Emma #230: September 1947

At the end of August 1947, Emma and Katharine had traveled to Iowa with Bob, Ruth, and the kids and were visiting with family and friends.

September

Mon 1. We have had a nice visit with Linnie and Gerrit. We went back to Ft. Dodge in the evening on the train. Katharine and I slept in the back porch at Grooters. Any kind of bed feels good.

The Grooters family in 1947: Parents Gerrit and Kittie and siblings Estella, Donald, Robert, Helen, and Howard.

Tue 2. It is a lovely cool morning. We left Grooters about 9:30. Don & Bernie were going to the hospital at Eldora where Bernie’s mother was taken after a broken hip. We drove to Alden, Iowa Falls, and Hubbard, visiting with many old friends. We drove till midnight, stopping awhile to see Minna Reece Detje at Traer.

I remember meeting Minna Detje and her husband Albert when I was growing up. I learned that she taught at Hubbard High School before her marriage, and was one of the first girls basketball coaches in Iowa.

Wed 3. We spent the night in a cabin near Mt. Vernon. It is nice this morning. David has been very hot and feverish. We finally sent a message to Betty from Ft. Wayne that we could not come. We drove as far as 13 miles north (by midnight). Stopped at Upper Sandusky. We drove 480 miles today.

Thu 4. We left our cabin about 6:30. We ate breakfast at Crestline, Ohio. Drove on till noon. Bought stuff for lunch and ate by a little Gulf Station where Bob had the tire fixed. At night we went into a little café & got hamburgs at Elizabethtown. We stopped at Exton for ice cream at a place called “The Guernsey Cow.” Drove on home, arriving about 10 P.M. We all agreed there was no place like home. Dad was glad to see us. Our trip cost Katharine & me $60.00 besides the gas.

The Guernsey Cow was a family-owned restaurant in Chester County, PA that operated from 1931-1985. A family member has put a web site together to share stores and memories.

The 3-day drive home was about 1200 miles.

Sat 6. We attended two weddings today—Malcolm Berry married Helen Brown at the Methodist church where Helen belongs. It was a short service at 4:30. Then we ate dinner in town and went to a Greek wedding. Ninety candles lighted the church. Two flower girls, maid of honor, five bridesmaids and six ushers, and the bride on her father’s arm made up the bridal party. Two priests conducted the service which was all in Greek. The service was all chanted, with the choir singing responses. The service lasted about 1¼ hours. They used a gold covered Bible in the service, also a couple of rings which were used on their heads. Katharine, Ruth, Bobbie & I went.

One of the features of traditional Greek weddings is a pair of “stefana,” wedding crowns that were originally made from olive branches or vines and are now typically made of golden metal. They are joined by a ribbon, and are swapped back and forth several times as the couple walks around the altar.

Sun 7. Today was Daddy’s 76^th birthday. We gave him his birthday gift at noon—a knife which he had wanted for a long while.

Tue 9. We spent the day sewing and mending. Sent a bunch of stuff to the cleaners. I picked tomatoes and made some juice. I picked the beans and made succotash for supper. We all went to vote tonight—the Anti-McClure ticket.

John J. McClure ran the Delaware County Republican organization at this time, hand-picking candidates for county and local offices. He built what has been called one of the strongest and most corrupt political machines in U.S. History, funded by the liquor licensing and saloon trade. This primary election drew a huge turnout, with the McClure candidates winning decisively.

Thu 11. I went to the Missionary Society at Wallingford today. Am joining it this year. The first thing they ask is for 10.00 instead of having a bazaar. There were several calls for money—leper work, guild work, etc. In the P.M. we listened to a challenging address by Mrs. Stevenson on China. We had a lovely potluck dinner at the church.

In the 1940s, Protestant women’s mission boards were moving toward direct pledges and giving rather than the bazaars, rummage sales, and fund-raising socials that had funded their activities in the past. Beatrice Scott Stevenson was a missionary to China whose husband had been a prisoner in a Japanese camp in the Philippines for 2½ years. I found this 1934 article that gave me a glimpse into her story.

Sun 14. Katharine went with the family to Spring Lake on this the last Sunday of their season. Dad & I got up late. Went to the Parker Memorial church. I wrote Gerald a letter today.

Mon 15. Bob sang at a Jewish service this morning and taught this P.M.

Robert often sang for Jewish services. This was the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and first of the High Holy Days.

Tue 16. After two years of living on the third floor, today Robert & Ruth moved to the former “guest” rooms on the second floor. Katharine moved into Gerald’s room. Bobbie has the room Ruth & Bob had & David has the big play room. Am knitting on some socks and booties. Potted some plants and cut a hundred geranium slips and put them in sand to root.

Geraniums are very easy to propagate through cuttings. A hundred sounds like a lot, but Emma loved gardening and I’m guessing she wanted to be able to share the plants with her friends.

Thu 18. For some reason I have been blue all day. Had my bootie all knitted but took it all out as the heel was wrong. I thought of Gerald all day and imagined him in trouble but got a letter from him which sounded alright.

Fri 19. Ruth is better. We went to town on the noon train. Got several things we wanted at Gimbels. We bought a table for my kitchen—an unpainted one. Ruth bought sheets, bath towels, yarn etc. Tried to see the Freedom Train but it took 4 hours for the line to pass.

The Freedom Train was a special exhibit with displays on citizenship, original versions of the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and other key documents, housed in a seven-car train that toured more than 300 cities in all 48 states. It started its tour in Philadelphia.

Mon 22. Ruth went to town to play for Robert. Katharine and I sewed a bit and knitted a bit. We got a letter from Linnie telling how Gerrit lost the car keys and the pension envelope. She is having it hard with his forgetfulness.

Tue 23. The sun came out so bright this morning so I got up and washed. Dad got up an hour too early but did not discover it till he started for the train. Katharine is going to Cleveland tonight. Bob is singing at a Jewish service in the city. He plans to come home in time to take her to a 11:30 train at Paoli. Ruth is making a knitting bag out of an old curtain.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the culmination of Rosh Hashanah, marked with fasting and services. Bob sang the evening of the 23rd and in an all-day service on the 24th. It was fairly common for Christian singers to be engaged for services at a Jewish congregation. The Kol Nidre is a traditional chant that is sung at this service, led by the cantor or rabbi.

Sat 27. Dad worked on the new table today. Sandpapered and painted it three coats of paint. I did not do much all day. Howard brought his washing & did it so I decided to wait until Monday. The oil heat is so nice. Comes on when we need it.

Mon 29. I got up quite early with Dad & got breakfast. After doing the work upstairs I did the washing. It has been a lovely day. This P.M. Ruth & I went to the High School for a TB X-ray. Dropped Ruth & me at the church to see & hear a program about mission work in Kentucky. Dr. & Mrs. Harmelink presented the program.

Tuberculosis, historically also known as consumption, is a contagious disease that infects the lungs and can spread to other parts of the body. Streptomycin, first isolated in 1943, was the first antibiotic cure. Campaigns for community screening brought mobile x-ray machines to high schools and other locations—I found a newspaper article listing this event (at Nether Providence high school) along with a number of other stops in Delaware County.

Tue 30. Spent a rather quiet morning—cleaning, sewing, ironing etc. Ruth went to Crozer. At noon I got a call from Chicago from Gerald—he wanted enough money to come on here. Had lost $20.00. I called Dad & he said to wait till he got home. He was not inclined to help him out. But another call came from Gerald after Bob got home from N. York so we decided to send him 10.00 & tell him to go back to Minneapolis. Bob had to drive to Swarthmore to send it. Ruth & I drove to Crozer last night to hear Pres. Aubrey speak on Liberalism.

Ruth was the choir director at the Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester. Dr. Edwin Aubrey, the president, was a theologian and professor—the occasion was the matriculation exercises at the start of Crozer’s 80th year.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this installment of Emma’s journals. See you next week for October 1947.

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