My Grandmother’s Diary ~ Part 19, August 12 – 30, 1920

My grandmother, Gertrude (left) and her friend Bea (right) at Mrs. Wilkins.
Was this photo taken in Haverhill, Massachusetts?

This is my 19^th blog post with transcriptions of my grandmother’s 1920 diary from Beverly, Massachusetts.  Her name was Gertrude Hitchings (1905 – 2001) and she lived on Elliott Street.  Her diary was a tiny 3” inch book with minuscule handwriting.  It has taken a long time to transcribe, and the book is very fragile.   Every Monday I post another section of her diary.  You can read the first installment HERE. 

  

FRI. AUG. 13, 1920

Got up at 7.30 but went

back to bed again.  Mild-

red, Gordon, Eunice & I

sick.  After dinner I got up

went out to the piazza [illegible and crossed out]

Home all evening

went to bed at 9.

SATURDAY 14

Got up at 7.45 worked

around the house all the

morning.  After dinner

went to the Sam Sam

had a pretty good time

we came home at

12 went to bed at 12.15.

SUNDAY 15

Got up at 8.45 stayed

Home all day Mrs & Mr

Wilkins, Russell and Ethel

came down.  Went to

Bed at 10.30.

NOTE:   Gertrude and her siblings were all sick at the same time, but seemed to get better by the next day or two.  On the 14th she went "to the Sam Sam" which was a mystery to me, until my mother reminded me it was a carnival in Beverly.  According to the Beverly Historical Society, this was a festival held for the benefit of the Beverly Hospital starting in 1905. Then the festival was held at the United Shoe Machinery Corporation Athletic Asssociation. Gertrude's father was a draftsman for USMC.   "From 1913 - the 19302 the "Sam Sam" carnival was a community highlight - in 1935 approximately 40,000 attended." ( http://www.beverlyma.gov/residents/coming-to-beverly-united-shoe-machinery/ )

On the 15th Mrs and Mr. Wilkins came down (along with Gertrude's brother, Russell, and his wife, Ethel).  In the next few diary entries it appears that the Wilkins lived in Haverhill, at least they lived there in the summer. 

MON. AUG 16, 1920

Got up at 5.45 tent 6.45 car

To Danvers, then took 7.7 train [sic] to

Haverhill got here at 8.30

After dinner went down

town with Bea came

home at 4.30 stayed home

all evening.  Bed at 9.30.

TUESDAY 17

Got up at 9. Bea is sick

This morning stayed at

Home all morning

And afternoon.  After supper

Took a walk downtown

Went to bed at 9.15

WEDNESDAY 18

Got up at 9 after breakfast

went down to Mr. Wilkins’

shop.  After dinner went

to the show with Bea.  Stayed

home all evening playing

cards.  Bed at 9.45

NOTE:   On the 16th Gertrude took the train to Haverhill.  It appears that she went with her friend, Bea Wilkins, removed to Haverhill, Massachusetts. The Wilkins family appears in the Beverly 1910 census, and in the Haverhill 1920 census.  It also appears from the diary that Mr. Wilkins had a shop in downtown Haverhill (or maybe he just worked at a store).  I could not find a store in the Haverhill directory that was owned by a Mr. Wilkins.  In the 1920 census, Bea's father is listed as a machinist. 

In researching this bit about Bea moving to Haverhill, I was delighted to find her birth record (born 1 September 1906 in Hamilton, Massachusetts), but saddened to learn that she died in 1925 in Boston, Massachusetts.  She died very young, just a few years after this diary was written, and she wasn't even 20 years old. 

THURS. AUG 19, 1920

Got up at 9 went to the

store before breakfast.  Home

all morning after dinner

went to Canobie Lake

with Bea had a good

time came home at 9.00

Went to bed at 9.45

FRIDAY 20

Got up at 10 went to the

store had breakfast. Stayed

home after dinner and

made fudge and read. After

supper went to the store

got an ice cream, read

and went to bed at 10.30

SATURDAY 21

Got up at 9.00 after break-

fast Bea & I went up to the

castle played tennis.  Mr.

Wilkins came up brought the

Lunch came home at 8.45

went to bed at 10.00

NOTE:  I love this entry because Gertrude went to Canobie Lake Park, which is not far from Haverhill, and not far from where I lived in Londonderry, New Hampshire.  Canobie Lake Park is still an historic amusement park in Salem, New Hampshire and I blogged about it as a trolley park at this link:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/08/canobie-lake-park-salem-new-hampshire.html  

Gertrude also mentions playing tennis at "the castle".  This refers to Winnekenni Castle in Haverhill.  It was built in 1875 as a summer estate, and donated to the city of Haverhill as a park in 1895.  It is still a park, and the castle is used for weddings, theater, craft fairs and other community events. You can read more about Winnekenni castle at this link:  http://www.winnekenni.com/  

SUN. AUG. 22, 1920

Got up at 10 stayed

at home all the morn-

ing.  In the afternoon

went to the movies with

Bea.  After supper took a walk

Up Tilton’s Tower with Mr. & Mrs.

Wilkins and Bea.  Bed at 9.15.

MONDAY 23

Got up at 9.00 stayed

Home all morning After

dinner made fudge

after supper went

downtown to do some

errands came home at

8.30 Went to bed at 9

TUESDAY 24

Got up at 9 had break-

fast at 11.30 Bea and I

went to Salisbury and to Hampton

beach had a swell time

We came home at 9.30

Went to bed at 10.30

Tilton Tower, Haverhill, Massachusetts
(old postcard)

NOTE:   Tilton's Tower was a folly built by John C. Tilton of West Newbury as a 125 foot observatory for his telescope in 1887.  The tower, on Silver Hill, was removed after World War II to make room for a radio antenna.  Gertrude visited Tilton's Tower on the 22nd, and on the 24th she went with Bea to the seacoast.  Salisbury Beach had a famous amusement park and arcade, and so did Hampton Beach.  It appears that in 1920 Gertrude visited many amusement parks - I can list many from her diary:  Salem Willows, Pleasant Pond, Canobie Lake, Salisbury and Hampton.  What is amazing is that Salem Willows and Canobie Lake are still amusement parks, and Salisbury Beach still has its seaside arcade. 

I’m continuing the transcriptions for another two pages to complete the section of the diary for her vacation in Haverhill with Bea. 

WED. AUG. 25, 1920

Got up at 10. had breakfast

went to the store, after

dinner went up to the castle

played tennis, home at 6.00

stayed home all evening

and read.  Bed 9.30.

THURSDAY 26

Got up at 9.00 stayed

home all morning. After

dinner Bea & I went down

town got the pictures.

Home all evening reading

went to bed at 10.

FRIDAY 27

Got up at 9.  had breakfast

then went to the store.  Home

all afternoon reading.  After

supper went down Mr. W’s store

& had a soda. Bed at 10.

NOTE:  Gertrude mentions more tennis at "the castle".  Perhaps "got the pictures" refers to having some photographs developed?  She went to Mr. Wilkins' store for a soda, and below she mentions going to the store to have an ice cream, so perhaps his business was a soda fountain or drug store (many pharmacies included soda fountain or counters in the 1920s)  

SAT. AUG 28, 1920

Got up at 9.15 had break

fast worked home all morning

after dinner went to the

store got some ice cream

stayed home all afternoon

after supper stayed around

home.  Went to bed at 10

SUNDAY 29

Up at 9.00 had breakfast

then at 11 Bea & I went to Canobie

and met Mr. L, Eunice and Hollis

up there had a great time. Mr. Lowell

& Eunice came back with us

and stayed all night after

supper went to walk.  Bed at 11.00

MONDAY 30

Got up at 7.30 after breakfast

Eunice, Mr. L, Bea & I went up to

the castle. home at 12.15.  After

dinner we came home got

home 5.15.  Stayed home all

evening.  Bed at 10.15

NOTE:  I think it’s interesting that Gertrude took a second trip to Canobie Lake Park in Salem, New Hampshire, and met up with her siblings and Mr. Lowell.   She returned home with them by train to Beverly on the 30^th . It must have been a very exciting trip for her to spend  two weeks away from home!

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My  Grandmother’s Diary ~ Part 19, April 12 – 30, 1920", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 17, 2017,  ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/04/my-grandmothers-diary-part-19-april-12.html: accessed [access date]).