Blackberries on July Menus

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

Monday, July 21, 1913: Picked blackberries this morning and rather enjoyed it. My time seems very much occupied these days. I help load hay, which I really don’t mind so very much and then there is my music to keep me busy and some other things.

1913 July menus — Source: Good Housekeeping (July, 1913)

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

Mmm, blackberries. . . A hundred years ago, berries and other fruits were only available for a few weeks a year when they were in season. The July, 1913 issue of Good Housekeeping provided menus for the month.

Two of the July menus included blackberries. Note how blackberries are served for both breakfast and dinner on the Thursday menu.

Even in the mid-1900s people still primarily ate seasonal foods. I can remember being so excited when I was a child when the first blackberries . . . or strawberries. . . or raspberries came into season. And, then we’d have a plethora of berries, and we’d eat them two or three times a day for the next week or two. By the end of the season, I never wanted to see another berry again—but by the time the next year rolled around I’d again be anxiously anticipating the ripening of the first berries.

Which Name? Ruth, Ruther, Rufus, or Ruthie

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

Sunday, July 20, 1913: Went to Sunday School this morning. Ruther and I went up to church this evening.

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

Hmm. . . Ruther. . . That’s a new nickname for Ruth.

Was Grandma annoyed with her sister Ruth. . . or feeling kindly toward her? Throughout the diary Grandma called her Rufus when she was annoyed with her. When the sisters were getting along well, Grandma generally called her Ruth. . . though she occasionally referred to her as Ruthie.

Not Presentable

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

Saturday, July 19, 1913: Had company again, but I didn’t make my appearance, since I did not consider myself presentable.

Picture of a bedroom in the April, 1912 issue of Ladies Home Journal. Did Grandma go to her bedroom to avoid the company?

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

Wow, it’s amazing that the Muffly’s had company two days in a row. Visitors are seldom mentioned in the diary, but the previous day, Grandma wrote, “We had company this evening.”

Who were the visitors? Was it the same people as the preceding day or different people?

And, why was Grandma worried about whether she looked presentable? If the guests were friends of her parents, I won’t think that she would care how she looked.

Grandma was having a difficult July, and often felt down. For example, on July 14 she wrote that she was “sick at heart”. Maybe the guests were older people whose conversation didn’t interest her so she didn’t want to see them—but it also seems like the company might have included someone about her age (and maybe male), and but that her unhappiness unfortunately kept her from joining the group.

Visitors on a Summer Evening

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

Friday, July 18, 1913: We had company this evening.

Source: Ladies Home Journal (July, 1912)

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

Sometimes it’s nice not to have too much detail—because it allows me to create my own mind pictures.

If I squint my eyes I can almost see Grandma, her sister Ruth, and their parents sitting on the porch entertaining guests on a hot summer evening—and maybe serving cookies and iced tea—while her little brother Jimmie chases fireflies as dusk falls over the farm.

DSC06034.crop — Source: Ladies Home Journal (July, 1912)

1913 Philadelphia School for Nurses Advertisement

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

Thursday, July 17, 1913: Nothing doing.

Source: Ladies Home Journal (July, 1913)

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

Grandma was feeling down about something during mid-July, 1913. She graduated from high school the previous spring. Yesterday, I wondered if she was sad because she’d been unsuccessful in getting a teaching job for the upcoming school year.

There weren’t many careers open to women back then. Nursing was another field that was open to women. Did Grandma ever consider becoming a nurse?

Another Possible Reason for Being Sick at Heart

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

Wednesday, July 16, 1913: Nothing doing.

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

Two days prior to this entry Grandma wrote that she was sick at heart over something. Other readers and I speculated about what she may have been sick at heart over–and we thought that maybe she liked a guy and he didn’t return her interest.

Another possibility—

Grandma’s two older sisters both got teaching jobs in nearby one-room school houses after they graduated from high school.

Grandma graduated the previous spring, She has never mentioned in the diary that she hoped to become a teacher—yet it seems logical that she may have wanted to become a teacher. Could Grandma have been sick at heart because she heard that she didn’t get a teaching position that she really wanted?

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

Tuesday, July 15, 1913: Nothing doing.

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

I bet that Grandma still felt mopey when she wrote this entry. The previous day she wrote that she “didn’t feel very good today, and did feel very miserable. I’m not really sick, but sick at heart over something. “

Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound was a popular tonic for female problems a hundred years ago.

Source: Milton Evening Standard (June 3, 1913)

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