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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.