This is the second month of Emma’s journal.
If you missed the first
issue, you might want to go back and look at it to
get an idea
of who some of the people are
that she mentions.
(NOTE: Emma's Journal is reprinted here with permission of Linda Hoopes.
The indented italized words are those of Linda Hoopes to help a visitor
to these
journals better understand who, what and where they are reading about in
the journal pages,)
|
~Thu 1.
Entertained WFMS today.
~Fri 2. Nora came
over today. Gave her recital at the school house. It was very fine.
~~Tell’s sister Nora (Margaret
Manora) was an accomplished musician/performer, and had a career
as a music teacher; by the time she died at age 95 in Missouri,
she had served as the dean of music and speech at Kansas City
University and as the Director of Music and Reading at North
Texas State Normal College (now NTSU). |
|
~Sat 3. Took a
long vocal lesson from Nora. Started some reducing exercises. Almost a
blizzard this AM.
~~Here’s an interesting article on
“reducing” (losing weight to become thin) in the 1920s. Emma had
a lifelong struggle with weight, and also with diabetes. |
|
~Sun 4. Snowing
this AM. We all went to church & SS AM & evening. Met with Rev. Rowley’s
class in PM. Cold. Will’s birthday.
~Mon 5. Wash day.
Went to a Farm Bureau play at the schoolhouse in evening.
~~The
Farm Bureau movement started
in 1911, with a national organization being formed in 1919. They
played a large role in rural communities. Their activities
included social/educational events that might include
refreshments, demonstrations, and plays. |
|
~Tue 6. Made a
house dress (white). Went to the preliminary dramatic contest at
schoolhouse. Rev. Hart of DePaul University stayed all night.
~Wed 7. A sure
enough blizzard today. Taught this PM in Bible school.
~Thu 8. Too cold
to have the Older Boys & Girls Conf. today. Roads drifted so speakers
could not get through. Choir party at Port’s in evening.
~Fri 9. We all
went to the basketball game—Alden vs Hubbard. Saw Mrs. Johnson. Got a
letter from Lou.
~~High school basketball was
thriving in 1927, including womens’
6-on-6 games.
I found this
great story
about women in Newhall, another small Iowa town, who
fought back on the decision to eliminate the girls’ state
championship tournament.
~Alden was a town about 20 miles up the road. |
|
~Sat 10. Made Ruth
a black velvet dress today. Dr. Hart left today. Katharine went to the
Falls.
~~I’m pretty sure this is the town
of Cedar Falls, and I think Katharine was studying at Iowa State
Teachers College
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4604025 (now the University of Northern Iowa). |
|
~Sun 11. Went to
church & SS this AM. Gerald came down in the evening. I called on
Annabelle Albright who is sick with pneumonia. Nora’s birthday.
~Mon 12. Finished
reading Albert Edward Wiggam’s book The Fruit of the Family Tree today.
Had my SS class after school. We made picture books.
~Tue 13. Finished
reading the Bible through today. Started last Jan. while in Rochester.
Went to Iowa Falls to hear Jack Minor in the evening.
~~I
am guessing that the speaker was Jack Miner, an ornithologist
and conservationist who was one of the early users of bird
banding to study migratory patterns. He may have been speaking
at Ellsworth College (now Ellsworth Community College), which is
in Iowa Falls. |
|
~Wed 14. A
beautiful sunshiny day. Taught in Bible school today.
~Thu 15. Cold
today. The study club met here in the evening—15 present.
~Fri 16. Went to
the Exhibit Tea at the High School this PM.
~~As
far as I can tell, an Exhibit Tea was an art exhibit where tea
was served. |
|
~Sat 17. Ruth &
Katharine went to Iowa Falls today on the bus. I went up to Miriam’s a
little while.
~Sun 18. Cold
today. Went to church & SS twice. Ruth is playing for the evening choir.
Think I will go to Des Moines tomorrow.
~Mon 19. Wash day.
Nora came over today. Tell & I went to Des Moines.
~~Des Moines, the capital of Iowa,
had a population of about 130-140,000 at that time. It was about
60 miles away. |
|
~Tue 20. Stayed in
Des Moines till the afternoon bus. Bought a box of Fabric Paints.
~Wed 21. Took a
vocal lesson today. Nora went home this PM. Taught at Bible school.
~Thu 22. Made
letters for a Christmas exercise. Heard the girls drill in the evening.
~~I expect this was a
Bible
Study drill with the study group she has mentioned earlier. |
|
~Fri
23. Ruth was fourteen today. Had Gerald & his family for
supper. Went to the school program in PM.
~Sat 24. Church
program in the evening. Painted some in PM.
~Sun 25. Christmas
Day. It is so warm out today. So many nice gifts came my way—a cyclamen
plant in bloom, a hand painted scarf-handkerchief, roaster,
correspondence cards, bayberry candles and so many greetings. We have
heard from 16 states.
~~Here’s a cyclamen plant1. I think
the roaster refers to a goose, because she cooks it later. And I
discovered that there is a
tradition
of lighting a bayberry
candle on Christmas Eve, when you see the first star, and then
letting it burn down to its end to bring prosperity to the house
for the coming year. |
![](3-flower_small.jpg) |
NOTE: Click small image to view it
full. |
~Mon 26. We spent
today with the Stubbs & Dogget families at the Stubbs home. Took Nora
with us. She read The Gift in the PM. Had a lovely Christmas dinner.
~Tue 27. Washed
this PM. Went to the shop in the PM & posted books while Tell & Gerald
went to the farm. Roasted our goose today.
~~The shop was Tell’s farm implement company.
~~Aha! Here’s the Christmas goose being cooked. |
|
~Wed 28. We have
been painting today. Went to Eldora—Ruth, Katharine and I & got
Katharine a pretty new coat. Daddy & Katharine went to the basketball
game—Hubbard Hounds vs Radcliffe Firemen.
~Thu
29. Painted handkerchiefs most all day. Lottie & Miss
Reece came over awhile.
~Fri 30. Read
Pollyanna’s Debt of Honor through today. It is very cold & windy.
~~The
original Pollyanna book was written in 1913 by Eleanor Porter,
and is considered a classic2. A series of sequels was written by
two other authors—this one in 1927 by
Harriet Lummis Smith. |
|
~Tue 27. Sat 31.
It is another cold day. Went to Mrs. Baker’s to the KH party celebrating
25th anniversary of KH. Have a bad cold.
~~I think KH is the King’s Heralds,
the children’s branch of the WFMS. I am starting to add acronyms
and abbreviations to the list of
people and places for future
reference. |
|
This is the last entry in 1927.
See you next week to start
1928! |
1...Photo by
Manuel Torres Garcia on
Unsplash.
2...From the
Wikipedia entry: “Despite the
current common use of the term to mean ‘excessively cheerful,’
Pollyanna
and her father played the ‘glad game’ as a method of coping with the
real difficulties and sorrows that, along with luck and joy, shape every
life." |