Cleopatra

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

Friday, March 1, 1912:

March

This month signifies that the winter is passing.

And soon will be the Springtime

With all its bright scenes and soul stirring dreams,

And memories so long and so dear.

After a whole week of trying to get a theme in readiness, I finished the thing at noon. It came under General History. Cleopatra was what I had to write about. I got it so as to suit my satisfaction. But of course there were some mistakes.

cleopatra.Jean-Leon.Gerome — Late 19th century painting of Cleopatra by Jean-Leon Gerome--Maybe this is what Grandma pictured Cleopatra looking like. (Source: Wikipedia)

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

How did Grandma end up writing about Cleopatra? Did she choose the topic? (If so, why?) . . . or did her teacher assign it? (If so, why did he assign it to her instead of to another student?)

The way I picture Cleopatra is strongly affected by the 1960s movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.—and I can’t quite envision how people thought about her a hundred years ago.

Was Cleopatra’s beauty, charm and ability to control men generally seen in a positive or a negative light back then? The suffragettes were very active a hundred years ago. Do they see Cleopatra as a role model or as a failure of the past to allow women appropriate roles?

Monthly Poem

One the first day of each month Grandma begins the entry with a poem. It’s almost spring! Yeah!

1912: Also a Leap Year

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

Thursday, February 29, 1912: I was quite conscious of the fact that this comes only once in four years. This day I mean. We had a visitor at school today. Two I may say. One was the county superintendent. By good luck he wasn’t there, when we had a hard study to go through.

A hundred years ago the country superintendent probably came down this road with a horse and buggy as he entered the McEwensville. The road wasn't paved back then.

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

It’s interesting that it was also a leap year a hundred years ago. (If I had thought about it, I would have been able to easily figure out that both years were leap years, but somehow I was surprised.)

I wish that I had a better understanding of how school systems were organized in 1912. Then, as now, the state was responsible for public education.

Counties were the intermediary unit between the state and the schools a hundred years ago in Pennsylvania. There were not large school districts back then. Many of the consolidated districts—including the Warrior Run School District that now includes McEwensville— were formed in the 1950s.

The superintendent of schools for the county probably visited McEwensville High School because of the mid-year change in teachers. McEwensville High School got a new teacher just ten days prior to the writing of this entry. The superintendent probably came to see how the new teacher was doing. I hope that he passed with flying colors!

Sister Visiting A Friend: Peace and Quiet, But More Work

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

Wednesday, February 27, 1912: I helped Ruth decide a question this morning. She was invited out to spend the evening and staid all night. I decided that she should accept the invitation and so she did. But the other part is that I will have her milking tomorrow morning.

Recent photo of the barn that Grandma milked cows in a hundred years ago.

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

There are trade-offs to everything. In this diary entry Grandma was weighing the benefits and “costs” of her sister Ruth staying overnight at a friend’s house.

Benefit

Peace and quiet: Grandma got a quiet evening alone without Ruth. She shared a bedroom with her sister, so she also would have had the room to herself.

“Cost”

More work: In exchange for the peace and quiet Grandma had to milk more cows than usual in the morning.

Received Report Card

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

Monday, February 26, 1912: Went through the snow to school this morning and came home through the rain. One good things I didn’t have to walk this evening. Received my report card today. I knew what my marks were for I had caught a glimpse of them some time previous. Mine has the downward tendency this month. Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

How did Grandma know what her grades were going to be prior to receiving the report card? Was she again snooping around the teacher’s desk?

Grandma’s teacher caught her cheating in late January—and she did not cheat when she took her tests in February. It’s too bad that her grades didn’t reflect her better behavior—though I suppose they more accurately reflected what she knew.

One-Hundred-Year Trips for Removing Mud Stains

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

Sunday, February 25, 1912: Went to Sunday School this afternoon. It was exceedingly mean walking though, but managed to get through it by going the railroad.

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

The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick railroad tracks crossed the Muffly farm, so Grandma could walk the tracks to get to McEwensville when the roads were very muddy.

Did Grandma get any mud on her clothes?

A hundred years ago cookbooks often contained a hints and helps section. Here are tips in a 1912 cookbook for removing mud from clothes:

Mud Stains (Colored Goods)—Let the mud dry thoroughly, and then remove as much as possible by brushing. When fully dry, cover with a mixture of salt and flour and place in a dry place.

If the stains are extensive place the garment in a large paper flour sack with a quantity of salt and flour well mixed, shake vigorously, tie up the sack, and allow it to hang behind for a few days. Afterwards shake out the dust and press.

Mud Stains (White Goods)—Dip the mud stains in kerosene before putting them in boiler. Add kerosene to the boiling water.

Calumet Raking Powder Reliable Recipes (1912)

Whew, can you imagine using kerosene to remove stains? . . . and I don’t have a wood or coal stove that I can hang the bag of stained clothes behind.

The methods for removing mud have really changed over the years. I’d just put some Shout stain remover on the spot and throw it into the laundry.

Remodeling Aunt’s Cast-off Dress

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

Saturday, February 24, 1912: I fixed over a dress for myself this afternoon. It was one of my Aunt Annie’s cast-offs. I had one trying time a getting the waist and skirt together. I have it fixed now and tried it on to see the result. I’m not so much pleased with my sewing. It seems rather short in the back.

Click on photo to make larger.

Annie Van Sant is the woman in white in the center of the photo.

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

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

Thirty-five year-old Annie Van Sant was Grandma’s mother’s youngest sister. She was married to Benjamin Van Sant who was a physician in nearby Turbotville. The Van Sant’s visited the Muffly’s the previous week.

I suppose that Annie was relatively well-to –do since she was a doctor’s wife—and had some relatively nice cast-offs to give her niece.

It’s amazing how people often remodeled clothes a hundred years ago. Clothing was much more expensive back then—and people often remodeled outfits instead of buying new items.

A hundred years ago, women’s shirts were called waists. Based upon the wording of this diary entry the top part of a dress apparently was also called waists.

An aside–I apologize for using this photo several times over the past year or so. I wish that I had more photos of my ancestors–but I have very few so sometimes need to use the same photo a couple times to illustrate entries.

Could Hardly Get Through the Mud

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

Friday, February 23, 1912: It was so awful muddy this afternoon. Didn’t hardly know how I would get through mud and everything else coming home from school.

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

Mud was a huge problem a hundred years ago. Neither the streets in McEwensville nor the rural roads that Grandma needed to walk to get home from school were paved.