17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, June 22, 1912: Went to Watsontown this afternoon. I managed to get through with the dishes and then went for the cows. I found them having a picnic in the corn field, and they were quickly dispatched to safer premises.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Here’s some advice from the early 1900s for doing the dishes. It is abridged from a 1902 cookbook.
Do not be afraid of hot water in washing up dishes and dirty cooking utensils. As these are essentially greasy, lukewarm water cannot possibly have the effect of cleansing them effectively.
After you have washed your saucepans, fish-kettle, &c., stand them before the fire for a few minutes to get thoroughly dry inside, before putting them away. They should then be kept in a dry place, in order that they may escape the deteriorating influence of rust.
Never leave saucepans dirty from one day’s use to be cleaned the next.
After washing up your dishes, wash your dish-tubs with a little soap and water and soda, and scrub them often.
Do not throw anything but water down the sink, as the pipe is liable to get choked, thereby causing expense and annoyance.
Mrs. Beeton’s Cookery Book (1902)
Cows Escaped
Whew–the cows escaped from the pasture, again! This must be at least the fourth or fifth time in 1912. (It’s happened so many times that I’ve lost track of the exact number.)
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Friday, June 21, 1912: I’ve been thinking over an article I read in a magazine. It is about reducing a speck. I think I’ll try it at least, and be less of a pumpkin than what I am now.
1913 graduation photo of Helena Muffly. She doesn’t look heavy in this picture–but maybe she’d lost a “speck.”
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
It sounds like Grandma needed to lose a few pounds—or at least that she thought that she did.
A hundred years ago people believed that the best way to lose weight was to eat “dainty” foods and to chew food more thoroughly. They thought that they would lose weight if they chewed each bite 30 times, 40 times, or even more, before swallowing. This was often called Fletcherizing.
At dinner last night I tried chewing each bite 35 times. The sandwich and potatoes (oops–they may not be dainty foods) that I was eating liquefied in my mouth and it lost all flavor long before the 35th bite.
My family finished eating while I still had lots of food left on my plate.
I don’t think that I could Fletcherize my food meal after meal—but I do think that I’d lose weight if I did it consistently.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Thursday, June 19, 1912: Pulled a tooth for Jimmie. It was the first one to go, and then he got another yanked out before the day was over.
Jimmie Muffly
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
How did Grandma pull her little brother’s baby tooth? Did she tie a string around it and pull? . . . twist and wiggle the tooth back and forth with her finger? . . . give it a quick tug?
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, June 16, 1912: It rained today. Wanted to go to Sunday School this afternoon, but the walking I felt sure would be simply terrible. Besse and Curt were out this evening.
Recent rainy day photo of the house Grandma lived in when she wrote the diary.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
The weather doesn’t sound good—
Mud would have been an issue since the road between the Muffly farm and McEwensville wasn’t paved a hundred years ago.
Grandma seldom skipped Sunday School—I think this was only the second time since the diary began in January, 1911.
Grandma mentioned several times in the diary that she didn’t want to miss Sunday School because each week she memorized Bible verses—and that if she memorized 700+ verses that she’d get a Bible.
Well, Grandma reached her goal on May 26 and received her Bible two weeks prior to this entry on June 3. Apparently she was less motivated to attend Sunday School now that she had the Bible.
Besse was Grandma’s married sister, and Curt was her husband.
17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, June 15, 1912: Well this is Saturday. Saturday, that’s the way my brain must be of the dull sort. Did some fancy work this afternoon.
Detachable Collar (Source: Ladies Home Journal: October, 1911)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
What type of “fancy work” was Grandma doing? . . . . embroidery . . . tatting. . . crocheting . . .?
Was she making something that would decorate her clothes? . . . or was she making it to give as a gift? . . . or to put in her hope chest?
I want to picture her sitting in the living room doing fancy embroidery on pillow cases and sheets in anticipation of finding the right guy and getting married someday—but maybe it was for more immediate needs such as decorating a dress collar.
