17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, May 17, 1912: Went to McEwensville this afternoon. Mousie had some business for me to transact.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
I assume that Mousie referred to Grandma’s mother.
Mother: Phoebe Muffly
Did Grandma think that her mother was “mousie” and lacked an appreciation of what fashionable dresses should look like?
The previous day’s diary entry referred to a disagreement with her mother over a dress that her mother was making for her. My take on that entry was that her mother didn’t quite get how to make the dress look stylish— probably because her tastes were mousie–but that Grandma persevered and the dress ended up okay.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, May 12, 1912:Went to Sunday School this morning. I had to go equipped with an umbrella. Carrie was over this afternoon. Catherine Rhone came down. We went after some lilacs and I guess we were well weighted down with them. I was weighed today weighing one pound less than I did a month ago. It is raining cats and dogs tonight.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Sometimes I absolutely love Grandma’s train of thought. She was writing about picking lilacs with her friends Carrie Stout and Catherine Rhone—and said that they were “weighted down” by the lilacs. That apparently reminded her that she’d lost a pound of weight. She seemed pleased—I wonder if teens worried about their weight back then like they do now.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, May 11, 1912:I had to do all the milking this morning. Made me so mad at Ma. She had to come out and pester me some. Did some sewing this afternoon.
The inside of a dairy barn a hundred years ago. The Muffly’s probably had fewer cows than the farm in the photo. (Photo Source: Kimball’s Dairy Farmer Magazine, February 15, 1912)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
What could Grandma have possibly been doing incorrectly when she was milking the cows? . . . .Or maybe her mother came out to the barn because she was upset that Grandma had forgotten to do some housework (or had done it poorly).
Summer vacation was getting off to a poor start. Grandma had written the previous day that she was lonely and wanted to go somewhere. She’d also written that her sister Ruth had gone to the nearby town of Turbotville to attend a commencement ceremony. Ruth probably stayed overnight in Turbotville with friends—and left all of the milking for Grandma.
Sometimes you just can’t win. One thing doesn’t go right . . . and then another . . . and then. . .
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, May 6, 1912: It is hard to realize that today was the last day. We had our annual banquet, and I guess we all enjoyed it. At least I did. Mr. Dunkle, our teacher, acted the part of toastmaster. We drank water flavored with lemon to each other’s health, but that was soon over and we vacated our places at the table.
I recited my oration without omitting a single word, but I believe that it wasn’t said none too well. Swiftly today drew to a close. Nor can I say that as school is done, I am glad. My heart is filled with sadness. What I will do next year, when school closes I do not know. As I graduate I will not be able to look forward to the next year. For awhile I bid adieu to my school days.
The banquet probably took place at the McEwensville Community Hall and Picnic Shelter. It has been there for more than a hundred years and hasn’t changed much over the years. It has a long history of being used for community events. There is an auditorium with a stage inside.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
The last day of the school year—with the excitement of the banquet tinged with the realization that school was over for the summer–sounds like it was bittersweet for Grandma. Probably parents and other family members attended the program.
The “trial” that Grandma worried about in yesterday’s diary entry apparently was her oration. She wrote the speech on April 16, 17 and 18; and finalized and memorized it on April 22 and 23. I suppose that she practiced it in class a few times after those entries in preparation for the banquet, but never mentioned it again in the diary until this entry.
I don’t think that it’s very clear from the diary entry, but Grandma had one more year of school to complete before she graduated. She attended an old-fashioned three-year high school, and in 1912 she completed the second year. She was just worrying about her future after graduation, which won’t occur for another year. She always seemed to need to worry about something . . . sigh. . . but I guess that’s just human nature.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, May 5, 1912: Went to Sunday School this afternoon. Two classes had completed a course they had taken up. They held the commencement before church. It was real interesting. I expect my trial to come off tomorrow.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
A hundred years ago there was interest in “modernizing” the way instruction was provided in Sunday Schools—though it was controversial.
According to a 1911 book called Practical Pedagogy in the Sunday School:
The function of the Sunday-school is to impart instruction for the purpose of leading to definite results. Since, then, the prime object of the Sunday-school is to impart instruction, pedagogy should have a very important place in the thought of the leaders therein, for, to put it concisely, it is the science and art of teaching.
While this is true, some fears that have been expressed by consecrated Sunday-school teachers must be labeled as groundless. “The introduction of pedagogy into our Sunday-school work will interfere with the position that the Bible now holds.” This is the thought of many. It is, however, entirely erroneous, for the true teaching of the Bible must be in harmony with the principles of pedagogy.
Further, than this, the Bible itself abounds with illustrations of pedagogical principles. It is acknowledged by all thoughtful persons that Jesus of Nazareth was the greatest teacher that ever lived. He was the master of pedagogy, and that He put into operation many of the pedagogical principles which have, in recent years, been advocated by advanced teachers.
Abridged from Practical Pedagogy in the Sunday School
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, May 4, 1912: They put me at cleaning the pantry. I’m not fond of house cleaning, and therefore did not like my work. Sewed some this afternoon. I intend to do a lot more often after school is out.
Source: National Food Magazine (May, 1912)
In
House Cleaning Time
When
Old
Dutch
Comes in
Dirt Goes
Out—
Try it on
Something
Hard to
Clean.
Many uses and full
directions on
large sifter can 10¢
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
The pantry probably needed to be cleaned in anticipation of the upcoming canning season. The shelves likely were dusty and filled with disorganized mixture of empty canning jars, pots, and pans.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, May 3, 1912:Well examinations are over. I can say that I am glad. But I’m not glad the we only have one more day of school. Besse was out this evening. I sort of miss my lessons tonight.
Recent view of the building that once housed the McEwensville Schools. The high school was on the 2nd floor. Grandma’s 6-year-old brother Jimmie attended the primary school on the first floor.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Yeah! I’m glad that Grandma’s exams are finished. She sure worried about them in the diary entries for the last week or so—
And, now –finally– it sounds like everything went okay (thank goodness!) —and that she’s already sad about the impending end of the school year.
Maybe Grandma was sort of like me. Sometimes I think that I worry about things to motivate myself to quit procrastinating and properly prepare for an upcoming event. It probably was the same with Grandma and her studies.
Besse
Besse was Grandma’s older married sister. This mention of Besse is so matter of fact. I wish that it conveyed a little more about Besse’s emotional state. This is the first time that Besse has been mentioned in the diary since the death of her newborn child in early April. Hopefully she was doing all right.
