Monday, January 23, 1922

Cold, bright, cold. 3 below ZERO. Arose 7:30 A.M. Out on business. Dinner. Around town. Supper. To High School to evening class in TYPEWRITING. To church to High School Prize Speaking. Soda at Quinn's with Russell, Merlin, & M.S. TO BED 11 P.M.

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M.S., I'm thinking, is Mildred Swart. In case you don't remember her, there is a description of her at this post in the 1921 diary: Mildred.

The High School Prize Speaking Contest was an annual contest held at the First Methodist Church. Left is an excerpt from an article that appeared in the newspaper describing that event.

Quinn's was a drug store at the time, and drug stores frequently had soda fountains. Around this time Walgreen's was promoting its malted milk shake, a drink that included ice cream. Milk bars, as they were sometimes called, were promoted as alternatives to taverns during Prohibition. Right is a Quinn's ad that ran in December 1921 in the Schenectady Gazette. It goes on to extol the store's excellence in film developing.

Drug stores were encouraged to set up soda fountains in their stores, apparently; at least that's how it seems in the this item (left) from a 1922 professional pharmacy journal.