Wednesday, February 26, 1936 - Joyce's Perfume Bottle

 

"Jack is sick in bed with a cold.  I went to school today.  Joyce has got a perfume bottle and lets everyone smell it.  Daddy went after Mother.  Jack feels better now.  Mother made Joyce's doll a bonnet."


I'm guessing Joyce was given an empty perfume bottle to play with.  I wonder if Marie knitted, crocheted, or sewed that doll's bonnet?

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.

Tuesday, February 18, 1936 - Another Letter from WKBZ

 

"Mother didn't go to work today.  Marie didn't come to school.  I got a letter from W. K. B. Z. Spelling bee.  Mother is making Joyce a neckscraf [sic].  Mother also made a hat.  Mother made the beds for me.  I don't know if I am going to the Spelling bee."

Will Marie get to participate in the radio station's spelling bee?  Or will she be disappointed like last time?

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.

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."

Thursday, February 13, 1936 - "A man was trying to sell daddy a radio"

"We went to School today.  We drew names for Valentines today at school.  I got a boy's name.  His name is Clifford Bromley.  I slept on the davenport tonight.  Mr. Taylor is still here.  A man was trying to sell daddy a radio."

I did a Google Image search for 1936 radios and found lots here.  Because Shirley has mentioned a radio station in her diary, I assume the family already has one.  

Clifford Arthur Bromley was born 9 September 1922 in Michigan.  In 1930, he was living with his mother and stepfather, Julia and Peter Paul in Grand Rapids, and in 1940, they were living in Muskegon.  Clifford grew up to serve in the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II and died 10 March 1962.

 

Wednesday, February 12, 1936 - Lincoln and Mr. Taylor's Birthday

 

"There were 22 pupils at school today.  Our classroom wrote stories about Abraham Lincoln.  Todays is Mr. Taylors birthday.  Mrs. Taylor and another lady and Mr. Taylor visited here.  Mrs. Taylor and the other lady named Fern went away.  Mr. Taylor stayed at our house."

Tuesday, February 11, 1936 - Helping Grandma Lewis

 

"I went to Grandma Lewis.  She was sick in bed.  I set table, washed dishes got a glass of water and few other things for her.  I looked at the Sunday paper at Grandma's house.  We have to go to school.  I will be glad.  There is not much to do home.  Its too cold to go out doors and enjoy it."


Mary J. (Wilkinson) Lewis was an invalid for the last few years of her life.  She was diagnosed with Addison's Disease around 1938 and died in 1940.  I'm sure she appreciated any help that Shirley could give her.

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!

Wednesday, February 5, 1936 - Calendars for the Bedrooms

 

"I went down to Elsies and ate supper.  I made a calendar for Bob, Bill, and Jack to hang upstairs.  I made one for our Bedroom.  I gave Joyce my crayons so as to color.  I didn't have to go to school today.  The snow is so deep and the roads not plowed, so they shut the school up."

What is interesting about this entry is that it explains the sleeping arrangements.  The boys slept "upstairs", which I believe was probably a half story or attic, given the photos we have of the house.  There is a window in the south gable.  It appears that Shirley and Joyce shared a bedroom.  Where did Bryan and Marie sleep?  Did they share a room with the girls or did they sleep on a fold out sofa in the living room?  Were there two small bedrooms on the main floor?

Zillow states this house has only one bedroom and one bath, and 552 square feet, but then again, it states the house was built in 1938, which is obviously wrong!.  The square feet is probably considered usable space only and the upstairs is likely not counted.  Another real possibility is that there was no bathroom at the time my family lived there.  They likely had an outhouse and used a tin tub for bathing; and then later on, one of the bedrooms was converted to a bathroom.

Tuesday, February 4, 1936 - A Good Book and a Report Card

 

"I bought a book home from school called Just David.  I like it very much.  Bob read it through tonight.  I got my ears and fingers cold coming home from school.  I got my spelling words alright.  I wanted to go to Elsies, but couldn't.  I got my report card.  I got A in reading, Health, English, Geography and spelling.  I got B in Penmanship, arithmetic and deportment."

Just David was written in 1916 by Eleanor Hodgman Porter, the author of Pollyanna.  It was a bestseller.  Now out of copyright, you can read it for free, here at Google Books.

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!

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.

Wednesday, January 29, 1936 - Arithmetic and Uncle Angie's Job

 

"I went to Marie Server house and played school.  Uncle Angie got a job working at the Norge.  Mrs. Rosengren showed me how to do a problem in arithmetic.  I think I did it the way she told me and I got it wrong in arithmetic class.  I must to have not watched her very close.  Bob, Bill, Jack went down the hill."

I found this online article, which explains the history behind the building that held the Norge, a refrigerator company: "Norge Corp., which came to Muskegon in 1891 as the Alaska Refrigerator Co., bought the factory building in 1936 as part of a huge expansion program. Within two years, Norge would employ an estimated 4,500 workers."  I'm sure this was a huge relief to the many previously unemployed families in the area.

This Facebook page for Muskegon Heritage Museum has some photos of a Norge refrigerator at the museum.  And this photo on Pinterest shows the Norge building likely around the time Uncle Angie worked there.

Tuesday, January 28, 1936 - Mid Term Results

 

"We got our mid term tests back today.  I got B on mine.  I got a new tablet at school today.  Mother and Dad gave Joyce, Jack, and I a penny.  Jack pulled us over to the store on the sled.  Joyce had a sucker.  Jack and I had a candy bar.  Mother and Daddy went over to Grandma and Grandpa Kenfeild."

Monday, January 27, 1936 - The Veterans Are Awarded Their Bonus

 

"Great News!  The bonus became a law!  Today at school Mrs Rosengren and Mrs Smith our teachers was late.  We played colors till they came.  I b[r]ought a grit for Billy to my teacher.  I brought my playmate magazine to school.  I went Down to aunt Elsie's house."

In 1932, 17,000 World War I veterans and their family members (totaling 43,000), marched on Washington D.C. to demand early cash redemption of their service certificates.  They came to be called the Bonus Army.  The World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924 had awarded them bonuses in the form of these certificates but they could not redeem them until 1945.  The Bonus Army set up makeshift  housing, called Hooverville, in "honor" of the president, Herbert Hoover, who then ordered the U.S. Army to clear out their campsites.  The veterans were also met with resistance by the Washington city police who shot at the veterans; two were wounded and later died.  When Franklin Roosevelt became president, he offered the participants of a smaller Bonus March in 1933 jobs in the Civilian Conversation Corps, most of whom accepted.  On January 27, 1936, Congress overrode Roosevelt's veto against early payout and paid the veterans their bonus nine years early.  This was very good news for all those unemployed veterans whose families were suffering.

Grit was a weekly newspaper that was published out of Pennsylvania.  It was very popular in rural areas.  I remembering getting it when I was a girl, living in Alaska.  Billy must have had a subscription route.

Friday, January 24, 1936 - A Letter from Phyllis

"I went to school today and started to do some of my mid term test.  I got a letter from Phyllis Taylor today.  I went down to Angi's and Elsies house.  Billy came after me to come home.  I was making the beds here at home and Bob said 'Look what you left under the lamp.'  I looked and there was a letter from Phyllis."

What a nice surprise that must have been for Shirley to get a letter from her friend!

 

Thursday, January 23, 1936 - The Snow was Very Deep

 

"I didn't go to school today because the snow was very deep.  I didn't get ready.  Mother told us not to go to school.  When it was time to go it wasn't so deep as I thought.  I missed part of my mid term test.  Mother and Daddy went down to Aunt Elsie and Uncle Angie's."

Tuesday, January 21, 1936 - The Locked Geography Book

 

"We are going to have questions in Geography tomorrow.  Grace Bidney brings a school case to school.  Marie Server and Grace use one Geography  book.  Grace brought her case to school today and forgot the key to the case.  Marie couldn't take the book home to do questions.  I let her take my book.  Daddy forgot to take me to the spelling bee."

Shortages of school supplies is not a new thing!  It was kind of Shirley to share her book with Marie. Grace Bidney was a classmate of theirs.  Her parents were Peter and Helen Bidney, and she had a brother, Robert, who was two years younger, according to the 1930 Federal Census.  Her parents were immigrants, having been born in Poland and Germany.

 How disappointing it must have been that Shirley's daddy forgot to take her to the spelling bee!  I believe it was the one sponsored by the radio station, WKBZ.

Friday, January 17, 1936 - Three Movies

 

"I did not go to school this morning because Joyce had a ear ache, but I went this after noon.  I went to the Strand to see Shirley Temple in the littlest Rebel, and our gang Frollies [sic], and The little mice.  The little mice were in color."


I could not find a movie or cartoon named The Little Mice by searching Google, IMBD, or Wikipedia.  I did find a short color cartoon called Three Lazy Mice, released July 15, 1936 which can be viewed on YouTube here. 

According to CinemaTreasures.org, the Strand Theatre, 22-27 East Broadway Avenue, was built in Muskegon Heights in 1923 in a mixed-use retail and apartment building.  It had one screen and 843 seats.  A photo of what it probably looked like when Shirley attended movies there can be see here.  Since 2001, attempts have been made to restore and renovate the historic building.