"Done Up The Work"

Done up the work. So many of Mom's entries in her diary during her 17th year began with those words.
This morning, as I was sweeping, dusting and vacuuming, I thought about her words and wondered just exactly what they meant. Did she dust and sweep every morning? Or did the work include other household chores?

This is a picture of Mom's beautiful green leather diary - a gift from her parents for Christmas, 1935. I wonder what a diary like this cost - especially with her name embossed in gold? Did Lois and Evelyn (her sisters) receive diaries, also?
Were theirs different colors? Do some of their kids still have theirs?







Mom's oldest photo album has many pictures all the same size of friends and relatives. They remind me of the 'photo booth' pictures which took eight pictures for a quarter.
There's no date on this picture of Ruth V. Ridnour, but it is obviously of her around sixteen or seventeen years.

The diary entry for September 27, 1936 reads: "Lois Hess was down for dinner. Sure had a nice time."










And here is a picture of Lois Hess. The following year, she married Delbert Garret. I don't remember hearing their names while I was growing up, so I wonder if they moved away and didn't stay in touch.













Continuing the entry: "Had a date with Clare Anderson in Marvin E's Shivey sport Roadster. Marvin had Bunny Lowers." (Another name I never heard.)
This photo from Flickr is of a 1934 Chevy Sport Roadster. Pretty snazzy automobile. I presume Mom and Clare had to ride in the rumble seat.



And just so we know what the owner of that fancy car looked like, here is a photo of Marvin Egleston strumming a guitar. I do remember Mom talking about him, but don't remember who he married or where they lived in later years.
















Another one of those photo booth pictures? This one of Irvin Miller. Irvin and his brother, Howard were neighborhood boys. I know Howard lived near New Market in later years. Not sure what happened to Irvin. (Guess I'll have to read more of the old Adams County Free Presses online.)
(Irvin figures in the September 30 diary entry.)













Mom had several dates with Clare (Swede) Anderson in September and October, but by November she was dating Louis L. Lynam and her sister, Lois, had a date or two with Swede. On November 19, Louis asked Ruth to go steady.
This picture of Dad was taken on his 18th birthday. His car wasn't a sporty model like Marvin's, but it held more people.
This entry from September 30: "Date with Lewis* Lynam, I.M., T.M., D.B. & Lois. We kids were coming home. Hit a bump at Bill Williams'. Irvin was asleep. He hit the top; was knocked unconscious."

I love reading her diary entries, trying to match up pictures with names and then learning more about the people in the old newspapers of the day. It is much more fun than "doing up the work."

* Dad's name was often spelled Lewis, but Louis was the correct spelling.