Thursday, April 20, 1922

Cool day with intermittent brightness and snow squalls. Arose 8:30 A.M. Breakfast. Loaded up. Father & I to country place 11 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. Cleaned up yard etc. Home. Supper. To exhibition in evening with Russell. Sody at Quinns. To bed 12 P.M.

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I wonder what exhibition he went to? I can't find any notice of it in the newspaper, so . . .

Quinn's is the drugstore in town. I wonder if he and Russell flirted with any girls there at the "sody" shop?

Time to start working on the country place! Soon the crops will be planted.

Wednesday, April 19, 1922

Bright, clear day but cool. Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast. Read paper etc. Sorted & sprouted potatoes, cut wood etc. Dinner. Dug up and seeded lawns. Supper. Typewrote letter to H.H. To Post Office. To bed 10:45 P.M.

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Interesting that lawns had to be dug up and reseeded every year. Or maybe this was the first time in a while. It is the first time I've read about such an activity in Stanford's diaries, at any rate.

Well, he was the one who did the lawn care, that's for sure. I wonder what sort of mower they had? Here is a 1922 ad for mowers made in Lansing, Michigan:

Interesting that the Ideal Power Lawn Mower Co is owned by Mr. Olds--of the Oldsmobile, perhaps?

Tuesday, April 18, 1922

Rain in A. M. Cleared and colder. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast. Sorted eggs. Wrote in diary etc. Finished 46 cases eggs for storage. Supper. Wrote letter to H.H. Out with Russell in evening to Albany Theatre. Talked etc. To bed 11;15 P.M.

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Well, Russell's arrival has sparked a movie marathon for Stanford and him, it seems! This is the third movie night for the pair. The film they saw on this night is a Cecil B. DeMille offering: Saturday Night. The bill of fare also included a one-act play, a comedy act, Mutt and Jeff cartoons and a newsreel. Here is the ad for the Albany Theater that appeared in the Tuesday Schenectady Gazette:

The film is one of the many DeMille comedies of the era. Read about it at IMDB. Or better yet, watch it on YouTube:

Monday, April 17, 1922

Cool, overcast with rain in afternoon and evening. Arose 7 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business in forenoon. Dinner. Out with R.E.N. to deliver plants to sick and shut ins of church. Home. Packed eggs. Supper. To Proctors with Russell.

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This is the first time Stanford has mentioned charitable visits to members of the congregation. He and Russell spent the day together, it seems, although Stanford doesn't say whether Russell Norris packed eggs with him.

The entertainment at Proctor's was substantial, as usual. Here is the ad for the theater in the April 17th newspaper, as well as a more detailed description of the offerings:

I think it's kind of interesting that King Solomon Jr., is set in a future time when congress is made up entirely of women (in 1950, no less!). Boy, were they wrong about that! But wouldn't it make more sense for the women legislators to pass a law allowing polyandry instead of polygamy? Hmmm . . .

The film, Her Husband's Trade Mark, stars a young Gloria Swanson, 23 years before she played Norma Desmond, the has-been actress of the 1950 film, Sunset Boulevard. Below is a poster from the film and a viewer's review. Both are taken from IMDB.

User Reviews

19 March 2007 | by marcslope (New York, NY) – See all my reviews
She's a society wife in a New York gilded cage bigger than the Time Warner Center, and her shady Wall Street husband keeps pressing her to charm his business prospects, for as some flowery title card informs us, the toughest negotiator can fall to the flame of a comely miss, or something like that. A college buddy of his still in love with Gloria enters into a Mexican oil leasing deal with him, sending the romantic triangle down to Mexico, where some Mexican bandits in unconvincing pancake makeup menace everybody and Gloria realizes what a chump she's been. (This is the kind of movie where who she'll end up with is never in doubt -- the better-looking of the two, of course.) The film was so ridiculous in its portrait of Mexican bandits that Mexico briefly banned all Paramount pictures. There's little subtlety and Gloria isn't much more than a clothes horse, but she has some vivacity, and it's fun to see her at 25 or so playing older and more sophisticated than she was. There's not a trace of Norma Desmond here, and silly as it is, it's a handsome production.

Sunday, April 16, 1922

Beautiful, bright, warm, clear, perfect, Easter day. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast etc. To Church & S.S. Dinner. Out walking with Russell in P.M. To E.L. Good meeting. M.M.B. led. Walked about town with Ruth Pettit. Home. Lunch. Talked etc. To bed 11:30 P.M.

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There seemed to have been a lot of talking in Stanford's family. That's good!

Saturday, April 15, 1922

Cool, overcast day. Rain in A.M. Cleared in P.M. Arose 7:15 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business. Dinner. Errands etc. Shower at Y. Supper. Grace Cornell here for weekend. Supper. Out in evening with Russell to Proctors etc. To bed 11:30 P.M.

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Grace Cornell is one of Stanford's cousins, in the Cornell family that is related on his father's mother's side, although I'm not exactly sure how.

Stanford doesn't tell us the bill of fare at Proctor's that night, but we have the newspaper article showing all the many acts that night, including musical numbers, comedy acts, and the film, Boy Crazy:

Below is a synopsis of the film, which came out in 1922. It was taken from the American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films.

Doris May was a popular young silent film actress at the time. She was two years younger than Stanford. Here is her picture:

Taken from SilentHollywood.com

Also included in the night's entertainment was a concert by the (then) famed accordionist, Pietro Frosini. Here is a YouTube recording of a concert he performed in 1941, nearly 20 years later.

Friday, April 14, 1922

Beautiful, bright, warm day. Arose 7 A.M. Breakfast. Out on Business in A.M. Dinner. Russell & Merlin home. Packed eggs for storage. Supper. Out in evening with Russell. Called on Benedicts. Up to Norris's to hear radio concert. Home. To bed 1 A.M.

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I guess Stanford doesn't have a radio with which to listen to a concert. Interesting . . . Russell and Merlin must be home on spring break from college. I wonder why Stanford only went out with Russell and not both of them? Ah well, we can only speculate.

Radio broadcasting was in its infancy in 1922. A station in the Schenectady area, WGY, is one of the oldest radio stations in the U.S. Here is some information about it, taken from Wikipedia.

WGY signed on on February 20, 1922 at 7:47pm at 360 meters wavelength (about 833 kHz),^[3] with Kolin Hager at the mike, or as he was known on the air, as KH. Hager signed on with the station's call letters, explaining the W is for wireless, G for General Electric, and Y, the last letter in Schenectady.^[4] The first broadcast lasted for about one hour and consisted of live music and announcements of song titles and other information.^[5] The early broadcasts originated from building 36 at the General Electric Plant in Schenectady. The original transmitter produced an antenna power of 1,500 watts into a T top wire antenna, located about 1/2 mile away, also at the GE plant.^[6] WGY led the way in radio drama. In 1922 Edward H. Smith, director of a community-theater group called the Masque in nearby Troy, suggested weekly forty-minute adaptations of plays to WGY station manager Kolin Hager. Hager took him up on it and the troupe performed on the weekly WGY Players, radio’s first dramatic series.^[7] WGY pioneered the art of Remote Broadcasting, carrying out the first one just days after it signed on. On February 23, 1922 the station broadcast a concert from Union College.

By April 1922, they weren't the only stations broadcasting in Schenectady, but they were popular, it seems. Here is a report in the April 15th Schenectady Gazette detailing their schedule for the upcoming Easter broadcast:

Thursday, April 13, 1922

Overcast in A.M. Cleared in P.M. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast. Cut wood in cellar etc. Dinner. Worked on Ford. Ruth's Birthday. She received diamond from M.A. S. [Mark Sawyer] Down town. Supper. To K.S. P. meeting at Merris's with ford. Rode around with C.B. & L.G. To bed 11 P.M.

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So, a rather nonchalant response to Ruth's engagement, eh? It doesn't sound like the family was invited to Ruth's birthday party. Maybe she came home with the diamond later? Curious . . .

C.B. may be Clifford Benedict; not sure who L.G. is.

Wednesday, April 12, 1922

Overcast, cool day. Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on business. Sent out Easter Cards, wrote in diary etc. Dinner. Out on errands etc. Supper. Over to Church to Holy Week meeting. Talked. Home. To bed 10 P.M.

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Easter Cards must have been popular in 1922, perhaps more so than they are now. Below is an example of a postcard sent in 1922. I wonder who Stanford sent his cards to?

Taken from Pinterest

Tuesday, April 11, 1922

Very warm, overcast, close, muggy day. Hard thunder showers in afternoon & evening. Arose 8 A.M. Cleaned up back yard etc. Dinner. Dug up front lawns. Took Mother to Albany St. Church. Down town. Supper. Letter to H.H. To Church to Holy Week meeting. To bed 11 P.M. Very hard rain in evening.

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I guess the time to dig up a lawn is when it's really wet . . . ? Sounds like hard duty, though.

Monday, April 10, 1922

Most wonderful, bright, hot day. Arose 7:15 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on business. Uncle John & Aunt Gertie here to dinner. Cleaned up. Mother, M.M.B. and I took Hanford to Albany to 5 P.M. tram for Boston. Home. Out for walk in evening. Home. To bed 10:30 P.M.

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Well, Hanford's on his way back to school and Marion (M.M.B.) must stay behind. In 1920, the Benedicts lived at 630 Hamilton Street in Schenectady. Marion's father, Joseph, was a machinist for GE, and her mother, Alice, stayed at home. Her brother Clifford was still in school. Though she was born in New York, Alice's father and mother were born in Germany; her maiden name is unknown. Below is a Google Street View of the address as it appears today. The Benedicts lived on one floor and a married couple lived on the other. The building was only 10 years old in 1920 and probably a nice home. It's no longer in a nice neighborhood.

Sunday, April 9, 1922

Warm, overcast, dry day. Arose 7 A.M. Breakfast etc. To Church Morning, afternoon and evening. Auditorium packed at each service. Very inspirational meeting. Took Arville Weaver home in afternoon who spent the weekend here. To bed 11 P.M.

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Arvilla Weaver, 60, was the wife of George Weaver, who was the son of Hannah Closson, sister of Charles Closson, making her the wife of Stillman's cousin, and therefore the second cousin (in-law) of Stanford. Arvilla was by this time widowed, her husband having died in 1920. 

Saturday, April 8, 1922

Beautiful, bright, warm day. Arose 8 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on errands. Dinner. To Y for shower. H.H. to Albany. Rested etc in P.M. Rev and Mrs. Edie of Mayfield stayed with us during conference. Transferred to Watervliet. To Church. E.L. night. Wonderful chorus of 400. To bed 11 P.M.

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Rev. and Mrs. Edie are Asa and Eva Edie of Mayfield. He was a clergyman of the M.E. church, according to the 1920 census record. In 1920 they had 5 children, ages 19 to 5. Twenty years later, in the 1940 census, Reverend Edie is shown as working as a Protestant Chaplain at the Clinton Prison. He has one child living at home and a grandchild in high school. He died in 1954 and his wife in 1959. Unfortunately, their son James died in 1949 at the age of 37. He had been married at the time; his wife outlived him by 50 years. Both James and his brother Phillip were married in a double ceremony on August 25, 1936 in Dannemora, the city where Rev. Edie was chaplain. Rev. Edie performed the ceremony and it was written up in the Plattsburgh newspaper.

Friday, April 7, 1922

Fair, mild, dry, clear day. Arose 7:15 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business in A.M. and P.M. To church to look over Exhibits. Home. Supper. To Church again. College Musical Clubs gave concert. To Chemical Exposition at College with Harold Williams. Very interesting. To bed 11 P.M.

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Though Stanford doesn't explicitly state it, there is a Methodist Conference going on in Schenectady this week. Stanford was called on to usher on Wednesday, and on Thursday he was asked to run the stereopticon for an evening event. Today he mentions the concert that was put on by Union College. Below is the headline and the schedule for the conference events, published in the April 6, 1922 Schenectady Gazette. Notice that at 7:30 on Thursday was the stereopticon show, and on Friday (today) is the 7:30 choral concert.

Thursday, April 6, 1922

Beautiful, bright, warm, clear and Springlike. Arose 7 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business etc. H.H. and I out for hike 11 A.M. to 3 P.M. Took lunch with us. Fine time. Home. Odd jobs. Supper. Over to Church. Ran steioptican [sic] lantern. To bed 10:30 P.M.

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Wonder where he and Hanford hiked? Must have been a good distance since it took them four hours!

Wednesday, April 5, 1922

Beautiful, bright, warm day. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast. Out delivering. Packed eggs. Dinner. Finished up 33 cases for storage. Supper. Over to Church to help usher etc. To bed 11 P.M.

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Delivering eggs and storing eggs. Hmmm. I guess I still don't understand the egg business.

Tuesday, April 4, 1922

Overcast, damp, cool day. Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast. Worked around. Delivered eggs. etc. Dinner. Cleaned up cellar etc. Father, Mother, H.H. & I to Uncle John's. Nice Call. Home. Supper. Over to Church. Looked around. To concert for awhile. Down town, bowled. To bed 10:30 P.M.

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I wonder if he is delivering eggs to retailers or to storage? And what was the concert? Sometimes the lack of detail in these entries is a bit frustrating.

Monday, April 3, 1922

Beautiful, bright, warm day but wet under foot with snow melting. Arose 7:30 A.M. Out on business. Dinner. H.H. & I out North. Later to Thomas Corners with H.H. a la bicycle. Looked over eggs for storage. Supper. Riford called. Out for walk. To bed 10:30 P.M.

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Don't know who Riford is. I wonder if Stanford ever read these diaries in the subsequent years? Would he have remembered who Riford was?

Sunday, April 2, 1922

Wet, slushy, nasty cool day. Arose 12;30 M. Dressed etc. Dinner. Out for ride in P.M. Sam Cornell here over Sunday. Made call on Norris's. To Epworth League. To Church with Ruth Pettit. Ate at Canton. To bed 11:30 P.M.

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Wow! Stanford got up late! He must have been tired from his 3 A.M. bedtime on Friday.

I wonder if Russell Norris is back from his trip? Or perhaps Stanford just visited Russell's parents?

Saturday, April 1, 1922

Rainy, wet, cool, damp & slushy. Arose 6 A.M. Finished packing 64 cases eggs for storage. Breakfast. Out on business. Talked. Dinner. Rested. Read. Wrote in diary etc. Down town. Bowled at star with H.H. Took shower at Y. Home in evening. Played games with Sam etc. To bed 10:30 P.M.

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According to the next entry, Sam is Sam Cornell who was visiting them. He must be a relative, but I can't find a connection yet.

Friday, March 31, 1922

Snowy, rainy, wet & slushy. Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast. Out on business. Dinner. Packed eggs. Cleaned up & dressed. To Albany with Clifford in Overland. To Depot to meet Hanford. To Practice House. Talked etc. To ΨΙ house. Το Senior Hop at State College with Lela Caskener 9-1. Fine time. H.H., Cliff & I to Sch'dy. To bed 3 A.M.

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Well, a busy day for Stanford! Hanford's back in town--on Spring Break, no doubt. And a new girl arrives on the scene! I can't find her anywhere. I think maybe Stanford has misspelled her name. Ah, well. Perhaps he'll clarify later.

I'd not heard of an Overland car, so I looked it up. Below is a picture of a 1922 Overland. You can read about the company at this website: Daily Kos.

Thursday, March 30, 1922

Overcast, cool. Arose 8 A.M. Out on errands. Odds and ends. Dinner. Worked on Kissel Kar. Snow in P.M. Family to Troy. Father bought car of eggs @ 28 1/4. Home. Supper. Bowled in Church League Tournament. To bed 11:30 P.M.

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I'm not sure what those numbers mean in Stanford's description of what his father bought. But I thought it was interesting that Stillman bought carloads of eggs at a time. And he had just gotten done storing a bunch of eggs! Baffling!

Apparently, the city bowling league tournaments were a big deal in Schenectady. The Church League results got a big write-up in the local paper. Below is the article published the following day in the March 31st Gazette. If you look at the First Methodist scores, you'll see that Closson only bowled in one game and didn't do very well. It looks like McLean took over for him at that point and scored much better. (Maybe that's why Stanford didn't report his scores.) Yet the Church came in fourth, so they didn't fare too badly overall.