16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, August 21, 1911: Had to go up to McEwensville early this morning on an errand for Dadda. I have decided to name Mollie’s calf Wobbly as he is rather weak in his legs, but he’ll get stronger bye and bye.
A calf that is "strong in the legs" (Source: Wikemedia Commons)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
The calf was born Saturday morning. I’m surprised that it was still wobbly. Most calves stand up within an hour or two of birth—and would be sure-footed by the time they are two days old.
16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, August 20, 1911: Went to Sunday School this morning. Went over to see Miss Carolyn this afternoon, but she happened to be not at home. I was going to be mad at her for something she didn’t do, but then decided not to. That’s the best way I guess. It wasn’t very much anyway.
Click on the photo to see a larger view of the diary entry.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
This is the second time that Carolyn has been mentioned in the diary. She was previously mentioned six days earlier on August 14. I’ve not been able to figure out what her last name was.
We’ll never know what Carolyn didn’t do—and why it angered Grandma. But, I like the way Grandma worked her way through her anger at Carolyn as she wrote the entry.
. . . was going to be angry….but then decided not to…..that‘s they best way, I guess . . . .wasn’t very much, anyway.
I’m not a handwriting expert—but sometimes I can almost sense the emotion from the way certain words are written. It looks like Grandma pressed down very hard when she wrote the word “then”.
Grandma talks about being upset, but the bolded “then” (I think it was written with determination) suggests that Grandma was trying to mentally convince herself that she really wasn’t upset.
16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, August 18, 1911:The Frontz kids were here today. Had some quabbles down in the run about the minnies, which they were trying to catch. There was a boisterous wind storm this afternoon. Ruth went to a party tonight. I was invited, but didn’t care very much about going.
Minnow (Photo source: Wikepedia--US Government Photo)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
I’m not sure who the Frontz kids were—but the diary entry suggests that they were younger than Grandma. They probably came out to the Muffly farm from McEwensville to catch minnows in the creek. The minnows would then have be used as bait to catch larger fish (perhaps in the West Branch of the Susquehanna River at Watsontown.)
Grandma used lots of regional dialect in this entry. Minnows were referred to as minnies, the creek was called a run, and quabbles are similar to squabbles.
16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Thursday, August 17, 1911: Was so sorry I had to work today, when yesterday I didn’t have to do hardly anything. I guess it is a good thing not to have everything you want sometimes. I’m afraid I’d take all the play and not enough work.
Recent photo of Muffly house.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
The previous day lots of friends attended a picnic that Grandma held at her home. She’d spent more than a week planning it—and it was a huge success.
I suppose that she needed to clean up after the picnic—and that her parents had lots of chores for her to do now that the big event was over. Based on the diary entry, it appears that her parents have inculcated the value of work into their daughter.
16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Wednesday, August 16, 1911: That picnic was a success after all, even if I did have doubts as to its number. They were all there, that were invited except Carrie, but I don’t care a snap. We had lots of fun, went in wading, and did so many things. Some of the girls put on trousers, and then they pretended they were our beaus, only we didn’t happen to bring any along with us, so we accepted the girls in their place. Had almost as much fun.
Maybe the picnic had a watermelon theme--"A watermelon party in midsummer provides a good chance for pretty table decorations. " Ladies Home Journal (July 1911).
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Yeah, the picnic was a success!
In a weird way, I’m relieved that it turned out well. I know that it makes no sense for me to care about how an event that occurred a hundred years ago went—but Grandma spent so much time planning it (it was first mentioned in the diary ten days ago) and was so worried that people won’t come.
It sounds like fun. Friends wading in the creek on the Muffly farm and doing many other fun things.
I wonder how fancy—or laid-back the picnic was. One moment I can picture 16-year-old Grandma making party favors and decorating tables for the picnic—then the next moment I think, no way and that it was a very informal pot luck picnic.
The previous day, Grandma went to town to buy nick-knacks for the picnic which suggests that she may have had a theme or at least did a little decorating.
Or maybe the picnic was held on the porch. (Photo source: Ladies Home Journal, July 1911).
16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, August 14, 1911: He passed by here this morning, but I didn’t see him though. Miss Carolyn was over this evening. I had a taste of several cantaloupes this evening. They were the first taste I had of them yet, and I guess it will be the last. Too bad, isn’t it.
A hundred years ago green-fleshed cantaloupes were more popular than they are today. ( Photo source: Wikemedia Commons)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
In 1911 people ate by the seasons, and the various fruits and vegetables were wonderful fleeting tastes. Since Grandma had her first and last taste of cantaloupe for the year a hundred years ago on this date, I guess that the cantaloupes in the Muffly garden didn’t do well that year.
Maybe it had been too dry (or wet), or maybe the Spring had been too cool and the seeds hadn’t germinated well, or maybe pests had damaged the plants and they produced few melons, or maybe the soil was not well-suited for melon raising.
A hundred years ago people ate by the seasons–sometimes there was a surplus of some fruits and vegetables (and everyone tired of the food) and other times a crop did poorly–and people savored every bite. I bet that when Grandma wrote this entry that she was already looking forward to the 1912 cantaloupe season.
People
“He” probably refers to a guy Grandma had a crush on. In other recent entries she referred to B. and B.G.—but never used a complete name.
16-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, August 12, 1911: What with rubbing against fresh paint, and watching the painters I managed to have something to do, but this won’t occupy me very much longer, as the house will soon be painted with its last coat.
Recent photos of the Muffly farm. Whew, the freshly painted house and barn must have looked awesome in 1911.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Ready-mixed paints became widely available in the late 1800s. The July 26 diary entry mentioned that the barn was being painted red—and now the house was being painted.
