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

Sunday, September 3, 1911: Went to Sunday school this morning. No one was here this afternoon. We went up to Oakes a little while. Ruth and I were on our way to church when we learned there wasn’t any.

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

It sounds like neighbors commonly visited with one another on Sunday afternoons. Since no one came to visit the Muffly family, they went to visit their neighbors, the Oakes.

In 1911 people did not work on Sundays. Farmers worked very hard all week—but Sunday was a day of rest. On Sundays the animals were fed and the cows milked—but all other farm work waited until Monday.

And, a hundred years ago stores were not open on Sundays.

So Sundays were a quiet, relaxing day to spend with family and friends.

Church Service Times

I still can’t figure out exactly what determined the times of church services and Sunday School. Sometimes they were held in the morning—other times in the afternoon.

I continue to think that the Baptist church in McEwensville was part of a parish and that the minister served several churches. The services probably rotated between more and less desired times. Probably church was canceled because the minister was unable to make it to McEwenville that day.

Previously I’d thought that if the church services were in the afternoon that  Sunday School also was held in the afternoon—and if services were in the morning than Sunday School was in the morning.

But this entry makes it sound as if Sunday School was held in the morning even if church was in the afternoon—though maybe the last sentence in the diary entry about Grandma and her sister Ruth being on their way to church referred back to the morning.

(See previous post for further discussion of church times.)

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

Friday, September 1, 1911:

Glorious skies of balmy September,

Tells us of approaching fall

With its leaves of varied colors,

And it’s flowers for large and small.

Celebrated the first day of this month by starting to clean house. We cleaned the sitting room today, and it was an all day job. I’m so tired from exerting myself.

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

Yuck—it sounds like a lot of work. Grandma, her sister Ruth, and her mother were probably starting to do the fall housecleaning.  A hundred years ago houses got a deep cleaning twice a year—in the spring and in the fall.

Furniture would be moved so that carpets could be rolled up and then taken outside to be beaten, every corner and cranny would have been swept, floors would have  been waxed, the wooden furniture would have  been polished, the windows washed, etc., etc., etc.

No wonder Grandma was exhausted. Just making this list is making me tired.

(See  previous post for more information about the poems on the first day of each month.)

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

Monday, August 28, 1911: I was good and mad this morning. I got tired of watching the cows all the time and then I wanted my lawn dress washed and Ruth won’t do it.

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

Poor Grandma—she still has to watch the cows. It sounds like an incredibly boring job.

Sisters can be annoying—and refuse to do the things that you want them to do.

I don’t blame Ruth for not wanting to wash the dress. Doing laundry in 1911 was a huge process—and entire books were written about how to do it. The Muffly’s didn’t have electricity, so there would have limited the options for doing laundry.

Here are some quotes from a book published in 1911 called Laundry Work for Use in Home and Schools by Juniata Shepperd that will give you a sense of what washing clothes involved:

Prepare melted soap for the washing by using bits and pieces and ends of soap which have been left. Cut them fine, and shave up as much more as is necessary, or buy soap chips for the purpose. Place the soap in an earthen jar, just cover with water, and set the jar in the oven or on the stove until the soap is melted or dissolved. Use in the proportion of one gallon of water to one-fourth pound of soap. This should be prepared the day before the family washing is to be done.

Portable tubs are usually made of wood or of galvanized iron. A wooden tub is heavy to handle and requires special care in dry weather to prevent its falling apart but it holds the wringer well and is easily kept clean. A galvanized iron tub is light, and not difficult to clean but does not hold the wringer unless fitted with wooden cleats and clamped to the wash bench.

Washboards are in different patterns and made of different materials. A wooden washboard probably injures the cloths as little as any kind, but is rather unpleasant to use unless one is accustomed to it. In selecting a glass or metal-covered board, choose one that is not too much corrugated, because many angles wear clothes as they glide over them.

When the washing is finished the washboard should be washed, wiped dry, and put away in a clean, dry place.

Each part of the wringer should be perfectly clean. When through using it each time, the rollers should be wiped with a dry cloth, or if much soiled, they should be rubbed with a cloth wet with turpentine or kerosene, washed with soapsuds, rinsed, and wiped dry.

When clothes have been well washed in one suds, they can usually be made clean and white by placing them in tepid suds, bringing to the boiling point, and allowing them to boil for a few minutes.

There are a few points to be remembered in preparing clothes for boiling. They must not stop boiling after they begin, and when taken into tepid water from the boiler each piece, must be punched under the water as soon as put into the tub. Exposure to the air seems to set the dirt, and cold water contracts the fibers, thus holding the dust particles, instead of allowing them to fall out, as they should when the clothes are rinsed or manipulated in this water, preparatory to the rinse water proper.

Obstinate stains on white goods may sometimes be removed by soaking the spot in turpentine, then washing, boiling, and finishing.

Clothes lines are of different kinds, and may be either movable or stationary. There are several patterns of clothes pins, but the plain, simple ones are usually most satisfactory, as they are inexpensive, easily washed when dirty, and do their work very well.

And, then the clothes would need to be ironed . . .

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

Sunday, August 27, 1911: Went to Sunday school this afternoon, although it drizzled to some extent. He was there. This evening I went with Ruth to a Song Service up to Mc! It was in the Lutheran Church, and the singing was certainly magnificent.

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

“He” refers to a guy Grandma thought was cute. She never uses his name but referred to him as “him”,” B.”, and “B.G”. in previous posts.

There probably were several young men with the initials B.G. living in the McEwensville area in 1911. But within the limited cast of people mentioned in the diary there is only one person with those initials.

I keep telling myself—Don’t Speculate!—I but can’t help myself. I continue to think that she was referring to Bill (William) Gauger.

I know that Bill will eventually marry Grandma’s sister Ruth, but according to the diary, in 1911 Ruth was dating Jim Oakes and so it seems conceivable that Grandma had a crush on Bill.  (I don’t have any sisters, but I know women who do—and I’ve heard them say that their sisters often stole their boyfriends.)

*Photo Source: History of McEwensville Schools by Thomas Kramm, used with permission

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

Saturday, August 26, 1911:Everything seemed to have gone wrong today. Hard to tell what the cause really is. I have to watch the cows, and I don’t like it, but school will soon start and then that task will be ended.

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

I continue to be befuddled by diary entries that talk about watching the cows. Grandma mentioned watching them numerous times during the summer. She also wrote about chasing cows that had somehow gotten into the corn field, orchard, and other places they weren’t supposed to be. And, she mentioned when she was finished watching the cows:

I’m through watching cows for the present time—at least. That was my duty for one wk.

May 26, 1911 diary entry

There must have been several people who took turns watching the cows. Grandma probably was responsible for watching the cows for a week; then she probably had several weeks off while others–her sister Ruth, her mother (??), others (??)–watched them

I remain clueless as to why the cows needed to be watched. It still seems like they should have been securely contained in fields fenced with barbed wire, but apparently they weren’t.

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

Friday, August 25, 1911: Jimmie the cub was vaccinated this morning and looked so very much in pain, but still nervous during the process. It has been so rainy all day and is raining. I guess unless it has stopped awhile ago. My everyday shoes, like the Wonderful One Hoss Shay seemed to have gone to pieces all at once, so I have cast them aside for a better pair, but will soon follow their predecessors.

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

Grandma’s 5-year-old brother Jimmie would begin school in September, so he needed to get a smallpox vaccination.

I’m not sure exactly what the laws were in Pennsylvania in 1911, but in 1905 a US Supreme Court decision (Jacobson vs. Massachusetts) upheld the right of a state to require the smallpox vaccination.

Fewer people got smallpox in 1911 than in previous generations because vaccination programs were becoming well established—but there still were regular outbreaks across the U.S.

I was amazed to discover that people were actually catching smallpox in central Pennsylvania in 1911.

I’m again sharing an article Milton Evening Standard that I first posted on January 21 because it is so relevant to this entry.

In January 1911 there were smallpox outbreaks in two nearby towns (Washingtonville and Mausdale) located about 15 miles east of the Muffly farm.

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

Wednesday, August 23, 1911: Tweet and her mother were here this afternoon. Besser went to town this afternoon with her little “yum yum” to get him some things to wear to school. Miss Stout is called this evening, and we had a very delightful chat.

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

It sounds like a pleasant day spending time with friends. Tweet was Helen Wesner’s nickname.  Miss Stout referred to Carrie Stout. Both Tweet and Carrie were friends of Grandma’s.

Based upon previous entries I thought that the Muffly’s did not have  a telephone—but this entry suggests that they may have recently gotten one. (Or perhaps “called” was being used in an older way and instead refered to a visit.)

Besser refers to Grandma’s married sister Besse. Besse did not have any children, but there  was a previous diary entry which mentioned Besse bringing her nephew out to the Muffly farm, so “yum yum” may refer to him. But why would a person be called a yum yum? . . . . I guess that slang  (and the meaning of slang words) has just changed over the years.