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| An advertisement for Hoogerzeil Express in the 1920 Beverly, Mass. City Directory, page 49 |
This is another installment of a transcription of my grandmother's 1920 diary. Gertrude Hitchings (1905 - 2001) was only fourteen years old when she wrote this tiny 3" diary in Beverly, Massachusetts. You can read the first installment HERE. I'll be posting sections of this diary every week for Amanuensis Monday posts.
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| March 10 - 15, 1920 |
WED. MAR 10,
1920
Got up at
6.30 walked to
school and
back awful warm with
bad
walking. home all afternoon
Mrs. Butler
over. Went sliding after
supper but
didn’t’ stay. Bobby Brick [?}
and ^Marion
& Adolf up tonight. Ma & Pa
over Mrs.
Butler’s bed at 10.15
----------------------------------
THURSDAY 11
Got up 6/45
walked to
school and
back, rained a little this
noon. bad walking.
Home
all
afternoon. Went down
Marion’s
after supper.
Pa went over
to see Russell.
I came home
at 9.30 bed at 10.15
----------------------------------------------
FRIDAY 12
Go up at 7
went to school
at 7.15 had
an assembly
home at
1.30. Home all afternoon
Mrs. Butler
over, raining this p.m.
Went to the
pictures with Marion
and her
father home 10.30 bed 10.45
[Notes: Marion could
be Marion Hoogerzeil (1904 - 1953), Gertrude’s first cousin. The Hoogerzeils lived at #5 Union Street. Marion’s father would have been Gertrude’s
Uncle Alonzo Hoogerzeil (1875 – 1946). Ma's maiden name was Florence Etta Hoogerzeil. They were the children of Peter Hoogerzeil, Jr. (1841 - 1908) who started the Hoogerzeil Express company in Beverly (see the advertisement above) By 1920 it was being run by John E. Healey, Etta's brother.
Gertrude mentions going to “the pictures” with Marion and
her father. This would be the moving
pictures or movies. My grandmother
always called movies “the pictures”, even if she watched “a picture on TV last
night”. ]
SAT. MAR.
13, 1920
Got up at
8.00 had breakfast
worked
around the house all
the
morning. Raining hard.
Went over
Mrs. Butler’s after
dinner and
helped her she cut
her hand.
Came home got supper
and went to
bed at 9.20 P.M.
--------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY 14
Up at 9.00
took a bath had break-
fast. Helen, Ellsworth, Russell,
Ethel and
Mr. Lowell came
over to
dinner. Went down
Marion’s
after dinner. Helen
and
Ellsworth stayed here all
night went to
bed at 9.15
------------------------------------------------
MONDAY 15
Got up at
6.15 went to school
Helen &
Ellsworth went home at 11
Got a ride
home with Mr. Put-
num. Went down the store
with
Marion. Ma not well. Home
all
evening. Marion up. Cars running again
bed at
9.00
[Notes: Gertrude's two eldest siblings were married and living away. Her sister Helen and her husband Herbert Ellsworth Robson were living nearby in Beverly, and her brother Russell and his wife, Ethel, were living in Lynn. They were all together for Sunday dinner on the 14th.
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| March 16 - 21, 1920 |
TUES. MAR 16
Got up at
6.45 rode to school
today in the
car. Got home 1.15
Went over
Magilsons with Marion
She worked
over there today stayed
until
6. Ma is better today
Home all
evening Ma and Pa
are over
Butlers went to bed 10.
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WEDNESDAY 17
St.
Patrick’s day
Up at 7.00
went to school, got
home at
1.15 Mabel came
up stayed
all afternoon. I went to
class
meeting at 3.00 got home 4.15
went down
Marion’s. Marion
up all the
evening until
8.30 went to bed at 9.30
---------------------------------------------------
THURSDAY 18
Got up at
7.00 went to
school home
at 1.15. Went
up to Marion’s
cousins with
her. Went to club after
supper. Mrs. Butler & Mrs Small
over. Went to bed at 10.15
[NOTES: Gertrude was
happy to take a car (trolley) to school today. Did they stop running in the winter? Were
they on strike?
The Magilson family lived at 154 Bridge Street in Beverly. They were from Holland, just like the
Hoogerzeil family. I don’t think they were relatives. Notice that on the 16th Marion helped out the Magilson family, and on the 13th Gertrude helped out Mrs. Butler, who had cut her hand. ]
FRI. MAR 19,
1920
Got up at
7.00 went to
school. Home
at 1.15 Ma
& Pa
gone to Russell’s. Went
riding on
Eunice’s bike. Home alone
all the
evening. Eunice
and Hollis
gone to pictures
went to bed
at 9.15
---------------------------------------
SATURDAY 20
Got up at
7.00 snowing
hard this
morning. Worked
around the
house all
morning. Home all
afternoon
and evening
tatting. Went to bed
at 9.30
----------------------------------------
SUNDAY 21
Got up at
8.45 had
breakfast went
to church
home at 12.30
had dinner
Went to walk
with Marion
after dinner. Home all evening
went to bed at 10. O’clock.
[NOTES: Ma and Pa, my great grandparents, went to visit Russell, their oldest son, who was recently married and living in Lynn. Gertrude again
mentions going to “the pictures” AKA the movies.
Gertrude loved tatting and knitting. I remember my grandmother always doing
handwork, and every Christmas she would knit something, sometimes just socks or mittens, for
everyone in the family. This was quite a
feat because she had seven children, their spouses, and 29 grandchildren to
knit for every Christmas! It was your
lucky year if you received a Christmas sweater from Nana!
This is one of the few entries where Gertrude mentions going to church. I don't know which church the family attended in Beverly.]
Part One of my grandmother's diary can be found at this link:
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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Grandmother’s Diary ~ Part 6", Nutfield Genealogy, posted January 16, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/01/my-grandmothers-diary-part-6.html: accessed [access date]).
Do you have any of the tatting you mention?
ReplyDeleteI have some of her knitted items. I passed the baby sweaters and things on to my daughter. My mom has some of tatting (edgings on hankies, etc.) It was like lace.
Delete