19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Thursday, May 14, 1914: Had a job this afternoon, and it lasted quite a while, too.
Source: Ladies Home Journal (March, 1914)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Hmm. .. Grandma—
You aren’t giving me much to go on here. What was the job?. . . cleaning the house? (I don’t think so , since you just completed the spring housecleaning a few days ago.). . . pulling weeds? . . . cleaning manure out of the barn? . . . doing laundry? . . .
—
I’m going to go with the laundry. . . Farmers clothes get very, very dirty; and it can be a lot of work to get the stains out of overalls and other work clothes.
19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Wednesday, May 13, 1914: Tried to turn milliner and fix up a hat. Mad over the shape, also dyed it with shoe-blackening. Later in day I missed the wonderful creation on which I had spent so much energy. It ended in Ma fessing that she had burned it. All that time wasted too. Oh my.
Was shoe blackening used to dye this hat? Source: Ladies Home Journal (February, 1914)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Note to my Great-Grandmother—
I know that I should be respectful since you are my great grandmother. but how dare you destroy your daughter’ s self-esteem by burning her creative efforts?
Maybe the hat was ugly, but couldn’t you have waited a couple days to destroy it?
19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Monday, May 11, 1914: Rain, rain go away and come again some other day. Was invited to a party for this eve, but it just came down in floods, and alas, I staid at home.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Grandma—
Too bad about the rain . . . Did you miss a super fun party. . .or just an average one?
—
It’s amazing how some phrases like, “Rain, rain, go away” been around at least a hundred years.
While others are popular for a few years and then totally vanish. A phrase with a very short life that comes to mind is “Where the beef?
19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Sunday, May 10, 1914: Went to Sunday School this morning. Went home with Margaret to spend the afternoon. My, but we did do some tall walking and had a good time. My limbs have a rather sorry feeling by this time from so much exertion.
Margaret Bryson (Photo source: Jane Shuman)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
A vigorous walk with a friend sounds like a wonderful way to spend a beautiful spring afternoon. What did they talk about? . . . cute guys? . . . gossip about friends?. . . spring housecleaning? . . . .
Some mysteries periodically recur in the diary. Grandma had two friends named Margaret—Margaret Bryson and Margaret G. (I don’t know her last name)—and it’s unclear which one this entry refers to. For more information, see these previous posts:
19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, May 9, 1914: Well for the most part it rained today, which kept me indoors a good bit.
Source: Ladies Home Journal (March, 1914)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Did Grandma do any sewing on rainy days? Maybe she made a bucket bag.
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal had an article titled, “The Bucket is Back.” The first sentence said:
If ever there was a moment for the bucket bag, it is now.
Wall Street Journal (May 8, 2014)
What goes around comes around. The bucket bag was equally popular a hundred years ago. The four bucket bags in this post were all featured in the March, 1914 issue of Ladies Home Journal.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Grandma was probably totally exhausted as the spring cleaning and wallpapering wound down; and was too tired to write a diary entry a hundred years ago today. Hopefully she had a chance to relax a little, and maybe the wedding of the president’s daughter the previous day made her dream a little–
On May 7, 1914, Eleanor Wilson, the daughter of President Woodrow Wilson married William McAdoo. Eleanor was 24 years old, and he was a widower who was 26 years older than her. He was also the Secretary of the Treasury.
Source: Milton Evening Standard (April 19, 1914)
Apparently the article didn’t correctly predict how many wedding gifts the couple would receive. According to Eleanor’s 1967 obituary:
Her marriage to McAdoo drew world attention. The wedding was held in the White House, where a family friend recalled “there were rooms and rooms of gifts. It was all a mad rush, but she enjoyed it immensely.”
An aside—Apparently even a storybook wedding doesn’t ensure long-term happiness, because the obituary continued:
The couple divorced 20 years later when McAdoo was elected U.S. senator from California and Mrs. McAdoo had to remain in California for health reasons.
19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Thursday, May 7, 1914: Two rooms got put in order for today.
The daintily flowered wallpaper and chair cushions, the plain rug and the curtains are all in various tones of lavender, while the two mahogany tables offer a pleasing bit of taste.
Ladies Home Journal (October, 1913)
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Yeah! It must be wonderful for the spring cleaning to be about finished and to have redecorated rooms with new wallpaper. One room that was redone was the sitting room; I’m not sure about the other room.
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The October, 1913 issue of Ladies Home Journal had a fun article about decorating farmhouses:
Good Taste in the Farmhouse
In the living room above we have shown how successfully one family has solved the problem of a long narrow room. A few good pieces of furniture have been placed as apparently to reduce the length of the room; and well-proportioned rugs—one placed lengthwise and one at right angles to this—also tend to improve the appearance of the room.
The living room was once a kitchen in an old farmhouse. Only furniture of Colonial design should be used in a room of these architectural features, as the great open fireplace, the paneled woodwork, and the rough heavy ceiling beams bespeak that period.
