Minnie's Day: A 1941 Diary

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KirtlandHill		#21	[-]
Posts: 2674 (06/28/08 12:08 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Thursday, January 16 Zero morning. Wrote cheese checks. Tired tonight. Rising temperatures. Sleet storm coming. Two days' worth of bookkeeping for the Cheese Factory! That's the most work Minnie's done for them in several months. The bookkeeping usually takes just a part of one day per week. Maybe there are some year-end dividends for 1940 that needed to be calculated and distributed to the shareholders... Bethany
KirtlandHill		#22	[-]
Posts: 2681 (06/29/08 04:13 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Friday, January 17 Central N. Y. schools closed on acc't of icy roads. Snow here - beautiful large flakes. Wrote cards to Anna, Henrietta, Gladys, Mrs. Shaver. I wonder if Minnie's reference to "Central N.Y. schools" applies to the schools her grandchildren attend or if she's just recording some regional news in her diary. Hounsfield isn't exactly central New York!... "Anna" may be Anna Gladwyn, Minnie's stepmother, who lives in Brownville. "Henrietta" is probably Henrietta Gladwyn, an elderly (distant) cousin who lives in Los Angeles, California. "Gladys" may be Gladys Campbell, a friend from Farmington, New York, who visited the area last autumn. Geraldine Shaver is a young friend from Lyons Falls, New York... With her bookkeeping finished for the week, Minnie's had a chance to catch up on her correspondence. Bethany
Derwenz		#23	[-]
Plays bridge on Wednesdays with Mike & Ruth Sloan Posts: 1187 (06/29/08 04:23 PM) Administrator & Host, Tammy Lauren Forum Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Beth, I was wondering....are any of Minnie Conklin's descendants alive and living in New York today? I wonder if they'd be honored to see their grand, or greatgrandmother's diary as a featured thread in this forum?! Maybe, you can trace them down and let them know! Steve Last Edited By: Derwenz 10/04/08 11:51 AM. Edited 1 times.
KirtlandHill		#24	[-]
Posts: 2690 (06/30/08 11:54 AM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I'm of two minds about that, Steve. At least one of Minnie's grandchildren is still living, Shirley, but I'm not sure whether she'd be excited about our studying her grandmother's diary so closely or not! I always try to be very respectful in discussing Minnie and her friends and family, but the whole thing might seem kind of weird to Shirley. I wouldn't want to freak her out or anything! It's something I think about periodically though... Saturday, January 18 Mild, icy, some rain and snow. Elaine stayed over night with Dorothy Mott and they were going to Watertown today. Elaine enjoyed a slumber party on Friday night with Dorothy Mott and the teenagers are headed into the city today - for some shopping, perhaps? Maybe a movie and an ice cream soda? Elaine and Dorothy enjoyed a similar slumber party and outing one weekend last fall. In other words, it's only an occasional treat for Elaine. Bethany Last Edited By: KirtlandHill 06/30/08 12:44 PM. Edited 2 times.
KirtlandHill		#25	[-]
Posts: 2692 (07/01/08 01:05 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Sunday, January 19 Pleasant, colder. Elaine came home from Mott's. Could not go to church - tired. It is icy and the boys enjoy it. Roland and Leonard must be enjoying some ice skating or hockey --- or maybe just some serious sledding! Bethany
Derwenz		#26	[-]
Plays bridge on Wednesdays with Mike & Ruth Sloan Posts: 1193 (07/01/08 01:45 PM) Administrator & Host, Tammy Lauren Forum Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	*"I'm not sure whether she'd be excited about our studying her grandmother's diary so closely or not!"* Beth, I'm wondering how you came across Minnie's diary, in the first place? If you could access it, I'm just wondering if a descendant of hers found it interesting enough to place it within public access. Perhaps, he thought that future generations might be interested in this artifact from the 1940s, especially since Minnie makes references to the war in Europe before it turned into WW2. After all, why would he have gone to the trouble of editing it? Maybe, you could look Shirley up and just sound her out about the idea of her grandmother's diary being posted on a website for all to admire as an historical document. Anyway, it's just a thought. Steve Last Edited By: Derwenz 10/04/08 11:51 AM. Edited 1 times.
KirtlandHill		#27	[-]
Posts: 2696 (07/02/08 01:32 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Monday, January 20 Cold here, chilly but pleasant in Washington. Heard inauguration of Pres. Roosevelt for the third term - impressive. Most radio stations opened their broadcasts of the inauguration of President Roosevelt and Vice-President Wallace between 11:15 and 11:55 a.m. The ceremony must have begun at noon. Some stations carried coverage of the inaugural parade from 1:45 to 3:30 p.m. Some stations also carried a broadcast from the inaugural celebration at 9:00 p.m., featuring such dignitaries as Albert Einstein, Dorothy Thompson, and Ignace Paderewski. Here are some photos from the ceremony: Bethany Last Edited By: KirtlandHill 07/02/08 07:37 PM. Edited 2 times.
KirtlandHill		#28	[-]
Posts: 2697 (07/03/08 11:41 AM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Tuesday, January 21 10º to 20º. Regents at school. Elaine home. Am having pain in the top of my head. Wendell Willkie goes to Europe tomorrow. "Regents" is a series of exams administered by New York State to students planning either to enter high school or graduate high school. As Elaine is a Junior, she doesn't have to worry about Regents until next January. The exams have been a tradition in New York since the late 19th century... I wonder if Minnie's pain is a headache or something more... Wendell Willkie, Republican candidate for the presidency in 1940, traveled to Great Britain in January 1941 as a special envoy. His mission: to get a firsthand account of the British military needs. Bethany Last Edited By: KirtlandHill 07/03/08 06:23 PM. Edited 2 times.
KirtlandHill		#29	[-]
Posts: 2699 (07/05/08 02:43 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Wednesday, January 22 About 32º. Wm. & D. went to City for auto plates, $14.00. No. 21-75. Sent to doctor for stomach and nerve tonic. Wm. gets dog - S.P.C.A. A warmer day than most... William and Doris' new "auto plates" must be license plates, which had been in use in New York State since 1905 - and were just as pricey in 1941 as they are today. According to the inflation calculator, $14 in 1941 = $204 today! Minnie's granddaughter tells us that William (her father) drove a 1937 Ford during the war years. Here's a picture of a New York license plate issued in 1941: There must have been an animal shelter in Watertown where William and Doris stopped after registering their vehicle... Has Minnie decided her headache is due to a stomach or nerve problem? Imagine being able to call your doctor and ask him to come by the house with some medication! I guess the whole prescription/pharmacy system is not yet in place in rural New York. Bethany
KirtlandHill		#30	[-]
Posts: 2704 (07/06/08 04:09 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Thursday, January 23 20º . They named the shepherd Queen. Ordered 50 gals. of oil and a ton of coal. Allen, Wm. and Doris went to a movie. William and Doris' new dog is a German shepherd - and must be a girl!... With multiple kinds of heating utilities at home, Minnie's got to keep multiple kinds of fuel on hand --- and a good supply of coal throughout the winter... Minnie's son and daughter-in-law made a trip into the city for the second day in a row - this time taking the hired man along to enjoy a film... The kids are probably just as happy to spend the evening at home getting to know the new dog. Bethany
Derwenz		#31	[-]
Plays bridge on Wednesdays with Mike & Ruth Sloan Posts: 1201 (07/06/08 04:54 PM) Administrator & Host, Tammy Lauren Forum Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Beth, I can't help wondering what movie that Allen, William and Doris went to see. Let's see....maybe, it was Double Indemnity, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred McMurry. This movie came out in 1941 though, I'm not sure exactly when in that year it was released. Perhaps, they enjoyed a musical comedy, such as the full-color spectacular, DuBarry Was A Lady with Lucille Ball, Danny Kaye, and Red Skelton. (A great movie, by the way. I taped it last year, when it aired on TCM.) Perhaps, Minnie's next diary entry will tell us. Steve Last Edited By: Derwenz 10/04/08 11:52 AM. Edited 2 times.
KirtlandHill		#32	[-]
Posts: 2707 (07/06/08 05:16 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	It could have been any one of a number of wonderful 1941 films! Or... it might have been something released late last year. The movies that the Conklins usually see often seem to be at least a few months old. It took some time for a "city" in northern New York to catch up with latest films, I guess! Back in the '80s, my parents used to take my sisters and I to the town in northern Maine where they grew up. We always scoffed at the marquee at the local movie theater as their movies were ones that had been out for months. (We thought we were so sophisticated!) That's not the case any more. These days, they're playing the same thing playing everywhere else... Bethany
Derwenz		#33	[-]
Plays bridge on Wednesdays with Mike & Ruth Sloan Posts: 1203 (07/06/08 10:41 PM) Administrator & Host, Tammy Lauren Forum Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Beth, I just realized that I made a mistake....Double Indemnity was a 1940 movie. Perhaps, Minnie's son, and daughter-in-law, and Allen went to see a screwball comedy murder mystery, Dangerous Blondes, which also came out in 1940. This movie is somewhat mis-titled, as the two blondes are more timid, than dangerous! A very funny movie, which I also taped off of TCM last year. Screwball comedies, as they were (and, still are) known, were very popular from the late-1930s, through the 1940s. I'm thinking of doing a separate thread on just this very topic (with some viewing suggestions). Steve Last Edited By: Derwenz 10/04/08 11:52 AM. Edited 1 times.
KirtlandHill		#34	[-]
Posts: 2708 (07/07/08 11:55 AM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I love your idea for a new thread, Steve! The whole "screwball" concept is key, too, to several Homefront episodes... Friday, January 24 Storm throughout the state. Cold. Lord Halifax (?) british (sic) emb. arrives on new cruiser, George V. Met in Bay by Pres. Roosevelt. While Wendell Willkie visited Great Britain, Lord Halifax traveled through the war-torn waters of the North Atlantic to his new post in Washington, D.C., where he was replacing the British ambassador who died during the holiday season. Bethany Last Edited By: KirtlandHill 07/07/08 01:02 PM. Edited 3 times.
KirtlandHill		#35	[-]
Posts: 2710 (07/08/08 12:28 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Saturday, January 25 Cold. Elaine went to Watertown with Glenn, to do a little shopping. Glenn went to Roy's to spend the evening. Elaine certainly spends a lot of time shopping! Oh, to be a teenager again!... After dropping Elaine off in Watertown, Cousin Glenn spent the evening with his brother, Roy Conklin. It sounds as though Roy is home from the hospital and at least partially recuperated from his second operation. Bethany Last Edited By: KirtlandHill 07/08/08 01:18 PM. Edited 1 times.
KirtlandHill		#36	[-]
Posts: 2712 (07/09/08 01:06 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Sunday, January 26 Zero. Rosamond and Jean came. Carl and Rosamond expect to go to Florida soon. Wm., Doris & Elaine went to Farmers. Father Kelley there, 23 girls. Rosamond Hynes is Minnie's niece who lives in Watertown, and Jean is her daughter. Rosamond's husband, Carl, is a lawyer, so it's no wonder they're well-to-do enough to make a trip to Florida in season... "Farmers" may be a meeting of the Farmers Sodality, an organization of Catholic farmers similar - socially - to a Grange. Perhaps they were holding some type of event for young ladies. Father Kelley must be a local priest. ETA: I've just found a historical write-up online on a Young Ladies' Sodality founded in one Nebraska town in 1887 and in existence until at least 1904. I wonder if the young ladies present at this meeting - including Elaine - were trying to form a similar group. Might Doris have been a Catholic? Is their "mixed marriage" the reason William and Doris no longer attend church? The Young Ladies' Sodality must have been established in December, 1887. At first there were only twelve. Hence Father Pacific called them his "twelve apostles". Members from December 8, 1887-December 8, 1888: Jennie Shanahan, Philomena Dischner, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Minnie McMahon, Anna Dischner, Ella Wells, Ella Quinn, Lizzie Abts, Maggie Schmitz, Katie Spanner, Katie McMahon, Mary Fitzpatrick, Lydia McMahon, Lizzie Sheehan, Agnes Fitzpatrick, Eva Schilz, Alice Quinn, Lizzie Gerber, Agnes High, Mary McGuire, Anna Geis, Mary Marky, Lizzie Hagus, Mamie Chestnut, Maggie Walker, Mary Orr, Bridget Higgins, Mary Murphy, Nelly O'Brien, Maggie O'Brien, Katie Browner, Ella Byrnes, Amalia Schramm, Mary Jonas, Katie Brenneis, Johanna Liebig, Mary Griffin, Lizzie Haney, Melia Scholz, Rose Haney, Agnes Keeting, Katie Higgins, Mary Lamb, Katie Hynes, Mary Kratke, Lizzie Dee, Anna S. Damphy, Kate Ryan, Mary Cooney, Nellie Browner, Emma Schlentz, Lena Ruick, Anna Griffin. The sodality also procured a library to circulate among the members. The members labored zealously by socials, entertainments, etc., to aid the pastor financially. Among other things they paid $75 or more towards the Blessed Virgin altar; a similar sum for a sanctuary lamp, about the year 1893. On February 1, 1894, they paid $150 for an ostenaorium (monstrance). In 1901-1902 they furnished a room at St. Mary's Hospital and in 1904 they paid for the statues of St. Joseph and St. Anthony, for the basement. A scamnum or bench for priests and servers is also a gift of the Young Ladies' Sodality ($35.50). Bethany Last Edited By: KirtlandHill 07/09/08 07:39 PM. Edited 3 times.
Derwenz		#37	[-]
Plays bridge on Wednesdays with Mike & Ruth Sloan Posts: 1209 (07/09/08 01:17 PM) Administrator & Host, Tammy Lauren Forum Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	"Carl and Rosamond expect to go to Florida soon." Probably to get away from the upstate New York Winter! In those days, you would've had to be financially well-healed, in order to make a trip like that during the winter months. Wonder what field of law that Carl practises? Not all areas of law were all that profitable to be in, back during the '30s and '40s. Steve Last Edited By: Derwenz 10/04/08 11:53 AM. Edited 1 times.
KirtlandHill		#38	[-]
Posts: 2713 (07/09/08 07:44 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Carl was District Attorney - as early as 1938 and as late as 1944. He and Rosamond owned a home in Watertown and a farm in the countryside. Bethany Last Edited By: KirtlandHill 07/09/08 08:03 PM. Edited 1 times.
KirtlandHill		#39	[-]
Posts: 2714 (07/10/08 11:46 AM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Monday, January 27 Zero. The girls at Farmers last night were members of the sodality. Elaine and Doris played for them. Allen went to Watertown this P.M. I've changed my mind. I think Minnie's reference to the "Farmers" yesterday (and today) may have actually meant that the gathering was actually held at the Farmer house. We've mentioned Walter and Ruth Farmer before, who owned a 176-acre hay and dairy farm in Brownville. Ruth Farmer was the woman who seems to have hosted many of the parties Minnie mentions in her diary. They had at least a couple of sons, as the "Farmer boys" have helped the Conklins at butchering time last month. Perhaps they had a daughter as well who was a member of this sodality... Elaine and Doris were both piano players and may have accompanied the group in doing some singing. Maybe they're planning a concert to raise money for the local Catholic church. Bethany
Derwenz		#40	[-]
Plays bridge on Wednesdays with Mike & Ruth Sloan Posts: 1215 (07/10/08 01:54 PM) Administrator & Host, Tammy Lauren Forum Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Beth, The whole sodality discussion was interesting. I've never heard of such an organization. Speaking of organizations, I can't help wondering whether, or not, the Conklins, the Farmers, and the other locals, were members of the National Grange. I think the full name of the organization is The National Grange Of Husbandry. The Grange was founded in 1867 initially for the benefit of farmers around the country. Apart from agriculture, the Grange is also involved in community affairs, the deaf and hard of hearing, legislative affairs, etc. Therefore, the Grange had (and probably, still has) chapters in just about every state and county. They've even produced a National Grange Songbook (I've seen them offered on eBay). I knew an elderly woman many years ago who once told me that she had a relative who was a member of the LA County chapter of the National Grange during the 1930s, and '40s. Steve Last Edited By: Derwenz 10/04/08 11:53 AM. Edited 5 times.

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Minnie's Day: A 1941 Diary

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