Tag: 1911

1911 Books That Have Stood the Test of Time

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

Wednesday, January 18, 1911: Got a book out of the library at school today, which I’ll have to manage to read pretty soon, as soon as I get time.

Her middle-aged grand-daughter’s comments 100 years later:

Tuesday, January 18, 2010:  Goodreads lists 180 books published in 1911 that are still in print. These probably were not the most popular books at the time, but rather they are the books that have endured –and whose message apparently continues to resonate a hundred years later.

Fourteen books on the list that I recognized the title or author of are listed below.

1. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (Barrie published the children’s story in 1911–he’d written the play a few years earlier.)

All children, except one, grow up.

First line of Peter Pan

2. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

3.  Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

4. My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir

5. The Door in the Wall by H.G. Wells

6. The Scarlet Plague by Jack London

7. Under Western Eyes by Joseph Conrad          

8. Jennie Gerhardt by Theodore Dreiser

9. The Quest of the Golden Fleece by W.E.B. DuBois

10. The Sea Fairies by L. Frank Baum

11.The Montessori Method by Marie Montessori

12. Roget International Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget

13. The Principles of Scientific Management by Frederick Taylor

14. The Official Handbook for Boys by The Boys Scouts of America

The books cover the gamut, but they give an indication of some of the key issues of 1911–social norms (Wharton), civil rights (Dubois), good management (Taylor’s famous–or perhaps infamous–time-motion studies measured how long it took factory workers to complete various tasks with the goal of increasing efficiency), early childhood education (Montessori), revolutionary movements (Conrad), and the environment (Muir).  It’s amazing how some of the issues haven’t really changed much in 100 years–while in other cases the whole paradigm has shifted.

Winter Activities

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

Tuesday, January 17, 1911. Miss Stout was over this evening, wanted me to go skating or else sliding with her down on the creek with the rest of the gang. I choose to stay at home, and there I remained, and here I am at the present time.

News From Exactly 100 Years Ago Today

Woodrow Wilson was inaugurated as governor of New Jersey on January 17, 1911. Prior to becoming governor he was the president of Princeton University. He was elected president of the United States less than two years later in November 1913.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later

Monday, January 17, 2010. It must have gotten colder and snowed since the entry three days ago when the diary reported that it was raining. Warrior Run Creek flows through the edge of the Muffly farm. I’m surprised that the creek froze enough to skate on. Maybe they somehow flooded nearby land to create a homemade skating rink.

Recent photo of Warrior Run Creek (though taken at a different time of year). The old Muffly barn is in the background.

Grandma’s friend, Carrie Stout, lived on a farm about half way between McEwensville and the Muffly farm. (See Setting page for map and photo.)

Cold, Dark, January Nights

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

Sunday, January 15, 1911: Hardly remember what I did today. This evening I accompanied my lofty sister up to Oakes.

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

Grandma had two sisters. Besse  and Ruth.  Besse was the oldest and already married by the time Grandma began keeping this diary. Ruth was 3 years older than Grandma and still lived at home—so this entry must be referring to Ruth. I wonder why Grandma refers to Ruth as lofty?

Grandma would have walked down this road past another neighbor's farm to get to Oakes--except imagine that it is dark and very cold.

The Oakes family lived on a farm that was located about a mile from where Grandma lived.  Grandma and Ruth would have gone down the road that went past their farm in the opposite direction from the way they headed when going to McEwensville.

I don’t like to go out after dark on cold, dark January nights.  Grandma and Ruth would have gone up a hill and then turned into a lane to get to the Oakes home.  Did they walk to Oakes—or did they ride in a carriage or wagon? Was there a full moon? Did they take a lantern?

Tweet ‘Tweeting’ in 1911

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

Friday,  January 13, 1911: Jakie, that’s my teacher had a siege of moving our seats today. I didn’t get mine moved, although I expected to be. It really was a wonder that I didn’t. Some wonderful things happen in this every day world.

Local newspaper article exactly 100 years ago today: 

Article in January 13, 1911 issue of the Milton Evening Standard

Miss Helen Wesner, Miss Jennie E. Guinn, and Howard Guinn spent Wednesday evening at the home of Clem Baylor.

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

A hundred years ago people also wanted to keep their friends informed about what they were doing. The tweets of that day were brief items in the local newspaper.  A fun evening that a friend of Grandma’s had is mentioned in the Milton Evening Standard exactly a hundred years ago today. You’ll meet Helen Wesner—Grandma calls her Tweet— in the diary in a few weeks. Tweet or one of the other people mentioned in the paper must have given the information to the McEwensville reporter for inclusion.

I remember when I was a child that when we had out-of-town guests my mother would always inform the Watsontown reporter of the Milton paper. At the time small town newspapers that included minor social happenings were seen as being really backwards and old-fashioned, but perhaps tweeting–either in the newspaper or electronically– is really back to the future.

No Multiple Choice Tests

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

Thursday,  January 12, 1911: Finished taking examinations today for this month. I don’t believe I made very good marks. It seems to me as if I am going backwards every month instead of going forward.

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

It’s hard to envision schools without the ubiquitous multiple choice and true/false tests, but the examinations that Grandma took WERE NOT multiple choice tests. Multiple choice items were invented in 1915. And the exams probably did not include true/false, matching or fill in the blank items. All of these question types were popularized during the 1920s by educational psychologists who promoted the concept of scientific testing.

Grandma’s exams probably included arithmetic tests that contained math problems which students copied off the blackboard. Portions of the exam were probably oral since mental math was valued prior to the development of calculators.

The examinations that Grandma took probably included recitations and oral responses. For example, a student might be required to recite a poem that he or she memorized. Or the teacher may ask a student questions about material that has been covered in class.

Discussion tests gave students the opportunity for free, organized, and individualized expression on the topics involved.

Martin Stormzand

In other subjects there probably were essay or ‘discussion’ tests. Sometimes students were directed to merely outline their response rather than write a polished essay.

8 Tips for Retaining Good Health, Circa 1911

January 10, 1911: Missing entry (Diary resumes on January 12)

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

I’ll give you a little more contextual information today since there is no diary entry.

In 1911 many families had a few general reference books–one such book generally was the Almanac and another was the Compendium of Every Day Wants: A Thousand and One Facts. The book contained information that ranged from grammar rules, to sample civil marriage forms, to recipes, explanations of who is responsible for runaway horses, and treatments for medical emergencies.

Nature demands that we oby her laws, and it is much easier and much less expensive to try, by proper care of ourselves, to retain good heatlh than it is to cure many ailments which come from abusing our bodies.

Compendium of Every Day Wants: A Thousand and One Facts

The chapter on How to Preserve Health had the following tips:

  • Be regular; have a certain time to go to bed and a certain time to get up–it is not the amount of sleep, but the regularity which the mind and body need.
  • Eat nothing but plain food; be temperate in all things.
  • Take plenty of outdoor exercise.
  • Keep clean inside and out–bath often the entire body; drink plenty of good, fresh water.
  • Don’t be afraid of work, but do not worry about it; it is not work, but worry that kills.
  • Keep the mind free from evil thoughts.
  • Follow an honest calling.
  • Live within your means.

If the above is heeded, much suffering will be saved and few doctors will be needed.

Compendium of Every Day Wants: A Thousand and One Facts

The Country Life Commission

 January 9, 1911: Missing entry (Diary resumes on January 12)

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

In 1911 the nation was focused on rural deterioration, and the perceived breakdown of rural institutions. Rural youth were flooding into the nation’s cities, and they were often unprepared for urban life.

Recent view of barn on farm where Grandma grew up.

President Theodore Roosevelt had appointed the Country Life Commission in 1908 to figure out ways to improve rural life. The idea was that rural youth would stay on the farm if the young men learned how to use scientific agricultural principals, and the young women learned how to make rural homes comfortable and attractive.

The Country Life Commission Report (as well as several other related reports) were published in 1911.

The repair of country life will come in those forms which give value to the things in the open country. The community must move and breathe in joy and enthusiasm of the country. The celebrations must be of country matters, not those of the city.

W. H. Wilson (1911)

George Wesner in his 1976 History of McEwensville described two-day long Farmers’ Institutes that were regularly held at the McEwensville Community Hall in the early part of the twentieth century. He wrote that “usually some outstanding farmers or professors from Penn State were speakers.”

In the years following the release of the Country Life Report home economists demonstrated the latest cooking and food preservation techniques at meetings attended by rural women and girls, They also taught the principles of interior design.

The Country Life Movement encouraged the support of local fairs. The fairs provided opportunities for people to socialize. Produce and livestock competitions provided opportunities for farmers to demonstrate to others the benefits of using scientific agricultural methods.

The Country Life Movement also encouraged the revitalization of rural churches.

 The church must provide directly some modern equivalent for the husking, apple bee, quilting and singing schools of the old days.

W. H. Wilson (1911)

The Country Life Movement also believed that a rural fraternal organization called the Grange had great potential to improve rural living.

At its best the Grange has a unifying power in the country community  . . . Especially in the community in which religious people cannot come to agreement in religious matters, the Grange infuses a spirit of unions among them through the discussion of every day interests and the social pleasures which it furnishes.

W.H. Wilson (1911)

The Country Life Commission asserted that education was needed to prepare students for life in their community and that it was important to provide an education that would be meaningful in a rural context. The Commission encouraged development of vocational agriculture programs, including school farms, that could provide the context for learning.

Today some people believe that there is a need for a new Country Life Movement to once again revitalize rural America. However, others argue that the Country Life Movement was an attempt by elite outsiders to control rural areas—and that the Country Life Commission created a consumer culture in rural locales when rural residents were encouraged to decorate their homes with the latest styles and use processed foods in recipes.

Grandma lived her entire life in within a 5 mile radius of McEwensville. Did the Country Life Movement help encourage her—and Raymond Swartz, her classmate and future spouse—to stay in rural central Pennsylvania? Who knows?—Though it can be said with near certainty that the implementation of policies recommended by the Country Life Commission affected Grandma’s life.