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

Sunday, December 7, 1913:  Went to Sunday School this morning. It proved to be rather rainy. Made a call this afternoon. Ruth and I were going to church this evening, but it started to rain.

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

What does “made a call” mean? Did Grandma mean that she visited a friend? . . . .or did she mean that she made a telephone call?

Telephones were unusual enough a hundred years ago that a phone call may have merited a mention in the diary.

In the 1910s telephone lines were being strung from poles in the general area,  but I’m uncertain whether Grandma’s family had a phone. Some families who lived in town or along the main road between Watsontown and McEwensville definitely had one.

Back in 1911, Grandma wrote:

. . .This afternoon I went over to Stout’s. My first experience in telephoning. The voice at the other end of the wire sounded rather squeaky. I telephoned to Besse.

May 8, 1911

(Stout’s lived near the Muffly’s on a farm along the main road. Besse was Grandma’s married sister, and she also lived on the main road.)

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

Wednesday, December 3, 1913: Nothing——-That word I have good use for.

The Schoolboy must be coming home from school since his luncheon is all gone. He wears a cotton suit with a wool coat, and crocheted shoes.

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

Grandma—

It can’t be that bad. Where’s your Christmas cheer?  Maybe you should read the current issue of Ladies Home Journal, there were a couple of articles that made me smile.

—-

Here are some pictures of Christmas Dolls from Russia that were in the December, 1913 issue of Ladies Home Journal. According to the magazine:

Christmas Dolls from Russia

Most dolls are clothed with the idea of making them pretty, but the dolls on this page were dressed to typify certain kinds of people and are accurate representations. The most interesting things about them is the fact that they were dressed by children in an orphan asylum in far-away Russia, and the money the children earned is their own. They are reproduced courtesy of the Russian Peasant Handicraft Center.

 Ladies Home Journal (December, 1911)

The Russian Gentleman in velvet and gold braid looks very proud, with his fur-trimmed turban, and his dainty kid boots, which were made from someone’s old kid glove.

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The Russian Lady is dressed in a satin gown, velvet coat and elaborate headdress.

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The Coachman, to make himself quite pompous in the doll world, has stuffed his coat in front with cotton.

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The Water-Carrier looks so pretty and warm in her plaid shawl and green coat, beneath which there is a glimpse of a wool dress and a gingham apron. The water-pails have been whittled out of pine.

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The Broom-Seller being a poor little lady, is dressed in gingham.

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

Sunday, November 30, 1913: Went to Sunday School this afternoon.

This isn’t the church Grandma attended–she went to the Baptist church which was torn down years ago–, but here is a recent photo of St. John’s United Church of Christ in McEwensville.

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

Grandma went Sunday School almost every Sunday, so she obviously got something important out of attending: however, a hundred years ago church leaders sometimes worried about teens who did not attend Sunday School.

I found an interesting book published in 1913 called The Sunday School and the Teens. It is a report of the Commission on Adolescence of the International Sunday School Association.

The Commission sent a questionnaire to girls between the ages of 13 and 20 in “widely scattered sections of the country.”

Girls who answered the survey question who no longer attended Sunday School gave many reasons including:

“We had no regular teacher.” “The Sunday School lessons weren’t interesting.” “I didn’t get anything out of it.” “There were so few girls my age in Sunday school I finally left.” “My family moved and I did not enter a new school.” “Sunday is my only day and I did not want to spend the afternoon in Sunday school.” “The other girls in the class weren’t sociable and I got sick of it and left..” “ I think Sunday school is well enough for children but I don’t see anything in it for a business girl” “ I’m too tired.” “I’d rather go to church.” “I simply did not like it.”

The Sunday School and the Teens (1913)

The report concluded that the girls wanted Sunday Schools with:

1.         Competent and interesting teachers.

2.         Some form of class organization.

3.         Some social life connected with the class.

4.         Something definite to do.

5.         Lessons that have to do with life.

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

Sunday, November 29, 1913: Put things in some kind of order here, but how long they’ll stay. Goodness only knows.

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

What was Grandma organizing?  Did she put similar items into a box or other container?  In the days before container stores, people used to save boxes, jars, and cans to store things in.

Actually, I still save jars and boxes. When I’m cleaning, I’ll gather a group of like items—and then search for a saved container to store them in.

Sometimes I think that I’m the only person  still saves old containers—and that most people buy nice matching containers—but I never can bring myself to buy them when I have a closet full of saved ones.

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

Friday, November 28, 1913: Can’t say that I suffered from the gout today, even if yesterday was Thanksgiving.

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

Can’t say, but I think that I might be suffering from the gout before the day is over. 🙂

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

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

Thursday, November 27, 1913: Thanksgiving—Spent the day at home reading a book. No one came and so the time passed on and the day is almost spent.

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

I know that I can’t go back in time—but I feel bad that Grandma had such a boring Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is one of the biggest holidays of the year at my house. (If we could easily travel back and forth across time, I’d send a message, “Hey Grandma, want to come over to my house this year and join an awesome Thanksgiving gathering with some of your descendants?”)

—

Grandma’s family never seemed to do much on Thanksgiving Day. Maybe it was just a less important holiday back then.  Here’s what she wrote in 1912 and 1911.

November 28, 1912

Yesterday thought perhaps I’d go up to McEwensville for my dinner, but then I changed my mind as I didn’t think I could afford it. Besse was out this afternoon.  I actually believe that I am getting a rather bad cold.

It sounds like a church or the community hall in McEwensville held a Thanksgiving dinner (that Grandma didn’t attend). A least Grandma’s married sister Besse, who lived in nearby Watsontown, came out for awhile.

November 30, 1911

Today is Thanksgiving. We didn’t have such a terrible sumptuous repast either. I would have liked to have had a piece of a turkey gobbler and a dish of ice cream, but we were far from that. I sat at home all day doing miscellaneous jobs which I didn’t relish any too well.