Tag: diary

Amanuensis Monday: Jan 6-7 1945

On 28 October 2013

6 Jan 1945: Saturday

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Got up at 10:30. Listen to the radio programs. Pracise my play alone. Later I called up Frankie, she came over and we pracise together. We went over to Buds. He wanted us to go over town with him but I couldn’t. So Frankie did. Listen to the radio programs. Read love books too. Went to the store. Dick and Betty came over. Couldn’t fix the record. Got a quart of ice cream. Washed my hair and put it up. Got an awful cold. Saw Bob tonight.

7 Jan 1945: Sunday

Went to Sunday School. Meant my new sunday school teacher is she wonderful. Read the funnies. Went to the court and saw “She’s For Me” and “A Guy Named Joe” with Van Johnson. Oh! I think he wonderful. He’s my favorite movie star. I love him. Came home took my bath and put up my hair. Came up the stairs and looked through my movie books for pictures of Van. found some. I’m going to get some new books of him tomorrow.

My response:

Funny… I have no idea who Bob is (although he was mentioned in my last post but without emphasis) but from the underlining, I take it he is someone my grandmother likes. This is funny to me because Bob is not my grandfather – my grandfather’s name is Bobbie (not Bob, never Bob) and I know they met later in life.

I also love her adoration of a movie star. I had many movie star crushes when I was 15 too so it’s nice to see that we weren’t all that different 🙂 Also, the Court is a a theater that I remember going to as a kid too. It wasn’t the best one in town as it only had one theater but I remember it fondly. I saw Jurassic Park there and loved that movie – plus it was cheaper than other places and only walking distance away. It still exists, although it’s changed quite a bit since the time my grandmother went there.

Amanuensis Monday: Jan 3rd-5th 1945

By Nichelle Barra

On 21 October 2013

In Diary

I am transcribing my grandmother’s journal from when she was 15. To see more information, read the first post here. I leave all spelling as it is in the journal 🙂

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Wednesday:

Went to school today. A lot of kids found out about the party. Worked in the office got one point already. Went to the hosipily for Miss Stevenson. Saw Charlotte. Got a Sunday with Frances, Don, and Bob. Went over to Buds. Bob, Don, Dot, Lillie, Tellie, were there so was Bob and Corn. Talked for a while. Came home and put up my hair. Sorted out my love books. I’m going to read one now.

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Thursday:

Went to school. Didn’t do much in school. Went to volleyball at Ames Church. Played volleyball there. Got socked in the face with the ball. Came home. Stoped at Buds and talked for a while. Went home. Got a box of German stuff from Gene and a wonderful letter. Went to the show and saw Kay Kaiser in Around the World + O My Darling Clemtime. Came home. Put up my hair. Warp a present. Went to sleep.

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Friday:

Went to school. Had a lot of fun in the office helping Mr. Case. Got out of fourth hour to help him. Six hour I got out for about 10 minutes to pass out envelops. Went to Billie Lou’s party at Tonkins. Had a wonderful time. Got a tube of lipstick as a prize. Had ice cream and cake. Wanted Mike to go to the show with Tonkin and I but couldn’t. Tonkin and I saw Charles Boyer in Together Again. Tonkins wonderful.

My Thoughts:

Isn’t she succinct? For her it seems her diary was a recording of her daily life, which I love, but I wonder if she’ll ever write about deeper things. There was the brief mention of Gene, one of her older brothers, who is in WW II at that time. I wonder what happened to those letters.

One thing I love about reading her diary is seeing places she went to that I also know. For example, we went to the same high school. So when she talks about her school, I can imagine it quite nicely (she told me once that it hadn’t changed since she went there). The church where she played volleyball was only a block or two away from my elementary school and I passed it quite a bit. I expect the volleyball to come up again – she LOVED volleyball!

Also, funny note, I never knew my grandmother to be so into movies. TV wasn’t on when we went to visit her unless it was golf or bowling that she was watching. I don’t think my grandparents went to movies much when I was younger either. Maybe she got her fill in as a teenager 🙂

Amanuensis Monday: Grandma’s Journal – Jan 2nd 1945

By Nichelle Barra

On 14 October 2013

In Diary

My family and I moved two times before I graduated college – and both times we moved into the house my paternal grandparents were moving from. The first time was to the house my father grew up in and the second time to the duplex my grandparents had purchased to take care of my great-grandparents. With my great-grandparents and my grandmother gone, my family moved in with my grandpa when I had just started college. While unpacking, I happened to find my grandmother’s journal and with my grandfather’s blessing, I was able to keep it.

This journal spans the year of 1945. She didn’t write every day in the journal but she was pretty regular in the beginning. She was the youngest of 7 children (and the second girl, all the rest were boys) and was turning 15 in 1945. She did have at least two brothers who were in World War II as well.

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Tuesday January 2nd 1945

Grant stayed all nite. Took down the Christmas tree. Did dishes. Read Grant my diary am starting a new year. Did dinner dishes. Played with Grant and read stories. Did the supper dishes. Jack, Marge, Mom and Grant went to the temple and saw Thirty Seconds Over Toky with Van Johnson. I took care of Marion. Listen to the radio, Put up my hair. Bonnie came over for a while. Eggs went to the drugstore with me. School starts tomorrow.

My Thoughts:

I am surprised by my 15 year old Grandmother’s writing style! Having read her letters from when she was older, I assumed it would be written like that and not so choppy. To explain a little, Grant is her nephew. Her older brother (Jack) is married (that’s Marge) and Grant is her nephew (about 7 years younger than her). Marion is not her niece, and is likely a cousin. My grandmother’s father had several brothers and sisters as well and the Hummel clan got together a lot at this time. With that, it is odd to me that my grandmother didn’t talk about these years too much. I also didn’t think to ask when I was younger – something I wish I would have done now. My grandmother also had interesting names for her girlfriends – some of whom I was able to meet when I was younger. She kept in close touch with them throughout her life. She also loved movies and movie stars. She will write about them quite a bit!