My Grandmother’s Diary ~ Part 10 April 27 – May 8, 1920

Idlewood Lake in Wenham, Massachusetts

This is the 10th installment of my grandmother's diary from 1920.  Her name was Gertrude Hitchings (1905 - 2001), and she was living on Elliott Street in Beverly, Massachusetts.  The diary is a tiny 3", and every Monday I publish a new section, with transcriptions of the tiny handwriting.  You can read the first installment HERE.  I'll post more of this diary every week for Amanuensis Monday.

TUES.  APR. 27, 1920

                       Cold

Got up at 7.00 had breakfast.

At 10 o’clock went down

town with Eunice did an errand for

ma, home 11.30 had dinner at

12.30 stay around the

house all afternoon.  Mr. Lowell over

Went out a little while after supper bed 8.15

WEDNESDAY 28

                           Rain

Got up at 8 o’clock had

Breakfast.  Home all morning

knitting & sewing.  Mrs. Butler over

after dinner.  Took a walk with

Gordon and pa up Elliott St.

Went out a little while after

supper played game went to bed at 9.

THURSDAY 29

                        Fair

Got up at 7.15 stayed at

home all the morning.

after dinner took a ride with Bob

up N. B. [North Beverly] and Danvers.  Went out a little

while after supper but it rained

went to bed at 9 o’clock

[NOTE:  There are several mysterious characters mentioned here – Mr. Lowell again (who I figured must be a teacher and a former boarder at their home according to my mother), Mrs. Butler, and who is Bob?  Gertrude underlined his name several times in her diary. My mother thinks Bob was someone's boyfriend, possibly Eunice's boyfriend?  Eunice was 15 years old, her brother Gordon was 12, and Millie was 10 years old.]

FRI.  APR. 30, 1920

                                  Fair

Got up at 7.30 went

downtown with Gordon.  After

dinner went to ride with Brick,

Bea came down, we took a ride

down to Helen’s.  After supper

took a walk came home

and went to bed at 10.15

SATURDAY,  MAY 1

                                  Fair

Got up at 7.30 had breakfast

worked around the house all morn-

ing before dinner went down ???

came home played ball.  After

dinner went up woods got some

flowers then played ball.  Marion up

after supper Mr. Lover went to bed 10.30

SUNDAY 2

                                      Rain

Got up at 8.30 had breakfast

Bea went home at 10  Hollis went

with her.  Mr. & Mrs. Earley & Russell

and Ethel down.  After dinner went to

walk with Etta and Mildred.  Home all

the evening bed at 9.30.

[NOTE:   More friends – Brick, Bea and Marion are friends Gertrude mentions many times.  Helen is Gertrude’s married sister, who lived nearby with her young family.  Hollis is Gertrude’s 16 year old brother, Mildred is little sister. Etta was her grandmother.   Russell is her married brother and Ethel is his new bride.  Mr. and Mrs. Early are a mystery.]

MON. MAY 3, 1920

                                    Fair

Got up at 6.45 went

To school home at

1.15 had dinner went to

ride up Wenham with Bob and

Marion.  Home all evening

Ma down town.  Went

to bed at 9 o’clock.

TUESDAY 4

                                Rain

Got up at 7.00 went

to school home at 1.15

had dinner.  Home all the

afternoon  Ma came up.  Belle

came up to supper.

went to ride over N. B. [North Beverly]

with Brick.  Went to bed at 9.15

WEDNESDAY 5

Got up at 7.00 went

to school.  Home 1.15 Helen

Nana and Mable

up took the baby out all

afternoon.  Ellsworth up to

supper home all the

evening went to bed at 9.45

[NOTE:  When Gertrude mentions “dinner” she means lunch.  Supper was the evening meal. Bob’s name is underlined again.   Belle is her mother’s youngest sister, who was unmarried at this time.]

THURS. May 6, 1920

Got up at 7.00 went to

school.  Home at 1.15 Ethel

over she and ma went to

Danvers after dinner home all

afternoon alone.  Hollis took

me to the Waldorf Lynn to

the show.  Went to bed at 12.

FRIDAY 7

Got up at 7.00 went to

school home 1.15.  Went

up to Idlewood with Bob

and Eunice came home

5.45 had supper.  Stayed

Around the house all evening

Alone went to bed at 9.30.

SATURDAY 8

                            Rain

Got up at 7.30 had

breakfast worked all the

morning and all after

noon.  Mr. Lowell came

over this afternoon.  Bowers

over after supper. Bed at 11.

[NOTE:    The Waldorf Theatre in Lynn, Massachusetts was a movie theater operated by Warner Brothers Studios.  It opened in 1889 first as a theater, and in 1920 as a movie house.  It was closed in 1956, and demolished in 1965. 

Idlewood was a lake in Wenham, Massachusetts, now called Pleasant Pond.  You can see a 1990 video of an oral history project with a gentleman reminiscing about Idlewood Lake in the 1920s at this link (skip up to minute 34 of the video):  https://archive.org/details/HWTPSDVD35   Apparently it was quite the recreation area in the early part of the 20^th century with a dance hall, and boat rentals, accessible by trolley (street cars) from Beverly.]

The entrance to the Idlewild Lake park in Wenham, Massachusetts

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Grandmother's Diary ~ Part 10 April 27 – May 8, 1920", Nutfield Genealogy, posted February 13, 2017,  (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/02/my-grandmothers-diary-part-10-april-27.html: accessed [access date]).