1929 Children sleeping on a fire escape http://www.gettyimages.com/license/514697594 |
SAT. JUNE 26, 1920
Got up at
7.30 had breakfast
went over
Mrs Butler’s at 9. Came
home had
dinner. Ethel
came down.
Rus and Mr. Lowell
over to
supper. Went up to the
store after
supper. Home all
evening went
to bed at 10.30
SUNDAY 27
Got up at 9
had breakfast
went over
Mrs. Butler’s at 10.15
came home stayed
home all morning
after dinner
Mildred and I
went to walk
up reservoir
Home all
evening went to
bed out in
the tent at 9.30.
MONDAY 28
Got up at
6.45. Went
over
Butler’s at 9. Came
home at 1
home all
afternoon
reading home
all evening
went to bed
in the tent
at 10.
NOTE: In these diary
entries Gertrude mentions sleeping in the tent.
This was another version of sleeping outside on a sleeping porch during
the hot summer weather. In the days
before air conditioning some people used to set up sleeping pavilions in their
back yard. That must have been fun!
The reservoir she mentions here must be the Folly Hill
Reservoir, which was not far from Elliott Street. She mentions her brother
Russell, his wife Ethel, her sister Mildred, and the boarder Mr. Lowell who was
usually there on weekends.
TUES. JUNE
29, 1920
Got up at
7.45 went
over
Butler’s all morning
went
downtown for Mrs. B.
Helen and
baby up all day
Went up
Danvers played tennis
after
dinner. home all evening
and went to
bed at 10.30
WEDNESDAY 30
Got up at
7.15 went
over
Butler’s all morning
came home at
12.45. After
dinner went
to ride with
Ella ???
came home
got
supper. Went out with the
bunch around
here. Bed at 10.30
THURSDAY,
JULY 1
Got up at
7.15 went over
Mrs.
Butler’s at 8.30 and went
downtown. Down Ella’s all
afternoon. After supper went
to walk with
the kids
went to bed
at 10.15
NOTE: Gertrude
mentions her sister Helen, her friend Ella, and going to work for Mrs. Butler
(housework?).
FRI. JULY 2,
1920
Got up at
7.15 went over
Butler’s all
morning. After
dinner went
downtown with
Ida &
Eunice got a pair of shoes
Came home at
5. After supper
Went riding
with Ella and
Gladys. Went to bed at 10.
SATURDAY 3
Got up at
7.30 went over to
Mrs.
Butler’s all morning
worked home
all afternoon
rained hard
all day Mr.
Lowell over
In the afternoon.
Stayed home
all evening and
Read went to
bed at 9.30
SUNDAY 4
Got up at
8.30 had break
fast at 9.
Home all the morn
ing. After dinner went to
walk came
home at 5.
Stayed up
all night watched
Bonfire went
to bed at 1 A.M.
NOTE: Gertrude
mentions her friends Ida, Gladys and Ella; and her sister Eunice. She mentions the boarder Mr. Lowell and
working at Mrs. Butler’s house. On the 4th
of July she went to see a bonfire until well after midnight! I wonder if she slept out in the tent that night?
MON. JULY 5,
1920
Got up at
8.30 went over
to Butler’s
home all morning
Ellsworth,
Helen & baby up Mr. Lowell
too. After dinner went
down to
Ella’s. After supper
went to
ride. Came home watched
fireworks went to bed at 10.45
TUESDAY 6
Got up at
7.30 over Mrs.
Butler’s all
the morning
Went down
Ella’s after dinner
and then
went down
town. After supper went
down Ella’s
a while, we
slept in the
tent bed at 9.15
WEDNESDAY 7
Got up at 5
had break
fast at
6.45. Went on the
Sunday
school picnic up
to Idlewood
had a
swell time
home at 8.
Went to bed
at 10.
NOTE: The firework
display was on the night after the 4th of July. She mentions her sister Helen, brother-in-law
Ellsworth, friend Ella, and the boarder Mr. Lowell. Her Sunday school picnic was at Idlewood
Park in Wenham where she “had a swell time”.
Gertrude hardly ever mentions church or Sunday school in her diary, but it was
an important part of her life growing up.
Click here for another diary entry about Idlewood Park:
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I'd be curious to know more about the tent and sleeping pavilions in general. I wonder if they slept on the ground or turned it into something a little more luxurious. Sleeping outside is always a fun treat and now I think I'll have have to do it more often this summer!
ReplyDeleteI wonder where the bonfire and fireworks were that she went to. I know that most years since my youth, fireworks have been set off at West Beach in Beverly Farms on the 4th of July. (They are just visible over the trees in West Manchester).
ReplyDeleteAnd I was wondering about the Horribles Parade, too!
DeleteHow wonderful to have her diary! I have one my uncle kept as a teenager in Brooklyn. He mostly counted how many squirrels he'd shot each day!
ReplyDelete