Rebellious Heifer in Orchard

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

Tuesday, August 8, 1911: Went over to see Carrie on an errand, but came back in about fifteen minutes as I had a rebellious heifer to keep out of the orchard.

Recent distant view of the Muffly fields from the road near her friend Carrie Stout's home. (I wonder where the orchard once was.) Today it would be impossible to see the Muffly fields once the leaves are on the trees--but maybe it was more open back then.

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

The Muffly family seemed to have a lot of problems with the cows getting into places where they weren’t supposed to be. Twice during the summer of 1911 Grandma wrote about cows getting into the corn (July 10 and July 25), and on May 26 she wrote “I’m through watching cows for the present time—at least. That was my duty for one wk.”

I continue to think that the family would have used barbed wire to fence the pasture but maybe they didn’t. And, even if there were fences maybe the cows were able to escape (cows can be very adept at finding holes in fences).

Old-fashioned Pickled Beets and Eggs

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

Monday, August 7, 1911: I wound up my driving this afternoon, and I’m not sorry either. Carrie was over this evening. We did some planning for that picnic, which we wish to have some time next week if we can.

Pickled Beets and Eggs at the 2011 McEwensville Community Picnic

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

Grandma began driving horses five days ago. As discussed in the August 2 entry, she probably was operating a horse-drawn roller that leveled the plowed ground in preparation for planting winter wheat.

As Grandma planned for the picnic, she may have thought about foods that she could take. Beets are in season, so a hundred years ago Grandma may have thought about taking Pickled Beets and Eggs to the upcoming picnic. Here’s an old recipe that I use to make pickled beets and eggs.

Pickled Beets and Eggs

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 cup reserved beet water from cooking beets

1 1/3 cup sugar

1 piece stick cinnamon

2 cups cooked beets, sliced (leave beets whole if small)*

12 hard-cooked eggs, peeled

Combine vinegar, beet water, sugar, and piece of stick cinnamon in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved then remove from heat.

Put sliced beets and hard-boiled eggs in a glass jar or other container. Pour cooked liquid over the beets and eggs. Chill overnight to marinate. (For darker eggs, chill for several days before serving.).

*Peel beets before cooking (or canned beets may be used–though that’s probably less authentic).

Narrower Skirts Next Autumn–1911 Trouser Skirts

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

Sunday, August 6, 1911: Went to Sunday school this morning. Carrie and I took a short stroll this afternoon. We had intended to take a longer one, but we decided that it would be too hot. We talked about getting up a picnic, and the thought may be carried into execution. Who knows.

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

Grandma mentioned the hot weather several times during Summer 1911. The other times I could find articles in old newspapers which confirmed that the weather had been very hot on that date. But I can’t find anything in 1911 newspapers about unusually hot weather on August 6. Maybe the sun just felt really hot to Grandma and her friend Carrie Stout even though the temperature wasn’t particularly high.

In the process of looking for the weather in the August 6, 1911 issue of the New York Times I noticed an article that began:

Narrower Skirts Next Autumn—So Says Rumor, but No One Has an Idea What the Arbiters of Fashion Will Decree

Rumor is rife these days. It is said that skirts are to be narrower than ever in the Autumn; that all waists are to be excessively short; that divided skirts will be the rule . . . .

New York Times, August 6, 1911

Hmm—I’ve heard a rumor that the arbitrators of fashion are saying that narrower skirts are in for this upcoming autumn.

DSC04417.crop — When I read the New York Times article, I remembered that I’d seen these drawings of a type of narrow skirt–the trouser skirt–in the June, 1911 issue of Ladies Home Journal.

Driving Swift Steeds

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

Saturday, August 5, 1911: Am still driving my swift steeds, but it isn’t for very long. One thing I am glad of is that it isn’t dusty a bit, but will soon be.

Is this the field where Grandma drove the horses?

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

Grandma was probably leading horses that were hitched to a roller that leveled plowed earth in preparation for planting winter wheat seeds.

Grandma mentioned that she was learning to drive horses in the August 2 diary entry (see that posting for a photo of a horse-drawn roller).

I think that Grandma was being sarcastic when she called the horses “swift steeds.” In the previous diary entry she said that the horses were not fun to drive because they were old and slow.

Finishing That Errand

Friday, August 4, 1911: Went to Watsontown this afternoon to finish that errand, which I had made on Monday. I had to walk in the rain going in and in the sun coming out.

Recent view of the homes that Grandma would have walked by as she entered Watsontown. (Wish it had been raining when I took this photo so it would better match the diary entry.)

And, the view as she left Watsontown. (Wish it had been sunny when I took the photo!)

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

This entry makes little sense to me. I can’t figure out what type of errand might require two trips to town. Earlier in the week I’d thought that Grandma probably went shopping Now I don’t know.

Any thoughts about what the errand may have been?

1911 Hairstyles (Subtitle: Real Nice Time at Party)

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

Thursday, August 3, 1911: Just got home from a party a little while ago. It was up at Amelia Seibert’s. I had a real nice time. As I thought, B.G. was there.

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

Whew, to be young and at a party with a special guy. I bet Grandma spent hours getting ready for the party. Did she wear a special dress? How did she fix her hair?

DSC04457.crop — She may have fixed her hair like this. (Photos from article titled “How Women Can Style Their Hair,” Ladies Home Journal, June 1911)

I can almost sense her excitement, her nervousness, and her fluttering heart. She may have been thinking—Does he think I look pretty? Will he talk to me? . . .

The diary entries for the past week have referred to a guy Grandma really liked. On July 29 she wrote, “He was there. B.” And the next day she wrote, “ Saw him today.” And now the diary entry provides another clue: the last initial, “G.”

I keep trying not to speculate who B.G. was. Grandma obviously made an effort to semi-disguise his name by using initials—and yet I somehow can’t help myself. I’m probably totally out in left field but the only B.G. that I can come up with is her sister Ruth’s future husband—Bill Gauger.

Is it possible that Grandma may have liked Bill before he became Ruth’s beau? William (Bill) Gauger lived on a farm near McEwensville and was born in 1894—so he would have been 17 in 1911. Grandma was 16. Ruth was 19. It almost seems like Bill would have still seemed like a young kid to Ruth in 1911. (And, according to the diary, in 1911 Ruth was dating Jim Oakes).

Driving Horses to Roll Field

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

Wednesday, August 2, 1911: Took lessons in driving, but even though I would like to learn to drive, I did not like that kind of lesson for the horses were old and slow, and I had to drive them in the field behind choking clouds of dust.

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

I read this entry to my father and asked him what Grandma was doing. He says that she probably was using a roller on a plowed field. The roller would level the plowed earth in preparation for planting winter wheat seeds.

The horses would have been hitched to the roller and Grandma would have needed to tighten one rein or the other to make the horses go in a straight line.

I can almost picture the clouds of dust stirred up by the roller swirling around Grandma as she drove the horses.