Mending hose

March 4, 1933 - Washed my clothes and helped Mom.  Ola and Lyle were in a few minutes this morning.  Cloudy, about 5:00 started to rain and that turned into snow.  We worked puzzles again tonite.
March 5, 1933 - Snowed all day.  Ray brought me to Walkers' about 4:00.  They didn't come home until about 6:00.  After supper we listened to the radio, played 500, and worked jig-saw puzzles.  I brought ours along with me.
March 6, 1933 - Delmar and Ronald absent.  Quit snowing sometime during the nite.  Thawed quite a bit this p.m.  Came home early from school.  Mended some of my hose.  Listened to radio and worked jig-saw puzzles this evening.

I have never mended hose, but grew up with nylons that might be salvaged a bit longer with well-placed clear fingernail polish.  After enough of that, they were cheap enough that they could be thrown away and new ones purchased.

Here's what I found about mending stockings.  It comes from a University of Nebraska Agricultural College Extension circular from September 1938:

Stocking mending is perhaps the most common mending problem. Sometimes it is possible to delay the formation of holes in the foot of the stocking if thin places are reinforced with tiny darning
stitches before the threads break. Correct size of hose and well fitting shoes with unbroken linings help to reduce the amount of mending necessary.  When holes appear select thread to match the stocking in color and texture.  If fine thread is used for filling a large hole, a smoother darn may be made by threading two single threads in the needle than by using one thread doubled in the needle.  The darning is begun far enough back from the edge of the hole to reinforce the edges and the length-wise threads are placed first.  Each row of stitches is made a little longer than the last until the
center of the hole is reached; then they are decreased in length. This makes an irregular shape around the edge and prevents strain on any one set of threads. Watch carefully that the threads are not drawn too tightly or the darn will pucker.  It will be more elastic if a small loop is left when turning at the end of each row of stitches. The threads are woven alternately over and under the edges of the hole. After the lengthwise threads are placed the crosswise threads are woven in the same way.

Eek!

Kennard

March 1, 1933 - I mailed the invitation to Dist. 21 for our St. Patrick's Party.  March came in like a lamb.  All the folks except Mr. Walker and me went to church this evening.  I read awhile and went to bed about 8:30.
March 2, 1933 - All week I've been wondering why I feel so tired.  It just dawned on me today that it's because I've been playing at noon with the kids.  I'm not used to such strenuous exercise.  Hektographed some material and listened to the radio this evening.
March 3, 1933 - We planned our menu for our party.  Ray came after me about 3:30.  I took two of Walker's jig-saw puzzles home with me. Tonite Mom, Ray and I each had a puzzle.  Grandad tried to help all of us.

Hmmm.  So staying out until 3:30 a.m. doesn't make one tired, only long recesses.  Okay, Grandma.

John and I went up to Sioux City last week and took one route up and a different one back.  The way back took us right by Kennard in Washington County where a lot of the Andersen bunch lived.  I had it in my head that Kennard was much further away from Lincoln and Ceresco than it is.  Just a way east of Fremont.  I will have to plan that cemetery visit I have been mentioning off and on for a year or better now.

Wikipedia has only sparse information about Kennard; this is about it -- It was established in 1869 when the Sioux City & Pacific Railroad was extended to that point.  It was named for Thomas P. Kennard, the first Secretary of State for Nebraska.  The town was incorporated in 1895.  According to the 2010 census, the population was 361, ten down from the 2000 census.

Undaunted, I looked for information on Thomas Kennard.  The first to pop up was actually information about the Thomas P. Kennard House in Lincoln.

The Thomas P. Kennard House, also known as the Nebraska Statehood Memorial is the oldest remaining building in the original plat of Lincoln, Nebraska. Built in 1869, the Italianate house belonged to Thomas P. Kennard, the first Secretary of State for Nebraska, and one of three men who picked the Lincoln site for the new state's capital in 1867. The house was designed by architect John Keys Winchell of Chicago.

In 1965 the Kennard House was designated the Nebraska Statehood Memorial, and became a museum.  It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 16, 1969.

The house is a 2-1/2 story stuccoed brick building with a frame cupola on the shallow-pitched hip roof.  The house was extensively altered inside and out before its designation as a memorial and required major restoration work to return its appearance to its original state.

So, I had to keep digging to get the above photograph and the following about Mr. Kennard from the official Nebraska government website (note they go on and on about the house):

Thomas Perkins Kennard was born near Flushing, Belmont County, Ohio, in 1828.  At the age of seven his family moved to Indiana, where Kennard lived until coming to Nebraska.  In his youth he worked in a woolen manufacturing plant, then joined his brother, Jenkins, in purchasing it. He also began reading law. Selling his interest in the woolen plant, he practiced law in Indiana for several years, then in 1857 moved with his oldest brother, Levi, to the former town of De Soto in Washington County, Nebraska Territory. He soon became involved in Nebraska politics and was elected secretary of state in 1867. In later years he served a short time as a state senator and held several federal appointments, while pursuing an active career as a Lincoln lawyer and businessman. In 1879 he founded the Western Paint and Glass Company, with which he was associated for the rest of his life.

While in Indiana, Kennard married Livia Emily Templeton. One son and two daughters lived to maturity. Mrs. Kennard died in January 1887, and that same year the present Kennard House was sold. The reason for this decision is unclear, although it has been speculated that it was in mourning for Mrs. Kennard. From 1887 until his death in 1920, Kennard occupied a house (razed in 1962) built for him in 1887 at the southwest corner of H and Seventeenth Streets, two houses east of the 1869 mansion. The town of Kennard in Washington County remains to perpetuate his name.


After 1887 the Kennard House was used as a boarding house, fraternity house, and a single-family dwelling at various times. In 1961 the state of Nebraska acquired the house through the purchase of all lots on the north half of the block on which the house is located. This purchase was made in conjunction with a plan to provide additional state parking and office space and to improve the aesthetic appearance of the area surrounding the present statehouse. The house was in danger of demolition, but a concentrated preservation drive resulted in the 1965 passage of Nebraska Legislative Bill 609, introduced by state senators Fern Hubbard Orme of Lincoln and Jerome Warner of Waverly. This bill designated the house as the "Nebraska Statehood Memorial" and appointed the Nebraska State Historical Society to restore and refurnish it. Renovation began in December 1966, the house was opened to the public on August 18, 1968, and it was formally dedicated on October 5, 1968.

Puzzles

February 26, 1933 - Amanda and Herman came after Emelia and Art after breakfast.  Martha was here for dinner.  Uncle Hans, Aunt Lena, Hans, Lillie and Martha here for supper.  Martha and Hans went with Ray and I to Hoskins to the dance.  I surely had a good time.
February 27, 1933 - Oh!  I'm tired today.  I guess the kids at school could tell that I've had a busy weekend.  I worked one of Walkers' jig-saw puzzles tonite.  I took me an hour and a half.  Started having an hour noon again.
February 28, 1933 - I played Dare Base this noon.  Ronald and I bumped into each other.  I guess the shock of the bump was so great that Ronald wasn't able to work this p.m.  Bill Maas' and Herbert Behmers were here for supper.  We played Rook and worked jig-saw puzzles.

I'm going to ask Mom and Nancy here since I will forget to ask them in person when I next see them -- do you know the last names of some or all of Grandma's students?  With Mr. Lautenbaugh stumbling upon this blog, likely due to that last name showing up, perhaps others might land here and find something of interest, so last names would be most helpful.

More on them below, but my earliest memories of doing jigsaw puzzles was at Uncle Chris and Aunt Ethel's.  I would go to Norfolk with Grandma to visit, but I was little and "old people" talk got dull fast.  It seems Uncle Chris always had a puzzle on a table in the living room, so I kept busy with that while the grown-ups talked in the kitchen.  As promised, from Wikipedia:

     The engraver and cartographer John Spilsbury, of London, is believed to have produced the first jigsaw puzzle around 1760, using a marquetry saw.  Early jigsaws, known as dissections, were produced by mounting maps on sheets of hardwood and cutting along national boundaries, creating a puzzle useful for the teaching of geography.  Such "dissected maps", were used to teach the children of King George III and Queen Charlotte by royal governess Lady Charlotte Finch.

     The name "jigsaw" came to be associated with the puzzle around 1880 when fretsaws became the tool of choice for cutting the shapes. Since fretsaws are distinct from jigsaws, the name appears to be a misnomer.  Cardboard jigsaw puzzles appeared during the late 1800s, but were slow to replace the wooden jigsaw due to the manufacturer's belief that cardboard puzzles would be perceived as being of low quality, and the fact that profit margins on wooden jigsaws were larger.

     Jigsaw puzzles soared in popularity during the Great Depression, as they provided a cheap, long-lasting, recyclable form of entertainment.  It was around this time that jigsaws evolved to become more complex and more appealing to adults.  They were also given away in product promotions, and used in advertising, with customers completing an image of the product being promoted.

     Sales of wooden jigsaw puzzles fell after World War II as improved wages led to price increases, while at the same time improvements in manufacturing processes made cardboard jigsaws more attractive.

     According to the Alzheimer Society of Canada, doing jigsaw puzzles is one of many activities that can help keep the brain active and may contribute to reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

     Most modern jigsaw puzzles are made out of paperboard since they are easier and cheaper to mass-produce than the original wooden models. An enlarged photograph or printed reproduction of a painting or other two-dimensional artwork is glued onto the cardboard before cutting. This board is then fed into a press. The press forces a set of hardened steel blades of the desired shape through the board until it is fully cut. This procedure is similar to making shaped cookies with a cookie cutter. The forces involved, however, are tremendously greater and a typical 1000-piece puzzle requires a press that can generate upwards of 700 tons of force to push the knives of the puzzle die through the board. A puzzle die is a flat board, often made from plywood, which has slots cut or burned in the same shape as the knives that are used. These knives are set into the slots and covered in a compressible material, typically foam rubber, which serves to eject the cut puzzle pieces.


     New technology has enabled laser-cutting of wooden or acrylic jigsaw puzzles. The advantage of cutting with a laser is that the puzzle can be custom cut into any size, any shape, with any size (or any number) of pieces. Many museums have laser cut acrylic puzzles made of some of their more important pieces of art so that children visiting the museum can see the original piece and then assemble a jigsaw puzzle of the image that is also in the same shape as the piece of art. Acrylic is used because the pieces are very durable, waterproof, and can withstand continued use without the image fading, or the pieces wearing out, or becoming frayed. Also, because the print and cut patterns are computer based, lost pieces can be manufactured without remaking the entire puzzle.

And there you have more than you ever knew you wanted to know about jigsaw puzzles.  Iversen alert -- my next post will begin with March 1933.  There will be a Howard Iversen mention in March sometime.

Home at 3:30 a.m.!!!

February 23, 1933 - Mr. Behmer and Mr. Jochens put up a new flag rope, also they brought along my contract!  Now I'm sure of my school for next year.  I traced and inked patterns this evening.  If this warm weather continues we're going to have an hour noon beginning Monday.
February 24, 1933 - Weather still like spring.  Ray came about 3:30.  We went up to Uncle Hans' to a dance tonite.  Martha went along with us, but Chris took her home.  I had a real good time.  Home at 3:30.  Emelia, Art, kids, and Hansy are here for a 2 weeks visit.
February 25, 1933 - Ray and I went to Norfolk.  Went to "The Sign of the Cross".  Good picture but sad.  Cashed my check and deposited some of it.  Meta, Lyle, Emelia, Art, Annie, Ola and kids were her for supper this evening.  I went to bed at 9:00.  The others didn't go to bed until 12:00.  Emelia, Art and kids stayed here all nite.

I have no further comment on Grandma staying out until 3:30.  Goodness sakes!  There certainly was a big crowd for supper that one night.

There isn't all that much information on this film on Wikipedia, and since it is my go-to for all things cinematic, I'll not research any further.

I did find out the film is the third and last in DeMille's biblical trilogy with The Ten Commandments (1923) and The King of Kings (1927).  Ol' Cecil took his time between installments, but I imagine with them being quite the epic productions, it took a while to get them filmed and ready.

Apparently there is a famous scene in which Poppaea (Claudette Colbert) bathes in asses' milk.  It took several days to shoot.  DeMille announced to the press that real asses' milk was used; however, it was actually powdered cow's milk.  After a few days under the hot lights, the milk turned sour, making it very unpleasant for Colbert to work in the stench.  To save production expense during the Great Depression, existing sets were reused as well as costumes left over from the making of The Ten Commandments.  DeMille also attempted to provide out-of-work actors jobs as extras such as the crowd arena scenes.

More partying and some school history

February 20, 1933 - The school house wasn't very cold today.  Harry and Alfred were absent.  Read awhile this evening, traced some patterns from my new Grade Teacher.  We listened to the radio and talked about a number of interesting things, roller-skating and taking people places, etc.
February 21, 1933 - Alfred still absent and Harry back in school.  All of us went to Charlie Jochens this evening.  We played Rook and Pitch.  We're making plans every day at school for our St. Patrick's party.
February 22, 1933 - Alfred back again.  The weather has been like spring all this week.  Mildred says she'd like to plant garden.  Went to church tonite.  I got my check from Simon Strate.  Hektographed some things when I got home from school.

I will lean on the Winside history book so that I can get this post finished and available.  Translation:  I lack any clever commentary on Grandma's comings and going outlined above.

So, without further ado, here is 1905:

     January 6, Heavy snows have blocked all of the roads.
     February 14, Telephone lines are being reconstructed in Winside.
     March 2, The last number of the lecture course.
     July 4, Winside celebrated in grand style.  $503.00 was collected to put on the celebration.
     July 14, Work has begun on the new school house similar to the school house at Wakefield.
     October 12, the school house is finished and school will open Monday, October 16.

And that's it.  But reading in other portions of the history book, specifically about schools, I learned the cost of the brick school in 1905 was $12,000 which included a stairway and an east "wing".  The west wall was left in such a way that a new addition could be added some time later.  That wing was added in 1913 at the cost of $8,500 and resulted in the "old school house" that I went to for kindergarten and which many Winside residents and former residents remember well.

The school prior to the 1905 build was erected in 1890 and 1892 at a cost of $3,000.  A land booster (whatever that is) written in 1893 said in part, "Winside has an elegant public school building.  It occupies one of the finest school grounds to be seen in the state. The schools are in charge of Prof. Harvey Mason, an experienced and efficient school man.  As a town for school advantages, Winside is not surpassed by any town in this part of Nebraska."

That school was given up in favor of the 1905 school because repairs needed were deemed too costly and the money better spent on a new building.  In its day, however, it was quite attractive, as you can see below.

Winside history; moving buildings and the first car

February 17, 1933 - This morning Raymond told me about the fun they have in H.H.S.  Ray came for me at 3:30.  Mrs. Behmer stopped at the school house a few minutes.  I went over to Behmers and got my order.
February 18, 1933 - I washed my clothes this morning.  Ray and I were out to Ola's a few minutes.  Meta came to stay there, today.  Al Martin died early this morning.  Grussmother has a bad cold, in bed most of the time.  Grandad is not so good either.  Went to bed about 10:00.
February 19, 1933 - To S.S. and church.  Martha was in church.  She came home with us for dinner.  Chris came after her about 2:00.  Ray, Grussfather, Mom and I played 500 Rummy this p.m.  I went to League tonite.  After that Ray took me to Walkers.

I must admit Al Martin is a name I have not heard before in Grandma's diary, nor in listening to endless hours of adults talking when I was a kid.

I haven't done much Winside history lately, so here we are where I left off, in 1904:

     January 6, Wm. Schrumpf resigned his position as agent for the railroad and will take up the new Board of Trade, set up in Carter's store.
     March 24, August Redmer expects to move his opera house next to his saloon as he figures he can get most of the trade when something is held.
     April 21, Mr. Schrumpf is back in the depot again, the Board of Trade closed its doors.
     April 28, the question of building a new school house is being agitated.
     June 2, Frank Perrin was awarded R.F.D. No. 2.  Mrs. Spicer had a run away on route No. 1 today.  I. O. Brown is going to move his frame building out in the street and will erect a fine new brick building.  J. J. Tracy died, resident here since 1885.
     July 28, Tom Lound has moved his frame building back on his lot for a store room and will erect a new brick Drug store.
     August 11, Frank Weible has installed a gas engine in his elevator.
     August 25, Gust Bleigh bought the pool tables and bowling alley from John Dimmel and will move them into his building across from Weible's.
     September 8, Dr. A. B. Cherry purchased the first automobile through Fish and Brugger.   Rollie Fish accompanied Dr. and Mrs. Cherry to Sioux City and rode home in the new automobile.  An expert had charge of the machine and remained a day or so to teach the Doctor how to handle it.  The automobile is a two seated Rambler.
     September 28, I. O. Brown is moving his frame building on the same site as the Opera House and the latter is being moved next to the Redmer saloon.
     October 11, the Opera house is now in its new location.
     December 25, I. O. Brown distributed quite a few gifts to the children of Winside in the true Santa Claus style last night.

Boy, buildings got moved around quite a bit back then.  As near as I can tell from the location of the photo in the history book (right near 1904) and the notation on it, this is the car in question.

A fun time

February 14, 1933 - The Schmidt kids went along with us tonite.  It surely took Bud a long time to get ready.  We had a glorious time, 31 there.  Evie came home from Scheurich's tonite.  Ray went after Gus and Vic but they weren't home.  I think Louie Meierhenry fell the most times.
February 15, 1933 - My, but I do feel tired today, and I don't know why I should!  Mrs. Walker went to Madison to visit Schmidts.  The kids went to church this evening, but I went to bed early.
February 16, 1933 - Bud is 17 years old.  The committee of service and instruction in League had a meeting at Meierhenrys.  Bud, Evie, Ruth J., Willard, Harry and Fritz and I went with Gilbert Jochens.  After the meeting we played Rook and I Doubt It.  We had popcorn balls to eat and grab from each other.

Anyone know what I Doubt It might be?  I think I played something where you tried to bluff as to how many of one card you might have, i.e. "I have 2 Kings" and there was some penalty for you being dishonest or for someone saying you were when you weren't.  It has a rougher name, though, not fit for a blog of Grandma's diary.  (Seriously, she probably wouldn't mind, but I am taking the high road here.)

Thirty-one is a very good number for a skating party of country school kids, I would think.

Here's a photo of pretty flowers for no particular reason.  I need to plant some peonies, I think.