It’s the Style, Not Shoe, That Costs

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

Saturday, October 21, 1911: Rufus and Ma went to Milton today. Ruth got a jacket suit and Ma bought me a pair of shoes. They’re for school so you see I didn’t care so much if I wasn’t there to try them on.

It’s the style, not shoe, that costs.

Quote from The News About Shoes (Good Housekeeping Magazine, October, 1911)

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

To clarify this entry—Grandma’s sister Ruth and her mother went shopping.  Sometimes in the diary Grandma referred to Ruth as Rufus—and in this entry she co-mingled two names for the same person.

I’m surprised that Grandma’s mother didn’t take her along to buy shoes, and that Grandma was only slightly annoyed.  . . Or . . . [another scenario, based on my second read through of this diary entry] maybe Grandma was really angry when she wrote it and was trying to convince herself that it really was okay.

Shoe sizes must have been very standardized way back then if someone could buy shoes for another person; or maybe Grandma wore the same size shoe as her mother or sister.

Milking Cows: 1911 and 2011

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

Thursday, October 20, 1911:Got out of school early this afternoon. I gathered some walnuts after I got home. Mollie gave me a kick in the back while milking another cow this evening. I’ve named Ruth’s twin calves, one Brutus and the other Caesar, but I can’t tell which is which.

1911: Probability of being kicked = high (photo source: Kimball's Dairy Farmer Magazine, December 15, 1911)
2011: Robot milker--Probability of being kicked = almost zero

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

Ouch! It sounds like the kick hurt. Grandma’s cow Mollie had her first calf in August. And, Grandma had been pleased with how well Mollie adjusted to being milked, For example on September 27 she wrote:

“Was in doubts and fears as to how Mollie would act when I commenced to milk her. Pop milked her last night, but I had to do it after that, so I got up early this morning, resolving to come off conquering and I did. Hurrah. She didn’t kick.”

But apparently something upset Mollie while Grandma was milking the next cow—and she gave Grandma a kick.

There have been huge changes in how cows are milked over the last hundred years. In 1911 most farmers had just a few cows that were milked by hand. Today most cows are milked by machines in milking parlors (and some are even milked by robots.)

Traditional Apple Betty Recipe

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

Thursday, October 19, 1911: That’s all.

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

Since Grandma didn’t write anything of substance a hundred years ago today, I’m going to share another very old recipe.

We often ate Apple Betty during the fall and winter when I was a child. It always seemed very old-fashioned and I’d guess that Grandma ate similar dishes when she was young.

When I was small, we’d save bread crusts and tear them into small pieces. We’d put the torn bread into an open canister to dry. Whenever we got enough for Apple Betty, we’d make it.

Farmers always had lots of apples in those days from their orchards, and I guess this was a way to use both the apples and the leftover bread crusts.

We’d eat Apple Betty as a side dish during the main meal–though it could be eaten as a dessert. After I got older. I guess our family felt more prosperous and we generally threw bread crusts out—and we no longer made this recipe.

 Apple Betty

2 cups coarse dry bread crumbs

4 cups, sliced, peeled tart apples (5 to 7 medium apples)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons lemon juice (1 lemon)

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put 1/3 of the bread crumbs into the bottom of a buttered 6 to 8 cup casserole dish, then cover with half of the apples. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and salt together, and sprinkle half the mixture over the apples. Add another layer of bread crumbs and another of apples, and sprinkle with the rest of the sugar mixture. Top with remaining crumbs, pour lemon juice and water all over, and dot with butter. Cover and bake for 25 minutes.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

When I recently made this recipe, rather than sitting the bread crumbs out to dry, I tore several slices of fresh  bread into pieces and put them on a cookie sheet. I then dried the very coarse crumbs for about one-half  hour in a 175 degree oven.

My husband Bill said that the Apple Betty reminded him of bread pudding—though the bread is definitely drier with this recipe than is typical of a bread pudding.

The dish can be eaten either hot or cold.  I prefer it hot, but Bill ate cold left-over Apple Betty and in no time it was gone. This historic recipe is a keeper.

Missed the Visitors

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

Wednesday, October 18, 1911: Grandma and Aunt Alice were here today, but I didn’t get to see them because they had gone when I got home from school. We had a review in Latin today. An easy examination it was.

John and Sarah Derr Family. Taken about 1900. L to R. Front Row: John, Annie (Derr) Van Sant, Sarah. Back Row: Miles, Fuller, Alice (Derr) Krumm, Elmer, Phoebe (Derr) Muffly, Judson, Homer.

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

Grandma’s Aunt Alice was her mother’s (Phoebe Derr Muffly) sister. She was married to John Krumm and lived in Turbotville.

Alice is referred to as Mary Alice in official records, so she apparently went by her middle name. Based on information in the 1910 census on the Family Search website, she would have been 54-years-old in 1911 and was 5 years older than Phoebe.

Alice’s and Phoebe’s mother –and Grandma’s grandmother– was Sarah Derr. Sarah also lived in Turbotville, and was 70-years-old in 1911.

Turbotville is located about 4 miles northeast of the Muffly farm. The women may have come by horse and buggy—or may have taken the train.  The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad provided passenger service to Turbotville—and there was a flag stop at a feed mill near the Muffly’s.

Old Fried Winter Squash Recipe

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

Tuesday, October 17, 1911: Not so very much to write about. It is raining tonight.

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

On days when Grandma wrote little, I often wish that she’d somehow known that someone would be reading the diary a hundred years later who wanted to know more about the mundane, routine aspects of her life—like what did her family eat for supper on a rainy evening in October?

Since she didn’t tell us what they ate, I’ll take a guess–

When I was growing up we often ate fried winter squash during the fall and winter. My sense is that this is a very traditional Pennsylvania food that Grandma would have eaten when she was young:

Fried Winter Squash

3/4  pound winter squash (butternut, hubbard, etc.), peeled and thinly sliced (approximate)

Lard or other shortening

salt and pepper

Melt shortening in skillet. It should be about 1/4 inch deep. Put 1 layer of squash in pan. Cook for about 5 minutes; turn squash with a fork. Cook  another 5 – 8 minutes; or until squash is tender. Remove squash from pan and drain on paper towels. Put on serving plate. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; serve immediately.

Yield: 2 servings

My husband and I really enjoy this recipe. It is very simple—and it really brings out the wonderful taste of the squash. The amounts are very flexible for this recipe. I usually slice enough squash to cover the bottom of the skillet.

In Grandma’s day they would have fried the squash in lard, but shortening works just fine.

I use butternut squash when I make this recipe—but butternut squash (somewhat surprisingly to me, since it’s so ubiquitous today) was not widely available until the 1940s. A hundred years ago, they probably used hubbard squash, Long Island cheese squash (this is a white squash that looks sort of like a pumpkin), or other traditional variety.

More Odd, Unusual, and Strange Math Problems

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

Monday, October 16, 1911: Nothing new at school or at home. Read several stories after I had worked some problems. Still have some for tomorrow though.

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

I wonder what type of problems Grandma was working on.  I enjoy looking at hundred-year-old math books. The problems are so different from the ones in today’s books.

I’ve previously shared some problems with you.  Here are some more odd, unusual, and strange problems from 1911:

1. If 44 cannons, firing 30 rounds an hour for 3 hours a day, consume 300 barrels of powder in 5 days, how long will 400 barrels last 66 cannons, firing 40 rounds an hour for 5 hours a day?

2. A ditch 80 yards long, 10 ft. deep, and 9 ft. wide was dug by 20 men in 12 1/2 days of 10 hours each; and a ditch 76 yards long and 12 ft. wide was dug by 30 men in 7 1/2 days of 9 1/2 hours each. How deep was the latter ditch?

3. A speculator bought 10 village lots, and gave a 4-months’ note in payment. This note was immediately discounted in the bank at 8%, and the bank discount was $192. What was the average price of the lots?

4. A druggist bought 6 pounds of quinine at $11 per pound, avoirdupois weight, and sold it in 2-grain capsules at 10 cents per dozen. What was his profit?

Kimball’s Commercial Arithmetic: Prepared for Use in Normal, Commercial and High Schools and the Higher Grades of the Common School (1911)

A hundred years ago prescriptions weren’t required and druggists made their own medicines, men actually dug ditches by hand, and labor laws about how many hours a day a person could work had not yet been enacted.

If you want to do the quinine problem–and, for some reason never had a math class that taught you the conversion factors for apothecaries and avoirdupois weights 🙂 – here is the information you need:

Apothecaries Weight

20 grains = 1 scruple

3 scruples = 1 dram

8 drams = 1 ounce

12 ounces = 1 pound

Avoirdupois Weight

16 ounces = 1 pound

In case you missed the previous posts that contained math problems, here are the links:

Odd, Unusual, and Strange Math Problems

1911 Algebra Problems: The Lusitania and Molasses

Old Math Problems

How Many Verses Did She Memorize This Week?

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

Sunday, October 15, 1911: Went to Sunday School this morning. My verses that I am learning for that Bible has decreased some, but I’m still at it.

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

Grandma was trying to memorize Bible verses to get a free Bible. On September 17 she wrote:

. . .One reason for my regular attendance is that if you learn a number of verses from the Bible (over 700 it is) you will in the course of time receive a Bible.. .

And on September 24 she wrote:

 . . . Only learned seven verses for today. Usually have twenty-seven . . .

I wonder how many she memorized this week. I can’t even imagine trying to memorize 27 verses a week. No wonder the number of verses  has decreased over time.