Comments On Article: Sarah's Diary Reading January 10 - 16

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When putting up this new diary post of January 10-16 I was trying to complete the draft and accidentally lost about three posts that came in about the time I was editing. I believe they were from Roselyn F, Stephanie G and Kimberly F. Any of you that has a missing comment, please excuse the error and if you could please repost your comment, I am interested in your comment. Thank you, Grandma Donna

We are all learning things with this study. :) Since there is extra information coming out this week, I'm allowing myself more online time. But next week, when I know the posting schedule, I'll be cutting down my time online. I've decided to cut down my phone time too. I talk on the phone a lot and maybe it's too much. I will write letters, even if no one writes back. (They're welcome to call me.) I think it will slow me down and make me more intentional.  Sarah writes a lot of letters in her schedule, so I'll write some too. 

I can't remember what I wrote exactly in my comment. Something about wanting a more set schedule and adding more work in, like ironing, that seems unnecessary but adds an extra special touch. I mentioned baking bread on Wednesdays and Saturdays and making a weekly dessert on Sat. I chose the cherry tapioca for next week's dessert, instead of the white cake or kuchen. 

I began a paper ledger today to record the first household spending I've done this year. 

I'm interested to know just what those morning tasks are;  you suggested getting the stove going and heating water.  

My usual morning tasks are pretty simple really:  after cuddles in bed, get myself and my toddler dressed and ready for work/childcare.  Make and eat breakfast together.  Prepare dinner (usually in the slow cooker, but if not, prepare ingredients for cooking after work) and get a load of laundry on.  My son feeds/waters our chickens and ducks and gets himself ready and off to high school;  my husband gets our wood stove going (and we have a kettle and a large pot of water on it, so I guess he heats the water) before he starts work.  

Grandma Donna Something I've been curious about: Do you know why all that weekly porch scrubbing was going on? Didn't Lena scrub her porch too? I wonder if it was like a wooden veranda and people were tracking mud all over it. My porch and patio appreciate a weekly sweeping, but I can't see ever scrubbing them.

The email notification with my name might have been for the first post about Sarah's diary -- I'm pretty sure I didn't reply to this one before now.

I find myself incredibly curious as to why Sarah baked a white cake and iced it -- maybe she took it to the funeral?  I think in the past funerals were very different from how they are now, and women in the community usually prepared food for the meal after the funeral.  Some places are still like this.  When my grandfather died in a more rural area of California (even though he lived on the very outskirts of their town), all of the food was provided by my grandmother's friends, and after that I realized she often mentioned making a plate of sandwiches to take to a funeral reception.  But most of the funerals that I've been here in southern California have deli tray sandwiches and other purchased food.  For my mother's funeral we had a catered Mexican meal, but it was provided for free by a neighbor who had a business.  But even for that funeral reception, we had bakery cake and nothing homemade.

I think maybe there was lots of scrubbing and mopping this week because of the rain?  I know I have to mop more often when it rains, and that's just from dogs coming in with wet feet that aren't actually muddy.  Before we had a concrete patio poured out back I mopped all the time during the cold months because the mud never really went away and I had little ones and dogs tracking it into the house.

I too am spending more time online this week as I research, but already today I'm putting some parameters in place.  I don't intend to use the computer after 12 noon unless I'm accessing a recipe or pattern, and perhaps to check in with the forum in the afternoon since it is a big help as I get everything situated for the study.

From Grandma Donna,  Stephanie G, you are very right about, we are all learning things with this study and we need time to adjust, we cannot do it all at once, we also need extra screen time to research information from the thirties era.  I feel like I am watching you make a lot of little break through's as you are finding your way and understanding of the study. We have to find ways to balance more letting certain things go or cutting back in this area and starting to do something over in this other area such as phone calls verses letters as you mentioned.  At first your schedule is going to be all over the place until you get one that fits well.  It is like pulling out the contents of a closet and making such a mess to get it back in order. I think you are doing very good.  

About the porches, once again, we have to consider the time of the study, there were a lot of dirt roads during this time, and I am sure that their porches get dirty quicker and any patch of pavement one might have.  Pavement would have been laying cement somewhere. Sarah's house probably has only a little bit of what she calls pavement.  Also we must consider the weather.

Galadriel, F, it is difficult to imaging a time in which we did not live but the 1930s, they did not have many of the convivences we have today and which I am starting to reconsider today of some that may actually slow us down.  They were so in tune with their housework and outside work that they got up and got at it and tried to keep a rhythm. We will learn more as we read through the diaries and other information.  

Kimberly F I'll bet you're right about the cake. She baked kuche on Thur. and the cake on Fri., and then made cherry tapioca on Sat., though I don't know what all of that about filling cans was about. Kuche and tapioca are homey treats, where a cake is fancy. Since she iced it after supper Fri., it probably was for the funeral Sat. afternoon. 

I think in addition to the reasons suggested, the porch is the first place people see when they come to visit;  it makes sense that the homemaker would want it clean to make a good impression.  I think in cities and towns particularly, women had to keep their outdoor entryway clean in order to stay "respectable" in their community.  I seem to remember reading that the neighbours knew you weren't well if your front step wasn't scrubbed one day.

From Grandma Donna, Kimberly F,  when I was a young, every funeral I went to with my parents, my mother would bring a dish of food to a funeral.  Normally it was taken to the church and after the burial people would come back to eat because the stress and visitors would have prevented the family time to cook and feed everyone and some people had traveled from far away. 

Ladies had their specialties to bring in the community, such as Fanny Belle's egg custard pie that I mention on some of my blog posts.  Mrs,  Barganier's brunswick stew that normally Mr. Barganier enjoyed making. My mother always a pound cake and a almond chicken dish.  It was so common that most people knew what to bring and when people gathered it ended up as a complete meal.

In the 1820s funeral cookies are mentioned and I have a recipe for them on my blog.  It is very different today as we get further away from a time that made sense.  There was better community involvement during the 1930s, 40's 50's & 60's.  In the city I live today, it is a southern southeast part of the country and it is still common to have ladies to bring food.  The funerals are not at the Church as often now and many times as in our family last year we met at a family members house and people from their community brought in food.  We took a paper plate and helped ourselves and sat wherever we could and visited with one another after the burial.  Normally they always have two to three ladies that help serve and clean up after.

I am attaching funeral cookies common in 1820

Yes Grandma Donna, that is exactly how it was in my grandmother's community -- the women would make food and take it to the church hall for after the funeral.  It didn't even matter which church, my grandmother's friends were her community and they did it the same no matter which church.  My grandfather's funeral was in 2007, and it was nice not to have to worry about the food at all.  Sometimes I think this is one of those things that we are losing because of the change in how we value community and friendship and our willingness to outsource things like food preparation.

I guess what I mean is that people don't really tend to lean on each other anymore or see participating in community as something in which we sometimes give and sometimes receive.  I've been to many funerals where the family plans a catered buffet of snacks or even a meal for after the funeral (even if the reception is held at the church) because they don't want to inconvenience the people who attend, who they think of as guests.  We're losing that sense of belonging.

I'm not old enough to look back to 1932 morning tasks, but that was my Grandma's time.  I lived with my Grandparents for several years and got up in the morning at 4am!  My grandma was a whirlwind every morning but Sunday.  She dusted everywhere, vacuumed everywhere, swept the front porch and walk all by 5:30am or so.  She stopped to make tortillas and breakfast, then washed and hung laundry.  Except for meals, she did not sit down much until after lunch.  She kept a deck of cards in the buffet next to the dining room table.  If she was waiting for someone the oven or had a minute, she'd play a game or two of Solitaire and have a cup of coffee.  After the kitchen was in perfect shape, she'd sit down and do her handwork.  Most of dinner would be prepped and she'd relax until dinner.  She also took a nap for about 20 minutes every day at about 3pm.   When I later asked my mom about it, she said it had been the exact same when she was a kid.  Because relatives lived nearby, the housewives worked hard in the morning so they'd be free to visit in the afternoons.

I hope that might be of help.  For what it's worth, I never felt happier or safer as a kid than when I was with them.  I loved the routine and predictable days!

Grandma Donna wrote, Debby B, I agree, I never felt happier or safer as a kid than when I was with my Grandparents and Aunties.

I am really enjoying this comments section, the comments here are so interesting.   I have mentioned this before, but regarding cleaning porches, there were still lots of horses pulling carts back then, hence horse droppings…my husband remembers in 1955 or so, in downtown Philadelphia, still seeing horse drawn wagons with men scooping up horse droppings in the main downtown area.   Rural areas had less traffic but still lots of dust and mud I imagine.  

What struck me about this diary entry was the day they spent butchering and canning.  Holy cow that is a huge amount of work.  It makes sense they had to do it, but it really struck me how far I am from self sufficient.   

Pushing through to make schedule like Sarah’s and sticking to it is proving to be very tasking. Monday I added walking to the grocery store to laundry day . That was a learning experience since the store is 2 1/2 miles away. I was exhausted and then the rain came and I had to hurry up and pull all the laundry down ,just to hang it all back up again inside. After making dinner then cleaning up, I couldn’t wait to sit down. Tuesday was more laundry, mopping, vacuuming, making meals, and that was all I could do. As we settle into our schedules and mix the old with the new I know for me I need to give myself grace as I am still learning. I hope everyone else is doing good on their schedules and learning new things. How has everyone been adjusting 

Thank you to everyone who shared information about porches! The comments are always fascinating. 

Debby B I want to be like your whirlwind grandma and get things done in the morning so I can relax more in the afternoon. I want to make a time in the afternoons for sewing, mostly for learning how to. What a wonderful memory.  

Hilogene O I was amazed at how Sarah squeezed in the butchering with all her other tasks. And she was stripping tobacco a couple of days before that! These women have so much energy.

Sheri R Oh, no, what a day! The worst that's happened to me so far is being proud of making meatloaf for sandwiches, only to realize my loaf pan was full of meatloaf when I wanted to bake bread. 

My schedule is going fine, but I am struggling with money. We divided the expenses into bills, which are mostly fixed expenses, and costs of running the household, which are fluid. Instead of buying whatever I want whenever I want it, I now have a set amount I get weekly. I ran out of floss today and couldn't buy more because I don't get my weekly money until tomorrow.  No second loaf pan until then either. It feels so weird, and now I have to write down what I need so I don't forget. I can see struggles with budgeting in my future. :)

Stephanie G, do you have anything else you could use for the bread or the meatloaf, so you don't have to buy something?  For example, do you have a stoneware or Pyrex bowl you could bake the bread in, if it is intended to be served with soup and not as sandwiches?  Could you make meatloaf in a casserole dish, leaving the bread tin available for when you need it?  I make meatloaf in an 8x8 or 9x13 Pyrex casserole dish (depending on how much I'm making).  I started doing this 10-15 years ago when I saw it mentioned in the cookbook "Feasts For a Farthing" that you could pat it into a baking pan.  A few years ago when I made it in a loaf pan we realized how much we love it baked in the casserole dish -- more of the meat browns on top!  If you can find an alternative then that's an expense you don't have to incur.

One reason I decided that my "persona" for the 1932 study would be an affluent (but not rich) middle class woman was because I am so well situated in my home and kitchen.  I have five large bread tins (10x5x3) and 2 regular bread tins (8x4.5).  I bake all of our bread rather than buying it. Five seems excessive until it's December 23rd and I'm baking five loaves of soft sourdough sandwich bread plus a pan of rolls since I don't have a sixth large bread tin.

So my "persona" has all of the things she needs, or she will make do if she doesn't.  My goal is to live on less than half of our income so we can use the rest for college and paying off a vehicle.  That's why my 1932 character is living as if her husband took a huge pay cut.  For us this will also be excellent practice for when my husband retires, which we hope will be "early" and at most 3 years from now.

I was raised by my Nana and Pop in the 60’s and they lived a very frugal old fashioned life, no mod cons, not even a refrigerator or washing machine, and only one cold tap (faucet) at the back of the kitchen for water…and so much of this I’d forgotten but I’m loving this study because I’m finding myself remembering more and more of that life. Sarah - wow, that diligence to hard work and routines - she’s inspiring, but also a memory prompt for me as I reflect on how hard Nana worked from sun up to sun down. 
A question about Sarah’s diary entries - why does she copy down the news items? 

Do we know that when Sarah makes kuchen, it's sweet and not savory?

Today, because of the study, I got this cookbook that belonged to my great-grandma out of storage, and look what fell out of it!

The book was published in 1938, but the Onion Kuchen recipe was on a separate card, so I'm not sure how old it is.  It honestly doesn't sound very good to me - I think I'd prefer peach or apple kuchen - but I just thought some of you might be interested to see it.

Hi, Kimberly F! The meatloaf is part of my attempt to make homemade sandwich fillings. The meatloaf, and the chicken loaf I have yet to make, have the advantage of being bread-shaped and in one slice for a sandwich. I do this with my husband in mind. He is able to do many things, but he is somewhat sandwich-challenged. Home-cooked sliced meats, since they are not uniform, confound him, and I don't like chopping everything and throwing mayo on it as sandwich glue because we are in separate camps over mayonnaise vs Miracle Whip. 

I know that one thing this year will accomplish is to help me think through things better. My loaf pan is glass, so I put foil over the top of the meatloaf and put it in the fridge, then had to take it out this morning and try cramming it into odd-shaped storage containers so I could bake my bread. I'll look around and see if there is something I can store the meatloaf in so it frees up the loaf pan. Thanks for the money-saving suggestion. :)

I understand completely, Stephanie G!  I'm glad the meat slicer was invented in 1898, even though we buy very little deli meat.  The way I make meatloaf, we make meatloaf sandwiches by cutting the 8x8 meatloaf into 4 squares and then cutting each of those in half cross-wise, which makes the perfect shape for a sandwich.  And by "we" I mean I do it, because no one else in my family can manage it.  You should see how crookedly they cut slices of bread!  If I were to make meatloaf in a loaf pan for sandwiches I would still have to slice it for them so it would be uniform.  But I pretty much prep all leftovers in a way that makes it easy to eat them.  Meat loaf gets sliced and then I put small pieces of waxed paper between the slices before putting them in a storage container.  But mostly we eat easier sandwiches, like grilled cheese, peanut butter, sliced cheese and tomato, egg salad, and tuna salad.

To Jennifer R----Concerning your question about Sarah copying out news items:  Many newspapers, especially in smaller or more rural areas, had women in the different communities who would gather the news (think social items) to be printed in the newspaper.  Most of these newspapers were weekly and the social events were a large part of the "news."  Items might include who has had a baby or become engaged, who has had out-of-town visitors, who the guest preacher was at the (whatever) church.  Sarah apparently gathers these items (she mentions calling on the phone a lot) and copies them out to be sent to the newspaper office.  Often these women would be paid a small amount of money for this work, and were  considered  like the "society reporters" of their small community.  Being mentioned in the social news section of the local paper would be a big deal to people in these small communities.

Thank you, Kimberly F! I don't have an 8x8 pan but I do have some rectangular glass storage containers. I could slice the meatloaf and store it in those. :)

I love glass storage containers, that all we use.  My favorites have glass lids as well, but those aren't being used at present because the young adults can't be careful with them.  I'm glad I have them though because my goal is to never buy storage containers ever again.  We'll use what we have plus the glass jars we have and even covered glass casserole dishes or a plate used as a lid on a bowl.

Thank you Frances M. Sadly, what a long way we have come as a society since those times. Once again I am struck by the close sense of community in Sarah's life, and how that was such a pillar of home life in my childhood. 

I wondered that too! When we lived in western Oregon (now in central Virginia) our front porch and back porch would be covered in moss if we didn't scrub ours due to humidity, constant rain and such. I don't think where they lived they had the problem like we did, but I've always thought it's got to be mud. Ours here will stain everything the color of our red clay so I end up scrubbing when the weather is not freezing. 

I'd just like to add to the conversation about porch scrubbing, that I think people also used to use their porches a lot more back then, so probably had more reason to keep them clean.  It may have been where they sat and visited when a friend dropped by, did their laundry, sat to do tedious kitchen tasks like snapping beans, et cetera.  

In modern times, most porches are just what you walk across to get to the door, and people don't expect them to have the same cleanliness standards as the rest of the house.

Gosh that's so true! We should bring that back!!! We find we sit on our front steps or sometimes on the porch especially when the weather is good. We certainly do get a lot of looks where we are in the suburban areas, but out in the country there's people everywhere on their porches, but most are on their phones unfortunately.