18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, November 15, 1913: My love of a sister and I went to Milton this morning on a shopping tour. I got the daintiest hat I’ve ever had for a while. It is black velvet, trimmed with old rose ribbon and pink velvet flowers.
Source: Ladies Home Journal (October, 1912)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Wow. . . black velvet, rose ribbon, and pink velvet flowers. The hat sounds incredible. I wish we could see it.
I couldn’t find any old pictures of black velvet hats, but I found several other lovely velvet hats.
Source: Ladies Home Journal (May, 1912)Source: Ladies Home Journal (November, 1912)Source: Ladies Home Journal (November, 1912)Source: Ladies Home Journal (May, 1913)
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‘My love of a sister’ is an unusual way for Grandma to refer to her sister Ruth. Did she mean it. . . or was she upset with her sister for some reason and being sarcastic?
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, November 14, 1913: My music teacher didn’t think, or I mean she did think, that I hadn’t practiced my lesson any too much. It didn’t surprise me any for I didn’t put much work on it.
Source: Watsontown Record and Star (May 1, 1914)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
I wonder if this old cartoon would have resonated with Grandma . . . or with her parents.
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, November 13, 1913: Am trying to fix one of my winter <missing word>. Wonder how it will turn out. I am good at doing awful sewing.
Source: The Dressmaker (1911)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Grandma—
I understand. I’m also good at doing awful sewing.
I’m not a good seamstress because I’m not a careful sewer and tend to take shortcuts. Were you the same? Did you skip steps like basting?
—
Here’s basting directions from a hundred-year-old book:
Bastings are temporary stitches used to hold two or more pieces of material together while putting in the permanent stitches. Careful basting is essential to successful sewing.
There are four kinds of bastings.
Even Bastings start with a knot of the right side so that they may be easily removed. Pass the needle over and through the material making the stitches and spaces the same length. To fasten the thread, take two stitches over the last one made. (Fig. 1)
Uneven Bastings are made by the method just described for even bastings, except that the stitches and spaces are of unequal length. The stiches taken upon the needle are about a third shorter than the space covered by the thread. (Fig. 2)
Combination Bastings are used on seams where extra firmness is desired for close fitting. They are made by taking, alternately, one long stitch and two short stitches. (Fig. 3)
Diagonal Bastings are slanting and used in dressmaking to secure the outside material to its lining, particularly where the lining is eased on to the material, as is often the case in waist-making. The method is shown in Fig. 4.
The Dressmaker (The Butterick Publishing Company, 1911)
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Tuesday, November 11, 1913: Nothing, nothing.
Wrong Way
Right Way
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Since Grandma did “nothing” a hundred years ago today, I’m going to share some fun drawings from a November, 1913 article in Ladies Home Journal about the right way to hang pictures.
How Shall I hang My Pictures?
In the furnishing of any room the question of the proper selection and hanging of pictures is one which should be given careful consideration.
Probably the most common mistake in home furnishing is the use of too many pictures. A wall crowded with odd-sized pictures, usually of indiscriminate selection, produces the most confusing and annoying effect.
Wrong Way
Right Way
.
Wrong Way
Right Way
Hmm. . . the “right” way looks good to me–but I don’t keep up with decorating trends. Is this still the right way to hang pictures?
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, November 10, 1913: The first snow of the Winter lay upon the ground this morning. I was rather surprised when I looked out of my window and saw that the earth was clothed in white. Was pretty cold today. Hugged the stove part of the time.
Source: Good Housekeeping Magazine (November, 1911)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Brrr. . . Sometimes I wish I had an old-fashioned stove to hug. 🙂
18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, November 9, 1913: Went to Sunday school this morning although I doubted at first whether I would get there or not. It rained pretty hard before I was ready and rained coming home. Got the back of my coat rather wet.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Sounds like really yucky weather. I can just picture Grandma traipsing down the dirt road that ran past her house through the cold rain, trying to avoid mud puddles and other particularly muddy spots.
Did she get any mud on the back of her coat? Here’s some hundred-year-old advice for getting rid of mud stains:
Mud Stains: On dark clothes, allow them to dry thoroughly before attempting to remove them. Then a brisk brushing will probably take all the mud away without leaving any traces of the ugly mark that would have remained otherwise. If not, rubbing with grated raw potato will often take away a bad mud stain.
Source: Housekeeper’s Handy Book (1913) by Lucia Millet Baxter
Grated raw potato will get rid of mud stains? . . . really? I almost want to smear some mud on my clothes so that I can see if this really works.
