Saturday, July 18, 1936

plesant but had a sunshiny sprinkle this afternoon about a dozen drops
Made elderberry pie and layer cake and worked in garden this afternoon
hoed tomatoes, cabbages and onions.
Mrs. Evans & Elnora called this eve-
A skunk ate Aunty's setting eggs-
A dog got in Leroy's sheep killed one bit 2-
*Rec'd telegram from Clara of safe arrival-


*This was written vertically up the left hand side of the diary entry.

Wednesday, May 6, 1936

plesant all day-
I done the washing and stewed prunes- and got the meals
The hay pressers* were here all day-
Mother did not make any objections whatever to doing the washing^-
She has been fine all day-

Hay derrick June 1936*

*Photo credit: Paradise Valley Folklife Project collection, 1978-1982 (AFC 1991/021), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

^Stop the press. Mother is doing chores!

Tuesday, April 21, 1936

Rainy and cold all day
clear sky and stars shining this eve-
Done all the chores and made corn strach custards and stewed the last phenix apples*
Rec'd letter and $15.00ncheck from Clara pays from March 24 to April 13-
Mother has been quiet all day-

Cortland apple created in NY

*I cannot find a listing for a phenix/phoenix apple. One site says that there are over 735 variety of apples, of which only about 50 are grown in any number. That's 6.8% of the apple varieties being grown now than in 1892! My dad, who worked in a apple orchard for a number of years, has never heard of this apple. It's possible it was a local name, or that it is no longer cultivated. 

http://www.orangepippin.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_apple_cultivars

Monday, April 6, 1936

Monday rainy and cold and damp-
Harry fixed lock on garage door and grubbed out wild stuff from the front yard and stopped at 4-30 p.M. and took Mother and I to Ithaca with 7 doz eggs @18 [cents]*-
Mother has been fine all day
I combed her hair and washed her neck and ears etc.

Notice the cost of eggs*

*I found an interesting source to verify the cost of eggs- The Central Virginia Electric Cooperative.

Wednesday, April 1, 1936

Cold but plesant but changing to rain 8-30 P.M.
Aunty and Florence Searles both Fooled me*-
I made two elderberry pies and a molasses cake-
combed Mothers hair etc-
Mother got mad at dinner time and Iliff took her in car to brick house-
Iliff and I went to Ithaca and got groceries and then got Mother-
Robert Bower called this eve to see Clara

April Fools' Day is often portrayed with a jester^

*Darn! I wish Irene recorded what the pranks/ jokes were. For a taste of the kind of April Fools' Day joke the media was playing in 1936, check out this hoax from the Honolulu Star- Bulletin.

^Free coloring page can be found on Kids Coloring.

Monday, March 30, 1936

plesant but rained this afternoon-
thunder rumbled
Washed Mothers dress and sweater and our stockings and ironed aprons and dresses-
Mother wanted to run away to brick house but was mad when I insisted on going along-
Hay buyer came with Leroy Bower-
Aunty worked in yard-

Sunday, March 29, 1936

Cloudy all day-
Charles came over and used the crank* on Harry's car and it started right off-
so Harry went to Auburn-
I made a lemon pie and done the usual work-
Took my bath this afternoon-
Iliff came this eve
Mother has been some restless today but not bad-

Google map of Ludlowville to Auburn, NY

*I'm not quite sure why Harry didn't have his own crank for the car, but I'm glad Charles was able to start his car. Above is the present day trip from Ludowville, north to Auburn.

 

Saturday, March 28, 1936

plesant all day-
Cooked the rooster mopped the kitchen and done usual Saturday work-
Harry worked in yard and burned burdocks* and brush in peach orchard^-
Mother got nervous and Harry was going to take her for a ride and the car would not start-
Aunty & Harry went to brick house-

Burdock burrs*

*I remember when we lived for a few months with the family in Cato, NY in the fall of 1981. My younger sister, Heather, & I made Barbie furniture out of green burdock burrs. When the burrs are green they aren't as difficult to detach. We used them like you would Bristle Blocks. Apparently burdock, or arctium, are not native to North or South America, but were introduced by Europeans. Plus, they were an inspiration for the invention of Velcro (The Big Idea: How Business Innovators Get Great Ideas to Market by Steven D. Strauss). (Image from Cherry Gal.)

^It's interesting to me that there is a peach orchard. I don't believe Irene has baked anything with peaches yet. Maybe the fruit will show up later in the year at harvest time, for NY that would be late July through early September.

Saturday, March 21, 1936

North wind and rain and snow and nasty all day
Done all the chores and made a tapioca custard and a marble layer cake-
combed Mothers hair ect-
Mother rec'd letters from Clara and Lloyd.
Mother never slept much all night but stayed downstairs but I did not sleep
was so afraid she would carry the kerosene lamp-
Been quiet all day-

Monday, March 2, 1936

Cold and windy with a little snow blizzard this P.M.
Done the washing and all the chores-
Lizzie Hughes was here for dinner.
Mother has been fine today.

Monday, February 10, 1936

Monday*
Cold but plesant
6 [degrees] below zero this A.M-
Done chores and had biscuits with chicken dinner-
Mother has been very good all day-




*My Monday in 2014 hasn't been very interesting either. A bit warmer than Irene's Monday in 1936 though. No chicken dinner, though I am going out for Buffalo wings with my daughter's father. My mother broke her ankle last week & hasn't been good all day. She is getting antsy already & she still has 5-6 weeks in a cast to go.

Friday, February 7, 1936

Cold zero this A.M.
Done all the chores and got corn and grain-
Swept and dusted up stairs-
Rec'd a letter from Christine today-
Harry Baker came this after-noon and brought groceries & meat and shovelled out driveway
Mother has been wonderfull all day



*Irene really loved to double up on her "L"s. I was just chatting with someone on Twitter about weird double letters in English, like bookkeeping, misspelled, & earrings, but in Irene's case these are misspellings. At least she is consistent with it.

Tuesday, February 4, 1936

Strong south wind getting warmer, thawing a little -
Done all the chores and shovelled out paths
Mother* has been difficult all day accused me of borrowing her mittens and now they are lost.
She has hid them some place.
gave her a new pair-



*As far as my parents can tell, "Mother" refers to Irene's step-mother, second wife of her father Irvin Smith. My mom (the genealogist) thinks she has tracked down the name of this women, but is still working on it. Irene's own mother Ophelia died on Christmas day 1894 when Irene was about 14 years old. We are unsure who "Aunty" is, but since she also receives correspondence from Clara, like Irene & Mother, we assume Aunty is Mother's sister. We also believe that Clara is the daughter of one of Mother's children (Frank, Violet, Mary, or C. Alfred), making Clara Mother's granddaughter.

Monday, February 3, 1936

South wind but cold
Stormy this eve-
Mother been good all day-
Iliff came and took me to Ithaca-
Had my shoes that I bought in Buffalo repaired
bought me a pair of jersey* gloves for chores-
Wrote to Aunt Emmeline and sent her a birthday card also one to Mildred^-

Jersey work gloves like Irene's

*I was thinking this referred to hide of a Jersey cow, but it turns out it is Jersey knit work gloves.

^Mildred Searles, daughter of a fore mentioned Florence Searles, friend of Irene.

Wednesday, January 29, 1936

Cold snowed in forenoon
plesant in afternoon-
Mother good all day-
Done all the chores and got a basket of corn from corn house
Death from cold wave numbers 260* in U.S.
In New York State 16-



*Well, this answers the question lurking in the back of my mind from Monday's post. I was wondering if the 150 deaths Irene reported on Jan. 27th were local or national. Here we get national & state numbers.

Tuesday, January 28, 1936

Cold and windy
6 [degrees] below zero this A.M. and 8 [degrees] above this eve-
Done the chores and got meals today-
Have a stiff neck to day-
Mother has been good today
Aunty made a custard* for us-

Iliff Dolton, Jr with the home pasteurizer in 1948^

*Many custard recipes say to scald the milk, & that is no doubt what Aunty did when she made it 77 years ago. This very simple, modern custard recipe I found does not call for scalding the milk. We now have pasteurized milk, & that process kills any harmful bacteria, so scalding is unnecessary. The occasional bread recipe will still require scalding, or bringing the milk to a boil first.


^Taken in 1948 & photographed by H.V. Rickner, 51 Chelsea Rd. Rochester 5, NY, Iliff Willard Dolton, Jr. (my father) & his parent's pasteurizer in their home in Cato, NY. The photograph appeared in a popular agriculture magazine.

Monday, January 27, 1936

Cold 10 [degrees] below zero
Done the chores and got meals and just daily work and tried to keep warm-
Mother has resented me and been restless all day-
Sent a letter to Florence Searles.
Papers report the storm and cold the past two weeks has not been equaled since 1888*
150 persons died from the storm.

About the Blizzard of 1888

*Irene is offering historical context here! The winter of 1888 was one of the worst on record. The blizzard of 1888, called The Children's Blizzard because so many school age children died in the Midwest, is the focus a great book. The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin is part history, part biography, part survival guide. I highly recommend reading it. In Central NY the storm wasn't as bad as in the Dakotas, Minnesota, & Nebraska, but the cold held everyone in its grip.

Sunday, January 26, 1936

Sunday plesant but cold
Made elderberry pie^ this A.M
Done all the chores-
Harry Baker came at noon
brought chunks of wood* and 2 bushels of potatoes and 2 qts milk
Iliff came this eve-
Mother has been pretty good-



*This seems to confirm my suspicion that Irene was heating with wood, not coal, but we will have to wait & see. The wood could be just for cooking.


^Elderberry pie recipes...

Food dot com
Namely Marley





Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Saturday, January 25, 1936

Cold but plesant
Zero this A.M. rising to 10 [degrees] above just after noon-
Done all the chores and shovelled path to corn house for corn-
Made a layer cake with crabapple jelly filling. Made apple sauce*-
Charles came for list of groceries to get for us in town
Rec'd letter from Christine-
Mother difficult this AM-



*I wondered whether Irene was cooking apple sauce on Jan 16 when she stated she "cooked sweet apples." Since she used the term apple sauce on this date, I can only assume that 9 days prior, she was cooking something else.

Friday, January 24, 1936

Windy and cold 4 below zero-
Wrote a letter to Clara-
Done some washing and ironed this P.M.
Done all the chores and shovelled paths.
Mother has been good all day-

Shoveling was a big part of Irene's chores in the winter of 1936