Monday, May 1, 2017

My Grandmother's Diary ~ Part 21, September 12 - 23, 1920

Gertrude and her brother, Gordon, 1920s  

This is the 20th installment of my grandmother's diary from 1920.  Her name was Gertrude Matilda Hitchings (1905 - 2001) and she lived on Elliott Street in Beverly, Massachusetts.  I'm transcribing small sections of this tiny 3" diary, with its minuscule handwriting, and posting it at my blog every Monday.  You can read the first installment of the diary HERE.



SUN. SEPT 12, 1920
Up at 9. Had breakfast at
9.30 stayed around home
all morning.  After dinner went
down Mabel’s with Eunice. After
lunch went up to Russell’s with
Eunice & Ethel H.  Helen & Ellsworth
Up.  Bed at 10.

MONDAY 13    Rain
Up at 6.45 went to school
At 7.45 came home at
1.15. Stayed home all afternoon
before supper Eunice & I went
down to the A &P.  Stayed
home all evening and read
Mrs. Butler over. Bed at 8.30

TUESDAY 14
Up at 6.45 went to school
at 7.45 came home at
1.15 home all afternoon
And evening reading
Went to bed at 8.30

NOTE:  Gertrude and her sister Eunice went to visit their friend Mabel (this is not Aunt Mabelle who died in 1916).  She visited her married brother Russell, and her married sister Helen visited with her husband Ellsworth Robson.   Gertrude mentioned the A&P, which was a grocery store (one of the first chain groceries in the country, which operated from 1859 - 2015).  

WED. SEPT. 15, 1920
Up at 6.45 went to school
at 7.45 came home at
1.15. Stayed around the
house all the afternoon
after supper went to
ride with Eunice & Alice
Went to bed at 9.45

THURSDAY 16
Up at 6.45 went to school
at 7.45 came home at
1.15. After dinner Eunice &
I went down to Helen’s.  After
supper went to the store with
Eunice & Ida. Bed at 9.30

FRIDAY 17
Up at 6.30 school all the
morning home at 1.15
Helen up.  Walked down A&P with
Eunice.  After supper went
To movies with Ella & Brick
Went to bed at 11.30

NOTE:  Gertrude mentions her friends Alice, Ida, Ella and Brick.  More visiting with her married sister Helen. 





SAT. SEPT. 18, 1920
Up at 7.30 worked around
the house all the morn-
ing and afternoon.  Mr. Lowell
came over stayed all night
stayed home all evening and
went to bed at 9.45

SUNDAY 19
Up at 9.00 had breakfast at 9.30
stayed home all the morning
after dinner Ella and I
went to walk up Danvers
Brick up all evening. Went
To bed at 10.00 PM

Monday 20
Up at 6.45 school at 8 had
short periods on account of lecture
came home at 1.15.  Home all after
noon.  Went down the store before
supper.  Home all evening.  Feeling
punk with a cold.  Bed at 8.30

NOTE: The occasional board Mr. Lowell was back on the 18th.  She mentions her friends Ella and Brick.  School classes are back, and she has caught a cold.  

TUES. SEPT. 21, 1920
Up at 6.30 went to school
at 7.45 school all morning
came home at 1.15.  Helen &
Clemont up all day, stayed
around the house all evening.
Ellsworth up to supper
Went to bed at 9.45

WEDNESDAY 22
Up at 6.45 cars late got to
school at 8.35 came home
at 1.45 went back for
bookkeeping got home at
4.45.  After supper went to ride
With Gladys and with Brick.  Bed at 8.45

THURSDAY 23
Up at 6.45 went to school
At 7.45 got home at 1.30
Stayed home all afternoon went
Down Ella’s at 4.  Stayed around
Home all the evening.
Bed at 9.30.

NOTE:  Her married sister Helen visited with her baby, Clemont, and husband, Ellsworth.  Gertrude has started bookkeeping classes on Wednesday afternoons.  I didn't know that she took bookkeeping!  She mentions her friends Gladys, Brick and Ella.  (Her brother-in-law, Ellsworth Robson, had a sister Ella born in 1906 (same age as Gertrude) - could this be her friend Ella? They lived on Odell Avenue in Beverly.  


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "My Grandmother's Diary ~ Part 21, September 12 - 23, 1920", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 1, 2017, ( http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/05/my-grandmothers-diary-part-21-september.html: accessed [access date]). 

2 comments:

  1. Amazing how mundane stuff like she wrote can be so interesting generations later. I treasure the ones I have from my grandparents.
    Finding Eliza

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is such a wonderful thing to have. I bet our ancestors never anticipated that their daily lives would mean so much to us.

    ReplyDelete