Thursday, February 27, 1936 - Mother and Daddy Went Away

 

"Jack and I went over to Moore's house.  Mother and Daddy went away.  Before Mother went she gave Jack medicine and told him to go to bed, but he didn't.  Mother gave us each a sandwicth.  It had lettuce, Meat, salad dressing and butter in it."

My goodness!  I have so many questions!  Who were the Moores?  (I'll have to research them)  Where did Marie and Bryan go?  Why did Shirley cross out the last two sentences.  

And Jack!  He was always being naughty, ha ha!  I'm guessing Shirley often was exasperated with him because she was probably supposed to be watching him.

Monday, February 24, 1936 - The Fifth Grade Arithmetic Book

 

"Tomorrow I think we are going to be through our fifth [grade] arithmetic book.  Bob is staying at our cousins house.  I fell down twice in the water going to school.  I baked a cake while Daddy went after Mother."

I wonder which cousins Bob was staying with?  They had so many!  I'm guessing Shirley fell because it was icy and slushy.

Saturday, February 22, 1936 - Trying to Make Candy without Kerosene

"Mother, Daddy and Jack went to the show.  I got some candy ready to cook and there wasn't any kerosine.  When Mother, Daddy and Jack got home we had lunch.  I cut pictures out of papers for Billy."

 

Friday, February 21, 1936 - A Day with Elsie

 

"I went down to Elsie.  She gave me a peice of cake.  Her brother was there too.  Elsie came down here.  We had peanuts and pop.  I gave Elsie two magazines to read.  Elsie and Angie have a battery radio."


I found an interesting article about battery-operated or "farm" radios here.  Most homes in the country did not have electricity.  Batteries for radios were not the neat little metal tubes we know today.

Thursday, February 20, 1936 - Mr. McCrilles Sold Us a Radio

 

"I went to Elsie's to day.  Mr. McCrilles sold us a radio.  Mother went to work today.  Elsie gave me two doughnuts.  Daddy let me go with him after mother.  We saw three boys riding on the back of a car."

There is a Clarence W. McCrilles, born about 1900 in Arkansas, enumerated with his wife Cleo and his two daughters, Lawanda and Anita, in Muskegon in 1930.  By 1940, they were living in Hazelton, Shiawassee County, Michigan, but stated they had lived in Muskegon in 1935 (a question unique to the 1940 census).  The 1936 Muskegon City Directory also has him living on Route 5, the same as the Robbins family.

Monday, February 17, 1936 - Candy and Pennies

 

"Jack's teacher gave every pupil candy.  Marie didn't come to school this morning.  Joyce is learning to cut paper with her shears.  I have been saving my pennys.  I have 26¢ now.  Jack has 15¢ ($1.15) now."

I used this Inflation Calculator to figure out that 26 cents is about $4.89 today. Fifteen cents in 1936 is about $2.82 today, and $1.15 is $21.64 in today's money.  I am wondering if Jack had a dollar bill in addition to 15 pennies.

Doing a little digging on the internet told me I could get a 2.5 oz. Snickers barfor five cents, and a loaf of bread for nine cents in the 1930s.

Sunday, February 16, 1936 - There Was No Sunday School

 

"I went down to Aunt Elsie's.  Angie and Elsie are going with Don and Bertha to Grand Rapids to see Aunt Josie.  Aunt Elsie gave me two muffins.  I went over to Marie's.  She came over here too.  There was no Sunday School."


I wondered if there was a special occasion for Don and Angie and their wives to visit Josie (and Lloyd).  I checked Lloyd's and Josie's birthdates and anniversary, but none of them were in February.

Saturday, February 15, 1936 - Trying to Take Mr. Taylor Home

 

"Mother and Daddy are trying to take Mr. Taylor home.  I hope they don't get the car stuck.  Mother and Daddy got home alright.  Mother bought Joyce a pair of shears.  She dosen't know how to use them.  Mother bought us some candy."

Between the deep snow, the bitter cold, and the rural roads, I can imagine trying to travel anywhere by car would be an anxious venture.

Friday, February 14, 1936 - Valentine's Day

 

"I got six Valentines.  Our teacher gave each pupil a Valentine with a sucker in it.  I went down to Aunt Elsie's.  She gave me two peices of cake.  Jack got five Valentines.  Aunt Elsie got a Valentine from her sister today."

Monday, February 10, 1936 - "The snow comes up to my waist in some places"

 

"Mother and Daddy and Billy went to the show.  Jack and I made Valentines.  Bob made Johnny cake.  for dinner.  We didn't have to go to School.  The roads are not plowed.  The snow comes up to my waist in some places."

Interesting that they couldn't get to school, but they could get to the theater!

Saturday, February 8, 1936 - The Snow Shoveling Crew

 

"The snow is blowing.  Bob, Jack went skiing today.  I went down to Elsie's.  Men were shoveling the road to their house.  I baked a cake.  We had part of it for supper.  Jack carried half of a pail of water for Elsie.  Daddy went over to Grandma + Grandpa Kenfield.  Bob went to work on the roads shoveling snow, but couldn't because they had to be 18 years old."

That must have been a disappointment for Bob.  I'm sure he could do a man's work, as he had been helping to support his family for some time.

It sounds like neither Shirley's household nor Angie and Elsie's household had running water.  There is a photo of a well pump in the back yard here.

Monday, February 3, 1936 - A Hair-Do, Dice, and Sweet Popcorn

 

"Mother went down to get her hair curled.  She said I could get mine curled in spring.  I went down to Aunt Elsie's.  I played dice with Mother and Daddy.  Jack poped corn and put sugar on the corn because he liked it sweet.  We had a half a hour noon at school.  We get out a half a hour earlier."

I remember my Grandmother Robbins (Jeanne - Bob's wife), who was a beautician, talk about how perms were done in the old days, with electric curlers, each one of which was wired.  Sometimes hair would burn.  I imagine it would also be dangerous, with the possibility of electric shock if there was a short.  The price of beauty!

Sunday, February 2, 1936 - Sunday School, Paper Dolls, and Candy

 

"I went to Sunday School today.  We bought a Sunday paper.  I cut the paper dolls out of it.  Jack and I went to Grandma Lewis.  She gave us peanuts and candy.  She gave me some paper dolls for Joyce and I to play with.  Bob gave us a penny to buy candy.  Mother gave us some candy too."

Friday, January 31, 1936 - Mother Got Her "Knew" Coat

 

"Marie Server came over and Jack poped corn and I got some apples out and we had lunch.  At school today we played games.  Mother got her pay today.  She got her knew coat.  I got a ride home with Mrs. Rosengren from school.  Mother got her dresses back from Evans dry cleaners.  You can get one garment cleaned for fifty cents and two for fifty one cents."

Evans Dry Cleaners was at 1121 Third Street in Muskegon.  Google Street View shows that the building now houses a game store, The Griffin's Rest.

Sunday, January 26, 1936 - Doughnuts, Cake, and Cupcakes

 

"We went to Sunday School today.  Billy went down the Heights to get the Sunday paper.  I wanted to go down to Angie's but couldn't.  Jack and I went over to Grandmother and Grandpa's house.  Grandpa gave us each a doughnut.  We had cake for supper.  We are going to have cupcakes tomorrow for lunch."

Wow!  Lots of sweets that week!

Saturday, January 18, 1936 - A Wedding Supper

"We went to Don and Bertha's house to eat a wedding supper.  We gave the supper for Angie and Elsie Robbins.  We gave them a basket of food.  I put a coffee cup in for their coffee pot.  Our cousin Don wanted to hug Joyce.  Joyce didn't want him to."


Angelo Merrick Robbins, II married Elsie L. Vogt on January 17, 1936 in Muskegon County.  I have not yet been able to obtain a copy of their marriage record.  It would be of interest to me who the witnesses and officiant were.

Don Robbins Jr. ("Sonny"), Don Sr. and Bertha's first child, was almost 18 months old.  Joyce, the youngest of Bill and Marie's family, had just turned two years old a few weeks previously.

 

Sunday, January 12, 1936 - Uncle Angie's Marriage License

 

"Today I went to Sunday school.  When I got home Grandfather and Grandmother Lewis and Uncle Don Lewis were here.  Last night I saw Uncle Angie's marrage licesence in the paper.  He's going to marry Elsie Vogt.  I poped corn for my Grandfather, Grandmother, Uncle, Mother, Dad, and us kids."

Saturday, January 11, 1936 - Mutiny on the Bounty

"We went to the show today and saw Mutiny on the Bounty.  I didn't like it.  I didn't get up early this morning because I have to get up early on school days and on Sunday so we sleep on Saturday.  we got back from the show about 15 to 6. P. M.  I poped some pop corn."

Shirley was a tough movie critic!  Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, was "a huge box office success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1935 and one of MGM's biggest hits of the 1930s. The film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture." [Wikipedia]

Shirley probably went to the movie with Jack, since their mother had given them permission to attend earlier in the week.

 

Thursday, January 9, 1936 - The D.A.V. and Sour Ice Cream

 

"Today mother, Daddy Mr. Taylor & I went away. Mother & I went to the D.A.V. meeting.  Daddy and Mr. Taylor went to a wrestling match.  I met a girl named Margeret.  I forgot her last name.  on the way home we stop to a cafe in the Hieghts.  I asked for chocolate ice cream and it was sour.  I got some coca cola." 

Marie and Shirley probably attended a Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary meeting, as wives and daughters of disabled veterans could join.

Sour chocolate ice cream sounds terrible!  I wonder if the Coca Cola was an exchange for the ice cream?

Wednesday, January 8, 1936 - Geography, Fractions, and a Pig

 

"Today in Geo.[raphy] we had 41 questions. I got 100 in them. Mother and Dad salted down part of the half of the pig we got. Tomorrow in school we are going to have problems like this 

2     x     3
12 x 21
7 x 6

Just starting to learn fractions."

It's evident that Shirley was an intelligent girl who enjoyed school.  She was probably in the fourth grade here.  I happen to have the high school yearbook for her senior year in Coopersville, Ottawa County, Michigan, which actually belonged to my maternal uncle (Bob's brother-in-law) who was her classmate.  A quick look through it showed Shirley was very active in extra-curricular activities and was the Senior class secretary.  She obviously came by her love of learning at an early age.