Wednesday, March 29, 1922

Beautiful, bright, cool day.  Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on errands and business. Dinner. Home in P.M. Typewrote letter to Hanford. Supper. Church League tournament in evening. Bowled doubles with Anderson & Singles. Walked around. To bed 11:30 P.M.

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So, he's now typewriting his letters! That typewriting class is already paying off! I wonder if Hanford kept any of those letters?

Tuesday, March 28, 1922

Very mild damp day with some rain in A.M. Arose 7:45 A.M. Cleaned up cellar, soot out of chimney etc. Got ready and shipped 100 empty egg cases to Trombley Bros. Supper. To College with Ruth Pettit to Minstrel Show. Very good. To bed 12 P.M.

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The minstrel show was no doubt put on by the college students. Some of the Union students claimed "minstrel show" as an extra-curricular activity in their yearbook entries. No indication if it was a black-face minstrel, but it probably was. Stanford actually expressed an opinion of this show!

I couldn't determine why Stanford was shipping empty egg cases to Trombley Brothers, but it must be that they got money back on them since they were not using them at the time, maybe because the season was over?

I hope Stanford was careful around that soot. It was a dangerous substance!

Monday, March 27, 1922

Rainy, wet and mild all day. Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business all day. Bowled at star in P.M. Supper. Home in evening. Wrote letters, read etc. To bed 9 P.M.

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A fairly routine day for Stanford. I think his father will miss him when he leaves for college in the fall. I wonder if he's made his decision yet?

Sunday, March 26, 1922

Beautiful, bright, warm day. Arose 9 A.M. To Church. Communion. To S.S. Dinner. For ride in afternoon. Called on Reynolds. To E.L. social hour and devotional meeting. About 75 present. To Church. Ran lantern for stereopticon slides. Home. Talked. To bed 11 P.M.

**********
I'm guessing they are all missing Hanford. And I think Ruth must be pretty busy too, since we don't hear much about her these days. I wonder what slides they saw? 

Saturday, March 25, 1922

Cloudy, cool, day. Arose 6:30 A.M. Breakfast. Candled and finished looking over 53 cases of eggs for storage. Around town on business. Dinner. Down town, shower at Y. Supper. To automobile show at armory with father in evening. To bed 11:30 P.M.

**********
Another automobile show! Well, I guess cars are pretty popular around this time. Below is an ad for the Steinmetz electric truck in the March 18th Schenectady Gazette promoting the upcoming show.

Steinmetz, some of you may know, was a famous engineer at General Electric. Below is a picture of the truck and an article from Motor Age describing its features.

And we thought we invented electric cars! I wonder why this one never took off?

Friday, March 24, 1922

Beautiful, bright, mild day. Arose 7:15 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business in A.M. & P.M. with dinner at noon. Bowled with Church League at night. Took 2 games from A.S.M.E. Our team to Sirkers for feed etc. A.J.O. took all home. To bed 11:45 P.M.

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Sirker's was a popular restaurant at the time and a frequently chosen site for banquets, such as the one for Ohio State alumni celebrating Ohio State Day on November 25, 1921, reported in the Ohio State University Monthly, volume 13, excerpted below:

Later that year, June 26, 1922, a jewelry store hold-up man fleeing from police fired at policemen in front of the restaurant. Here is an excerpt from the story in the Jeweler's Circular:

Poor Victor Phoenix! In 1920 he was a 16 year old boy living with his parents and working as a shaper in a brush shop in Troy. Six years later he was a violent thief. Here is an excerpt from the newspaper story the next day that tells a sad tale:

Victor went to prison for his crime, and was still there at the Clinton State Prison at Dannemora in 1930. By 1940, he was no longer in prison, apparently. He died in 1949, according to his grave stone at St. Jean's cemetery in Brunswick, NY, having never married. 

Thursday, March 23, 1922

Beautiful bright day but rather cool. Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast. Took Ruth to School. Home. Out on business. Dinner. Uncle Charlie here to call. Up after Ruth. Wrote in diary. Home in evening. To bed 10 P.M.

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For those of you who may have missed it, Uncle Charlie is Charles Cramer, Stanford's grandmother's brother. Information about him can be found in the 1920 blog at this post: June 3. Below is his picture, taken from someone's family tree posted on line. He was quite handsome; I think he looks a bit like Jason Vance. What do you think, Clossons?

Wednesday, March 22, 1922

Overcast, cool day. Arose 8 A.M. Breakfast etc. Took Kissel for repairs. Home. Odd jobs. Dinner. Cut wood and cleaned cellar. Down street. Bowled at star. To Library. Supper. Home in evening. Wrote letter to Russ. To P.O. To bed 10:15 P.M.

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Russell Norris left for Buffalo back in January to attend school there, one would guess, as his faculty profile at the high school where he later taught states that he graduated from University of Buffalo. Below is a picture of the school in 1922, when they inaugurated their new president.

Tuesday, March 21, 1922

Mild, overcast day. Arose 8:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Father & I cut wood for cellar. Dinner. Wrote letter to H.H. Out on business etc. Supper. Home in evening. Took letters to P.O. Wrote in diary. To bed 10 P.M.

**********
I'm guessing the wood was for the heater and/or cookstove. Below is a picture of the type of wood burning stove that was popular in the 1920s.

from Pinterest

Monday, March 20, 1922

Mild with rain all day. Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on business in A.M. and P.M. To dentists. Bowled at star. Supper. Home in evening. Read etc. To bed 9 P.M.

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I guess Stanford had a dental issue that required his return to the dentist. No telling what it might have been. But he sure is working hard. Hopefully his father is paying him!

Below is a photo taken at a dental office in 1922. Perhaps Stanford's dentist's office looked like this.  Photo comes from Pinterest.

Sunday, March 19, 1922

Beautiful, bright, mild day. Arose 8:45 A.M. Breakfast. To Church & S.S. Out with Mr. Hoose on every member canvass. Father, mother & I out to Uncle Johns. Fine visit. To E.L. Miss Hoskins led. To Church with Ruth Pettit. Home. Talked. To bed 11 P.M.

**********
Every member canvass is explained in a previous post that happened around the same time: Annual Canvass.

Ruth Pettit is a young woman who in 1920 lived with her aunt and uncle on 214 State St in Schenectady. She was working as a dictaphone operator for G.E. In 1928 she married Kenneth Killam and by 1948 they were living in New Hampshire where she died, a widow, in 1993.

Saturday, March 18, 1922

Bright, cool, breezy day. Arose 8:30 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business. Dinner. Down street. Hair cut. Shower at Y. Home. Pressed suit etc. To College with Jessie Robertson Union 23-Alumni 25. Stayed to dancing. To bed 1 A.M.

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I guess Stanford was getting spruced up for his date with Miss Robertson! Below is a report on the basketball game as reported in Friday's Schenectady Gazette.

Jones is Wolcott Leonda Jones, one of Stanford's classmates. Here is his picture and bio from the Garnet yearbook:

Mr. Jones, a member of the alumni team, was by 1940 married with a child and working as a salesman. I wonder if the red-headed woman was Ruth, the woman he married?

Friday, March 17, 1922

Fair, bright and warm. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business. Dinner. Down street. To dentists. Supper. To Scotia to bowl with Church League. 123-170-160. Lost 2 games to Grace M.E. To bed 11 P.M.

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Below is the report on the Church bowling leagues, which played their last games of the schedule. Perhaps Stanford's dental appointment interfered with his bowling?

Thursday, March 16, 1922

Overcast and cool. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on business. Dinner. Ruth's S.S. class here making clam chowder in evening. To College to B.B. game Union 24, Brown 26. Took R.P. home. To bed 12 P.M.

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The basketball game Stanford refers to is erroneously cited. It might seem a familiar score, and that's because that game was played days ago and the game that was actually played on Thursday, March 16, 1922 was against Columbia. But that game was also lost, 18-20. Below is the article that appeared in the March 17th Schenectady Gazette.

Wednesday, March 15, 1922

Bright, warm and clear. Arose 8:30 A.M. Breakfast. Around house at odds and ends. Dinner. 31 cases of eggs from B&V. 25 from S & Co. 4 from Rhinehart etc. Sorted for storage. Supper. To High School for last class in typewriting. To bed 10 P.M.

**********
I'm guessing the contributors of eggs were farms in the area, but I had no luck tracking them down. Stillman may have belonged to the recently established Schenectady Farm Bureau, whose newsletter, Farm Bureau News, helped area farmers stay current on topics of interest. Below is a page from a 1918 edition.

Tuesday, March 14, 1922

Beautiful, bright warm day. Arose 8 A.M. Breakfast etc. Chored around house. Dinner. Cleaned out pipes under stationary tubs. Up to Italian Mission after Ruth. Supper. Home in evening. Wrote letter to H.H. etc. To bed 10:30 P.M.

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The Italian Mission, where Ruth was apparently working, was a decades-long effort on the part of Schenectady's Protestant churches to lure the city's Italian immigrants away from the Catholic church. Click on this link to see a lengthy history of that effort. Below is an excerpt covering the early 1920s.

Because of "the disturbances of some recent years," the Presbyterians felt it wise to "make haste slowly." They adopted the policy of holding and training the Italian church members instead of attempting to secure large numbers of new constituents. Less affected by the departure of Neyroz and his fellow "opportunists," the work with the young people continued to be strongly emphasized, but steady growth was expected rather than "unusual advances." Gigliotti [a pastor who arrived in 1921] supposedly "produced truly amazing results" in his work with teenaged boys; he personally organized a gymnastic club, a bowling team, a band (the Garibaldi Band) and a social club (the Guiseppe Mazzini Club). (71) 

However, the introduction of a comprehensive religious and social program in St. Anthony's new church hall caused the attendance to decrease at the Jefferson Street house. And since greater competition could be expected once Father Bianco's new church was completed, the Presbyterians closed the settlement house and transferred its activities to the Jay Street church. But as was expected, little improvement occurred, for Chiesa di San Salvatore was located in downtown Schenectady, and not in an Italian neighborhood, or far enough away from St. Anthony's. Special attention was thereupon given to the remaining settlement house on Cutler Street in Mt. Pleasant. Second only to the Front Street neighborhood in Italian population, but containing no Italian Catholic church, Mt. Pleasant became "the heart" of the Presbyterian work. (72) 

Monday, March 13, 1922

Fair, bright, & mild. Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast etc. Chored around. Odd jobs. Dinner. Wrote letter to Nellie. Down street. Supper. To High School to typewriting class. Talked. To P.O. Home. To bed 10:30 P.M. Printed T.C.S. cards in P.M.

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Have been unable to determine what TCS cards are. If anyone has the answer, please share!

Sunday, March 12, 1922

Beautiful, bright, warm & Springlike. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast etc. To Church & S.S. Dinner. Out on every member canvass with Mr. Hoose. Walked to Scotia. Home. To Epworth League. To United Presbyterian Church with Marian Benedict. Good pageant. "Facts & folks of mission field." Home. To bed 11 P.M.

**********
I see that Stanford is taking care of Marion, who stayed behind in Schenectady while her beau, Hanford, attends college in Boston.

I don't know for sure if he is the one Stanford refers to, but I've located a William Hoose living in Schenectady who in 1922 was about 33 years old, was married and had a child. He worked as a clerk for the Locomotive Works.

Here is some information about the place where William Hoose worked, taken from Wikipedia:

The Schenectady Locomotive Works built railroad locomotives from its founding in 1848 through its merger into American Locomotive Company (Alco) in 1901.^[1]

After the 1901 merger, Alco made the Schenectady plant its headquarters in Schenectady, New York.

One of the better-known locomotives to come out of the Schenectady shops was Central Pacific Railroad type 4-4-0 No. 60, the Jupiter (built in September 1868), one of two steam locomotives to take part in the "Golden Spike Ceremony" to celebrate the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad.

Locomotive plant circa 1920

Saturday, March 11, 1922

Overcast, mild day. Little snow & rain. Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast. Out after eggs cases etc. Home. Took short nap. Dinner. Read. Wrote in diary etc. Down street. Took shower at Y etc. Home. Supper. To basketball game at College with Ellen Nielsen. Union 24-Brown 26. Very exciting. Stayed to dancing. Ate at PELOPS. TO BED 2 A.M.

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The Schenectady Gazette covered the basketball game that Stanford and Ellen attended. At right is an excerpt from the article.

I wonder where he and Ellen went dancing? I guess those dancing lessons came in handy!

In an effort to dig up information about the Pelops Restaurant, I ran across a curious article in a hotel and restaurant workers' union journal, The Mixer and Server.

In the September issue, in the report from the union's organizers, there is mention of a meeting with the First Methodist's pastor, Dr. Frick, to ask if he would recommend that his members not patronize Pelops, since it refuses to allow union employees. Pastor Frick agreed, according to the report.

I'm guessing that Pelops was a Greek restaurant, a type that was resistant to unions, according to A. Martel, International Organizer.

I think it's interesting to see how unions fought to gain ground in the 1920s. Organizers were up against some tough odds in the workplace those days, especially with immigrant and other workers fearing the loss of their jobs. But working conditions were not ideal--note the long hours for restaurant workers detailed by A. Martel.

Friday, March 10, 1922

Beautiful, bright, warm day. Arose 7 A.M. Out on business. Breakfast. Sorted eggs for storage. Dinner. Cleaned cellar. John & Anna Myers here to call. Started letter to Nellie. To Church to Pancake Supper. Waited on table. To Scotia to Bowl with Church league. To bed 11 P.M.

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I'll bet pancakes back then were the same as they are today! Below are a couple of ads from the period that show the popular brands of pancake flour and syrup. Sound familiar?

Taken from Pinterest

Taken from Pinterest

Thursday, March 9, 1922

Beautiful, bright, warm day. Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business. Worked on Ford & Kissel, greasing etc. Dinner. Wrote in diary. Family out to Uncle John's for visit and supper. Fine time. Strawberry ice cream etc. Moonlight ride back. To Church to K.S.P. meeting. Sorted eggs. To bed 10:30 P.M.

**********

Ice Cream Freezer popular in the 20s

I wonder if they had homemade ice cream at Uncle John's? Sounds good!

Wednesday, March 8, 1922

Cool, windy day. Arose 8 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on business etc. Dinner. Sorted eggs for storage. Supper. Down street. Bowled. To High School 7 to 9 P.M. for typewriting. Home. Talked. To bed 10:30 P.M.

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I don't know what kind of storage Stillman has in mind for his eggs, but it would have to have been cold storage, available at the time, probably in ice houses. Below is a narrative taken from a patent application for an egg storage preparation device that was submitted in 1919 and granted in June of 1922. It details some of the problems that egg merchants faced in storing eggs. Notice that March and April are peak months for storage. I guess Stillman was lucky to have cheap, available labor to get his eggs ready.

Description of Method of Preparing Eggs for Storage. Patented June 20, 1922. 
The treatment of eggs in preparation for storage is now a well established industry, but, on account of the fact that the production of eggs is much more abundant at a certain season of the year, namely, in the months of March and April, than in the remainder of the year; and also that, under the present systems of treatment for storage, especially the candling of the eggs to remove therefrom the defective eggs, expert labor is required; and that expert candlers are few in number and difficult to obtain on account of the fact that their services are only needed for a month or two in the year, the number of eggs that can be packed for cold storage is by no means commensurate with the number of eggs that could be so packed. The packing under the present system cannot keep pace with the supply. 

Furthermore, under the present system, eggs are collected at various points in the country districts and are shipped by rail to a central storage plant, as, for instance, in New York City, before shipment, they are graded by hand, but the grading cannot be absolutely relied on. Moreover, a considerable number of the eggs, on an average from 15 to 18 eggs in a case of 50 dozen eggs, become cracked in transportation. Under the present system these cracked eggs are treated just like the sound eggs and are placed in storage, the reason being that the only way to detect whether or not the eggs are cracked is by the sound or by candling and it is practically impossible to obtain help to do this in the short time permitted. 

Consequently, these cracked eggs go into storage with the others. They come out moldy and unfit for use, and, in addition, they infect the sound eggs. Not only is loss caused to some of the sound eggs on this account, but there is the extra expense of storage of unsound eggs, transportation to the places where they are to be retailed, and storage therein before they are finally sold to the ultimate consumer, with the additional inconvenience that the eggs have to be sold with the knowledge that there are a number of eggs in a case unfit for use. 

It is the object of the present invention to provide a machine which, by dispensing with the necessity of expert candlers, and by the rapidity of operation of the machine itself, will enable the packing to keep pace with the supply, as well as exclude cracked and unfit eggs from storage.

Tuesday, March 7, 1922

Overcast, mild, wet. Arose 8:15 A.M. Breakfast etc. Read letter from Hazel. Out on business. Dinner. Cleaned out desk. Wrote letter to Hanford etc. Supper. Hard shower. Streets like rivers. Banked cellar with ashes. Shoveled water out cellar. Typewrote. To bed 10:15 P.M.

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Another first - Stanford mentions reading a letter from Hazel, probably sent as a result of his speaking with her in New York on his visit the week before.

I'd never heard of banking ashes against a cellar to prevent flooding, but I can sympathize with Stanford's having to bail out his cellar. I remember doing that in my childhood when our cellar flooded.

The heavy rains and flooding generated a front page article in the Schenectady Gazette on March 8th. Below is an excerpt. Note the reference to damaged "home brew" stores that people were reluctant to acknowledge. Also the threat of sewage getting into cellars. Perhaps that's why Stanford used ashes to bank the cellar--they served as a filter?

Monday, March 6, 1922

Bright, warm, springlike. Also very wet. Arose 8 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business in A.M. and P.M. Market quite low. Supper. To High School to typewriting class. To P.O. Home. Read, talked etc. To bed 11 P.M.

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I got to wondering what the post office of Stanford's time was like and found the below image in Images of America: Schenectady. Compared to today's busy, crowded post offices, this one looks positively dull. It seems they didn't have very many letters to process, but then maybe this was the end of the day. I wonder if one of the letters shown was Stanford's?

Sunday, March 5, 1922

Very wet, nasty, slushy day. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast. Cleaned Walk. To Church & S.S. Taught class in intermediate department. Mr. & Mrs. McCausland here to dinner. Pleasant fellowship. Ruth & I did dishes. To E.L. and Church. Very wonderful pageant on Bible. Home. Talked. To bed 10:30 P.M.

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The pageant Stanford refers to was noted in the March 4, 1922 Schenectady Gazette in a section titled "Local Parishes":

At the First Methodist church, tomorrow will be observed as Bible Sunday. Rev. Philip L. Frick will preach upon “God and the Bible” at the morning service. At night a Bible pageant, entitled “The Task of the Century,” will be presented by a group of 40 persons. This pageant is based upon truths of the Old and New Testaments and illustrated by familiar characters.

Once again we get an opinion expressed by Stanford. This could be a trend!

I was able to find a Mr. & Mrs. McCausland in Albany who may be the pair visiting the Clossons. They were both in their 50s at the time. Without first names I can't tell for sure, however. 

Saturday, March 4, 1922

Overcast, mild, damp day. Arose 9:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on business. Errands. Dinner. Played piano. Rested. Down town. Took shower at Y. Home. Supper. Father & I to Union-Syracuse Basket Ball game. Score 16-15. Very exciting. Ed Gemlich & I down. Bowled. To bed 12 P.M.

**********
The Union-Syracuse game got a big write-up in the Schenectady Gazette on the following Monday. Stanford's comment about the game's excitement echoed that of the sportwriter. Below is the article.

Friday, March 3, 1922

Fair mild day. Arose 8:15 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business forenoon and afternoon. Worked around house. Cleared off dinner table. Cleaned up desk etc. Supper. To Star Alleys to bowl with Church League. Won 3 games. My contribution light. To bed 11:30 P.M.

**********

So, it looks like Stanford's team, First Methodist, was playing Zion Lutheran. The church still exists. Below is some information about it from their website:

"Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church was founded on March 17, 1872, by 61 men and 38 women of German background. They met in the former Congregational Church on Jay Street. On May 4, 1872, the young congregation acquired this building for $3,500. In 1880 Zion called Pastor Ernst Carl Ludwig Schulze, who served with great success and zeal for the Lord's work. Under Pastor Schulze's leadership, Zion founded a Christian day school that continued until 1931.

"The congregation soon outgrew its Jay Street quarters, so in 1887 it purchased property at 153 Nott Terrace and began construction of the rear of the present structure. This original part of the church was dedicated in 1888, with the first floor housing the school and worship conducted upstairs in the Parish Hall.

"In 1892 the congregation erected the sanctuary to accommodate its growing membership. Zion was prosperous as Schenectady grew as an industrial center.

"In 1919 Zion called Pastor Otto C. Busse who served until his resignation in December 1945. During Pastor Busse's tenure Zion's membership increased from about 400 confirmed members in 1919 to 600 members by the beginning of World War II.

"In the 1920's Zion began to hold Sunday services in the English language as well as the traditional German. Pastor Busse incorporated the German immigrants of the 1920's into the life of the congregation and maintained the morale and spiritual well-being of its members during the Great Depression.

"In 1941 Pastor Busse was granted a leave of absence to serve as chaplain in the U.S. Army. He remained in the military service until his resignation."

Zion Lutheran Church as it looks today

Rear of the church--original part

I think it's interesting that until the 1920s the church held services in German only. I wonder if Stanford ever attended services there?

Thursday, March 2, 1922

Arose 8:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Talked with family more or less all day about wonderful, novel and interesting experiences of trip. Delivered eggs. Shoveled snow. Home in evening. Unpacked. Out to mailbox with letters. To bed 10 P.M.

**********
So, Stanford had a good time on his trip. Such effusive praise is seldom seen in these pages!

I looked up snow shovels in 1922 and apparently people had both galvanized steel and wooden shovels available to them. Imagine trying to lift a wooden shovel laden with snow!

Here is a drawing of a 1922 patent application for a new-fangled snow shovel that, while made of wood, is designed to push the snow rather than lift it.

Wednesday, March 1, 1922

Fair cool day. Arose 9 A.M. Cleaned up. Out around town. To Board of Education Bl'dg Park Ave & 59th. Found record of Hazel. Talked with her briefly on the telephone. Dinner at Childs. To Grand Central to Jersey City to call for mail. Left on 9:30 train. Arrived in Sch'dy 2:50 A.M. Due 1:25. Some snow.

**********
The New York City Board of Education is no longer at Park Avenue and 59th Street, but interestingly, there is a Trump building there--Trump Park Avenue.

So Stanford finally spoke with Hazel. I wonder if she was avoiding seeing him?

Child's Restaurant was a popular restaurant and one of the earliest chain eateries. Below is a copy of a picture postcard sent by one of the restaurant's workers followed by some history of the place. The card says "Main Office was located at 42 E 14th St," which is now a part of Union Square.

This information was taken from a blog, The Paper Collector. By 1910 Child's had opened 107 restaurants in 29 cities, according to Wikipedia. Below is a photo of the one at 194 Broadway in NYC. Perhaps that's the one Stanford went to.