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UNIDENTIFED : 1918 ORIGINAL NORTH-WEST OREGON MANUSCRIPT DIARY HANDWRITTEN BY A CHARMING WOMAN WHO MANAGES TO KEEP A SENSE OF GRACE AND HUMOUR WHILE SHE AND HER SISTER DEAL WITH HARDSCRAP LIVES AND THE DARK BACKDROP OF A TERRIBLE WAR

24mo - over 5" - 5¾" tall. On offer is a delightful diary dating to WWI. Coming from the American west, this diary measures 5.75 inches by 4 inches and contains 365 pages. It is 90% complete. The cover and the pages are in good condition and all pages are intact. The back cover and the spine have separated from the binding but the front cover remains attached. The handwriting is legible. Also included with the diary are three black and white photographs. They depict 2 couples and a single picture of a woman. There is no annotation or identification with them. The diary is written by an unknown woman from the area around McMinnville Oregon. She is never identified. However, she does live with another woman, Anna, who appears to be her sister. References crop up about someone named Peter and context would suggest that he is a boy although the relationship is never explained. This is a story of these two single women living in a small community in 1918, as WWI is coming to an end. Rationing is something they live with daily and their financial circumstances are tight. Anna in particular is continually looking for work. Jobs are hard to come by and often short-lived. But they manage. There are some entries that talk about selling personal items to raise some money. In April, our author falls and suffers a serious leg fracture, ending up in the hospital. Despite a long recovery, she is remarkably cheerful and a warm, quiet humour comes through in some of her entries. "The dickens of a day! I did a washing but did not hang out the clothes for it was stormy and cold. Anna went to work for Sealy; but don't know how long it will last. Bernard was in in the evening. The typewriter came up and I copied several recipes." [Mar 4]; "... had dinner upstairs to save wood ... but ... proved not good as it was [ ] burnt. Crisco (for butter), canned [ ] and a wonderful pudding made of coco, flour and water. War menu! The conservation people can't teach us anything." [Feb 15]; "... We read and knit all day except long enough to get dinner and eat it. Things taste much alike though I don't know just why. Lack of milk, meat butter and sugar I suppose. We truly are doing our share toward food conservation. In the evening, Anna wrote to Ida and I made a valentine for Peter to give to Mrs. Ball." [Feb 10]; "Did about the usual things. Ruth was over in the evening to show us Nell's pictures. Finished Esther's little dress. The Ball children & their chums had a great deal of fun throwing ashes and mud and rocks on to our front porch and writing with soap on our front windows such remarks as, "Wanted -a man". Helen is such a fool for a 17 yr. girl and Frances is growing to be a rowdy, but as Mrs. Ward says, "What can you expect when you consider their mother" [Oct 31]. You can almost hear the exuberance in her entry for Nov 11th: "Peace! Peace! Peace! The news came about midnight ..."[Nov 11]. Notwithstanding a year filled with a bad accident, financial worries and daily hard work, her last entry for the year is really inspiring: "...This year has been good to us in many ways. We are all in usual health, none of us missing, our soldiers are well and safe and the world at peace, and in spite of my accident, I can walk." [Dec 31]. This is a delightful diary to read. It gives a very intimate look at the day to day struggles of two women in fairly difficult economic times. Notwithstanding their challenges, they get on with their daily lives with determination and good humour. For a social historian, it is an excellent look into the daily lives of very ordinary people struggling with the circumstances thrust on them by the demands of a wartime economy. Illustr.: /. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good

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