My first years… from Eileen's Diary - Highlights of April (2nd part), 1941

 

My first years…  

from Eileen's Diary

Highlights of April (2nd part), 1941

 

[A 1941 Plymouth 4 door sedan]

These are highlights from the diary of my mother, twenty-one year old Eileen KINNICK SMITH, 75 Years Ago. She kept a diary from 1932 as a freshman in high school until she left us, too early, in 1999.

[Rather than posting each mundane entry, I've chosen items of interest to me, as I knew my family (or didn't). Also, significant events Mom noted, as seen by me, looking back. Comments at the end.]


Month of April (2nd part) highlights:

Mon. Apr. 14 - Went in to Mom’s & washed. Really windy. Painted the upstairs floor & woodwork again. Clark Lee came to sell us folks old car. …
Tues. Apr. 15 - Painted upstairs floor before dinner. …
Wed. Apr. 16 - Up early. Real busy getting ready for Workers Conf. Lite Co. came in P.M. & set poles. … Had 15 adults & 7 kids. Served prune whip & white cake, nuts. Tired at nite. Eating soup when folks came. Took us for a ride in their new Plymouth 4 door. Home to bed early.
Fri. Apr. 18 - … Kathleen born at 6:30 a.m. [Leo & Ida Kinnick]
Tues. Apr. 22 - … Had lites when I got home so I did my ironing. Really seemed grand.
Mon. Apr. 28 - Nice day. Dandy wash day. First time I did the washing here. It surely seemed good. Billy still cranky. Cutting 3 more teeth. First sow had 8 little pigs.

 
My comments:

Finally got electricity on the 22nd!!

Paul Kinnick had new Plymouth 4 door - wow! Dealer sold Mom and Dad their old car!?!

Kathleen was born…

With these important items taken care of… think we’ll take a break from these weekly reports… Thanks for your interest!! ;-)


Families are Forever!  ;-)

My first years… from Eileen's Diary - Highlights of April (1st part), 1941

My first years…  

from Eileen's Diary

Highlights of April (1st part), 1941 

 

 These are highlights from the diary of my mother, twenty-one year old Eileen KINNICK SMITH, 75 Years Ago. She kept a diary from 1932 as a freshman in high school until she left us, too early, in 1999.

[Rather than posting each mundane entry, I've chosen items of interest to me, as I knew my family (or didn't). Also, significant events Mom noted, as seen by me, looking back. Comments at the end.]

 

Month of April (1st part) highlights:

Wed. Apr. 2 - Up in good time. Did sep, took Billy to Norma’s. Took Ruth B., Marg B., Eunice to Achievement Day at Carroll with me. Shopped at Noon. Ate at Meth. Church. Saw Clayburg’s. Rained all way home. Norma said Billy slept from 1 - 5 pm. Glad of it. Really tired. Did dishes, soaked clothes, ate, went to bed. Came to wire this morning.
Thurs. Apr. 3 - Up early. Boiled all my wash. By hand. Ed here wiring again.
Sat. Apr. 5 - Made butterscotch cookies. Lyle & Howard sheered sheep. They were here for dinner.
Wed. Apr. 9 - Bussy & Mom came out again. Willard & E wiring in house again. Finished most of it in here. Bussy feels lots better. He took a nap in P.M.
Thurs. Apr. 10 - Willard & Ed Parker came to finish wiring. Billy & I went to Club at Ruth Grim’s. Mom & Buss out here. Dad comet for supper.
Sun. Apr. 13 {Easter} - Nice day but windy. Went to church. Sang in choir. They had a nice program. Folks to Leo’s so we went in there & got dinner. Fried ham, got some ice cream. Came home early. Hung pictures. Folks stopped. Went down to Rasmuses to get Buss. Chores, went to show. Left Billy with folks. “Second Chorus.”


My comments:

Hard to remember they didn’t yet have electricity. Wiring going in. Lines yet to arrive at the farm.

Enjoy seeing the events in which she participated!!

Sheering sheep - we didn’t have any sheep in later years… (just a few years later)




Families are Forever!  ;-)

My first years… from Eileen's Diary - Highlights of March (2nd part), 1941

My first years…  from Eileen's Diary
Highlights of March (2nd part), 1941

These are highlights from the diary of my mother, twenty-one year old Eileen KINNICK SMITH, 75 Years Ago. She kept a diary from 1932 as a freshman in high school until she left us, too early, in 1999.

[Rather than posting each mundane entry, I've chosen items of interest to me, as I knew my family (or didn't). Also, significant events Mom noted, as seen by me, looking back. Comments at the end.]

[My original highchair - still have it!]

Month of March (2nd part) highlights:

Mon. Mar. 17 - [Date with swirly circle - their anniversary!] - …Took Billy to folks. Went to Bayard. Good time. Hal Stewart played song  for us. 3 years today.
Tues. Mar. 18 - …French toast for breakfast. In town after Billy. Got mattress. Home to dinner. Billy went to sleep in his chair. Put him to bed. Pete cut pigs. Did up work. Waxed closet floor and put curtains up. Straightened up bedroom. Read cont’d story in Journal. Chores.
Mon. Mar. 24 - …Went to Mrs. Palmers to Bundles for Britain Committee. …
Wed. Mar. 26 - Did up work. Went in town. Saw Rita. Got Billy’s hair cut. Up to Mom’s for dinner. … Rita came about 2:00. Visited quite awhile. They’re moving to Minneapolis. …
Fri. Mar. 28 - Did up usual work. Pete helped me and we canned 12 qts. corned beef. Billy & I outdoors all afternoon & evening. I raked a little bit. Corned beef didn’t come off until 8:30. Went to bed right afterwards.
Sat. Mar. 29 - Did up usual work. Pete and Billy over to Orrin’s after hoof trimmer. LVene came to have hair set. Del delivered seed corn. Cleaned the house. Got dinner. Max came to have her hair set. Got ready to go to Ev. Shulze shower. Stopped at Julia’s & fixed hers & Margaret’s hair. To shower. Big crowd. Came around & got Billy. In town. Shopped. Got new rug. Cleaned living room at nite. Put rug down.
Mon. Mar. 31 - Nice day but I didn’t wash. Bussy pretty sick with hives. Put on 6 qts corned beef. Painted a little bit upstairs. Ate dinner & Billy & I went to Pruitt’s to practice music for Achievement Day. Pete took corned beef off. Mom called & said Buss was pretty sick. Had to give him Hypo. Down to Norma’s after setting eggs but didn’t get any. Home, did chores, ate, did dishes, went to bed early.

My comments:
To dance for their anniversary… no surprise there!! ;-)
Still working on house… every couple of days…
Note: Bundles for Britain Committee - USA not in the war yet!
Rita and Grant Ballard moved to Minneapolis!
Fixed LOTS of corned beef… Dad helped make it! ;-)
Impressed by her continued increase in different activities she got involved in, in the community!


Families are Forever!  ;-)

What I have in common with Steven Spielberg…

‘Sharing Memories’ series of stories...

What I have in common with Steven Spielberg…

[The B-52]

Back in 2012-13, I wrote a series of posts under the theme, Sharing Memories, that came to my attention again today. I was reading the 9 October 2015 (current) issues of the magazine, “Entertainment Weekly.” On pager 40, there is an interview with Steven Spielberg, related to his new movie, with Tom Hanks, ‘Bridge of Spies,’ about to be released (Oct 16).

It was the first few lines of the interview that caught my attention:
“Headline: Steven Spielberg Remembers Looking Up a Lot as a Kid
At night, in wonder. In daylight, at the warplanes lifting off from one of the Air Force bases around Phoenix. “The sky was a crisscross of contrails during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I could assume these were B-52s going to their fail-safe points,” the filmmaker, 68, says. “It exacerbated my deepest fears that the world was about to come to an end.” his father, an engineer with General Electric, had visited the Soviet Union on a peace-program exchange and tried to reassure his son. “My dad always said, ‘Don’t worry about this, there’s never going to be a war,” he says. “But I never believed it.””

Also referring to the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, this is what I wrote as my first, of several, memories:

“Probably the most common story I tell (have told) about this time period was that for several days (a week or more) there was never a moment, day or night, when there were not military aircraft in the air, moving east and west, flying over our mesa and house in Winslow, Arizona, in preparation for eventualities 'if' the Cuban missile crisis was not settled peacefully.” From: http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/2012/01/sharing-memories-cuban-missile-crisis.html

It is the first time I recall someone else telling this same story of their observations on those days. Neat!


Families are Forever!

My first years… from Eileen's Diary - Highlights of March (1st part), 1941

My first years…

from Eileen's Diary

Highlights of March (1st part), 1941

 

 

These are highlights from the diary of my mother, twenty-one year old Eileen KINNICK SMITH, 75 Years Ago. She kept a diary from 1932 as a freshman in high school until she left us, too early, in 1999.

[Rather than posting each mundane entry, I've chosen items of interest to me, as I knew my family (or didn't). Also, significant events Mom noted, as seen by me, looking back. Comments at the end.]  

 

 

This image is from a year later, but I couldn't pass it up when they mentioned chickens....  ;-)


Month of March (1st part) highlights:

Sat. Mar. 1 - … Buss & Mom came out. Papered the pantry. Boys brought the chickens over. Dad came out at nite. Leo, Ida, Karen came. Played Cherokee Rummey till 11:00. Dad slept. Kids danced, played cards, etc.
Sun. Mar. 2 -  …Leo, Ida, folks came for dinner. Scrubbed, waxed kitchen floor. Cleaned porch. Moved separator to wash house. …
Tues. Mar. 4 - Quite cold. Billy & I went into Mom’s to wash. Really had a big washing. Sang at Tom Herron’s funeral. Lillian, Jack R., Dale T. & I. Ironed when I got back. …
Sat. Mar. 8 - …I made 2 cherry pies. …Pete & I went in town. Got paint from Keister & picked out paper at Bowman’s. Hangers are coming out Monday.
Sun. Mar. 9 - … Buss & Mom here all day. Dad at bank. Painted pantry w.work & green in kitchen. …
Mon. Mar. 10 - Paper Hangers came at 9:00. Papered kitchen & then I got dinner for them. They went over to Eunice’s after dinner & papered a room and then came back here & papered the dining room. I washed my hair, Pete chored early. Took Billy in to folks & we went to Max & Orrin’s for duck dinner. LVene, Verle, Toots there too. Home at 11:30.
Tues. Mar. 11 - Got up in good time. Paper Hangers came at 11:00. They had papered Norma’s kitchen. Here for dinner. Finished dining room, bedroom, hall. I painted pantry woodwork & started the kitchen. …
Wed. Mar. 12 - Paper Hangers came at 8:00. Papered upstairs bedroom & closet. Here for dinner. Pete & I picked up the paper & burned it. He went down to help Don with his hog house. I swept all rooms, finished painting the kitchen, gave closet 1 coat. …
Thurs. Mar. 13 - …Scrubbed dining room, hall, living room & waxed dining room. … Really tired.
Fri. Mar. 14 - Went in to Mom’s. Ironed 7 pairs of curtains. Zumwalt pressed 3 pairs. Left Billy at folks. Home & we cleaned up & met the gang in town. Surprised Arnold & Julia on their Anniversary. Arnold was sick in bed. Helen R., Liz, Virginia, Ed, Elmer, Iva D., Erna, Orel, Marg., Don, Norma, Ramons, Lloyd, Edith T., Helen B., Edith, Harold. Ice Cream., Cake, Sandwiches, Coffee. Home at 1:30.
Sat. Mar. 15 - Kinda tired. Went in town after Billy while Pete finished chores. Mom & Bussy came home with me. Straightened up dining room & kitchen. Put up curtains. Surely makes a difference. Dad came out for supper. He’s so glad Income Tax is over. They left early & we went to bed.

My comments:
We get a pretty fair view of how big the new house was… 2 floors, etc. Wash house. Loved the stories of the “Paper Hangers” and how she had them for dinner a few times… they were working all over the neighborhood. Mom and Dad got to clean up after them. My, how times have changed, in some ways. Painting the woodwork… over and over. And, fixing meals while all the work is being done. Most interesting.
Mom sang in a mixed quartet for funeral… first time I’ve noticed that activity!! ;-)
Also noticed that Billy got left over night with Grandpa and Grandma, in town, several times. What fun! ;-) Love how she lists all the people involved in visits. P.S. I’ll bet Arnold was surprised… in his sick bed… but they had the party, anyway!! ;-)


Families are Forever!  ;-)