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.

Thursday, January 30, 1936 - Shirley Goes Skiing

 

"I went down the hill with Bob and Jack.  Jack got cold and started to go home.  Bob told him to wait till we got to the top of the hill, and we would go home with him.  Jack didn't wait.  I had a apple when I got home.  We took skis to the hill.  I fell down about two or three times.  Marie Server was over when I was down the hill."

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.

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 25, 1936 - Magazines for Shirley and Jack

 

"Mother bought Jack a Mickey Mouse magazine.  She got me a playmate magazine.  Mother and Daddy went to the show.  We read stories out of them.  One storie out of my book is Tick Tock Tower.  We want to get the March magazine of Children's Playmate.  We've got the January magazine now."

I found a copy of the January issue of Children's Playmate on Amazon with photos here.  While I found information online about the history of Mickey Mouse magazine, the precursor to the comic books, I didn't find specific history about the publication of Children's Playmate.