Tuesday, February 28, 1922

Cool and breezy. Arose 6:15 A.M. Shaved, washed etc. Breakfast on boat. Wrote letters. Went ashore 9 A.M. Ferried to Jersey City. Looked around. To Board of Education etc. Out to Grantwood. Talked with Miss MacCulloch. Back to N.Y. Stayed at Hotel Woodward Room 43 Broadway & 55th. Up to look for H.G.C. Walked around town. To bed 9:30 P.M.

**********
Miss MacCulloch was Margaret H. McCulloch, who was a teacher at Public School IIG in NYC. Stanford must have contacted her because she knew where to find Hazel, whom he refers to as H.G.C.

Hotel Woodward was a pretty fancy hotel. Here is a page from one of their brochures, published around 1907, when the hotel was fairly new:

This ad for the hotel was published in a newspaper in 1920:

Not much had changed in a decade, apparently.

The building is still there, although it is now the Dream Hotel. Below left is a photo featured on the new hotel's website, although in a December 2014 Google street view photo (right) they were apparently doing renovations (see scaffolding).

Monday, February 27, 1922

Arose 8:30 A.M. Breakfast at 72. Wet slushy with some snow. Went thru Morgan Memorial Dinner at Arlington. To Providence on 3 P.M. train. Looked around city. Took boat for N.Y. at 7 P.M. Read. Walked on deck etc. To bed 10 P.M.

**********
Morgan Memorial was a Methodist Church located in Boston. Below is a little bit of information about it taken from the BU School of Theology Library site.

Stanford must have been visiting a charity dinner given by Goodwill.

Here is a picture of the church as it appeared in the late 19th century, taken from the Massachusetts Goodwill Industries website:

I now wonder if Arlington, as referred to by Stanford, is a street in Boston, not the town of Arlington. This 1922 map shows the street's location (in yellow) alongside Boston Gardens. Also note the location of the Post Office (mentioned in an earlier post) on the right side of the map, toward the top.

Taken from Amazon.com

The boat Stanford mentions must have been one of the steamboats that plied the waters of Long Island Sound in those days. He obviously stayed overnight there on his way to New York. Left is a picture of one of them on the cover of a recently published book about the boats. A synopsis of the book's contents is below.

I had never heard of these "night boats," but apparently one line was owned and operated by the New Haven Railroad, where my father worked for most of his life. It changed names and owners over the years--from New Haven RR to New York, New Haven and Hartford RR to Penn Central RR and finally to Amtrak.

Sunday, February 26, 1922

Bright, warm. Springlike. Arose 7 A.M. To Church at Brookline in A.M. Met Miss Barker. Dinner at Ginters. To Lexington on trolley via Cambridge and Arlington Heights. Walked about. To room. Took bath. To Park St Congregational Church to C.E. and Service. Lunch. To bed 11:30 P.M.

**********
Ginter's is a restaurant in Boston, near Simmons College, at least that is implied by a statement in the 1922 yearbook for Simmons, describing a senior by the name of Gertrude Christine Butler: "The idol of the Freshmen, she is ready for anything, provided she can go to Ginter's for her cup of coffee before she comes home."

Park Street Congregational Church is a historic church on Boston Commons. Below is a stereoscopic photo taken in the late 19th century and one taken in the 1910s that shows the original burying ground that was next to the old granary that was torn down. Learn more about it at Wikipedia.

Saturday, February 25, 1922

Marvelous, bright and cool. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast in room. Cleaned up. H.H. and I skating at Arena. To room. Odds and ends. Dinner at Arlington. Walked around town. To market, out along piers etc. Bowled spindles. 90-82. To room. Wrote letter to M.L.S. To Supper at Arlington. To see "The Virginian." Ate. To bed 12 P.M.

**********
Arlington is a town about 9 miles from the campus of Boston University, where Hanford attended school. I'm not sure why Stanford was in Arlington, but probably he was lodging there.

I have not been able to find information on spindle bowling, but I think the pins may be similarly shaped to candlepins. They are equally hard to knock down, apparently, judging from Stanford's score.

The Virginian was a play that premiered in 1904, based on the book by Owen Wister. It was also a movie released in 1914, and then again in 1929 and as a TV show later. It's not clear what version Stanford saw, but it's likely it was the play, since movies generally do not stay in the theaters that long.

The Arena was presumably the Boston Arena, where Stanford and Hanford skated and where the hockey teams of area colleges played. Below is some information, taken from Wikipedia, on Matthews Arena, as it is known today.

History[edit]

Entrance to the arena, showing the original arch from Boston Arena now enclosed by bricks.

Originally named Boston Arena,^[4] the arena opened on April 16, 1910 for an ice show.^[3] The first games of professional ice hockey took place in March 1911 when a two-game $2,500 competition between two NHA teams, the Montreal Wanderers and the Ottawa Senators took place.^[5] As the successor NHL's first United States-located professional ice hockey franchise, on December 1, 1924, the Boston Bruins played their first-ever NHL regular season game at the Arena,^[3] leaving in 1928 when the Boston Garden was built. The Boston Celtics played their first game at the Arena in 1946, and played at the Arena until 1955.^[3] The WHA's New England Whalers played their first season at the Arena from 1972 until 1973.

Matthews is where the hockey programs of Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern University, Tufts University and Wentworth Institute of Technology all began; in particular, it housed the Boston University hockey team until 1971, when Walter Brown Arena was built.

Friday, February 24, 1922

Beautiful and bright but cool. Arose 9 A.M. Out to Breakfast. Back. To classes 10:30 to 12:30. Wrote letter home. To dinner at Arlington. Tried for symphony. Thru Christian Science church. Over to Cambridge. Called on Ed. Snell, Bryan Carpenter. Looked around Harvard. Supper at Arlington. To see "The Green Goddess." Ate, home. To bed 12 P.M.

**********
I'm starting to wonder what Arlington means on this trip. Is it where Hanford lives? Not sure.

The Green Goddess was a stage play by William Archer, first produced in 1921 in England. Here is a website that tells much more about the history of this play which later became a silent, then talking film. Stanford doesn't say where he saw the drama.

Thursday, February 23, 1922

Overcast damp, cool day. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast in room. Cleaned room etc. Wrote letter. To dinner at Arlington with Alex. Stewart. Wrote cards etc. To Class and Chapel with H.H. Down street with Timmerman. Thru Public Library etc. To supper with bunch. Down town with H.H. Thru hotels, P.O., office buildings etc. To bed 11:30 P.M.

**********
Sounds like Stanford had a day of touring. I'm still not sure whether he stayed in a hotel or a room in the dorm. Two of the buildings Stanford visited are pictured below. One, the old Post Office, was torn down and replaced in 1933. The other, the Public Library, is still in use today. Both are taken from the website Lost New England.

http://lostnewengland.com/2015/10/post-office-boston-mass/

http://lostnewengland.com/2016/01/boston-public-library-main-entrance-boston/

Wednesday, February 22, 1922

Arose 7 A.M. Breakfast. Took 8:16 train to Boston. Out to Bunker Hill etc. To 72. Shaved. Took shower. Wrote Letters. Wrote in diary etc. Dinner at Arlington. H.H. & I thru Navy yard. Then about town. Bowled candle pins. 80-70. Supper at Mr. Vernon Lunch. To "Red Pepper" a musical comedy with H.H. Lunch with stuff mother sent. 7 fellows here. TO BED 12 P.M.

**********
[2-22-22] Wow! What a busy day! I'm not sure what 72 is, but it may be Hanford's room at the dorm. Stanford saw some of the sights in Boston, it looks like. They had supper at the Mt. Vernon Lunch, a restaurant that no longer exists, but in 1922, The Boston Register and Business Directory, Vol. 86, 1922, listed it as being on 77 Hancock St. Below is a current Google street view of the address, apparently residential now:

I wonder what prompted them to go candle pin bowling? For those who don't know what it is, below is a Wikipedia article excerpt describing the sport, with a photo :

Candlepin bowling was developed in 1880 in Worcester, Massachusetts, by Justin White, a local bowling center owner, some years before both the standardization of the tenpin bowling sport in 1895 and the invention of duckpin bowling, said by some sources to have been invented the same year. Today the game is enjoyed in many diverse places such as California and Germany in addition to New England.[2] As in other forms of bowling, the players roll balls down a wooden pathway ("lane") to knock down as many pins as possible. The main differences between candlepin bowling and the predominant tenpin bowling style are that each player uses three balls per frame, rather than two (see below); the balls are much smaller (11.43 cm or 4½ in diameter) with each ball weighing as much as only one candlepin and without finger holes; the pins are thinner (hence the name "candlepin"), and thus harder to knock down; and the downed pins (known as "wood") are not cleared away between balls during a player's turn. Because of these differences, scoring points is considerably more difficult than in tenpin bowling. [That explains the much lower than usual scores.]

The musical comedy Stanford and Hanford went to see, Red Pepper, was apparently very popular at the time. Left is an article about it that appeared in the Cambridge Sentinel for January 21, 1922. McIntyre and Heath (below) were minstrel showmen, often wearing blackface in their productions.

McIntyre & Heath (Wikipedia)

Tuesday, February 21, 1922

Arose 6:15 A. M. 8 A.M. car to Albany. 9:15 train from. Arrived in Boston 3:15 P.M. H.H. met me. Up to school. Looked around. Goewey, H.H. & I out to Lynnfield to Alex Stewarts home. Miss Peabody there. To Civic meeting. Bunch over to house. Stayed over night. Wonderful time. Wonderful day. Talked. To bed 1 A.M.

**********
Stanford sounds excited to be touring Boston University with his brother and Goewey, one of his classmates. Hobert Frederick Goewey graduated in 1921 as did Stanford and Hanford, and judging by the information contained in the below Union College yearbook bio, he is also attending Divinity School with Hanford.

Alex Stewart is another classmate who also seemed destined for the ministry. Below is his profile in the Garnet yearbook. Since he was from Rochester, NY, one can only speculate if he and his parents have moved to the Boston area, or if he now has a home of his own, or perhaps Stanford is referring to Alex's fraternity house.

Monday, February 20, 1922

Beautiful, bright, mild, wet day. Arose 7:15 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on business all day. Cleaned up room, packed up etc. Supper. To High School. Around town. To 116 Victory Ave. Home. To bed 12:30 P.M.

**********
Well, we now know that Stanford is visiting Mildred Swart at 116 Victory Ave. He's getting ready for a trip to Boston to visit Hanford. Hope he has a good time!

Sunday, February 19, 1922

Arose 8:45 A.M. Some SNOW. Mild and nasty. To Church & S.S. Dinner. Mother not feeling well. Helped Ruth with dishes. Wrote letters to Hazel, Doris, Russell and Merlin. To E.L. Mr. Stone lead. Talked with M.S. and others. Home. Ate. Finished letters. To bed 12 Bells.

**********
Well--this is the very first time a letter to Hazel Closson, his sister, has been mentioned. I wonder why only now he has spoken of her in the diary? And is Doris the Doris Smith he used to date in 1921? One can only speculate.

In 1920, Hazel was a public school teacher in Manhattan, NY.  She lived at 235 W 102nd St in Manhattan, close to the corner of Broadway and about five blocks from Central Park. A very large building now occupies the site (The Broadmoor, built in 1927, has 16 stories & 346 units), but in 1920 the structure at that address housed only 16 families. Hazel boarded with one of those families.

It's unknown why Hazel became estranged from her family, but there are hints in some documents left behind that she was not happy with her father and his stern rule. No one's around to ask about it now, so it will have to remain a mystery.

Saturday, February 18, 1922

Overcast day but not so cold. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business. Got hair cut. Took shower at Y etc. Dinner. Home in P.M. Practiced T.W. etc. Downstreet with Ruth in P.M. To bed 10 P.M.

**********
Stanford doesn't say where he got his haircut, but below is a photo of a barber shop in Waynesboro, Mississippi in 1922.

Friday, February 17, 1922

Bright cold day. 10° below zero. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on business all day. Delivered 500 doz. eggs. Supper. Watched Church League bowl. To Proctors alone. Home. To bed 11:30 P.M.

**********
That's a lot of eggs! I wonder if Stillman is starting to rely on his son? I guess Stanford needed to chill out after that kind of a day.

Proctor's theater had a huge program on Thursday-Saturday nights that week. Below is an item published in the Thursday Schenectady Gazette summarizing what was in store for patrons that weekend, a bill of fare that included a magic show, singing acts, comedy, and a film:

The silent movie, Exit--the Vamp, was released in 1921. It is now lost, but here is a still from the film:

Thursday, February 16, 1922

Bright clear day but cold and windy. Arose 8:15 A.M. Breakfast. Cleaned up barn. Out on business. Dinner. Down street. Supper. To ΦΝΘ house to meeting. Talked with fellows. Home. To bed 11 P.M.

**********
I wonder what happened to that barn that was located at their house?

Wednesday, February 15, 1922

Cool, overcast, day. Few inches of snow. Arose 9 A.M. Errands. Washed kitchen wall. Dinner. Supper. Down town. Bowled at Morse. To High School to typewriting class. To Public Library. Home. Talked. To bed 10 P.M.

**********
Fairly typical day for Stanford. I wonder why he was washing the kitchen wall? Below are some photos of kitchens considered to be beautiful, from Interiors Beautiful, a decorating how-to book published in 1922. Perhaps the Clossons' kitchen looked something like these.

Tuesday, February 14, 1922

Fair clear cool day. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on business. Dinner. To Church in P.M. to help decorate for Valentine social at night. Down street. Supper. To social of Kappa Sigma Pis and Phi Beta Pis of city in our church. Home with Mildred Swart. To bed 1 A.M.

**********
I guess Stanford's becoming quite a night owl! Getting up at 9 A.M. will do that to you.  I'm not sure what the Phi Beta Pi group is, but it must be affiliated with the church somehow. I wonder if Stanford and Mildred exchanged Valentine cards?

Here's one from 1922:

From Pinterest

Monday, February 13, 1922

Bright day. Little snow and windy. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business most of day. Wrote in diary, letters etc. Home in evening. To Post Office. Talked. To bed 10 P.M.

**********
Stanford seemed to write a lot of letters. I wonder if he was familiar with the letter writing advice of his day? Here is an excerpt from the 1923 edition of Emily Post's famous book, Etiquette, first published in 1922:

Sunday, February 12, 1922

Bright day but cool and windy. Arose 9 A.M. Twalay. To Church & S.S. Dinner at Sirkers with family. Out walking with Ed. Gemlich. To E.L. Mr. Hahn led. Spent evening at 116 Victory Ave. To bed 1 A.M.

**********
Stanford is being coy, not saying who lived at 116 Victory Avenue, but some digging revealed it is Mildred Swart, who was living there with her parents in 1920. She was a music teacher (this 1921 post also tells her address). Her father, Henry, was a foreman at the Locomotive factory. By 1940 someone else, a mortician, was living at that address. Below is a Google Maps street view photo of the house as it looks today. It's a two-family house; Mildred and her family lived on one of the floors.

Saturday, February 11, 1922

Mild in A.M. Cool at night. Arose 8 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business. Took shower at Y. Dinner. Odd jobs in P.M. Down street. To College to Basketball games. Union Frosh 12. Glens Falls High 14. Union Varsity 35-University of Detroit 18. Bowled with Ed Gemlich. To bed 12 P.M.

**********
Well, it's nice to see Union beating someone! I wonder what University of Detroit was like in 1922? Here is a picture of their team in 1923, which, according to the 1923 yearbook, was much better than 1922's team:

Friday, February 10, 1922

Overcast, mild, wet day. Arose 8 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on business most of day. Wrote in diary. Settled up accounts. Bowled with Church League at Scotia. 144-189-166. Won 2 games from F.B. Home. Talked. To bed 11:30 P.M.

**********

I'm assuming F.B. stands for First Baptist. Stanford is still bowling well!

Thursday, February 9, 1922

Mild, damp, fair, clear day. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out with Ford delivering eggs. Uncle John & Aunt Gertie here for dinner & day. Took them home with Kissel. Supper. Skating at Central Park 6-8 P.M. To Church to K.S.P. meeting. Boxed. Bowled with Ed. Gemlich. To bed 11:30 P.M.

**********
I guess Stanford is referring to boxing as a recreational activity, perhaps an activity of the Knights of St. Paul?

I wonder what they used for lighting when they skated at night? It must have been electric, but perhaps they skated without lights? Below is a picture of skaters at Central Park in 1922, taken from the book, Images of America: Schenectady.

Wednesday, February 8, 1922

Beautiful, bright day but cold & windy. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast etc. Delivered eggs. Dinner. Wrote in diary. Errands and odd jobs. To High School for typewriting. To Public Library. Home. Talked. To bed 10:15 P.M.

**********
Stanford is probably going to Schenectady High School for his typing class, the school he graduated from in 1917. Below is a photo of the school with description, taken from the book Images of America: Schenectady, and a post card photo showing the two buildings, taken from the Grems-Doolittle Library blog.

Tuesday, February 7, 1922

Overcast mild day. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast etc. Read paper. Out on business. Dinner. Father & I glued up furniture. Supper. Dressed up. Father & I to automobile show in armory. Good display. Fine decorations & music. Home. Talked. To bed 11:30 P.M.

**********
The automobile show was a big event in Schenectady. Stanford offers a rare opinion on the experience that includes the decorations and music. Below is an ad for the auto show that appeared in the February 6th newspaper (erroneously giving 4 Feb as the first night), and excerpts from the following day's report that describes parts of the event, especially a detailed list of the music that was played. What impressed me about this show was the number of different makes of passenger cars available then. Today there would be far fewer than 50 on display.

Monday, February 6, 1922

Fair, bright, cool, damp day. Arose 8:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Father & I out on business all day. Supper. To High School 7-9 P.M. for typewriting. Watched bowling. Up to American after Mildred Swart. Talked. To bed 12 P.M.

**********
By American, Stanford means the American theater, where Mildred was apparently watching a movie earlier in the evening. Stanford must have picked her up after attending his typewriting class and watching bowling, something he did, no doubt, to kill time until the movie was over. According to the Schenectady Gazette, that evening the theater was showing a comedy starring Will Rogers, Doubling for Romeo. Here is the newspaper article about the movie:

Sunday, February 5, 1922

Fair, cool, nasty, day. Arose 10 A.M. Fooled around house. To S.S. Good turn out. Mr. & Mrs. Clyde Stewart to dinner. Called on Norris's and Finch's in P.M. Lunch at latters. To Epworth League and Church. Out for walk alone. Home. To bed 11 P.M.

**********

I was unable to find Mr. & Mrs. Stewart in Schenectady. There was a couple who lived in Gloversville at the time, Clyde and Phoebe Stewart, but since it's not clear whether Stanford's couple is visiting from another town, I can't say it was they.

Russell Norris and Merlin Finch are still close friends at this point.

Russell Norris ultimately married and moved to Endicott, NY where he worked as a shop teacher at Union-Endicott High School. This picture of him was taken from the school's 1948 Yearbook.

Norris secured a patent in 1954 for a push stick, to be used with a jointer or similar machine. Below is a drawing of the invention and a description provided by Russell Norris.

This invention relates to a device for use in pushing a board over a jointer or the like.

In the use of jointers, Shapers and other woodworking machines, the manual pressing and moving of a small piece of wood over the table and past the rotating cutters involves a very great risk to the hands of the operators. While pusher devices have been developed which include a plate with an abutment at one end to engage the rear end of the board, these pusher devices cannot be used when the wood is disposed on an edge or when the end of the wood extends beyond the table.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a device for use in pushing a piece of wood over the table of a jointer which can be used for pushing a long or short piece of wood, either atwise or edgewise.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of this kind which will eliminate any danger to the hands of the operator in using the jointer and will provide for the smooth and proper cutting of the wood and to lessen the Vibration felt by the operator.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

Saturday, February 4, 1922

Fair cool day. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast. Out delivering. To Y for shower. Dinner. Arville Weaver here. Delivered eggs. To Union-Hamilton B.B. game 3 P.M. Score 27-12. Down street. Cleaned up. To ΦΝΘ house dance 8-12 with Mildred Swart. Talked. To bed 3:30X.

**********
I couldn't find any information about Arville Weaver. The Union-Hamilton basketball game was mentioned in the Saturday morning Schenectady Gazette, pointing to the rivalry between the two teams. So Union's win must have been sweet!

Friday, February 3, 1922

Fair Clear day but windy. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Father & I out on business all day. Sales better. Supper. Bowled with Church League at Scotia 160-149-180. Took 2 games. To Church to tail end of E.L. Business meeting & social. To bed 11:45 P.M.

**********
Once again, Stanford is bowling with the Church League, this time at Scotia Lanes against the Pilgrim Congregational team.

Thursday, February 2, 1922

Most wonderful, bright, warm springlike day. Arose 8 A.M. Cut wood etc. Dinner. Worked outside in P.M. Greased ford etc. Supper. Shined shoes. To K.S.P. meeting at Church. Walked around with Ed Gemlich. Bowled at Morse. To bed 11:15 P.M.

**********
Ed Gemlich is one of Stanford's friends from the Epworth League but must also be a member of Knights of St. Paul (K.S.P.). Ed was first mentioned in a June 1919 entry: Gemlich. He must be about 18 years old now. By 1930 he is living in Scotia, working for GE as a draftsman, married to Ada, but both are living with his widowed mother (his father died in 1929). By 1940 he is divorced and still living with his mother. His tombstone, however, shows that when he died at age 56, he was married to Ina Mae Brown. She married a Mr. Plowright in 1980. Both Ed and Ina are buried in Park View Cemetery in Schenectady, as are Ed's parents. Ina attained the age of 94, having outlived two husbands.

Edward Gemlich's Grave

.

Wednesday, February 1, 1922

Beautiful bright mild day. Arose 8 A.M. Breakfast. Errands abut premises. Dinner. Wrote letter to Russell. Supper. To High School 7-8 P.M. for instruction in typewriting. To ΦΝΘ house. Down town. Home. To bed 10 P.M.

**********
Stanford is writing to Russell, presumably, because he left for Buffalo (with Merlin) a few days before. Why Russell and Merlin went to Buffalo, however, is unknown. Were they looking for a college to attend? Were they attending a pattern makers' convention? 

Tuesday, January 31, 1922

Beautiful, bright, mild day. Arose 8:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on business; Trade quiet. Dinner. Up to ΦΝΘ  house. Errands about house. Down street. Supper. Candled eggs. Wrote letter to Hanford etc. To bed 10 P.M.

**********
As you may recall, Hanford now lives in Boston where he is attending Divinity School.