Cut and Wound Care, Circa 1911

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

Sunday, February 19, 1911: I went to Sunday school this morning and staid for church. While washing the dishes at noon (that is one of my daily duties) I cut a gash in my finger. It is so excruciatingly sore. It seems as if I am always getting some burns, cuts, or bruises.

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

In Grandma’s day many homes had a copy of the Compendium of Every Day Wants: General Information and a Thousand and One Facts (1908). For cuts and wounds the Compendium 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.

Stirring at Something

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

Saturday, February 18, 1911: Strange to say, I don’t believe I was a bit sleepy today, but I didn’t get up so very early this morning. It has been so quiet today, but I don’t think I was, for it seems I am stirring at something that I have no business to. If I would only stir at my neglected studies.

Recent photo of the home where Grandma grew up. I wonder if she looked out of one of the windows in the photo when she woke up.

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

No wonder Grandma slept late since she didn’t get home from the party until 2 a.m. (see yesterday).  Why is her head still spinning with ideas, and she is “stirring at something that I have no business to?” Did a guy show an interest in her? . . . Is he the boyfriend of someone else? . . .

Home by 2 a.m.

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

Friday, February 17, 1911:  I went to a party this evening in McEwensville up at Watson’s I had a very pleasant time. It was almost two o’clock when I got home.

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

Grandma must have actually written this diary entry the day after it is dated. Sounds like a fun party— but, whew, 2 a.m. sounds late for a 15-year-old. I wonder how Grandma got home. . .

Did she walk the mile and a half home?  . . . alone? . . . with her sister? . . . with someone else? Or maybe someone gave her a ride in a carriage? If so, who?

Did Grandma sneak into the house so her parents hopefully won’t notice how late she was out?

Old-time Headache Remedies

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

Thursday, February 16, 1911:  I blackened my shoes this morning. I don’t know what was the matter with the polish, but it did have a most peculiar smell. Some of the girls at school declared, “they smelt medicines.” I have a most awful headache tonight. My head just feels as if it would like to jump into space.

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

Whew, that must have been some shoe polish. It’s hard to imagine how it could have had such a strong odor. Could the noxious fumes have caused Grandma’s headache?

I wonder if Grandma tried any of the headache treatments recommended in the Compendium of Every Day Wants: General Information and a Thousand and One Facts (1908):

  • There are remedies for headaches by the dozen, but probably none simpler or more effective than the following: After nearly filling a breakfast cup with black coffee, squeeze into it the juice of one lemon and in a very short time after this has been taken relief will be experienced.
  • Drink some hot herb tea, and at the same time soak the feet in hot water for about twenty-five minutes. Get into bed then and cover up warm, sweating for an hour or more. Relief will soon follow.
  • Take a cup of tea in the evening with a small slice of bread and try to get to sleep.
  • Here is a simple remedy which has been tried many times and proved a cure in cases of sick headache. Powder finely two teaspoonfuls of charcoal, drink it in half a tumblerful of water. I have learned of this great remedy, though simple, from many persons who have used it in cases of sick headache.
  • Take ¾ of a quart of water, 1 tablespoon of salt and one ounce each of heartshorn and spirits of camphor. Mix well, wet a rag in it and apply to the forehead.
  • Crumble a piece of dry bread into a cup, put in a little butter, pepper and salt to suit the taste, pour boiling water over it and drink it.

Anonymous Comic Valentines

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

Wednesday, February 15, 1911: I heard from two of the persons to whom I sent comic valentines. I don’t think they suspected me in the least. We had final examinations in Physical Geography. I think I will make a good mark. I got a ride home from school this evening. It was with such a cute boy. (I didn’t know him though.) He asked me, “would I accept a ride”, and I certainly did. We talked chiefly about the weather and the snow. The name of his horse was Grace for that was what he called her.

Comic Vinegar Valentine, circa 1911

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

I found several comic valentines—sometimes called vinegar valentines—at flea markets and on Ebay. None included a message–each just contained the recipient’s name and address.

On a different topic related to this post–I was very surprised that someone Grandma didn’t know would be on the road between McEwensville and the Muffly farm–and that she  would accept a ride from this stranger. Even in the ‘good old days’ I wouldn’t have thought that this would have been considered  a safe thing to do in rural Pennsylvania–but apparently there was so little crime that it wasn’t a concern.  

Valentines: The Good, the Bad, and the Horrid

15-year-old Helena wrote a hundred years ago today:

Tuesday, February 14, 1911. I guess that a good many people know that the fourteenth of February is St. Valentine’s day. I expected at least one beautiful valentine, but like some fools I was disappointed, but I didn’t get any ugly ones either. I don’t think I would have felt very much honored to be the recipient of one, but I was not the receiver of any. I however, was the sender of four horrid ones. I also sent some pretty ones too.

St. Valentine’s day is here once more

To pierce some tender heart to the core

But if Dan Cupid with you can’t make a hit.

He’ll turn over and to some easier one flit.

Vinegar valentine, circa 1911
Pretty valentine, circa 1911

 

Pretty valentine when folded

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

A hundred years ago Valentine cards weren’t like the cards that we have now.  Ethel Spencer, in her memoir about growing up in Pittsburgh, described the valentines that were sent in the early part of the 20th century:

The valentines of our youth were far more interesting than the present-day variety. Most of them were pretty, and many of them did unexpected things when one opened them: a fan of bright-colored paper appeared; a cupid rose up to great us; a bunch of flowers popped out of a box. There were some ugly valentines too, notably paper broadsides with vulgar pictures and rhymes on them that though obtainable at Fatty Schwarz’s little store on Ellsworth Avenue, were forbidden to us.

Ethel Spencer in The Spencers of Amberson Avenue: A Turn of the Century Memoir

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Knitting to Soothe Irritable Nerves

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

Monday, February 13, 1911: I can’t find hardly anything new to write today. Besse was out this afternoon. Everything seemed to grow wrong with me this evening.

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

Maybe Grandma should have taken up knitting.  In 1911 the Ladies Home Journal recommended:

Why not try knitting or crocheting when you grow restless? Many girls find the monotony of a simple pattern very soothing to irritable nerves.

Ladies Home Journal, November 1911, p. 44