Wedding Decorations a Hundred Years Ago

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

Sunday, June 14, 1914: Heard the details of a rather unusual wedding, which took place this morning. Lots of people went that weren’t invited. Ruth was one.

Attended church this afternoon. A supply preacher was there for the afternoon. He could make his eyes flash.

Photo Source: Ladies Home Journal (October, 1914)

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

Hmm. . . Sunday morning seems like an odd time for a wedding. Why would people crash it?. . . Were the bride and groom very popular and friends of many of the young people? . . . Was there an awesome reception? . . . What were the wedding decorations like?

I wonder if Grandma’s sister Ruth kept a diary. If would be fun to read what she wrote about this unusual wedding.

1914-10-37 f — Bride’s bouquet with Bible or prayer book

___

What did Grandma mean when she said that the substitute pastor made his eyes flash? Was he preaching about hell, fire and brimstone?

Old-fashioned Strawberry Tapioca Recipe

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

Saturday, June 13, 1914: This is Saturday. Not much doing.

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

Since Grandma didn’t write much a hundred years ago today, I’ll share an old seasonal recipe that I really like. Strawberry Tapioca combines the classic taste of tapioca pudding with the wonderful taste and texture of fresh strawberries.

Strawberry Tapioca

1/2 cup small pearl tapioca

2 cups water

2 1/2 cups milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs, separated

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups thinly sliced strawberries

Soak tapioca in room temperature water overnight. Drain.

Heat milk (preferably in double boiler) until warm, add drained tapioca and milk. Cover, turn heat to very low and cook for one hour. Stir occasionally. Watch to make sure that the mixture doesn’t boil. (It will boil over very easily—and also has a tendency to burn on the pan bottom if care is not used).

Beat egg yolks and sugar together. Add a little of the hot mixture to the egg mixture and blend thoroughly. Then add the egg mixture to the hot milk mixture, stirring constantly. Reheat over medium heat and cook while stirring until tapioca mixture is very thick, about 15 minutes.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold egg whites into hot tapioca mixture. Stir in vanilla, and then gently stir the sliced strawberries into the hot tapioca. Chill and then serve.

Makes 7 – 8 servings

In Pain Over Piano Lesson

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

Friday, June 12, 1914: My music teacher had a pain this morning. Must have sympathized deeply for her, since by the time she was ready to go I had one too.

Besse went home this afternoon. Miss her some.

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

Hmm. . . Has Grandma been practicing her piano lessons? Maybe her music teacher (and eventually Grandma) were in pain because of how poorly the lesson went.

Grandma might not be spending much time practicing. I don’t think that she mentioned her piano lessons since January.

Besse

Grandma’s married sister Besse came to visit June 9. It sounds like a fun and relaxing time for both sisters. It probably was just what Besse needed after the recent death of her infant daughter. . . and Grandma sounds like she enjoyed having her oldest sister around for a few days.

Learning to Tat

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

Thursday, June 11, 1914: Besse was trying to teach me tatting today. Am awful stupid about it, but still I persist in trying to make the stuff. It takes some patience.

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

Grandma’s married sister Besse was visiting for a few days. Even if it was it was difficult to learn how to make tatted lace, it sounds like a fun activity for the two sisters.

I’ve often wished that I knew how to tat, but it seems almost like a lost art. I remember seeing beautiful tatted doilies and handkerchiefs when I was a child—but both seem to have vanished from modern households.

According to Wikipedia:

A tatting shuttle facilitates tatting by holding a length of wound thread and guiding it through loops to make the requisite knots.

To make the lace, the tatter wraps the thread around one hand and manipulates the shuttle with the other hand.

Tatting Shuttles (Photo source: Wikipedia)

Cousins from up the Creek Came to Visit

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

Wednesday, June 10, 1914: Had company this afternoon. They were my cousins from up the creek.

This picture of Warrior Run Creek was taken from the bridge in McEwensville.

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

Hmm. . . I have no idea who these cousins were. Warrior Run Creek flows through the Muffly farm. Going upstream from the farm, it flows through McEwensville, through the Warrior Run High School property, and then up into the Muncy Hills where it originates. (Downstream it flows into the West Branch of the Susquehanna River south of Watsontown).

I don’t know of any aunts or uncles (who would have been the parents of the cousins) who lived near the creek. But, Grandma’s mother had 7 siblings and her father had 10. I have no idea where some of them lived.

It seems odd that Grandma refers to these cousins by where they lived along the creek. Warrior Run Creek is too small to be navigable, so the cousins would have come via a road. If I were describing where the cousins lived I think that I would have listed the town (or perhaps a landmark like a church) that they lived near.

Sewing and Chatting. . . and Hopefully Feeling Better

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

Tuesday, June 9, 1914: Besse came out today to spend part of the week and get her sewing done.

Left to right: Helena (seated), Besse, Jimmie, Ruth (circa 1912)

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

The few words in a diary entry sometimes don’t even begin to convey the full story. This time I (and many of you) can fill in a few of the gaps. . .

Grandma’s married sister Besse recently lost a baby. The three-day-old infant died on May 23. This was her second newborn to die. She also lost a baby in 1912.

There’s no place like home. It can be a wonderful place to spend a few days sewing and regrouping.

High and Low Tempertures in US Cities, June 8, 1914

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

Monday, June 8, 1914: Guess most any kind of a person would imagine what I did today. If I could have kept cool, I would have called that something accomplished, but that was out of the question.

Temperatures in selected US cities, June 8, 1914 (Source: Washington Post, June 9, 1914) — Temperatures in selected US cities, June 8, 1914 (Source: *Washington Post*, June 9, 1914)

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

Grandma-

Whew, it sounds hot. Hope you didn’t have to help with any work out in the fields.

Did you try fanning yourself with a hand fan? . . . or sitting in the shade with a glass of lemonade?

—

According the June 9, 1914 issue of the Washington Post, the high on June 8 was 92 in Pittsburgh and 94 in Philadelphia—so it probably was also in the low 90s in central Pennsylvania.