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

Wednesday, August 20, 1913:  Worked more than usual at my music this afternoon. A cousin of Ma’s came, so then I didn’t practice any more.

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

Yeah, Grandma!  I’m glad you’re working hard while practicing the piano. It’s hard work to learn to play the piano when you start lessons at age 18. Hang in there!

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I continue to be fascinated by a column called “Piano Questions Answered by Josef Hofmann”  that appeared periodically in Ladies Home Journal a hundred years ago. Here’s another question.

A Pianist Should Not Study the Violin

I have heard that the study of the violin interferes with the touch of a good pianist? Is this so? J.P.F.

There are two reasons why no one can play the piano and violin equally well. The violinist strives to harden his fingertips in order to make his tone definite, while the soul of a sensitive and refined piano touch lies in the softness of the fingertips. The ear is another factor in the matter, for the acoustic pictures peculiar to the two instruments are so thoroughly different from each other that the ear must get accustomed to the tone quality of the piano to produce the best results by exploring its possibilities. The technic, literature and tone quality of the two instruments are too different to admit of a mastery of both, though the piano is not nearly so harmful to the violin as the violin is to the piano.

Ladies Home Journal (May 1, 1911)

If you missed it, you may also enjoy a previous post that contained a couple more questions and answers from the piano column in old Ladies Home Journals.

Piano Questions and Answers from a Hundred Years Ago

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

Tuesday, August 19, 1913:  Went to a party over at Stout’s this evening. Had quite a nice time.  July 27, 1912 – Aug 19, 1913: I can’t forget that.

The Stout home was located near here. It burned down years ago–and Interstate I-180 now cuts through the farm where the Stout’s once lived.

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

Carrie Stout was one of Grandma’s friends. She lived on a farm that was midway between the Muffly farm and McEwensville. Who else was at the party?

Grandma,  why are the dates special: July 27, 1912 to the day you wrote the diary entry (August 19, 1913)? What was so memorable about the starting date?   Did something end?. . .or would it continue into future days?

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

Monday, August 18, 1913:  Left Alma’s this morning and walked over to Ottawa. Called on my uncles this afternoon. Came home on the afternoon train. I met quite a few people while away.

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

This was the last day of a three-day trip that Grandma took to Montour County to visit her cousin Alma.

They visited their uncles, Samuel and George Muffly.  Samuel and George were brothers of Grandma’s father, and lived on a farm at the very small hamlet of Ottawa. According to the 1910 census Samuel Muffly was a 43-year-old single male, and George was a 34-year-old single male.

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

Sunday, August 17, 1913:  I missed going to Sunday School this morning at McEwensville for the first time since January. Alma and I went to church this morning at Turbotville. While in church a dog came in and made his way up front and from there onto the pulpit, walked around awhile and then went out. I couldn’t keep from smiling.

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

And, a hundred years later, I also can’t keep from smiling as I picture the dog on the pulpit.  🙂

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Alma lived about 15 miles from the Muffly’s in Montour county. The trip must have been a multi-day expedition.  The previous day Grandma wrote that she took the train to Alma’s.

Grandma’s sister Ruth probably had to do all the milking while Grandma was gone. (Grandma so often had to Ruth’s milking, that it seem fair that it was now Ruth’s turn.)

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

Saturday, August 16, 1913:  Went out to Alma’s this morning on the train. We went to a festival over at California this evening. That was the first country festival I was ever to. We went up to the Hall this afternoon to tap the packers and then we swiped a dish of ice cream. When we finished it, we washed the dish and spoon in salt water.

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

California was a very small hamlet in western Montour County, and Alma was a cousin of Grandma’s.

Grandma would have taken the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick train from a whistle stop near her home to Montour County. It would have been about a 15 mile trip.

—

Grandma, you should have paid for the ice cream, and you shouldn’t have washed the dish and spoon in the salt water that was draining out of the ice cream maker—but whew, it sure sounds like you and Alma were having a lot of fun!

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

Thursday, August 14, 1913: Nothing much doing.

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

The previous day Grandma wrote that she initiated her new camera by taking two photos at the Sunday School picnic.

I found a hundred-year-old book called Practical Suggestions Regarding the Selection and Use of a Photographic Equipment. It has lots of advice that brought back vague memories of a camera we had when I was a child.

For example, it explained how to avoid double exposures:

One thing to do after making each exposure is to turn the film to the next number. Make this a positive habit. Cultivate yourself and it will be worthwhile. Upon beginning to use a Kodak, if you will constantly remember that the first thing to do after each is to turn the film, you will become accustomed to doing so and in time will do it intuitively and will no long have to think about it. This will mean no double exposures (two exposures on the same film).

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

Tuesday, August 12, 1913:  Am busy planning.

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

Grandma was helping plan a Sunday School picnic.  A hundred years ago picnics often included games and activities. Here are some activity ideas in a July, 1913 article in Ladies Home Journal.

Names and Topics Game

One game is to mention all the names participants can think of—either given names or surname– by topic.

For instance, “What names suggest occupations?” These include: Miller, Farmer, Tanner, Goldsmith, Mason, Weaver, Cook, Dean, Smith, Carpenter, Taylor, Cooper, Butler, Preacher, Sheppard, Crook, Baker, Painter, Bishop, etc.

“What names are colors?” White, Black, Green, Brown, Gray, Violet, Rose, Lavender, Pearl, etc.

“What names are flowers?” Lily, Rose, Daisy, Violet, etc.

Alphabet Game

In the Alphabet Game, it will be necessary for one in the party to be close enough to the firelight to read from a memorandum card. When he calls out a subject, it must be answered with a word or sentence beginning with the letter that was chosen throughout the complete list of questions: Suppose “C” is the chosen letter; the leader will say: “Beginning with C, name (1) An American city; (2) a foreign city; (3) an American river; (4) a foreign river; (5) a mineral; (6) a poet; (7) a poem ; (8) a book of fiction; (9) an author; (10)a vegetable; (11) a bird; (12) a fish; (13) an insect (14) a statesman; (15) an article of apparel for men; (16) an article of apparel for women.

An Illustrative of how the game works with “C”. The answers to the questions: (1) Columbus; (2) Constantinople; (3) Columbia; (4) Congo; (5) Cooper; (6) Coleridge ; (7) Charge of the Light Brigade; (8) Crossing; (9) Carlyle; (10) Cabbage; (11) Canary; (12) Cod; (13) Centipede; (14) Churchill; (15) Cap; (16) Cape.