Eileen KINNICK - 75 yrs ago - Week 17 - April 24-30, 1937

Eileen KINNICK
75 yrs ago
Week 17 - April 24-30, 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.

In this weekly blog post, I will make summary comments and observations, and perhaps add a photo, from time to time. Starting here with Week 10, I am switching to the week ending on Friday.
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 17 (Apr 24-30): A while back, I shared some information on my grandparents, Eileen's Mom and Dad, Paul and Dorothy (SORENSEN) KINNICK, and their residences in their early married life, as well as later. Part of that was a quote I had recorded a number of years ago from one of her letters. Here is the quote:

"In regard to the little white house that sits east of Shirbroun's big barn; My grandpa Sorensen & 4 children came here from Denmark in 1912. My mother, Dorothy, married my Dad, Paul H. Kinnick in 1914. Rasmus Nielsen (a relative of Jens Jensen) came a little later. My Aunt Louise Sorensen lived with her Dad (my grandfather) & he built that little house for them to live in & run a dairy. Rasmus married Louise & they had 3 children born in that little house: Karl Nielsen, lives south of Coon & drove a CRB bus until 2 years ago, Howard Nielsen, lives in Omaha, Paul Nielsen, who commited suicide 10 years ? ago. Darrell Nielsen, Glidden, is another brother & they had 4 girls, too. My Dad had uncle Lem Williams, the iceman, build the stucco house & Leo Kinnick & I were born there - Leo in 1917 & I came along in 1918. Buzz was born in 1928 on Main Street where Irene Fick lives."

I just came across, in the Coon Rapids Enterprise (as I often do, when looking for something else!)[Feb 23, 2012 edition], the following article regarding that Shirbroun's Dairy "big barn."

75 Years Ago
February 12, 1937

"Shirbroun’s Dairy is going out of business. After serving the people of this community for some 14
years they have decided to quit and are advertising a dispersal sale of their fine herd of 71 Guernsey
cattle to be held at the farm just south of town on Monday, February 22. In addition to their dairy here they are also selling all the dairy equipment including milking machines, separators, cooling tanks, delivery truck and other articles. This dairy farm has the finest equipment in this section of the state. The big barn has stanchion for 36 head of cows and besides that will hold 125 tons of hay, 2,000 bushels of oats, 25 tons of bailed straw and have room to spare. Everything on the farm is run by electricity and it is modern in every respect but because of illness in the family and the stress of other work it is going out of business. Because of the large offering it will no doubt be a big sale."


I will include here the poor image from the earlier web site. The barn in question is at the left center. The little white house is just to the east of it, hardly visible. The G&T corn processing plant, south of town, is at the bottom; most of the photo is the town of Coon Rapids, from the south, looking north(west).

Comments welcomed! 

Families are Forever!  ;-)