17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Wednesday, February 19, 1913: We went up to practice this evening, and then didn’t have any after all.
Recent photo of the house Grandma lived in when she was writing the diary–and the road she would have walked down to get to McEwensville.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
I hate it when signals get crossed. I bet Grandma was ticked off.
Grandma (and probably her sister Ruth) would have walked a mile and a half from their farm into McEwensville for a play practice that didn’t take place. Grandma had the role of Chloe, the servant, in the play.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, February 17, 1913: I have discovered the fact that I am getting a new nail on my once sore thumb.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
I bet Grandma was looking forward to when her thumb nail would look like this. (Source: Wikipedia)
Whew! Grandma must have really injured her thumb back in December, if it’s taken two months for her to know whether she’d get a new nail.
This was the third time that Grandma mentioned the injured thumb in the diary. (If she hurt it as badly as it sounds, I’m almost surprised how few times she wrote about it.)
Our dearest Ruth left for Sunbury this morning and my heart is rather sad. We killed some pigs and I took a slice off the end of my thumb. Oh sad the day, for I don’t care anything about having a sore thumb.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, February 16, 1913: Went to Sunday School this morning. Carrie was over this afternoon.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
What did Grandma and her friend Carrie Stout talk about?
This was the era of suffragettes. Did they ever talk about the role of women—and whether they should have the right to vote? (The 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, won’t be ratified until 1919.)
Maybe they discussed a book published in 1913 by Berton Braley called Sonnets of a Suffragette.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, February 14, 1913:Cupid didn’t send me any valentines. Didn’t feel very well this morning.
My dearest sister was going to a box social, and then didn’t go because no one came for her. I’m glad I wasn’t going for then I would have been disappointed.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Hundred-year-old Valentine Postcard
I bet Grandma wished that a special guy had sent her a valentine like this one.
February must be the month for box socials. Grandma and her sister Ruth went to one the previous week-end.
Poor Ruth—it’s hard to be stood up. (Maybe I should be looking at this from Grandma’s perspective and feel happy—but I can’t help feeling bad for Ruth.)
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Grandma’s matured a lot. In 1911 and 1912 she was really into sending ugly valentines–sometimes called vinegar valentines–to people who annoyed her; but in 1913 she never mentioned them. You might enjoy these posts from previous years:
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Wednesday, February 12, 1913: Whose birthday is it? I heard that question asked today. Knew it before anyway. Was weighed today. Not very pleasant news. It was a pound more than last time, but I owe some of that to heavier clothing.
At last we have our subject to write upon. Titled the American Revolution. Wonder if I could get the gold piece. At least I intent to try and do my best.
Source: Wikipedia
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
A hundred years ago two presidents’ birthdays were celebrated in February. Lincoln’s birthday was on February 12 and Washington’s on February 22– though Lincoln’s Birthday never was an official federal holiday.
In 1971, the observance of Washington’s Birthday was shifted to the third Monday in February as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. The Act did not change the name of the holiday, but it is now commonly referred to as Presidents Day in honor of both presidents.
Our teacher made such a wonderful proposition today. It was made to our class. The one who writes the best essay on a given subject is to receive a two dollar and a half gold piece.
At the time I’d assumed she just failed to mention the essay topic, but apparently it took the teacher half a month to come up with the topic. . . .strange. . .
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An aside—Whenever I gain a pound, I also owe some of the gain to heavier clothing. 🙂
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Tuesday, February 11, 1913: We are trying to get a program in sway for our next meeting.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Hmm…How do you get a “program in sway”? What were they trying to do?
On February 7, 1913 Grandma wrote that she was elected president of the Literary Society. I think that she and the other officers were trying to pull together the program for the next meeting.
According to the Free Online Dictionary, sway can be either a verb or a noun. One meaning for the noun is “control”. So in other words, they were trying to get the program under control.
