Eileen KINNICK - 75 yrs ago - Week 3 - Jan 18-24, 1937

Eileen KINNICK
75 yrs agoWeek 3 - Jan 18-24, 1937

My mother, Eileen KINNICK (maiden name), kept a diary from 1932 until her death in 1999. In Feb 2005, I created a website of her 1936 diary, the year she graduated from high school. During the latter half of 2011, commented weekly on these entries.
For 1937, I am transcribing the daily entries, currently, at The KINNICK Project surname blog.
http://thekinnickproject.blogspot.com/
In this weekly blog post, I will make summary comments and observations, and perhaps add a photo, from time to time.
Setting: The family lived in a farmhouse a couple of miles out of town (Coon Rapids, Iowa). Older brother, Leo, lived at home; his girl friend, later wife, Ida, visited regularly. Younger brother, Buzzy (she often wrote Bussy) was 9 years old. Pete Smith is her 'boy friend' - fourth month starting Jan 1 (they do marry, in Mar 1938).

Week 3 (Jan 18-24):

When was the last time you received two hand written letters in the same week? I got one from Uncle Buzzy, that I reported last week. Today (Monday), I got one from 94 year old Uncle Leo. They were both young men in the home 75 years ago, during Eileen's diary entries. Leo and Ida married in Oct 1937, and continued to live on the farm with the family for a short period of time, he mentions in the letter.

I had asked about the dead red mule, named Eileen, from the diaries. He said: "I did have a team of mules, but I don't remember an Eileen. However, I did have one drop dead as I was driving them west up the road to get a piece of machinery I had just bought on a farm sale. That was quite an event for me. I had to get the live one unhitched from the dead one & went back home & got a horse & hitched it up with the mule & got the piece of machinery home. I farmed the next year with a horse & a mule." I have read that mules did that. Work so hard, for so long; then, one day, just drop dead. Appears that happened a couple of different time, over two or three year period, in this case.

I also asked about the two cars: the Ford V8 and the Chevy they had then. His reply: "When Dad bought that Ford V8 I thought it was wonderful. It had more power & ran so quiet compared to that 29 chevy [first I had picked up it was a 29!] we had been driving. The only trouble we had with it was if you hit a bump in the road too hard the rear shock (cannot read the word) would open too far & would stay that way. Then I had to jack it up & push it back where it belongs. Those were our 2 cars for a long time & Dad gave me the 29 Chev when I got married. Changing a tire on it was a real job. The spare was just the rubber tire & a rim you had to take apart, slip the tire on & put the two together & then pump it up with a hand pump. I had to do that several times."

What fun! From Buzzy I learned the V8 was a Ford; from Leo I learned the Chevy was a 1929. Do you suppose the 1929 Chevy looked anything like this one, below?

Comments welcomed! 


Families are Forever!  ;-)