work

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

I wonder what’s wrong with Grandma’s mother. Maybe she caught whatever ailment her little brother Jimmie had the previous week. On November 19 Grandma wrote:

Poor little Jimmie got sick last night and had to miss his first day of school.

It seems like Grandma’s parents were quicker to consider having their children miss school when extra help was needed than parents today. For example, on November 18, 1912 Grandma also was concerned that she might need to miss school:

I’m half way out of something I’m worrying about since before school started and that was that I was afraid I’d have to miss school when Pa had his threshing done. They started today and well I went to school today too. So glad I don’t have to miss, that would be too bad for me.

(A positive note about Grandma’s parents–Even though Grandma periodically worried that her parents would make her miss school for one reason or another, I don’t think that she ever actually missed school because they needed her at home.)