17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, April 1, 1912:
April
Bidding adieu to Winter
Welcoming the approaching Spring
So comes the months of spring time.
How merrily the birds doth sing.
I was fooled once and only once today. While in a hurry this evening I landed on the ground. I don’t think I hurt myself any, but I did bump my knees.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
I knew my elderly Grandmother. Her diary provides a window into what she was like as a teen. It’s fun to see how remnants of the fun, quirky teen in this diary were part of Grandma’s personality throughout her life.
Last year several relatives wrote guest posts about their memories of Grandma. My cousin Anne Marie wrote about an April’s Fools day when Grandma was in her late 60’s or early 70’s.
One April Fools Day Grandma took an old newspaper from her basement and carefully glued all of the pages together and quietly placed it in our newspaper box. I can still hear Mom laughing when she tried to read the paper that day and it didn’t take her long to figure out who the prankster was.
Photo of the house Grandma lived in during her later years. It was next door to my cousin's house.
(See more guest posts with relative’s memories of Grandma by clicking on the Family Memories category.)
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, March 30, 1912:Had to put things in some kind of order. Mended some of the rips and tears. No one else wants the position.
Torn overalls--An aside (An aside--in addition to frequent tears, farm work clothes often get stained by grease, soil, etc.)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Farm work is hard—and clothes often get torn.
Some things probably changed little between the time that Grandma was a teen and the time that I was a teen.
I have strong memories of there always being a pile of work clothes that need to be mended when I was growing up. On “slow” days it was common to do the mending.
One difference was that I used an electric sewing machine and Grandma would have used a treadle sewing machine.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, March 29, 1912: At school we always march out, and so you see you are supposed to keep step. But woe betide me, I don’t do it exactly right. Mr. Teacher has gone for me three times about it. This afternoon took me by the arm and walked me along part way.
Recent view of the building that once housed McEwensville School. The high school was on the second floor (and the primary school was on the first).
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Hmm—sometimes, I’m not exactly sure what to make of a diary entry. And, this is one of those times . . .
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Tuesday, March 26, 1912: Seems I have more work to do tonight than I usually do. I have most of it done now and am ready to lay it aside. I get kinda afraid sitting here all by myself.
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
What time it was when Grandma wrote this entry? It must have been really late—and the rest of the family had gone to bed hours before.
I wonder what Grandma worried about as she sat there alone. . . things that go bump in the night?. . . her future? . . . her school work? . . . tramps possibly lurking outside? . . .???
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, March 24, 1912:I haven’t much to write today.
Recent photo of two small businesses in McEwensville–a beauty/barber shop and a bicycle shop.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Since Grandma didn’t write much today, I’m going to go off on a tangent—
I happened upon a list of qualities needed to succeed in business in a 1912 magazine, and was surprised how relevant the list still seems today.
Qualities Needed to Succeed in Business
Health
Honesty
Ability
Initiative
Knowledge of the Business
Tact
Sincerity
Industry
Open-Mindedness
Enthusiasm
Organization
The most important thing is to organize ourselves—make ourselves do the important work. We succeed only in proportion as we get the best work from other people. So I say let’s not drive tacks with a sledge hammer. Let the people who are carrying tack hammers do tack hammer work. If you are carrying a sledge hammer, do heavy work. Do the most important things in your business. Leave the details to other people.
Rural Manhood Magazine, Jan. 1912 (Published by the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA)
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, March 24, 1912: Went to Sunday School this afternoon. It was slushy walking and kept on drizzling.
Jimmie threatened with the whooping cough. I don’t want him to get it, nor do I want to get it myself. I would have to stop school if I do, and that I shouldn’t like to.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Sounds like miserable weather. Grandma had worried in her March 9 post that she was getting whooping cough—now she had similar worries about her six-year-old brother Jimmy.
