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

Friday, February 2, 1912:  I wonder if I am really mean or what is the matter with me. On seeing my chance to grab a boy’s necktie, I availed myself of the opportunity. The result was I was dispatched of my hair ribbon and this evening my cap. I was to give up the tie and then I could have my cap. I got mine first, and then gave back the tie.

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

It’s amazing that guys wore neckties to school a hundred years ago. Styles sure have changed.

Sounds like Grandma was having fun. According to yesterday’s diary entry she was not going to go to the box social that was being held that evening.  It sounds like she figured out another way to get a boy’s attention.

I wish that Grandma had mentioned the boy’s name in this entry. My grandfather (Raymond Swartz) and Grandma both graduated from McEwensville High School in 1913. The school was small—only 6 students graduated in the class of 1913—but so far I’ve found no mention of Raymond in the diary.

Might this entry refer to Raymond? Somehow I think not—

Raymond was 3 1/2 years younger than Grandma—so when this entry was written he would have been 13 years-old and she would have been 16 (almost 17). He apparently skipped several grades and was a really young high school student.

They did not marry until Grandma was in her mid-twenties.

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

Thursday, February 1, 1912:

This is the only month that e’er can change

The only month that adds another day.

Though life is short and time is fleeting,

Should we not strive to glorify the way.

I had some small hopes to attend a box social tomorrow evening, but they have all fallen through this evening. Rachel and Al were down this evening. Ruth was busy making candy for her box. Her first attempt was a failure. She had the misfortune to burn it like fury. Of course it was worthless, anyway it appeased my curiosity and see how it tasted, I was so dumb as to stick my fingers in it, when it was the next thing to being red-hot. The result proved very disastrous. I am now the owner of a big blister on my finger.

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

Wow, they really had box socials a hundred years ago in rural Pennsylvania. When I think of box socials, I always think of the play Oklahoma where the climactic scene takes place at one.

Grandma’s sister Ruth would have filled her box with food for two.  At the box social the men would then bid on the boxes in hopes of getting to share the meal with the woman who made it.

This entry raises lots of questions–Why did Grandma decide not to go? Was Ruth really popular? . .. .  Will her box be bid way up by several men competing to get it?

Poor Grandma—first she wasn’t going to the box social; then she burned her finger.

Rachel and Al (Alvin) Oakes lived on a farm near the Muffly’s. Rachel was a friend of Grandma and Ruth. Al  was her brother.

The first diary entry each month begins with a poem. For more about the poems click here.

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

Tuesday, January 30, 1912:  Ran a splinter in my hand at noon and didn’t get it out until this evening. It went in almost straight. Jimmie pulled it out for me, although I didn’t think he could. Saw an owl this evening. Would like to have laid my hands on him and seen the result.

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

I’m amazed that Grandma’s six-year-old brother Jimmie was able to pull the splinter out.

My sense is that the population of many wild animals and birds has decreased over the years—though I’m really not sure.  This diary entry makes it sound as if it was unusual to see an owl a hundred years ago.

By the early 1900’s many people realized that it was important to protect wildlife.

According to The Old Tackle Box, the first non-resident hunting licenses in Pennsylvania were issued in 1901—though resident licenses were not issued until 1913.

However, bounties were still offered for some animals.

A 1908 book called The Compendium of Everyday Wants described the Pennsylvania Game Laws:

Hunting is prohibited on Sunday, and any one convicted of this offense is liable to a penalty consisting of a fine and imprisonment.

It is illegal to kill any song bird. It is unlawful to place on sale any song birds caught, except those generally sold, such as parrots, canary and other similar birds. Birds taken for scientific purposes are not included in this restriction, when the person capturing or killing them holds a certificate. These certificates are good for one year, under the law of Pennsylvania.

It is unlawful to kill deer, fawn, etc., for the purpose of selling them, in Pennsylvania.

For the benefit of agriculture and the protection of game, the legislatures in many States have passed laws whereby a certain amount of money is paid for killing wildcats, foxes, minks and any such dangerous animals. A bounty, that is a sum of money, is paid by the counties of the States for each one destroyed. In Pennsylvania, $2 is given for every wildcat, $1 for every red or grey fox, and 50 cents for every mink.