Friday, August 31, 1928

We had a test in Physics and as usual it was terrible. I got 80 in my last test. I hope I did as well in this. I went to Ada’s tea for Ruth Carmen this afternoon. Ruth is adorable. I played bridge with Helen, Isabel Hawkins, and Francis Russell. Frances Russell is heaps of fun. Isabel plays a good game. June and Mom went to the Polo Club. A man was nearly electrocuted out there.

Thursday, August 30, 1928

I went to tea at Mrs. Atkins with Mom. Such a house! Maroon, bright red and pink all in one room. Afterwards I went and got Gwen and we went swimming.

Jane's Notes: On this day in history Jawaharlal Nehru requests independence of India.

Wednesday, August 29, 1928

The Shriners came in this morning. I had to get up and teach the English class this morning. We went swimming this afternoon. The pool was only half full and the water was dirty. I didn’t have a very good time.

Tuesday, August 28, 1928

The tank was still empty today so I just puttered around all afternoon.

Monday, August 27, 1928 - The Diary Resumes

I haven’t written in here for more than a week because nothing of particular interest has happened. Early last week I got mad at Don. Result - we walk to Physics. We went swimming almost every day last week. Last Saturday I spent the day with Gwen. Went swimming twice. Went to see “Sally” with Coleen Moore and Lloyd Hughs. He’s so good looking. Yesterday we went to see “Annie Laurie” with Lillian Gish. After the show we drove out to the Dam. The Trig is getting awfully hard and if I don’t find out more about it I’m going to flunk. We were going swimming this afternoon but we found out there is no water in the tank. This last week I have learned to jack knife and started on the flip. I got an envelope this afternoon in the mail. In it were some pictures taken in 1926. There was an address on it but no name. Who sent it? An anonymous letter!!

Jane’s Notes: Colleen Moore (August 19, 1899 – January 25, 1988) was an American film actress, and one of the most fashionable stars of the silent film era. Lloyd Hughes (21 October 1897 - 6 June 1958) was an American silent film actor. “Sally” was released in 1925. Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893 – February 27, 1993[1]) was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987. Annie Laurie (1927) is a silent film directed by John S. Robertson, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and starring Lillian Gish and Norman Kerry. This was the third film of Lillian Gish at MGM, and its flop heralded a decline in the star's career. John Wayne makes an early film appearance as a crowd extra.

On this day in history: 16 die in a New York City subway's 2nd worst accident, 42nd U.S. Womens Tennis: Helen W Moody beats Helen Hull Jacobs (62 61) and Kellogg-Briand Pact, where 60 nations agree to outlaw war.

Saturday, August 26, 1928

Continuing with the autobiography:

My Family

In our family there are three girls of which I am the oldest.

My youngest sister is a sweet tempered little mischief. She will smile and wave when the rest of the family go out and she is left behind. She will give you anything you want that she has as long as you don't command her or try to snatch it away. When she is naughty and knows it sometimes she will look up at you with the most mischievous smile that will make you want to hug her instead of reprimanding. But she is stubborn. Wen you want her to do a thing she doesn't want to do she will just stand still and say no. You can't force her to do it because she squirms so much when you try. Then if you start to scold she just looks at you as if she had never seen you before. She is small but beautifully formed. She has the whitest most satinny (sic) smooth skin I have ever seen. the yellow hair and deep blue eyes.

My second sister, June, is quite the opposite in coloring. She has smooth healthy tan skin. Her eyes are large and a soft brown and are shaded by long black lashes. June is thirteen years old, she isn't as tall as most of her thirteen year old friends. She is slender and will be a quite a beautiful woman. June and I quarrel as much as any sisters but June can be very affectionate at times. She values me as a judge of her clothes. She usually accepts my advice as what to wear but as to conduct----well, not always. June is attractive not only in that she's good to look at but in her line of chatter. She usually has something to say that is interesting but she is unconscious of her ability to entertain.

I enjoy being the oldest of the family. When my mother and father are out I like to have the servants come to me for directions or have June come to me for advice. there is on disadvantage in being the oldest. When June and I squabble, I "must not take advantage of her because she is younger", so she gets the best of it. June has one specially good trait. When we have company she is always a kind, obedient sister, willing to do anything I ask instead of telling me to do it myself as she would if we were alone.

Jane's Notes: I love this description of her sisters, especially Eleanor. It's such a nice accounting of her without any reference to her disability.

Friday, August 25, 1928

My First Years at School

My school days began in Kindergarten at Manila Central School. I was taken into a very large room, at least it seemed so at the time. The blackboards had many beautiful pictures on them. There were more children there than I had ever seen before in my life. We all sat around in a large circle in little red chairs. I remember one boy who was always being punished. He was always getting sent to Miss Tormey. I heard dreadful rumors about a spanking that was in her office. There were two ladies in charge, one led us in the games and songs and other played the piano. I remember one game in particular that we played. It taught us to tell the time. There was a large clock face on the wall. One of us would go up to the clock and adjust the hands then he would call on someone to tell him the time. The person who answered right first was it next.

The thing that stands out most clearly in my mind in connection with my first grade was the three months I spent with my teacher. My mother was in Baguio. During that time I lived with Mrs. James, Elizabeth James was my particular friend at the time. Mr. James was Superintendent of Parks and Transportation so they lived in a house in the center of the Botanical Gardens. I was delighted when I heard I was to live with them for then I could see the animals every afternoon. I remember one of the especial haunts of my chum and I. It was a clump of trees near the goldfish pond. that was our playhouse. One afternoon while Elizabeth and I were looking at the animals, we stopped in front of the cage of a wild boar. He was pacing aback and forth behind his bars. Elizabeth turned to me and said, "Do you know what that means? That means he is going to get out." I was certainly frightened. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me to the house where I locked myself in the bathroom where I stayed for hours until Mrs. James came home.

I don't remember learning to spell Elizabeth but I do remember when I first learnt to spell Powell. I had seen it written often but I didn't realize that that was where I learned it. So one day when I wrote it on my school paper I thought I had learned it all by myself. so I was quite proud of myself and told everybody how I had learned to spell my last name all by myself.

Thursday, August 24, 1928

Continuing with the autobiography:

"When she arrived the mountain blew-up,
And for many a life filled misery's cup.
So all her life it will be her true part,
To carry within her a right tender hear."

I came into the world January twenty-eighth, nineteen hundred and eleven at the Philippine General Hospital, Manila, Philippine Islands. My parents were living on buena Vista, Santa Mesa, at the time. About seventeen hours after my birth, Taal Volcano erupted. Whether it was my arrival that caused all the commotion or not, I don't know, but the fact remains, Tall blew up.

I can't remember what my first toy was but I presume it was a rattle. That is the usual thing. In the back of my baby book is a long list of birthday gifts. Among them, the only toy I can find was a rattle. The rest of the presents were silver spoons, baby rings, beauty pins, lockets, booties, baby blankets, etc., etc.

The first time I went to the States I was two and a half years old. I couldn't talk very well but most of what I did say was in Spanish. So, of course I was of much interest to my relations and afforded them a great deal of amusement.

About my earliest recollection is a happy morning spent with a playmate of mine, Louise Edgar. I was about three and half years. My mother had gone out and Louise and I decided to play barber shop. I was the first customer. Louise was to be the barber. I received a beautiful pineapple bob. I was just about to cut Louise's beautiful curls, when my mother came home and to the rescue. That afternoon I was taken to a real barber shop to have my hair trimmed. When I came home my father wasn't satisfied with the result. He though he could do better. Se he attempted it. When he was clipping the ends of my hair he caught the tip of my ear. The blood was smeared and I made a great deal of racket so it appeared much worse than it proved to be.

The first punishment that I can remember is one I can remember very clearly. As most babies do I sucked my thumb, but I was more easily cured, than the majority. One afternoon about two or three o'clock, I was sitting, sucking my thumb, in the kitchen, listening to the servants chattering and talking. Before I knew what was happening I was pulled off my stool and laid over my father's knee, getting the hardest spanking I ever got in my life. I never sucked my thumb again.

I have often been embarassed (sic)by stories told in my prescence (sic) by my parents about my childhood. One of their favorites is this:

One time I returned from Sunday school and told my mother all about a picture I had seen of Jesus with flys (sic) on him. Of course my mother couldn't understand what I meant. Then she asked me why had flies on him, and I replied, showing how stupid I though her to be, "Why, to fly with, of course." (Wings)

Wednesday, August 23, 1928

The diary doesn't pick up again until August 27th. For the balance of this week I'm going to quote from mother's autobiography which she wrote as a school project in 1929.

My Ancestry

My ancestors are old American stock. My father's ancestors first came over to America from England in 1653 and settled in Boston, Massachusetts. My mother's great great grandfather was a Minute Man in the Battle of Lexington and Concord. My mother's grandparents on her mother's side came over from Scotland in about 1846.

My mother's grandmother on her father's side came west in a covered wagon in 1854. She was indeed a character. She was a little woman and when she was old enough to be a grandmother her teeth were black and she smoked a long stem clay pipe. She would sit at her grandchildren's bedside and tell them bedtime stories of pioneer days.

My grandmother, my mother's mother, and my grandfather were married just after the Civil War. We have two tin-types. One of my grandmother at eighteen. My grandfather carried the tin-type of his beautiful sweetheart through the war and my grandmother carried the one of her handsome lover.

My mother was born and bred in Iowa. My father was born in Michigan, but when he was three his family moved to Kansas where he grew p. In 1901 he came to the Philippines Islands as a teacher. After teaching two years he entered the Internal Revenue Service. On a visit home he met my mother. three months after the introduction they were married and returned to the Philippines. When my grandmother asked how long they planned to stay, my father replied, "Two years at the most." They have been here more than twenty years.

Jane's Notes: The family tale has always been that that our grandparents met, courted and were wed in the space of two weeks. This narrative says it took 3 months. Still a very short period of time.

I also am curious about the term "lover" that Mom uses to describe her grandfather. Probably had a different connotation then.

Tuesday, August 22, 1928

Continuing the story from the narrative: "We needed a chauffeur because of course we only had one car. He had to take us where we needed to go when my father was at work altho’ he drove my father too. For a while Sleepy’s husband was our chauffeur but he proved unreliable so my father had to discharge him. Before we had a car and a chauffeur we traveled about by horse drawn cart. There were three classes of them, the caratella, the carametta and the calaea. The caratella you hailed on the street whether it was occupied or not and were dropped off near your destination. This was an open cart that the driver filled with as many people as he could crowd in and that the poor little pony could pull. It was used by the poorer people.

Then the carametta was also pulled by a pony, but it only carried one fare of one or two people and just went to your destination. You also hailed the Carametta from the street like a taxi. It was enclosed around the sides and back and had an oil cloth curtain to go across the front in case of rain. the Calaesa was a much larger two wheel cart also enclosed and pulled by a horse. When you were going to a party you called the livery stable and ordered it to arrive at a certain time and the driver wore a uniform! then there was the ultimate, a Victoria!, a four wheeled carriage with room for four with the driver on a box in front. It could be covered or have the top down. This could be ordered from the livery stable but the wealthier families had their own!"

Jane's Notes: I'm not certain of the spelling of the names of the carts because Mom's handwriting is so bad. Emilie, you may be able to tell me if I have the correct spelling.

Monday, August 21, 1928

Continuing the story from the narrative. “The nurse maid was our legendary ‘Sleepy.’ Her name was Filepa. She came to us when I was perhaps about two years old. I couldn’t pronounce her name and she became Sleepy because that was as close as I could come to her name. She stayed with our family until after I was married and came back to Minnesota to spend a year because my mother had had a near nervous break down after Eleanor’s birth. Sleepy had been so much help and comfort to her that she agreed to come back and spend the year in the states.

In 1920 Sleepy was a great curiosity and of much interest to the people of LeRoy, Minnesota and you can imagine her experiences of winter in Minnesota with lots fo snow and coal stoves after her life int he orient! Then in 1933 after I graduated my father retired from business and they came back to live in California at Lakeport. They had become her family and she decided to stay with them so she came back and lived with them for several years. She had no children of her own, altho’ she told my mother that she had had two little boys who had died as infants.

Eventually she felt she had to go back to Manila where she lived with a niece who could write English and we kept track of her until the niece wrote us of her death. She could not write but she did read books in Taglogue. We didn’t know her age. When she came to Minnesota she needed a passport. She didn’t know when she was born, date or year. So we gave her a birthday and my father decided what she could remember of her childhood that she must have been about 37 in 1920. the year that she lived in Minnesota my father withheld her salary and then gave it to her ina lump sum when she got back to Manila. It was enough that she could buy a house of her own and she became a woman of substance in the little community where she lived besides a woman of the world with all her traveling! There are pictures of her among my pictures. She was devoted to Eleanor who was a bond between my mother and Sleepy.”

Sunday, August 20, 1928

Continuing the story from the narrative. “One time my mother needed a new cook and she was interviewing applicants. She felt she was indebted at entertaining and was planning a series of dinner parties so she was looking for one who could make good desserts. A man named Manuel applied but he couldn’t make deserts and was turned down. About a week later he applied again in the mean time he had learned to make desserts and he was our cook for many many years. He made wonderful pies and his lemon pie became famous among my mother’s friends.

At the time I was in high school we had six servants. The cook. laundress, two house boys, the nurse maid and the chauffeur. In a country where the clothes were mostly cotton and silk and you changed often and there were no washing machines yet, a laundress was very necessary. The house boys did the house work. We had two because the younger one was the brother of the actual house boy and he was working for nothing so he could learn. Later we learned that actually he was learning to drive the car from the chauffeur because that was a higher paying job of course."

Saturday, August 19, 1928

Jane’s Notes: Mom takes a break from writing in her diary at this point. We’ll pick up the story a week from tomorrow on August 27th. In the meantime I’ll quote from another document I inherited that Mom wrote beginning in 1978, then put it down for four years and picked it up again in 1928. Dad found the narrative, which recounts the story of her land her parents lives in Manila, three years after her death and put it with the other papers. Here she talks about servants.

“When I think of the early years of my parents marriage in Manila I can’t help but imagine what a glamourous life it must have seemed to a girl raised on a farm in Iowa. It was a very cosmopolitan life. Many of her friends were English women (colonials) who observed the manners of high society. Exchanging calls and calling cards (there were strict rules about how many cards you left, your own & your husbands even tho’ he didn’t go with you). They entertained at tea parties. There was an abundance of servants because help was very inexpensive. Many of them lived in, so they were furnished with food and housing and a small salary. They were anxious to work for the Americans and the English because they could learn a skill.”

Friday, August 18, 1928

We got a ride to Physics today, thank heaven. We had a miserable test in History and one almost as bad in Physics. My nose isn’t as sore as it was yesterday and its been oozing all morning. Pop says that’s a good sign. I wish I had a date to go the Polo Club tomorrow night.

I found this picture of a polo match at the Manila Polo Club from 1941. Probably doesn't look too much different than 1928.

Friday, August 17, 1928

Jane's Notes: No diary entry for this day.

Thursday, August 16, 1928

My nose is as sore as can be. The little pimple has become a boil. I got a long letter from Clara today. Its the first one I’ve gotten in ages. I went downtown with Mom about four. I went to the Victor place and got a new record. Mom introduced me to Mr. Smith the manager. The name of the piece is “Get Out” and “Yet Under the Moon”. From there I went to the doctors to see about my nose but there were so many in the waiting room that I decided not to wait. I went to Helen’s from there. First we danced, then had tea, then we played a little bridge and about six we went for a ride.

Wednesday, August 15, 1928

Last night I got a letter from Steve saying that he and Jack were going across the country the same time we were. Frills and heart ruffles. We had to walk to Physics again today. We started a new set of experiments today. The one we had was quiet complicated. This noon I got a letter from Phil S. I stayed home all by myself this afternoon without a thing to do.

Jane’s Notes: She could have studied!

Tuesday, August 14, 1928

Well Miss Flagg presented herself today. We had to walk down to Physics today because Don didn’t have his car. I think I made him angry this morning. Oh! Well! I spent the whole afternoon working with Paintex.

Jane’s Notes: Here’s a cartoon drawing of Miss Flagg from the scrap book.

Monday, August 13, 1929

Mr. Bordner came to see Mom about something and he talked and talked and talked. So June and I were delayed getting downtown. Finally we got downtown and bought the neckerchiefs and came home. We spent the rest of the morning making them. As this was a Holiday the chauffeur was dismissed and I drove the car the rest of the afternoon. I had to take Pop to the club, Mom downtown and June and Mr. Newton to the movie. We saw “Captain Salvation”. I thought it was a very good picture. I had to do my lessons after dinner.

Jane’s Notes: Captain Salvation is a 1927 drama directed by John S. Robertson and released by MGM. It stars Lars Hanson, Pauline Starke and Marceline Day

Sunday, August 12, 1928

After Sunday School and church we brought Mr. Newton home to dinner. About two we took him to the show. Pop couldn’t go because he had a committee meeting. We saw “The Fashions of Women.” It was based on a European comedy. I like American comedies better. After taking Mr. Newton home, taking Mom to Mrs. Bonner’s, and Pop home, June and I went for a ride. At six we went for Mom. After a little more ride we came home. After dinner we played Seven Up and I won most of the games.

Saturday, August 11, 1928

I was supposed to go to a Beach Picnic with Camp Fire Girls this morning at 6:30 but I didn’t wake up until nine. Mom said there was a big mix up as to whether they were going to have it or not. She was misinformed so she didn’t wake me. I guess I didn’t miss much any way. in the afternoon I went to a tea given by Mrs. Duckworth for her sister. Her sister is darling. So is Mrs. Duckworth. I also met Mary Carson. I think she is precious and adorable. After the tea I made a call with Mom. After super I read.

Jane’s Notes: For the uninitiated and the younger generation, a call is a drop in visit, one of the social niceties of the early 20th century where neighbors called on neighbors. Sort of a short visit. You left your card on a silver tray in the hall. Actually a nice custom I think.

Friday, August 10, 1928

Nothing of particular interest happened at school today. This afternoon we went to a party Gwen gave as a farewell to Barbara Murphy. It was a tea. Barbara had an adorable costume on. The tea was given at Maize’s. Someone was using our car so I had to get a ride out with Lura. Coming home in Betty’s car, Mrs. Penn, Lura, and Charlotte and I decided we would like to go swimming after dinner. Mom and Mrs. Penn said they would chaperone us. I drove around and picked up the crowd including Frances Russell and we went out. Eli Penn couldn’t find her suit so she went in in her underwear.

Thursday, August 9, 1928

I think I caught a cold at Physics yesterday. I’ve been sniffling all day. We got our Red Cross Pins today after much delay. In the afternoon I went swimming about five. Helen and Alice came out. After they left I was alone. Quite a few people were out there.

Wednesday, August 8, 1928

I just washed my feet and I can’t do a thing with them - Helen and my pet joke. but yesterday I washed my hair and I can’t do anything with it. It’s a mess. This afternoon I went swimming. My two caps worked like a charm. I only got the edges of my hair wet. Between four and five there wasn’t a soul in the tank except myself so I practiced diving and for the first time in my life I attempted to do a tuck. I think with practice I might get it. There seemed to be an unusual crowd of people there this afternoon for no apparent reason.

Tuesday, August 7, 1929

Don brought us home today because Helen’s car was in the shop. About four-thirty I went swimming. Before five o’clock there were some people I knew out there but later I was alone. I stayed in a long time and took lots of time to dress so just as I got to the pavilion the car drove up and I didn’t have to wait.

Monday, August 6, 1928

Today I wore my hair down over the ears to school for the first time. There were many comments on the length of it. June and I went downtown with Pop to see “The Latest from Paris”. It certainly was a good show. Norma Shearer was precious. I read the rest of the afternoon.

Sunday, August 5, 1928

I went to church and Sunday School but we didn’t rush off to the movies right after lunch as we usually do. About five Johnny Watkins came over to see June. Soon after he got here Mama, June, Johnny, and I went to see the First American football game played in the PI in sixteen years. The All Americans (some school kids) beat the 31st team 12-0. On the way home I bought an ice cream brick.

Jane’s Notes: Here’s the newspaper account of the game I found in the scrap book. “Yesterday afternoon Manila witnessed for the first time in sixteen years, an American football match. A huge crowd turned out to see the All American clash with the 31st Infantry men on Wallace Field. The grandstand was filled, the field was lined with cars and hundreds of people stood around the gridiron. The All American team is composed mostly of Central School students. These youngsters however, proved yesterday afternoon that they knew some football. They defeated the Infantry, 12-0. Bill Young, captain and full back for the winning team, made the two touchdowns that brought victory. He was ably assisted by Clausen, Tremblay, Miller, Cochrane, Kneedler and Dolan. The 31st Infantry entered the field with four men lacking. Four substitutes of the All Americans filled in the empty places and played against their team. Jennings, Gordon and Mars were the star players of the Army team. the Army men, led by Gordon, presented a stiff front to the winning team, but Young, of the All Americans was able to baffle them time and again.” It goes on to name the players on each team.

Saturday, August 4, 1929

June and I went swimming this morning. The sun wasn’t very hot but we got a little sunburned. The waves were terribly high and just standing on the steps of the sea wall we were nearly washed away. The water was terribly dirty so we went back to the tank. I tried to curl my hair this afternoon but it didn’t work. June went to the prom this afternoon. June’s quite the belle. Johnny Watkins gave six lovely handkerchiefs for no reason at all and Eddie Whitesides asked her to wear his scout pin. At 9 PM we went to see the play “So this is London”. The play was the first of the Community plays of the season. The next one is going to be “Broadway”. I’ve read it. It is excellent. I hope we get to see it. When we got out we found our tire was down and we had a lot of trouble.

Friday, August 3, 1928

Don brought Helen and I home as well as taking us to Physics. I guess Don thinks Helen’s pretty nice and I don’t think she hates him. This afternoon June and I went to see the “Merry Widow”. Mom and Pop went to O.E.S. and I read until most 11.

Jane’s Notes: The Merry Widow (German: Die lustige Witwe) is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár.

Thursday, August 2, 1929

We had our first class meeting this morning in English class. We could only use part of the period so we only had time to elect officers. David Gearhart was elected President. Custom made us choose a boy and I think he was the best possible choice. Ada Green was Vice. I think that choice was good, too. I was nominated for Vice President and was very much surprised when I got second place. Helen MacCarthy was voted Secretary. I think Wilhemina would have been better. Louisa Stevenson was made Treasurer. Mrs. Rothenberger was grade advisor. Yesterday the Sophomores had a meeting but it ended disastrously. The principle broke it up because they had not been authorized to have a meeting. I went to Camp Fire meeting and played baseball. Ugh!

On this day in history Mussolini signs peace treaty with Abyssinia, Ethiopia.

Wednesday, August 1, 1928

Another lift this morning. Pop has decided to have a Regal Commander Studebaker sedan instead of the REO Flying Cloud. Today I took a picture of it to school and Helen was just as thrilled over it as I was. We got our English test paper back today and I got a 91. I expected no more than 70. Hu-rah! This afternoon I went to the “Circus” Charlie Chaplin with Mr. Newton, four Salmons and June & Eleanor. Some mob. Eight of us. After the movie we had pop corn then we walked to the Ice plant to meet Mr. Salmon. I felt like I had been to a circus. I’ll bet we looked like one.

Jane’s Notes: The Circus is a 1928 silent film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin with Joseph Plunkett as an uncredited writer. The film stars Chaplin, Al Ernest Garcia, Merna Kennedy, Harry Crocker, George Davis and Henry Bergman. The story once again follows Chaplin's Little Tramp character. Taken to be part of the circus act, and seeing the profit potential of the Tramp, the ringmaster hires him, but discovers that the Tramp can only be funny unintentionally, not on purpose.The production of the film was the most difficult experience in Chaplin's career. Numerous problems and delays occurred, including a studio fire, the death of Chaplin's mother, as well as Chaplin's bitter divorce from his second wife Lita Grey, and the Internal Revenue Service's claims of Chaplin's owed back taxes, all of which culminated in filming being stalled for eight months. The Circus was the seventh highest grossing silent film in cinema history taking in more than $3.8 million

This is the first reference in the diaries to Mom’s youngest sister Eleanor who was a person with Down Syndrome. We will get glimpses of Eleanor from time to time but learn much more about her as they sail for the US in 1929. Also, don't forget to click the link on the Studebaker to a fully restored 1929 car. It is beautiful.

On this day in history Babe Ruth hit home run number 42 and is 4 weeks ahead of his 1927 pace.