Comments On Article: Two More 1930s Diaries. Emma And Rose

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Looking forward to hearing the new diary entries! I chuckled at your husband’s exclamation of joy at realizing the same football teams were playing. There’s lots of things for us to learn and discover that will bring us joy.  I also am grateful of the email alerts for the new posts! Now I know just when to look. 

I love your husband's excitement!!!

Lara W, I am very happy that we have the alert emails now.  

Ann E, Charles enjoys history and studying the past.  Since I came up with let's try to find out what went on in the home during these times he has been behind me all the way. I appreciate his support and involvement, we try to make it fun but some of it is hard but those are the times we truly feel what they must have felt.  Charles is surprised that there is so much to learn with this history study and so am I. 

I am looking forward to these diaries to add to Sarah's.  I enjoy getting to know these women and peeking into their lives a bit.  I am especially looking forward to Roses's diary since she is a teacher, as am I.  What a coincidence indeed that the same two football teams are playing each other.  Charles's excitement is catching.

I have a question ( actually a few )

I would like to join in, at least in part, but there are some things I can’t do. If I list them perhaps you can help me think of ways round this 

1. I am doing an online Korean language course so I have to use my computer. I can’t go elsewhere to use one. I only have 3 weeks left of this course but I was planning to sign up for another one- alternatively I could study from books for a time ( but would have to look up words online ) 

2. I have several fish tanks which have filters and heaters… these can’t be switched off. I don’t want to do something as drastic as get rid of them so shall I just ignore the filters and pretend they don’t exist? 

3. I have a hobby making laminated envelopes for cash budgeting - obviously they didn’t have laminators back then but did they have stickers? 

4. Sewing and knitting I’m ok with I think.  I have a hand crank machine as well as a treadle( I cannot get the hang of the treadle no matter how hard I try), and I mainly make socks with dpn’s. I am using circular needles for my jumper that I’m knitting. Is that ok? 

5. And lastly - I use an air fryer for cooking and also a dryer for the clothes purely because I have a chronic illness and I’m not able to hang things outside and bring them back in, especially in English weather where it rains a lot.  I don’t have space in the house for an airer and indeed my house is already quite damp so again can I just pretend they don’t exist ? 

I have children who are not going to be taking part in this particularly ( other than the food ) but I am going to try and encourage them to do more reading, drawing, board games rather than the tv. 

I would like some advice on cleaning. I’m not able to do very much at once- literally 5 minutes - so I’m struggling to work out how to manage it. I’m trying to use less chemicals and if anyone has a good method for getting rid of black mould on ceilings I would be very interested. I have mobility issues which limit my walking and standing so ideally it’ll be something I can get my daughter to do ( she’s also taller than me) 

I’ve decided to keep a diary too. I’ve always struggled with diaries but reading the diary entries here has made me realise I don’t have to write 4 pages every time and just a couple of sentences will be ok. 


Gosh sorry for all these questions. 
Should I perhaps post this as a new topic rather than have it be a comment ? 

Kasia A, you don't need to worry about the laminating because they used it to preserve archive documents in the 1930's. I think the process that turned into laminating as most people are familiar with it was developed around 1900. I think we're supposed to consider that any change we make to be like the thirties makes us wonderfully successful at it. :) And look at you -- laminating away like a 1930's pro! :)

Wow really? I’ve learnt something new today. I had no idea laminating was so old! 

Hi Kasia, 

I think it’s important to remember that this study is about learning. Be gentle with yourself, focus on the things that are important to you to learn. We are all on our own journey and will all have our own struggles. The computer is what has brought us all together so don’t feel bad for using it to learn more. I think it’s what we do with our extra time that is important wether it is learning about how people lived, hand washing our dishes, listening to music and radio shows of the time, reading books that were popular then, trying new recipes, or  just being quiet in  a world that is moving so fast around us. 
Just do what you can and feels right to you. Let your fish be happy in their  tanks and don’t change anything. Stickers were in invented in 1935, but people still made their own using a a flour and water mixture to paste images. About the knitting and sewing- it’s not how you do it , it’s that you are even doing it at all. Not very many women have these domestic skills anymore. If it makes you feel better I’m using circular knitting needles too:)

Personally I would try to cook without the air fryer, but I’m not one for using all the kitchen gadgets. But if it is the only way you can get homemade food on the table then use it:)

With cleaning just  what you can. I usually write a list of things I need to do for the day, just to keep me on track. I never finish everything on the list and that is fine . It will be moved to the list for tomorrow. Have fun with this project and do what is important to you. Blessings 

Sheri

Thank you so much. I tend to be the type of person who worries if things aren’t perfect so it’s good to know I don’t have to be perfect to take part in this 

The air fryer definitely makes it easier to cook rather than get a takeaway so I think I’ll keep using it. And especially with the price of gas and electric in England at the moment- the air fryer is quicker than other methods of cooking so uses less electricity. 

I love knitting and sewing. I do more knitting simply because I don’t have a sewing area so it’s always a bit difficult to get the machine out etc. I’ve only made dolls clothes so far and that was with the electric machine so next week I plan to try the hand crank machine and see how that goes. I have a seaming foot that I can’t work out at all so I will be practicing with that. 

Kasia,

I recall that G’Donna said we were able to take things (from 2023j back into this study because we need certain things to survive…for example, a telephone, a computer, perhaps your fish tank. I am certain that is fine.  It is more trying to live like 1932, which would mean using your computer as necessary but probably not watching YouTube movies ;)   I bet she will have a better reply but I think you are fine, as long as you make a deliberate evaluation.

Hilogene O thank you for clarifying. I am very guilty of scrolling through my phone and computer so that’s a good habit to break I think. 

Grandma Donna Wrote, Hi Kasia A, this study is for everyone!  It does not matter if you are slow or weak or have modern things that you cannot do without. It is to learn about people living during the 1930s great depression times  and how they managed during the ups and downs so we can learn how to manage the ups and downs that come to us.

It is more than this though, it is to learn how to get by with little money and how to keep up with every penny so we can get out of debt if we are or save money if we are not in debt. 

The study makes us think about all the things we have today that they did not have and many of the things we have cost us money every time we use them. In the past the newspaper would post how much KWH cost, that is what we all have even today, the electric kilowatts that we use every time we turn on an appliance that runs on electricity, that includes light bulbs.  So this part of the study you could do because it would teach you savings. 

We certainly do not want your fish to die, that would be one of your I cannot do without for the study. 

You use your computer for your language course and I use mine to write this blog and type here in the forum.  The computer is on all of our lists that we cannot do for the study.  

Hilogene is right about using the computer for education and not entertainment unless it is to substitute for a radio. But in the study many people did not have radio so people played games and read. Your children will love the part of the study where people played games and read books. 

As Stephanie G said, about the laminating machine, research the past to see what they did and did not have, you might be surprised. 

Maybe you could make a list and think about what you cannot do without, my suggestion was see if we could choose five items we could not do without but if you need ten that is okay, it is your list. I read your list, maybe since you said you cannot do without your dryer you could research how others dry laundry that do not have a dryer and live in your area. Learn how much it costs to use your dryer and understand how much it cost to run each load so maybe you could cut back on how many loads that you dry. 

If nothing else, learn a new skill from the past and handmake something that you can be proud that you made. :)  As Sheri said, Just have fun with the things you can do, we are glad you are here with us.

Grandma Donna is so right about doing the research!  Today I was wondering about the string  lights we use in our dining room, since in winter we eat our supper by candlelight and the string lights.  I was surprised and delighted to see that string lights were invented long before 1932, and after 1925 were far more affordable.  While the Instant Pot might seem like a very new appliance (which I would dispute as I had an electric pressure cooker in 1995), the pressure cooker itself was invented in 1679.  The first electric dishwasher was invented in 1929.  The electric clothes iron was invented in 1882.  The first electric blender was patented in 1922.

Of course, we do have to think about electricity.  The people who first bought my house clearly used plenty of electricity, based on having at least one original outlet in every room (we also have receptacles to plug in radios to access an antenna).  Here is California electricity is very expensive per kWh, with tiered pricing.  The baseline (first) tier is 29¢ per kWh and the second tier is 37¢ per kWh.  We almost always go into the second tier just based on how many people live here and the fact that we are home during the day, and the second tier is inescapable during hot weather.  Only Hawaii has higher electrify rates than California.

If I were Kasia A I wouldn't worry about the fish tank, because it isn't something she can change.  Likewise, I can't do anything about the electricity used my young adult children, other than to remind them about lights and such.  But they are going to run their computers and charge their electronics, and my youngest has a small a/c unit with heat in her detached bedroom.  We did get her a heated mattress pad and a heated throw so she can use the electric heat far less.  But honestly, we have spent years bringing down the electricity as much as we can just because it does cost so much here. We even bought an induction range when our gas range stopped working.

I was thinking as I read this article how many of us are just like those of the past. I think they were just like us in many ways to figure some things out. Their new gadgets we're regular items to us, but our new gadgets are things they didn't have nor dream of. It makes me remember a quote I read on a local church sign when I was having a really bad day years ago. "Do the best you can, when you can, and as often as you can." I've had to keep that especially in my mind because our year started of great with the study and then drywall on our new place started (diy) for our business and now we're at the point we're getting ready to move it. I often wonder how they handled things such as moving businesses and just daily stresses in general? That's the part of diaries and history we don't always hear about. This year's study is very exciting as are the other years, but there's something super special about this...not sure what it is yet. 

Grandma Donna wrote, Andrea B, The quote, do the best you can, when you can and as often as you can is a very good thing to keep in our minds as we go through life.  Thank you for sharing that.  I do have a diary from the 1920's where they are moving to another home and it takes a good while to get everything moved over to the new house.  There was a lot of packing and adjusting to their feelings about leaving the home they had been in for so long.  I will try to share that diary at some time.  Maybe I could find the time to type it out, it is a short diary and goes from January 1 through august because the book she was using ran out of pages and I do not have the other part of the diary.  I wish I did because I would have enjoyed reading the last part.  Their move was very slow, they had to sell many things and move a little at a time as they did this themselves.  Thank you for posting.

That is very interesting to know about another family going thru a move in that time period. They must of really struggled leaving their home. I watched an interview one time about a young family leaving a home they built and he said that he saw his wife stroke the door jam as they closed it for the last time and moved out of state. That always stuck with me how touching that was. I know when we left our Oregon home of 10 years we told the house thank you and that we loved every minute of it. Gosh now I get choked up with emotion thinking about it. We loved our neighbors dearly, but knew we were needing to move. Thank you for the reply.    :)