Gertrude Hitchings 1920s |
My birthday
15 yrs old.
SUN. AUG. 1,
1920
Got up at
9. Stayed home
all morning
went over Butlers
a little
while. Ma & Pa up to
Russells. After dinner Brick
and I went
to Idlewood. After
lunch Bob,
Brick and Ella up.
Went to bed
at 10.30
MONDAY 2
Got up at
8.00 Went
Over Butlers
stayed until
2. Home all the afternoon
After supper
went up to
Fred’s with
Brick and got
the
pictures. Came home
At 9.30 went
to bed at 10.15
TUESDAY 3
Got up at
7.30 Went over
Mrs. Butlers
until 10. Helen,
Ells, baby,
Ethel & Rus over. After
dinner went
down playground.
After supper
went to ride. Bed
At 10.00
NOTE: My grandmother,
Gertrude Matilda Hitchings, was born 1 August 1905 in Beverly, Massachusetts to
her parents, Arthur Treadwell Hitchings and Florence Etta Hoogerzeil. She was the sixth of their eight children. Gertrude turned 15 years old the day she
wrote this diary entry. She mentions her
friends Brick, Bob, Ella and Fred, and her siblings Helen and Russell, with his
wife, Ethel. Coincidentally, my first grandchild was born on August 1st, too!
WED. AUG. 4,
1920
Got up at
7.30 Worked
Over Butlers
until 10.30
Stayed home
the rest of the morn
Ing. After dinner went to Danvers
Played
tennis with Russell
Came home at
6. Home all
Evening bed
at 10.
THURSDAY 5
Got up at
7.30 Went
over Mrs.
Butler’s went down
town at
8.45. After dinner
went up
Danvers played tennis
with
Brick. Went to ride
after
supper. Mr. Lowell over
Went to bed
at 10.30
FRIDAY 6
Got up at
7.30 Worked
most of the
morning over
Butlers. Home all afternoon
After supper
went to ride
up
Danvers. Bed at 10.15
NOTE: Gertrude
mentions working at Mrs. Butler’s again (housework?) and more tennis with her
brother Russell and her friend Brick.
Mr. Lowell, the occasional border, is back again.
SAT. AUG. 7,
1920
Got up at
7:30. Went over to
Mrs. Butlers
until 10.15. Stayed
home all
morning. Bea came
down at 2.45
after supper we
went down to
the beach & down the
merry-go-rounds
came home at 8.45
Went to bed
at 10.45
SUNDAY 8
Got up at
9.15 stayed at
home all
morning. After dinner
went down to
the beach with Bea.
Ethel &
Russell came back, went up
to Russell’s
had lunch
went to bed
at 10.30.
MONDAY 9
Got up at
7.30 went
down the
store. After dinner
rode over to
North Beverly
after supper
went to ride
with Bea
& Brick up Danvers.
NOTE: On the 7th
Gertrude mentions going, with her friend Bea, to the beach and the
merry-go-round, and the only beach I know of that would have a merry-go-round
is at Salem Willows, and that carousel is still there. Perhaps there was another beach with a
merry-go-round in 1920?
TUES. AUG.
10, 1920
Got up at
5.15 went blue-
berrying
with Bea, Pa & Brick.
Stayed home
all afternoon.
after supper
Bea, Brick,
Bob & I
played tennis then
went to ride
came home at
9.15. Went
to bed at 10.00
WEDNESDAY 11
Got up at
8.15. Went
down
Marion’s at 11 came
home went
down the store
stayed home
all afternoon
after supper
went to the
pictures
with Eunice at home
at
10.15 bed at 10.30
THURSDAY 12
Not feeling
good today
Got up at
10.30 layed
down all
morning and
afternoon
and evening
went to bed
at 8.35.
NOTE: More tennis and
berrying. It is interesting to note that
Gertrude woke up at all different times during her summer vacation, from 5:45am
to as late as 9:30am. Sundays seemed to
be the day she slept in the latest. She
mentions her friends Bea, Bob, and Brick, her cousin Marion, and her sister
Eunice. In the last entry, Gertrude is
sick again. In the next few days
Gertrude and her siblings Mildred, Gordon and Eunice all become sick, too.
--------------------------------------
Heather Wilkinson Rojo, “My Grandmother’s Diary ~ Part 18,
August 1 – 12, 1920”, Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 10, 2017 ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/04/my-grandmothers-diary-part-18-august-1.html: accessed [access date]).
Your grandmother's diary reminds me of one my uncle Henry kept his first year in college. He lived at home and has little cryptic entries like these.
ReplyDeleteFinding Eliza
It must be a teen age thing. Even 100 years ago, or today, kids keep diaries and journals the same way!
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