On a Vacation from the Piano

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

Friday, January 30, 1914: Was over to Carrie’s this afternoon. I’m off on a vacation now. My music teacher didn’t come this morning.

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

I wonder why Grandma’s piano teacher didn’t come. Was the weather bad?

Grandma seems like she was acting a bit childish in this entry. You’d think that she could continue to enjoy playing the piano—and not take “a vacation” even though her teacher didn’t assign any new songs to learn.

Sometimes Grandma seems like an adult—other times like a kid. . . maybe that’s just the way 18-year-old are.

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Carrie Stout was a friend of Grandma’s who lived on a nearby farm.

Learning a Speech

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

Thursday, January 29, 1914: Am learning a speech, sometimes I manage to say quite a bit, and then I get stuck.

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

Hmm. . . Grandma apparently was going to give a speech at church. The previous day she wrote:

Ruth and I went up to town this evening. I am in some kind of a thing that’s to be given in the church. Went up to practice . . .

What was the topic? The minister at her church had recently left, and a new one had not yet been called. Maybe parishioners were trying to fill the gap.

The previous spring, back when Grandma was a high school senior, she was energized when she was in the class play, and when she was a graduation speaker. Hopefully this speech will be equally rewarding.

Here’s a few previous diary entries about how she felt about the play and the graduation speech:

Day of Class Play

. . . Our play went off pretty well, although we did make some slight mistakes. I cut quite a splash after I was all fixed up . . .

April 5, 1913

Working on Graduation Speech

And I have it all written now, but I got it most too long. I know the introduction so I don’t want that to be changed very much.

April 18, 1913

Graduation Day

. . . At last I arrived at the church. We marched in and so on up to the front of the church, where we took seats in uncomfortable chairs and managed to sit out the evening. I recited my essay without a mental breakdown and then at last all was over, after which came congratulations and well wishes. . . .

April 23, 1913

Crocheted Crosses

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

Wednesday, January 28, 1914: Ruth and I went up to town this evening. I am in some kind of a thing that’s to be given in the church. Went up to practice. We had quite a bit of fun even if we did have to work some at making crosses.

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

What fun!. . . Spending a winter evening with friends sounds wonderful. What was the upcoming event at the church that Grandma was practicing for? And, what were the crosses she was helping make?

Maybe they were making crocheted cross bookmarks. I can remember occasionally getting crocheted crosses that church members made when I was a child.

There are lots of different types of crocheted crosses. Directions for making one type are at Moms Love of Crochet.

There’s also a YouTube video about how to make crocheted crosses.

“Staid” After Sunday School

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

Sunday, January 25, 1914: We didn’t have church this afternoon as there isn’t any preacher yet. Staid a while after Sunday school and then came home.

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

Recent photo of McEwensville–Was it beginning to get dark when Grandma started walking home from Sunday school? She would have needed to get home in time to milk the cows.

What did Grandma do when she “staid a while after Sunday school?”

Did she chat with her girlfriends? . . .

Hmm . . . another random thought. . . On January 16 Grandma wrote that she had a good time at a party because “he” was there. Did “he” attend her church? . . . Maybe she “staid” to talk with him.

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This is the third Sunday that Grandma’s church didn’t have a minister. On January 4, 1914 she wrote:

Our minister is going to leave soon. He preached his farewell sermon today.

Was it difficult to get—and keep—ministers in small country churches a hundred years ago? . . . They probably couldn’t pay very much.

Getting Old?

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

Saturday, January 24, 1914: Went to Watsontown this afternoon, though what I went for rather puzzled me after I got started. Was in to the movies. The old pictures are rather hard on my eyes.

Had a nice time coming home through the rain without an umbrella.

Something I almost forgot. Rode downhill three or four times with Jimmie this morning. The road was nice and icy and we went quite a distance. The fun didn’t last very long for me however. I came to the conclusion that I was most too old to ride downhill.

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

If I squint my eyes I can almost see Grandma and her little brother Jimmie sledding how the road in front of their house. Jimmie enjoying every moment; and Grandma having fun, but worried that she looked silly and that her friends might see her acting like a kid.

Awe, to be young again. . . I wish that I was so young that 18 felt old.

Lectures About Jews a Hundred Years Ago

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

Thursday, January 22, 1914: Ruth and I went to town this evening to hear a talk given by a Jew in the Reformed Church.

St. Johns' United Church of Christ (It was St. John's Reformed Church in Grandma's day.) — St. Johns’ United Church of Christ, McEwensville (It was St. John’s Reformed Church in Grandma’s day.)

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

The previous summer, on June 1, 1913, Grandma wrote a diary entry that was very similar to this one:

Went to Sunday school this afternoon. Took my time a getting home. I heard some of the best speaking I have ever listened to this evening. A converted Jew talked about some of the customs of the Jewish people in the Reformed Church at McEwensville.

I can’t figure out why a church would have two presentations less than eight months apart about Judaism, and why Grandma would be interested enough in the topic to attend both presentations even though she was a Baptist.

These diary entries make me want to learn more about Jewish culture in the US a hundred years ago, and how Jews were perceived by Christians in the early 20th century. Of course, these diary entries were written years before World War II and the holocaust. . . .

Got Home at 2 a.m.

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

Saturday, January 17, 1914: I don’t believe I slept at all this morning. Got home at two o’clock. Felt rather queer all day.

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

Grandma–2 am!!!

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Awe, the joys of being young–I can’t remember the last time I stayed up until 2.

Probably Grandma couldn’t sleep because of all the thoughts, wishes, and dreams rushing through her head. The diary entry for the previous day said:

Ruth and I went up to Oakes’ this evening. The occasion being a birthday surprise part for Al. Had a very, very fine time. He was there. That’s why I had such a good time.

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Based on the way the entries for January 16 and 17 were written, it seems like Grandma wrote them both on the 17th. It makes me wonder how often she actually wrote several diary entries at the same time.