Emma #6: March 1928
Quilts, gum, and small-town politics. |
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Page 1.
~Thu 1. Helped mark the Aid Quilt at Mrs. Olmstead’s this PM. Katharine &
I attended the Club Pot Luck supper at Gunther’s in the evening.
~Fri 2. Finished helping mark the quilt at Mrs. Baker’s today. Decided to
run on the school board. Had a Cemetery meeting here this evening.
Rowleys called.
| ~In the previous entry, Emma was elected president of
the association for the Boylan Cemetery. Here’s a picture of
Betty (Emma’s oldest
granddaughter) on a visit to Hubbard in 2002. |
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~Sat 3. Was at home all day. Am planning to make a little speech tomorrow
evening. John Boylan makes the address
for Victory Day.
~Sun 4. Had Gerald & family over today. First time Baby Jerry had been
out. John gave a talk at the church for WCTU Victory Day.
I asked for offering. Got about $18.00.
~Mon 5. A beautiful wash day. Mrs. Port called to urge me to urge Ruth to
practice. Did the ironing this evening.
| ~~Ruth grew up to be a professional musician—a lot more on that later—but,
like most of us, she had to be reminded to practice! |
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~Tue 6. Went to Ladies’ Aid today. We are quilting Mrs. Leming’s
Friendship quilt. I cut out two house dresses today. Saw a robin
yesterday. Ruth’s grade got a pretty silk scarf for Miss Berry’s birthday
tomorrow.
| ~~Ruth was in 8th grade at Hubbard Junior High School. Emma Berry was one
of her teachers. I just found a handmade yearbook
from her 1928 class…more on that to come. |
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~Wed 7. Taught again in Bible school today & then quilted awhile. Got a
little studying done on my talk for tomorrow.
Lowell Gosser gave me a stick of gum.
| ~~A little research shows that chewing gum has been around since ancient
Greece; the first bubble gum was actually invented
in this very year, 1928. |
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~Thu 8. Mrs. Rowley took Mrs. Swallum & me to Honey Creek to a WCI
Institute today. I made a speech. Rained all day hard.
| ~Mrs. Swallum is a regular character in these journals |
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~Fri 9. WFMS at Mrs. Baker’s today. Had a Founder’s Day meeting. Had a
good meeting. Went to choir practice in the evening.
~Sat 10.
Had a lovely surprise today. Miss Golisch came to see me for a
little while. She went just as dinner was ready for her
folks came for her & she went with them to Eldora. It was in Mar 1915
that I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit—my 13th birthday.
| ~Miss Golisch, mentioned in an earlier entry, is a church missionary.
It took me a minute to figure this out…Emma was born in 1879, so would
have been 36 in 1915, but I believe she is saying that
today is her 13th birthday “in the Holy Spirit.” |
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~Sun 11. We had Gladys & her father here for dinner today. Had a nice
chicken dinner. Gerald & family have gone to Eldora.
~Mon 12. School Board election today. I surely was snowed under. 46-138.
These Germans sure want the squaw to stay in her
wigwam. Quilted, washed and had my girls SS class meeting.
| ~Hubbard had a large German population at this time. Based on census
figures, the population of the town would have been
around 700 or so in 1928. |
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~Tue 13. Went to the dentist. Ironed. Went down to Liebensteins &
finished the quilting today. Ruth is making a box for the EL supper
Sat. night.
~Wed 14. Taught in Bible School. Ruth was not feeling well today. Bought
material to make a quilt. Went to choir practice & prayer
meeting.
| ~My mom has some quilts that were made by Emma. I don’t know if either of
them is the one she’s talking about here, but here’s
some detail from one of them. |
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~Thu 15. Finished at the dentists today. Cost me $23.00. Made my first
quilt block.
| ~This would have been about $370 in today’s dollars. |
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~Fri 16. Attended a WCTU meeting at Ports’ today. Called on Mrs. Haas.
~Sat 17. Went to Iowa Falls with Katharine & Miss Reese. Went to the EL
Basket supper in the evening.
~Sun 18. Went to church & SS in AM. Stayed with Gerald’s children in the
evening while they went to church.
~Mon 19. Am so tired today from washing. Katharine is sending off about
225 alumni letters.
~Tue 20. Did part of the ironing & quilted this PM on Mrs. Liebenstein’s
quilt.
~Wed 21. Ironing—School—Quilting—Called on Mrs. Van Patter—Prayer
Meeting—Choir practice. It has been a beautiful day.
~Thu 22. Another beautiful day. I cleaned the bath room & sewed today.
~Fri 23. A beautiful day. Spent the PM at the shop.
~Sat 24. An extra beautiful day. Sewed.
~Sun 25. Another wonderful day. The grass is turning green & the birds
are singing. Katharine went to Des Moines to hear
Aimee McPherson today. Tell & I walked to the Boylan Cemetery today.
About four miles. Caught a ride part way home.
| ~~Aimee Semple McPherson was a wildly popular and controversial
Pentecostal evangelist and faith healer who founded one of the first
megachurches in the US |
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Page 2.
Mon 26. Cold
& dreary today. Worked at the shop.
Tue 27.
Washed this AM. Went to a church meeting at night. Cleaned my basement
today.
Wed 28.
Ironed, worked at the shop. Taught at church. Cold & stormy today with
snow.
Thu 29.
Still cold. Gerald & I papered the little bedroom. Mr. JBS took Gerald’s
place in the PM. The wall paper looked prettier in the sample than on
the wall.
~Fri 30. It has warmed up a bit today. The day
has been spent cleaning up the house. The roller skating party is on—the
Eighth grade is to eat here.
~~Ruth’s Junior High yearbook lists their class events,
including this roller skating party. Because I just found it, I
missed being able to post the details of their February program,
which was a rendition of the Boston Tea Party held in the
gymnasium. Ruth played “Mistress Lettice Winthrop.”
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~Sat 31. We
sewed today. Ruth, Katharine & I went to Iowa Falls in Miss Reece’s car.
Had a blow out.
Car tires in 1928 were pneumatic, and used natural rubber
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Page 3. Tire life was
about 15,000 miles, and blowouts were fairly frequent. |
| ~~I hope you have enjoyed this week’s installment of Emma’s journals! See
you next week for April, 1928. |
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1.Photo credit: James Wainscoat on Unsplash
2.More information and photo credit here.
3.https://burtbrothers.com/blog/history-of-tires/ |
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