Buy this book on-line

ETTA MAY HALE : 1934 - 1938 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY HANDWRITTEN BY A TEENAGE NEBRASKA GIRL TRYING TO NAVIGATE THE TRICKY WATERS OF BOYS AND DATING AND A THOUSAND OTHER MATTERS

24mo - over 5" - 5¾" tall. On offer is an excellent 5 year diary simply chock full of the details and minutae of a young girl growing up in the 1930's in mid-western America. The diary is a leather-bound volume measuring 5 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches. It contains 365 pages plus memoranda pages and covers the years 1934 through 1938. It is essentially 100% complete. The cover is in good condition and the pages are all intact. The handwriting is legible. Etta May Hale was born in 1920 and this diary records her teenage years from the time she is 13 until she is 17/18. She grew up in the Great Depression and Nebraska was hard hit in that economic catastrophe. Etta May married and moved at some point to Denver CO where, as Etta May Russell, she passed away in 1995 at 74 years of age. It would be tempting to suggest that she married one of the boys she mentions in the book, Jean Russell, but obituary records indicate that he married someone else and never left his hometown of Weston, MO. From her entries, it's clear that her family was not affect to any great extent. While no details are provided, there are passing references to her father and his office. "Dad moved the office downstairs in the Memorial Building ... The room sure is large" [Feb 28, 1934], "Sis has been working at the office" [Feb 2, 1934]. As well, money was simply not in short supply. It seems from context that she clearly comes from a very comfortable middle class family. There are many descriptions of purchasing trips for example a bedroom suite in Omaha, about 100 miles away, clothing such as a new suit, and tickets to many plays and movies. The list is long: new "swagger" suits, a bedroom suite, casual and formal dresses (white string dress, red sport suit, darling green taffeta formal), hats, and shoes (pretty pair with brown leather heels, white canvas, brown kid and suede winter shoes, prom shoes, brown school oxfords, cute white Swing strap pair, black suede shoes, silver sandals, black oxfords), and even a fur coat in 1937. There are periodic references to cleaning the house but nothing more detailed than that. She seems to do well at school, being exempted at times from exams. The vocabulary and diction used in her entries indicates that she would be likely a good student. As one might expect from someone her age, her diary is filled with the innumerable goings-on of a busy teenagers life. Many of her entries deal with her social life, especially with boys. As with many young people, their social life, especially with the opposite sex is paramount. She is continually discussing this boy or that boy and navigating the tricky waters of dating - fairly successfully. She participates in activities with 2 Masonic youth organizations - Job's Daughters and De Molay which suggests her father is a Mason. Her social life is very active - dances, movies, plays, meeting friends - its a constant whirl. The real value in this diary though is her meticulous recording of details such as movies seen, items purchased. For example: 1933 Tugboat Annie, Papa Loves Mama, Peg O' My Heart, The Strangers Return, Three Cornered Moon.1934 The Kid from Spain, I Loved a Woman, Mr. Skitch, Lady Killer, Havana Widows, Bitter Sweets, Frontier Marshal, Dinner at Eight, S.O.S. Iceberg, Jennie Gerhard are just a few of the over 250 movies mentioned in her diary. This alone indicates that money is not a concern for Etta. Many locations are noted as the family has sufficient money to travel around, visiting sites and dining out. Places mentioned include Marshall's the great department store in Chicago, the Chicago World Fair, President Ulysses S. Grant's home in Galena, IL , many visits to Omaha among some three dozen places mentions. In what has to make this diary a goldmine for local historians and genealogists, she records full names of people she knows and with whom she interacts. For example: Carroll Boyd, Jean Russell Benner, Jane Porter, Billie Scott, Elmer Gregory & wife Lulu, Luke Gregory, Frank & Arline Marqua, Vera Fleming, Gertrude Roberts, Anna Keohane, Jack Kyle, Helen Jean Porter, Mildred Kotas, Ruth Dunesing, Kathleen Beard, Betty Aldrich, Clarice Hutchison, Marguerite Adams, Mary Bitterbush, Sara Frances Turner, Marion Boyd, Mary Virginia Brockway, Bill Boyd, Roberta Roberts, Grace Anderson, Ethel Tignor, Richard Haff, George Craig, Dwight West, Dorothy Smith, Beverly Sidylitz, Kathryn/Kate Faunce, Dorothy Pooley, Ellsworth Hall, Merrill Rosenberger, Harold Neimann, Bud Cowles, James Chapin, Lois Hail, Winston King, Mary Jane Davisson are just some of the over 100 individuals by their first and last name. Thus, this diary becomes a powerful cross-referencing tool. A social historian would appreciate the day-to-day detail she records of the comings and goings of her and her friends. No doubt, this could prove to be an interesting contrast to the grim lives of many Nebraskans as they suffered through the Depression.. Illustr.: /. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good +

Bibliophile Bookbase for antiquarian books, maps and prints.