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.

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:

Which Friend Does this Diary Entry Refer to?

Which Margaret Does the Diary Entry Refer to?

Blanche and Margaret Bryson

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

Friday, May 8, 1914:  <no entry>

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.

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.

—

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.

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

Wednesday, May 6, 1914: Went to Watsontown this afternoon. Didn’t want to, for I would rather had seen some papering done.

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

Grandma—

Why didn’t you tell us?—Over the last 18 days, you weren’t just doing the spring housecleaning, you were also getting a room (the sitting room?) ready to be wallpapered!

I sympathize–it’s a lot of hard work to scrape off old wallpaper.

And, why were you sent on an errand to Watsontown? Were some additional wallpapering supplies needed?

—

Wow, Far Side of Fifty had it right! Sometimes I’m amazed when a reader has a better sense of what was happening in the Muffly household than I do. On May 1, Far Side of Fifty wrote the following comment:

They did some heavy cleaning back then. Taking everything out of a room and painting or papering it…freshening it all up.

I’m not very far ahead on doing posts right now, and I hadn’t realized until recently that in addition to doing the spring housecleaning, the Muffly’s were preparing to so some wallpapering.

I obviously thought that the term “spring housecleaning” had a narrower meaning that what it really had a hundred years ago.

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

Tuesday, May 5, 1914: Jimmie and I had a knock-out.

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

Hmm. . . Grandma was 19, and Jimmie was her 8-year-old brother. What the heck could they have been fighting about? I’d think that with such a large age difference that they’d seldom fight.

Here are links to some previous posts about Jimmie Muffly that you might enjoy:

Whatever Happened to Jimmie Muffly?

Muffly Magnetic Retriever Used to Remove Metal Objects from Cows’ Stomachs