Woodrow Wilson Inaugurated

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

Thursday, March 6, 1913: I got pretty cold today. My hands got rather chilly coming home from school. Ma and Ruth went up to Oakes.

woodrow wilson — President Woodrow Wilson

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

It sounds like it was a cold day. Did Grandma forget her gloves? Maybe she thought that the day would be warmer than it actually was.

For today’s post, I searched for a hundred-year-old newspaper article about the weather, but I failed to find any anything. Instead I discovered that a hundred years ago today was the 3^rd day of President Woodrow Wilson’s presidency.

A hundred years ago the presidential inauguration was in March. Inauguration Day used to be four months after election day. In 1913, it was on March 4. Inauguration day was changed to noon on January 20 by the Twentieth Amendment in 1933.

In November, 1912 Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, beat the incumbent president, Robert Taft in a three-way race. He also beat former president Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was the founder of the Bull Moose Party. For more on the election see:

The 1912 Presidential Campaign: The Republicans, the Democrats, and the Bull Moose Party

Was Grandma excited about the new president? . . unhappy about the change. . .indifferent?

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The Oakes lived on a farm near the Muffly family. They had several children about the same age as the Muffly children. Rachel Oakes was a friend of Grandma and her sister Ruth.

Selected Graduation Invitations

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

Wednesday, March 5, 1913: We had a class meeting tonight to decide some things. One was we selected our invitations.

Metal movable type similar to what the printer may have used to make the invitations (Source: Wikipedia)

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

Grandma was in her last year at McEwensville High School. Her class apparently was selecting what the invitations to their graduation would look like. I think that you’d call Grandma a senior, but I’m not sure since the school was an old-fashioned 3-year high school.

I think this is what was involved in getting invitations—

One of the class members probably visited the shop of a printer and got some sample invitations. The samples may have been glued into a book. There probably were different prices for different invitation styles.

Once the class selected an invitation style, the words that would go on the invitation, and the number of invitations needed, the information would have been taken back to the printer.

The printer would then have ordered the blank invitations from his supplier. Once the blank invitations arrived, the printer would set up the type-face and print a copy for the class to proof.

Once the proof was approved, the invitations would be printed.

Whew, that’s a lot of steps (and I probably missed a few). It’s so much easier today with the internet.

Pictures of Several Hundred-Year-Old Waists Made From One Pattern

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

Tuesday, March 4, 1913: Today was quite an eventful day. Took my waist up this morning. We went up to practice this evening. I now think we are making some progress.

This tailored waist is the foundation waist; the tucks in the front and back allowing ample material for the other waists illustrated.

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

When Grandma was young, blouses and shirts were called waists. What does “took up my waist mean?” Was she remodeling a waist or making a new one?

Maybe Grandma adapted a pattern that she’d previously used to make a new waist. Here are some drawings from a hundred year old issue of Ladies Home Journal that show several waists made from the same basic pattern.

Five Waists From One Pattern

To the woman who does her own sewing the advantage of a pattern from which several different styles of a particular garment can be made is obvious. It reduces materially the fitting problems and the need of studying the various parts of separate patterns. Once you have mastered the construction of the foundation pieces it is extremely easy to apply the various other pieces to make any of the five waists.

Ladies Home Journal (November, 1912)

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Practice referred to play practice. Grandma had the role of Chloe the servant.

Packing School Lunches a Hundred Years Ago

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

Monday, March 3, 1913: Nothing much for today.

Source: Kimball's Dairy Farmer Magazine (September 15, 1913) — Source: Kimball’s Dairy Farmer Magazine (September 15, 1913)

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

Since Grandma didn’t’ write much a hundred years ago today, I’m going to go off on a tangent.

I’ve often wondered what children ate for lunch a hundred years ago. Today we hear so much about how unhealthy school lunches are—and that even children who bring their own lunch often don’t bring nutritious foods.

.Of course, in the small rural schools a hundred years ago all students needed to bring their own lunches. I found a great article on packing school lunches in a 1913 magazine:

The School Lunch Pail

Great care is essential in making the lunch and the lunch pail appear attractive, not only for the sake of the child’s appetite, but for his pride as well. Many a lunch has been surreptitiously thrown under a convenient hedge, because the child was ashamed to open it before the critical eyes of his playmate. . .

The foundation of a lunch is always the reliable bread sandwich. There are many dainty and appetizing sandwich fillings to be made from left-overs. . .

You can make the most appetizing custards and puddings in little ramekins. These are easily prepared the day before when you are getting dinner for the home folks. . .

There are a variety of simple cookies and cakes which delight the child’s heart, particularly when baked in “animal” fancy shapes.

No lunch pail is complete without fruit. If it is impossible to obtain fresh fruits, the dried stewed ones may be substituted. Figs, prunes or dates are wholesome and may be made doubly so when stuffed with nuts, peanut butter, or the puffed grains.

Kimball’s Dairy Farmer Magazine (September 15, 1913)

Sunday Visitors

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

Sunday, March 2, 1913: Went to Sunday School this morning. Besse and Curt were out this afternoon. Went to church this evening.

House Besse and Curt lived in. (I'm not sure whether they lived there as early as 1913). — Recent picture of house Besse and Curt lived in. It’s just outside of nearby Watsontown. (I’m not sure whether they lived in this house as early as 1913).

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

Grandma’s oldest sister Besse was married to Curt Hester. They were frequent Sunday visitors.

When I was young, Sunday afternoon was considered the perfect time to visit friends and relatives. People generally didn’t work on Sunday, or clean house on Sunday. Stores were closed.

We’d often get unexpected “company” on Sunday afternoons. We looked forward to getting these visitors. There was no expectation that people would call ahead to see if we were busy. No matter what we were doing (and we were probably just reading or playing games), we’d welcome the guests—and would consider ourselves fortunate that people liked us enough to visit. I picture that the customs were similar a hundred years ago.

Today, it’s considered impolite to stop by someone’s house without first texting, emailing, or calling first. Sometimes I think that people were more hospitable years ago (or maybe they were just less polite).

School Dismissed Early

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

Friday, February 28, 1913: We got out of school real early this afternoon, so I visited the Primary awhile.

Recent photo of abandoned building that once housed McEwensville High School. — Recent photo of building that once housed the McEwensville Schools.

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

This diary entry reminds me of how different the school Grandma attended was from schools today.

The McEwensville School building housed both a primary school (grades 1-8) on the first floor and a high school on the second floor. There were just two teachers in the building—a primary teacher and a high school teacher. Both teachers would have taught multiple grades and subjects.

Since Grandma was writing in the diary for herself (and not for readers a hundred years later) she skipped many of the details. Here’s my interpretation of this entry—

Although Grandma got out of school early, she probably needed to stay until the primary students were dismissed. Her 7-year-old brother Jimmie was in second grade. Even though she almost never mentioned walking to and from school with her little brother in the diary—they probably walked together every day.

A Good Day, But Raining Cats and Dogs

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

Monday, February 24, 1913: Had an exam in Geometry this morning. Wasn’t hard after all. Tis raining cats and dogs tonight.

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

Yeah! Grandma, I hope you got a 100%. Easy tests are the best.

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In spite of the evening rain, it sounds like a good day. I picture Grandma listening to the rain drops hit the window as she drifted peacefully off to sleep.