Month: January 2022

Electricity On Our Farm

~ Hometown Girl ~ 4 Comments

Hello History Lovers!

Since many rural families didn’t get electricity until well into the 1930s, folks who had electricity on their farms in the early twenties were very modern. In January 1922, speaking on behalf of his wife as well as himself, Mr. Harper Christensen submitted an article to The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Women extolling the many advantages of having electricity. They found that electric lighting was beneficial inside the house, outside in the yard, and in the barns and garage. Modern electrical appliances helped in all facets of their life–in dairying and pig raising, with housework, and providing the lighting for family fun in the evening once the work was done.

Enjoy!

Electricity On Our Farm

“Electric lights were installed on our farm nearly a year ago. Now we often wonder how we managed to get along without them, not alone for time and labor-saving but for pleasure, convenience, and cleanliness.

Last fall, a year ago, they erected a high line from Albert Lea to Alden, Minnesota, and the farmers received the privilege of connecting. There are thirty-three farms between Albert Lea and Alden electrically equipped.

Electric lights were installed on our farm nearly a year ago. Now we often wonder how we managed to get along without them, not alone for time and labor-saving but for pleasure,convenience, and cleanliness.
Electric Cream Separator (on right) 1920s

Electricity on the Dairy

Probably the greatest asset with an electrically equipped farm is on the labor-saving side. We milk with electricity, separate the milk with it, wash and iron with it, and in the near future expect to clean the house with electricity. Running the milking machine with a motor is surely much quicker and handier than a gasoline engine. Sometimes I have cranked the gas engine until I was blue in the face only to have to milk by hand, and the same applies to the cream separator with the motor attached—it runs much more smoothly and more even.

Electricity for Washing and Ironing

Washing clothes by hand is anything but pleasure but my wife says with an electric washer it is fun and says also that she never worries about washday anymore. The ironing is also easy as it takes but two minutes to heat the iron. You have to be careful and not get it too hot for it sure does get hot quickly and electricity is the hottest thing there is.

The Cost of Electricity

As a money-saving proposition, it is a benefit also because with gas and kerosene at the present prices, you could not begin to do what we are doing with electricity for the same money. We pay ten cents per kilowatt-hour for the first 500 kilowatt-hours and for what we use over that is seven cents per kilowatt-hour. We probably will use about 750 kilowatt-hours per year costing us about $67.50.

The Benefit of Electric Lighting

As for convenience and pleasure, it has no equal: there are no lamps to fill, no lanterns to clean. All you have to do is to press a button or turn a switch and you have a real light, not half a light. You save your eyes too as you do not have to strain them to see. We have a yard light situated right in the center of all the buildings with a hundred-watt lamp in it and it is light as day when it is turned on. We now can play horseshoes till eleven o’clock—all on account of the lights!

Also, we have the garage lighted up with a cord about 20 feet long attached to the switch so the light can be placed anywhere on the automobiles. The light in the hog house has probably saved us the most money—when the sows are farrowing, we have the lights on and we believe have thereby saved quite a few little pigs from being killed.

Electrical Safety

Above all, if anyone is figuring on installing electric lights, he should have the wiring done by experts so as to avert possible accidents.”

The above article was originally published in The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Women, January 1922, Page 677; Webb Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota. Articles may be edited for length and clarity.

Home Demonstration Agent Saves Life

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The human face of the 1918 Spanish Influenza

Hello History Lovers!

Today’s article was published January 1921 in The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Women featuring the extraordinary work of a young Home Demonstration Agent during the Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918-1919. Miss McElhinney was able to help save the life of a seriously ill boy by means of artificial respiration (I’m not sure what AR looked like a century ago but evidently it worked). Her service blessed the lives of many people in her community.

Enjoy!

A Home Demonstration Agent Serves Her People

“Miss Flora E. McElhinney, Home Demonstration Agent Houghton County, Michigan, is known throughout her own state and other states for the wonderful work she did for the people of her county during the influenza epidemic of the past two winters. Disregarding the protests of friends, Miss McElhinney went right out into the community that was suffering most from the disease and nursed back to health more than two hundred patients who had to be without the attention of a physician. This brave woman surmounted the greatest difficulties. When the snow was so deep that a horse could not go through, her driver, Mr. George Renti, tramped the snow down to make a path and they went through. When no other means was possible, Miss McElhinney tramped in snow, waist-deep, to get to her patients. When trains were not running, she and her helper braved the storm on a speeder (a small gasoline-powered cart) down the railroad track”.

Makeshift hospital for 1918 Spanish Influenza patients

“The first year of the epidemic, Miss McElhinney established a hospital in the town hall of the community. Patients were moved to the hospital on their own mattress and with their own bedding. The mattress was placed on four camp chairs and this served as a bed. Each bed was screened off and as many as eighty-seven patients were cared for at one time with the assistance of two nurses. More than two hundred and eighty patients were cared for in this way”.

Woman suffering from the Spanish Influenza 1918

“Last year, Miss McElhinney felt that her work would be more lasting if she could go right into the homes, take care of the patients and teach the members of the family how to give the medicine and necessary attention themselves. As many as ten in one family were stricken”.

Bedridden children suffering from the Spanish Influenza 1918

“Sixteen days and nights with an average of one hour’s rest was her extraordinary record during the ravages of the disease. Two hundred and eighty-five patients were nursed back to health, one hundred of whom had pneumonia, as they did not send for help in time. One boy’s life was saved by working all night over him producing artificial respiration.

One of the young men of the community, Mr. George Renti, gave up his work and accompanied Miss McElhinney in her visits to act as interpreter for many of the people who could not speak English, to lead the faithful old horse through the snowdrifts, to drive the car or run the spade, and to him, Miss McElhinney says, much of the credit is due.

To have given aid in a time of need was a wonderful work, but that has not been the end. The lessons in home nursing learned in the community at that time will be lasting. The need for fresh air and hygienic living were lessons that are still put into practice, and the love and devotion of a grateful people have been gained. The community would do anything in the world for Miss McElhinney, and it is thus that one Home Demonstration Agent has reached her people”.

The above article was originally published in The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Women, January 1921, Page 290; Webb Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota. Articles may be edited for length and clarity.

What is a Home Demonstration Agent?

~ Hometown Girl ~ 4 Comments

Hello History Lovers!

During the 1920s The Farmer’s Wife—A Magazine For Farm Women published articles about Home Demonstration Agents and their services. By reading the articles I was able to glean some of the purposes of Home Demonstration Work but I was not really clear about the “agents” affiliation or the extent of their influence. Fortunately, I ran across a charming pamphlet (U.S. Department of Agriculture Miscellaneous Publication Number 178) published in 1933 providing the answers to my questions. Below are excerpts and photos from this pamphlet.

The Purpose

“There are over 6,000,000 farm homes in the United States. The women and girls who so largely influence the family life in these homes are endeavoring to develop efficiency in their home-making duties and to find satisfaction for themselves and their families in rural life.”

The Connection

“To aid them in this effort, home demonstration work, a nationwide system of home-making education, is carried on by the United States Department of Agriculture and the State colleges of agriculture. The local representative of this system is the home demonstration agent. She is a college graduate trained in home economics, who works with the women and girls of a given county. The home demonstration agent keeps informed regarding all matters that affect the home and brings the latest scientific information to rural homemakers in such form that they can readily apply it in practical daily life.”

The counterpart to the female Home Demonstration Agent and her responsibilities is the male County Extension Agent whose responsibility it was to educate and demonstrate new and proper farming practices. Just as home demonstrations took place in the homes of county housewives, agricultural demonstrations took place in a farmer’s field. Interestingly these offices and services are still available today with a large focus on the 4-H youth program. Instead of the title Home Demonstration Agent, a woman in this position is now referred to as the County Home Economist.

The History

 “The first home demonstration work was with rural girls. In 1910 a tomato club of 47 girls was formed in Aiken County, S.C. The work with women began in 1913 and was rapidly established in 15 Southern States. In 1914 the Smith-Lever Act authorizing cooperative extension work in agriculture and home economics was passed, making Federal funds available for home demonstration work throughout the United States. Federal, state, and county governments cooperate in maintaining the home demonstration agents.

The work has consistently expanded in volume and in scope, and at present home demonstration work is conducted in every state including Hawaii, and in Alaska.”

University Home Economics students training to become Home Demonstration Agents 1925

Meet a Home Demonstration Agent

The October issue of The Farmer’s Wife —A Magazine For Farm Women 1921 introduces its readers to a prominent Home Demonstration Agent. This article points out the level of expertise these agents held.

“Miss Ola Powell is assistant in charge of Home Demonstration and Girls’ Club work for the Office of Extension Work in the South. Miss Powell was born in Texas but spent the greater part of her early life in or near Philadelphia. Having always been greatly interested in gardening and homemaking, she took a course in home economics and graduated from Drexel Institute. Later she had charge of school garden work in Cleveland, Ohio, and in connection with that carried on canning to demonstrate the principles of proper utilization of garden crops.

Miss Powell’s interest in canning lead her to make a very careful study of it in its advanced phases. She also made a study of commercial canning and preserving in some of the foremost commercial packing establishments. As a result of her experience in both gardening and canning, she was appointed as assistant state home demonstration agent in Louisiana, from which position she was soon promoted to that of state agent. After serving only a few months as the leader of that state she was called to Washington by the Office of Extension Work South to serve as an assistant in directing the work with women and girls.

Miss Powell’s appreciation of the value of high quality inspired the workers in the South to a determination to maintain high standards in all club products put up and marketed under the 4-H brand label. Her fine influence and inspiration along with all other phases of home demonstration work besides canning have been recognized.

Due to her broad understanding of this work, as well as to her fine personal qualities and the ability for organization, she was called to France this spring to assist the French Ministry of Agriculture and their representative, Madam Devouge, in the teaching of home canning to the women of France”.

As Home Demonstration Work in the early twentieth century was so much a part of rural farm women’s lives, I will be frequently posting examples of their club work in the future.

The above article was originally published by the US Department of Agriculture 1933 and The Farmer’s Wife Magazine—A Magazine For Farm Women, October 1921, Page 568; Webb Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota. Articles may be edited for length and clarity.

Cooking With Ida–The Range

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Mrs. Ida Bailey Allen cooking in her home kitchen 1917
Cast Iron Wood Cookstove 1800s

Hello History Lovers!

One hundred years ago, Mrs. Ida Bailey Allen, a prolific cookbook author, and home economics educator published a cookbook titled the Woman’s World Calendar Cook Book 1922. Each month featured menu suggestions, recipes, and an article on a topic of importance to an early twentieth-century homemaker. December’s article is titled The Range and Its Operation. By reading the article I realized there was a lot I didn’t know about the development of cookstoves. My perception was that homemakers cooked on behemoth wood-burning stoves (see image above) up until electric stoves magically appeared in kitchens across America sometime in the early twentieth century. As it turns out there were many improvements that took place along the way.

In the 1700s cooking took place in an open hearth. Late in that century the fire was taken from the hearth and placed in a cast-iron box with a flat cooking surface giving birth to the woodburning cookstove. During the 1800s these stoves became more and more user-friendly, less bulky, and highly decorative. By the 1900s experimentation with different types of fuel (coal, manufactured oil/gas, and kerosene) led to the development of cookstoves that could not only burn a different type of fuel (Kerosene) but some models could burn several different fuels (wood, coal, oil/gas) with little adjustment to the stove.

Below are advertisements from the 1920s illustrating cutting-edge ranges of the day. I have also included excerpts from Ida’s book most of which focus on economizing on the use of cooking fuels.

Enjoy!

Advertisement for a Combination Wood and Coal Range 1924

The Coal Range

To get the best results from a coal range it is necessary to understand thoroughly its drafts and mechanism. A little practice will soon show you how to adjust these so as to economize on fuel.

In no part of one’s housekeeping is proper planning of greater value than in connection with the range, whether it be gas or coal. On ironing day, when a hot fire is needed to heat the irons, plan an oven meal of the kind which needs little actual attention—Baked Potatoes, Poor Man’s Rice Pudding, or some Casserole dish. Then, on your regular baking day, plan for further baked dishes which can be held over for a subsequent day’s meals, because the same heat which will bake your pie will also bake potatoes, or will cook the cereal.

As far as the care of the coal range is concerned, there are only two things which must be given serious consideration:

  1. Keep a clear fire by shaking down the greater part of the burned-out ashes which collect in the lower part of the grate, that the air may circulate freely, making the coals glow and give off their stored-up power.
  2. Keep the flues clean and clear of soot and dust, for if these are not kept clean you cannot have proper heat in the oven.
Advertisement for a Combination Coal and Gas Range 1924

Gas/Oil Ranges

This type of fuel was particularly interesting to me. Sometimes called gas and sometimes called oil it refers to a manufactured fuel made from coal, petroleum, waste fats, oils, or gasoline.

A little thought and care will result in materially reducing the cost of cooking by gas/oil. For instance, a steam cooker that operates over one burner makes it possible to cook two or three things at one time, and even without a steam cooker, one can still do this by the use of double and triple saucepans, all of which are placed over one burner.

The newest style of gas/oil range has a solid top like that of a coal range (as opposed to individual burners), the heat from each burner radiating so that a large surface of the stovetop around it is heated, and this materially reduces the gas/oil bill because two or three things can be cooking by this radiated heat.

There are three sizes of burners on almost all gas/oil ranges:

  1. The simmerer
  2. The regular-sized burner
  3. The giant burner

The simmerer is actually used less than any other burner, whereas it should be the hardest worked, for its heat is quite enough to carry on cooking operations after the boiling point has been reached. The giant burner should be employed only when very large cooking utensils are being used.

Be sure that the mixer is properly regulated so that enough air is burned with the gas to give a blue flame and not a red one. The latter wastes gas/oil, soils the pans and gives off less heat than the blue flame.

Advertisement for a Kerosene Stove 1920s

The Kerosene Stove

As ranges moved away from being the cookstove as well as the main heat source in a home, the kerosene stove was touted as an appliance that would help keep the kitchen and the cook cool. However, kerosene stoves never became wildly popular as they were perceived by consumers as a real fire hazard.

A kerosene stove is invaluable, especially for summer use, where gas or electricity are not available. It is sometimes stated that oil is a dangerous form of fuel to use. All fire is dangerous unless intelligently handled, and there is no more reason for banishing an oil stove than any other stove.

A three-burner oil stove with a portable oven will do the necessary cooking for a small family. Give it the same care that you would give to oil lamps. See that the oil tank is properly filled, that the wicks are trimmed, that they are long enough to reach properly into the oil, and be careful that the saucepans placed on the oil stove are not over-filled so that there is no danger of boiling over.

Baking can be done just as thoroughly with oil as with any other fuel. In baking, use the upper shelf of the oven as much as possible, especially in the baking of pies with a bottom crust, because if baked too close to the flame the under crust may become overdone before the top and filling are cooked.

Oven Temperatures

In baking with any form of fuel—electricity, gas, coal, or oil—remember that more food is spoiled by too much heat than by too little.

Accustom yourself to the use of an oven thermometer. It is inexpensive, and it does give a feeling of assurance.

  • A very slow oven, 250 to 300 degrees F.
  • A moderate oven, 325 to 350 degrees F.
  • A hot oven, 350 to 375 degrees F.
  • A very hot oven, 375 to 450 degrees F.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the use of natural gas and electricity was in its infancy in urban areas. In very rural areas it would be decades before either was available.

Articles may be edited for length and clarity.

Stocking the Linen Closet 1922

~ Hometown Girl ~ 2 Comments

Hello History Lovers!

The tradition of January White Sales was the inspiration of a Philadelphia department store mogul John Wanamaker in 1878. As a way of stimulating sales during a slow time of year, the White Sale offered customers excess bedding at discounted prices. Of course sheets at that time came in only one color–white–hence the name. Eventually, other household linens were offered at sale prices as well. The White Sale ads included in this post also show reduced prices for fabrics necessary for sewing household linens. The frugal homemaker would buy yardages of fabric in order to sew her own items including underwear for her family thus gaining further savings.

An article in The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Women, January 1922, offers advice on how to recognize a bargain, as well as, tips on how to sew and care for linens as economically as possible.

Enjoy!

Harmony News, Cresco, Iowa–January White Sales Ad–January 11, 1923

January White Sales

Practically every store in the country has one week in January devoted to the sale of all types of white goods from yardage materials to table linen, bedding, towels, and so forth. It may be stock that has been on hand and has been reduced for the occasion but more frequently it is apt to be merchandise especially purchased for the sale and both at a price that enables the merchant to sell at a lower than usual figure.

To get the most and best out of these January white goods sales we should know the normal prices of standard goods and have a list of articles needed carefully thought out. The buyer is then prepared to recognize bargains when they occur and may take advantage of them.

Summer Underwear

It is common practice with many householders to buy nainsook, cambric, or long cloth at the January sales by the ten or twelve-yard bolt and commence work upon the summer underwear for the family. If there is a considerable amount of underwear to be made, much may be saved by cutting from the large piece. If all the patterns are gathered together at the beginning of the cutting and various pieces of each pattern are marked with some distinguishing color or emblem so that they can be easily sorted after the cutting, it will be found that pieces of different patterns will often fit in so that only a fraction of an inch is wasted. If only one garment is cut, the larger pieces are of such curves and angles as to prevent such close-fitting or dovetailing.

It is a great back-saver to raise the table about eight inches for the cutting-out operation. Lay all the patterns in place and pin before starting to cut. When certain that they are placed to the best advantage, cut and sort before removing the pattern.

The Sauk Centre Herald, Minnesota–January White Sales Ad–January 11, 1923

Sheets and Pillowcases

Now is the time to replenish sheets and pillowcases, but whether it is better economy to make them or purchase them ready-made must be determined by each housewife for herself. If the time spent in the making is considered, there is little advantage from a money standpoint in making them, as the cost of ready-mades compares very favorably with that of the homemade; but there is an advantage in making them if one does not desire the standard sizes in which the ready-mades can only be procured.

Some states have laws regulating the size of sheets for beds in hotels and rooming houses so that the lodger may be protected against contact with the blankets which are less frequently laundered. In the home, we should be equally careful that the sheet is long enough to protect the sleeper. The feet are entitled to the same protection from cold as the rest of the body and so the sheet must be long enough to ensure secureness at the foot of the bed, and there should be from twelve to eighteen inches at the side according to whether one or two occupy the bed. Therefore, the sheet should be from twenty-four to thirty-six inches longer and wider than the mattress. Too large a sheet is hard to handle and launder and is therefore as much to be shunned as the too-small sheet. They should always be torn to be straight or they will never be satisfactory. Ready-made ones that have been torn will be so stamped.

Making the hems of sheets of the same width ensures more even wear as either end will be used at head or foot, and should be made long enough to properly tuck in at the foot.

If beds are of several sizes, the size of the sheets should be plainly marked so that they may be easily sorted in putting away the linen and also that they may be readily found if needed in the absence or illness of the housewife.

Pillow tubing is more desirable than seamed muslin as the ironing usually causes the greatest wear at the seam. Rip the bottom seam of the tube’s case after it begins to show signs of wear and turn the tube so that the former edges are in the center and sew a new seam at the bottom. This gives the case more even usage.

Towels

January is a good time to stock up on towels for both the kitchen and personal use. Linen is preferable to cotton. Crash and huckaback, are more serviceable than damask although the latter is more beautiful. Here again, the question arises as to the advisability of making or buying ready-made. Usually, a savings is made in making the crash towels but with the others, it is merely a preference of handwork to machine work for if one counts the value of time no money can be saved by making.

Linen Closet Design

In planning a new linen closet, it will be found a great convenience to make the shelves slide, with a slight ledge on the front and sides and a higher back. These can be drawn out similar to drawers but are less expensive to build and are less cumbersome to handle. They work similarly to the wire racks supplied in the cupboard sections of some of the kitchen cabinets.

A Hope Chest

A good New Year’s gift that Brother can make for Sister, is a Hope Chest and there she can accumulate linens and loveliness’s “against” the happy day!

–Georgia Belle Elwell

The above article was originally published in The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Women, January 1922, Page 677; Webb Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota. Articles may be edited for length and clarity.

My Great Purpose For 1923–Part 6

~ Hometown Girl ~ 1 Comment

Hello History Lovers!

In the final installment of My Great Purpose For 1923, we hear from Mrs. S. from Minnesota who wishes to spend more time with her children and to use that time to teach them skills that will be beneficial to them as they grow up. Along with teaching them hard work and responsibility, she desires to create a bond within her family that will tie them together in peace, love, and unison.

Enjoy!

Creating a Bond with My Children

As the New Year approaches, I find myself planning for 1923. My greatest plan is to involve my children more in home and farm affairs.

I shall begin in the home by raising my present mode of housekeeping by careful planning of my work in order to gain more time to spend with my children.

Next, I shall make more of a companion of my daughter, who is only eight but old enough to stir the cake batter and incidentally learn recipes for different dishes. She shall have batter to bake in her own little patty tins. Grandma calls this “fussing” but I think even fussing is O.K. when it serves a good purpose, don’t you? My daughter shall also have a share in the farm flock and together we will read and keep posted on the poultry business and perhaps display some of our birds at the county fair and poultry show. During the canning season, she and I will prepare an exhibit of fruit, jelly, and other things for the fair.

Robert, who is twelve, shall have a plot of potatoes all his own and either a pig or a calf to care for, pet, and proudly display all profits to be his when the animal is sold.

As a reward for success, he will be promised a chance to join a county contest later on. He also will have an opportunity to exhibit his animal at the fair if he so wishes. With this goal in view, I think he will take more interest in his work.

Do not think that my object is all work and no play for recreation has an important part but I have no space to tell of the good times I am planning. My great purpose for 1923 may sound very simple but in reality, it is very complex as there are scores of details, little plots, and plans which will involve a great amount of labor and patience. But my reward will be ample if I can create a bond between children, parents, home, and farm which will grow strong enough as the years roll by, to hold them together in peace, love, and unison, which after all is my final aim. –Mrs. S.S., Minnesota.

The above article was originally published in The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Women January 1923, Page 260; Webb Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota. Articles may be edited for length and clarity.

My Great Purpose For 1923–Part 5

~ Hometown Girl

Hello History Lovers!

A mother from rural Massachusetts shares her desire for advanced [school] work for students in the local community. Having raised three sons who had to leave the “home influence” and “go away” to junior high, Mrs. Hadley found that boarding school did not provide the loving support necessary for two of her sons to succeed. As a result, she is determined to prevent this same injustice from happening to other school children in her area by promoting the building of a junior high. She also wisely acknowledges that 1923 is just the beginning of the hard work of bringing her great purpose to fruition.

With the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, women were empowered to continue promoting economic, political, and civic reforms. It would be interesting to have enough information to research the result of Mrs. Hadley’s and others’ quest.

Happy Reading!

To Get a Junior High School

My Great purpose for 1923 is to start a Junior High School.

Since public schools concern more people than any other enterprise, it seems only natural that every adult should study their requirements and give them every attention possible. The right of every child to have the opportunity for individual success in both social and industrial life is too great to be estimated.

Even if expenses are increased, it is more vital that the school child should be under the home influence and that more children receive the benefit of the two years of advanced work. Many could attend the home school, who could not go away to school. I know these things from experience as I had three children who were away at school and who boarded themselves for the greater part of two years. Some work for their board; a few drive back and forth in a car but none of these conditions are ideal for young people. In all, it is a survival of the fittest. At least, I have found it so. I started three in the pursuit of knowledge and only one graduated.

My idea would be to get the signers for an article and have it put in the warrant before the town meeting. The women must be influenced to attend. The non-progressives must be interviewed and made to realize that we are working for a project that is honest, sound in principle, and unselfish in aim.

It will be plain to every progressive citizen that it is to our advantage and mutual purpose to keep the young people in the home community a few years longer.

It is the solemn obligation of every citizen to promote public school enterprises as the best investment that can be made.

One of these schools in a town of fewer than one thousand inhabitants has been in successful operation for ten years. “They built wiser than they knew.”

To accomplish this 1923 purpose of mine will require unlimited tact, patience, and skill. It may not succeed this year but it will next. The fact that the subject is before the people and under consideration will be encouraging. At present, the inadequate provision in many towns for the education of the child just graduated from the eighth grade is more than an injustice. It is an injury. Mothers, let us work! —Florence Hadley, Massachusetts.

The above article was originally published in The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Women, January 1923, Page 260; Webb Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota. Articles may be edited for length and clarity.

My Great Purpose For 1923–Part 4

~ Hometown Girl

Hello History Lovers!

Today’s blog post expresses well my appreciation for my readers and followers. Thank you for reading along and taking the time to comment. I am enjoying the journey of learning about our foremothers and I’m Glad You’re Here!

I’m Glad You’re Here!

He stood, that small nephew of mine, in the doorway, while his serious eyes searched the faces before him. And then with a rush he as upon me. Sturdy, six-year-old arms held me fast and an earnest little voice said, “Gee! But I’m glad you’re here!”

And that greeting was the birthday of my purpose for the days of 1923. I resolved then and there to be one to whom that boy could always come with as warm a welcome, and my resolution expanded naturally until I now find myself striving to make all with whom I come in contact “glad that you’re here.” I cannot do this unless I make them feel sure of my friendship and understanding.

In my own home, my purpose means perhaps that I shall be a less perfect housekeeper than in the past but a more perfect homemaker. I shall no longer depend upon mop and broom as adequate mediums for the expression of my love for my family. Its members will not need to wait for my infrequent absences from home in order to try out their pet schemes and hobbies. My program of encouragement will make them glad I’m there to boost and help.

Outside of my home, in the neighborhood affairs, when the next sewing circle meets, perhaps I shall not piece quite so many blocks as usual but I shall get acquainted with the new neighbor. I shall visit school and see for myself if things can’t be made more pleasant for the young girl who is mother-teacher to our boys and girls. And if I can coax others to go with me and sit in that dingy room for a half-day, they will better understand how easy it is for young Johnnie and the teacher to get on each other’s nerves.

I voted in November and as I turned in my ballot, I hoped that we as women had used our franchise so that Uncle Sam can say to the woman voter, “I’m glad you’re here.”

It is a big bill to fill, this 1923 purpose of mine, but it is already bringing results. –J. V. M., Wisconsin

The above article was originally published in The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Women, January 1923, Page 260; Webb Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota. Articles may be edited for length and clarity.

My Great Purpose For 1923–Part 3

~ Hometown Girl ~ 1 Comment

Hello History Lovers!

In today’s post, a Minnesota farm woman shares her determination to improve her character even if it takes a lifetime.

Enjoy!

I Shall Not Judge

Judging other people is one thing I do that is unjust. “Judge not and you shall not be judged,” is a Bible truth I was taught as a child. I do not fully understand it but I know it is based on wisdom.

Thinking about this habit of deciding as to the right and wrong of other people’s actions, I see that unless I can know all about everything concerning them, their motives, weaknesses, and strengths, I cannot possibly judge them honestly and fairly. Therefore I am going to hold my mind off their affairs. It may take me all my life to learn but such is My Great Purpose For 1923. –R. C., Minnesota

The above article was originally published in The Farmer’s Wife–A Magazine For Farm Wome, January 1923, Page 290; Webb Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minnesota. Articles may be edited for length and clarity.

My Great Purpose For 1923–Part 2

~ Hometown Girl ~ 1 Comment

Hello History Lovers!

The author of today’s post shares how her dear Auntie taught her about “turning over a new leaf” for the New Year and working to become a “better girl”– advice that she followed since she was nine years old. Auntie also taught her that “troubles and cares will do you good”– another piece of advice that served her well. Challenges certainly came to this farm woman and she met them head-on. Enjoy!

Turning Over A New Leaf

When I was a little girl at home, I was unsatisfied. I had lots of troubles and disappointments, brooded over them, and could never see the bright side of life. An old lady who had lost all her relatives came to live with my folks. She had her share of troubles, the poor old soul. We adopted her and called her Auntie.

She took a liking to me, although I do not see why she should as I often thought I was the most miserable child in the world. I was sensitive and easily hurt and many times I would go off by myself and cry myself to sleep. Old Auntie would come and sit down by me and read to me from her Bible. Then she would listen to my troubles and tell me they were very small to what other people were suffering in this world and she always would end up by saying: “troubles and cares will do you good, my dear. Ask God to help you see the good.”

One day Auntie told me about New Year’s Day. I did not know that it was the day to “turn over a new leaf” and try to be a better girl. I have been doing that ever since I was nine years old when Auntie told me.

I did not marry a rich man but I married a good man. We started out on a homestead in Montana. We were on our homestead for five years and were dried out every year but we proved up and it is ours now. My husband had to work out away from home and leave me to hold down the claim. We had two children then and I would take the two and the rifle and hunt rabbits and sage hens for food. When I would see anything to shoot, I would put the baby down on the ground and tell the other child to stand by him, and then I would shoot my game.

One day, my tooth began to ache and I walked the floor for three days and nights and could not find any relief. Then baby got sick and I carried him on one arm and held the hot water bottle to my face with my free hand. I walked the floor this way until I was so tired I could not feel. Finally, my jaws swelled shut I could not eat. Then I took the two children and put them in the baby cart and hauled them three miles over sagebrush and rock to my neighbors’ house. They took me to the doctor, twelve miles away, and I had my tooth pulled. All the time I was suffering so I could just seem to hear old Auntie say, “troubles and cares will do you good, my dear.”

They did do me good. I see life in a different light now. We came to Wisconsin and here is our great purpose for 1923: to get on a farm and make good. And I want to help everyone I can to see the bright and better way, and to remember this: one can never have such great troubles that others have not had worse. So I shall forget me and think of others.  –Mrs. A. C. T., Wisconsin