Tag: hundred years ago

Milking Cows: 1911 and 2011

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

Thursday, October 20, 1911:Got out of school early this afternoon. I gathered some walnuts after I got home. Mollie gave me a kick in the back while milking another cow this evening. I’ve named Ruth’s twin calves, one Brutus and the other Caesar, but I can’t tell which is which.

1911: Probability of being kicked = high (photo source: Kimball's Dairy Farmer Magazine, December 15, 1911)
2011: Robot milker--Probability of being kicked = almost zero

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

Ouch! It sounds like the kick hurt. Grandma’s cow Mollie had her first calf in August. And, Grandma had been pleased with how well Mollie adjusted to being milked, For example on September 27 she wrote:

“Was in doubts and fears as to how Mollie would act when I commenced to milk her. Pop milked her last night, but I had to do it after that, so I got up early this morning, resolving to come off conquering and I did. Hurrah. She didn’t kick.”

But apparently something upset Mollie while Grandma was milking the next cow—and she gave Grandma a kick.

There have been huge changes in how cows are milked over the last hundred years. In 1911 most farmers had just a few cows that were milked by hand. Today most cows are milked by machines in milking parlors (and some are even milked by robots.)

How Many Verses Did She Memorize This Week?

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

Sunday, October 15, 1911: Went to Sunday School this morning. My verses that I am learning for that Bible has decreased some, but I’m still at it.

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

Grandma was trying to memorize Bible verses to get a free Bible. On September 17 she wrote:

. . .One reason for my regular attendance is that if you learn a number of verses from the Bible (over 700 it is) you will in the course of time receive a Bible.. .

And on September 24 she wrote:

 . . . Only learned seven verses for today. Usually have twenty-seven . . .

I wonder how many she memorized this week. I can’t even imagine trying to memorize 27 verses a week. No wonder the number of verses  has decreased over time.

Visited Friends, But Didn’t Stay Long

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

Friday, October 13, 1911: Ruth and I went up to Oakes’ this evening and arrived home in  no time.

Recent photo of the farm where Rachel and Jim Oakes lived.

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

It was a Friday night. I wonder why Grandma and her sister Ruth didn’t stay long.

The Oakes lived on a farm near the Muffly’s. Several of the Oakes children were close in age to  Grandma and  Ruth. Rachel Oakes was a friend and also the primary school teacher at McEwensville.

Several times during the spring and early summer Grandma mentioned in the diary that Ruth was dating Jim Oakes—though he hasn’t been mentioned recently so perhaps that relationship ended sometime prior to this date.

1911 Sports Trivia: Cy Young Retired

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

Thursday, October 12, 1911: Nothing much at all.

Cy Young (Photo source: Wikipedia)

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

Since Grandma didn’t write much today, I’ll tell you a bit of sports history.

Cy Young played his last game in October, 1911 at the age of 44. He is generally considered one of the all-time top pitchers, and had 511 wins over a 22-year career.

Young played the last two months of his career as a Boston Rustler. His last game was a 3-13 loss to Brooklyn. He’d previously played for four other professional teams including the St. Louis Browns and Cleveland Naps.

After his last game Young retired to his farm in Ohio where he lived until he died in 1955.

Beliefs a Hundred Years Ago About High Quality Education for Young Children

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

Wednesday, October 11, 1911: Don’t know what to write. Got my report today. Was better than what I expected.

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

Yeah! Even though it’s silly to be happy about an event that occurred a hundred years ago, I’m glad that Grandma did well on her exams.

Two days ago I quoted from a 1911 book about the purpose of education.  Since Grandma didn’t write much today I’ll tell you about an interesting section in the book about the role of education for younger children (pre-school and primary grades).

In 1911 there was a lot of interest in kindergartens. Many believed that young children needed an enriching environment and that children should develop at a pace they set for themselves. There was a huge amount of interest in the ideas of Madame Maria Montessori. She believed that children spontaneously educated themselves based upon their experiences and environment.

Madame Maria Montessori (Source: Wikipedia)

Today much of the policy discussion for young children revolves around whether there should be universal pre-schooling and how to standardize educational experiences for children in grades k-2. The focus is on teaching children reading skills.  This is very different from what people believed about early education a hundred years ago:

There is good reason, however for believing that early childhood freedom is more important to good mental development than to good physical development. The mind of the child may be more injured by “thorough” mental training of any particular kind, than the body by any special form of physical training. . .

Children not only develop the power to perceive remember, imagine, reason, etc. without any special assistance, but they acquire knowledge without special teaching.

  The Making of the Individual (1911) by E.A. Kirkpatrick

Finished Exams (for the Time Being)

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

Tuesday, October 10, 1911: Wound up with our examinations today. Don’t think I made a good mark in algebra. I have such a sore thumb! Mighty.

Grandma may have used a wood pencil to take written exams. Wood pencils with erasers have been around since the late 1800s. (Photo source: Wikimedia Commons)

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

The previous day’s entry also indicated that Grandma was taking exams. And, diary entries the preceding winter and spring mentioned exams on consecutive days.

These entries imply that students at McEwensville High School took periodic exams in all subject areas on successive days. The school only had one teacher—so it seems as if the multiple exams spread over two days were by design.

Whew, I’m glad that I wasn’t a student a hundred years ago. I remember when I was a high school student how much I hated it when several teachers gave tests close together. (I did learn how to successfully take multiple exams one after the other for college finals—but never liked it.)

The Purpose of Schooling a Hundred Years Ago

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

Monday, October 9, 1911: Had examinations today. Weren’t as hard as I expected they would be.

Building that once housed McEwensville High School

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

It’s always a good sign when you feel good after an exam. It sounds like Grandma probably learned what her teacher wanted her to know.  Today we worry so much about student performance—and whether they’ve learned what they were supposed to learn.

A hundred years ago people believed that schools had several purposes. According to a 1911 book:

The public school performs one of its greatest functions in developing common knowledge, habits, and ideals in its future citizens, a function that it could not perform if all school teaching and regulation of conduct were individual. A common standard of knowledge, power, and achievement, to which everyone is expected to conform, helps to mould the life of an individual in a normal way and to fix in his mind and character standards by means of which his achievements and ideals may be guided.

The Making of the Individual (1911) by E.A. Kirkpatrick