Hundred-Year-Old Dresses: Front and Back Views

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

Thursday, May 16, 1912:Oh dear today was one raining day. My dress is finished, but such a time as Ma and I had to get it so. She made it and I did the bossing. If I could have a good pen my writing might look some better.

I noticed that there were small line drawings in the old Ladies Home Journal (June, 1911) magazine that showed the back of several of the dresses that I featured in previous posts, and thought you might enjoy seeing both the front and back of the dresses.

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

Yeah, the dress was  finished! Grandma mentioned the dress at least three times during May.

May 8: Did some sewing this afternoon. I have so many things to fix over and a dress I want to get made. . .

May 13: Ma got my dress on the go at last and I’ll keep at her until she gets it made.

May 15:  We had sort of a sewing bee. Ma worked on my dress . . .

What could  Grandma and her mother have disagreed about regarding the dress?

In other words, what stylish features did young people like a hundred years ago that their mothers  thought were inappropriate or didn’t think looked good? . . . tight bodices? . . . shorter dresses that exposed ankles?  . . . low necklines?  . . . ???

Found Photo of the Four Muffly Siblings!

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

Wednesday, May 15, 1912: Besse was out this afternoon. We had sort of a sewing bee. Ma worked on my dress and Sis brought several along.

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

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

Yeah! I finally know what Besse looked like. I recently found a picture of all four Muffly children.  I think that it was taken about the same time as the diary. In 1912 Jimmie was 6-years-old, and I think that the boy in the photo looks about six.

This is the first picture that I’ve seen of Grandma’s oldest sister Besse. It’s fun to finally be able to picture what she looked like.

It’s also fun to see what the path toward the barn (or maybe some other farm building) looked like–and how the siblings arranged themselves for a group photo. It’s interesting how Jimmie is clinging to Besse, who was married and not living at home. She must have made a fuss over Jimmie when she visited. In April 1912 Besse had a baby who died shortly after birth. Maybe she transferred some of her maternal feelings to her little brother.

It’s also interesting how Ruth is standing a little separate from the others and has her hand on her hips. It reminds me of the times in the diary when Grandma refers to Ruth as “her highness.”

An aside–My brother helped me locate a small group of pictures (including this one), some old newspaper clippings, and related items that had been found in Grandma’s house after she died.

I’ve really been enjoying the newly found items, and look forward to sharing some more of the pictures and clippings over the next few weeks.

Treating Cuts and Wounds a Hundred Years Ago

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

Tuesday, May 14, 1912:  Wish it would get warmer and quit raining. I just got a long scratch on my thumb awhile ago and it’s rather sore. 

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

How did people treat scratches and cuts a hundred years ago?

The Compendium of Everyday Wants, published in 1907, recommended:

CUTS AND WOUNDS.—There are two kinds of cuts or wounds—incised, which means cut into, or lacerated, which means  torn.

The first kind are usually not so dangerous and are treated in proportion to their size and depth. These generally heal of themselves. Clots formed on a cut should not be washed away. If there is not much bleeding, wipe away any impurities and bandage. A small piece of adhesive plaster is all that is necessary for household cuts.

Lacerated wounds have ragged edges, and the soft parts about them often will be found bruised and torn. These are most frequently caused by railway accidents, machinery, and falling timbers.

Treatment.—Cleanse the wound with warm water, wet a cloth over it and bandage lightly.

Second Dress is Started

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

Sunday, May 13, 1912:  Ma got my dress on the go at last and I’ll keep at her until she gets it made.

Source: Ladies Home Journal (June, 1912)

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

Hmm . . This entry obviously is referring to the second dress that was mentioned in previous entries. (It’s not the Indian linen one that a seamstress finished).

Was the plan always for Grandma’s mother to make this second dress or had Grandma originally expected to make it herself?

On May 8, she’d written:

Did some sewing this afternoon. I have so many things to fix over and a dress I want to get made, but it is slow about getting there.

When I look at pictures of dresses from a hundred years ago they look like they would be complex to make. Maybe Grandma and her mother reached consensus that her mother could more skillfully do the sewing task.

Weighted Down but Weighing Less

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

Sunday, May 12, 1912:  Went to Sunday School this morning. I had to go equipped with an umbrella. Carrie was over this afternoon. Catherine Rhone came down. We went after some lilacs and I guess we were well weighted down with them. I was weighed today weighing one pound less than I did a month ago. It is raining cats and dogs tonight.

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

Sometimes I absolutely love Grandma’s train of thought. She was writing about picking lilacs with her friends Carrie Stout and Catherine Rhone—and said that they were “weighted down” by the lilacs. That apparently reminded her that she’d lost a pound of weight. She seemed pleased—I wonder if teens worried about their weight back then like they do now.

Had to do All the Milking

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

Saturday, May 11, 1912:I had to do all the milking this morning. Made me so mad at Ma. She had to come out and pester me some. Did some sewing this afternoon.

The inside of a dairy barn a hundred years ago. The Muffly’s probably had fewer cows than the farm in the photo. (Photo Source: Kimball’s Dairy Farmer Magazine, February 15, 1912)

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

What could Grandma have possibly been doing incorrectly when she was milking the cows? . . . .Or maybe her mother came out to the barn because she was upset that Grandma had forgotten to do some housework (or had done it poorly).

Summer vacation was getting off to a poor start. Grandma had written the previous day that she was lonely and wanted to go somewhere. She’d also written that her sister Ruth had gone to the nearby town of Turbotville to attend a commencement ceremony. Ruth probably stayed overnight in Turbotville with friends—and left all of the milking for Grandma.

Sometimes you just can’t win. One thing doesn’t go right . . . and then another . . . and then. . .

“Had a Sorrowful Time Today”

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

Friday, May 10, 1912:I seemed to have had a sorrowful time today. I guess it was because I was getting lonesome and wanted to go someplace. Ruth went up to Turbotville to attend the commencement.

Recent photo of the Turbotville Community Hall. The building once was a high school. There is a large auditorium on the second floor and the commencement probably was held there.

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

Turbotville is another small town about 4 miles northeast of McEwensville.  I wonder why Grandma didn’t go with her sister Ruth to the commencement. Maybe someone gave a ticket to Ruth—but not to her.  It’s not fun to feel excluded.

This was the 4th day of summer vacation; and, boredom and loneliness seem to be really setting in.  I wonder if Grandma got into any disagreements with her mother, father, Ruth, or little brother Jimmie—or if she was just quietly moping and feeling down.

Over the Christmas holidays, she and six-year-old Jimmie managed to get into several fights.  For example, on December 26, 1911 she wrote:

Am beginning to get rather tired of this seemingly long vacation. When you don’t have anything interesting to do and you don’t go many places it is not very hard to get lonesome. Jimmie and I are turning into regular fight cats, so Ma thinks. . .