Category: Women

1911 Courtship: Nov 26 Dear Noah

3/2/2014

Brandon College, Brandon, Man, 1910. Courtesty of http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/postcards.html

Author of Letter: Ethel Isabell Nelson, age 21 (b 1890)
Dated:  Nov 26 inst. 1911  (inst. = Latin meaning this month)
Addressed to: Dear Noah
Mailed from: Belhaven, P.O.
Relationship:  Courting
Profession:  Farmer's Daughter
Writing instrument: Fine point pen, blue ink
Written on: Beige lined foolscap, newsprint quality, 9.5 inches x 6.5 inches, folded in half in booklet form with only page 2 numbered. It seems that Ethel has run out of quality notepaper - a common gift of the Edwardian period. A good thing Christmas is only 4 weeks away.

People mentioned in this letter or Genealogy Notes

Pa - *James H Nelson
Ma - *Ida Amelia Glover
*Sadie - Ethel's 16 yr old sister*Christie - Ethel's 11 yr old sister
Uncle Will *Glover's - Ida's older brother living in East Gwillimbury
Veda - 16 yr old daughter of Noah's sister, Eva Amelia and Joseph Perrault
Mr. *Dafoe - resident of Belhaven until widowed in Mar 1911
Herbie Hainer - a member of the Hainer preaching dynasty from Newmarket

Places/things mentioned in this letter:
*West
the office - Belhaven post office
*Newmarket
*Brandon
Christmas

Cliches mentioned in this letter:
- "Hot time in the old town"
- "they say no news is good news"
- "better late than never"

Legend:
* Look under the Categories/Labels in the right side column for more posts on this
person/place/thing. If you don't see a label, use the search box at the top of page.
** see Genealogy Notes below

Belhaven. P.O.
Nov 26 inst. 1911.

Dear Noah, -
Well here I am again. the
same old story 'eh' but thank goodness
I'll only be found or have the same
privelege of writing to you two or
three more times. Something better
to take its place, 'eh' better than a
dozen letters. Four weeks from to-day
is Christmas Sunday. I look forward
to see you by that time anyway. and
I don't in the least expect to be
dissapointed. But if I am. Oh say!
I don't know what will happen: have you
any ideas? Hot-time in the old town, eh.

Well Noah. I wrote the first page of this
letter this forenoon, and now am going to
try and finish it up. Pa and I were
down to Uncle Will Glovers this afternoon
and Sadie and myself were up to
church to-night. Herbie Hainer preached.
You din'dat say how Veda was. but
they say no news is good news. hope
so in this case anyway.
Christie says to tell you she is sitting
here beside me seeing that I write
properly. "ha ha"
Well Noah as to your last letter, I
hardly know how to answer it. But
if you come Christmas and stay
until sometime in February (about the
six weeks..) I supose we had better be
made one about the middle of January.

For you intend to come home here again
after we are married before going
West don't you, Oh Noah if you were
only here we would know exactly
each others ideas. and so could arrange
things much nicer. I don't feel like
setting the day this time anyway. perhaps
when you come everything will be
made right. I feel though now as
though anytime will suit me. Ma
says we can't go away until the
very last minute. not until you think
you really have to go back. All I seem
to be looking forward to now is
seeing you. and I hope I soon
can close my eyes to that and see
the rest.
Guess you will wonder why you

did'nt get a letter sooner last
week. But really it just seemed
as no one was going to the office
after I did get it wrote. But I
hope it is better late than never.
Well there does'nt seem to be
much that I can write to-day, for
I can't seem to settle my mind on
any one thing. But I know or hope
there's a great Day coming by and
by, "eh".
Mr Dafoe was here Saturday
he has been out west all summer
he was saying if he knew then that
I was going he would have stayed. and
so on it goes. ha ha. I guess you
know about what it tis. "eh". I must
close for this time. so Bye-Bye Love from
your Sweetheart, Ethel x x x x

Genealogy Notes

In this week's letter, Ethel mentions Veda once again. In the post entitled 1911 Courtship: Oct 30 Dear Noah, I showed a photo of Veda as an older adult - the only image I have of her, but this time - with only a couple courtship letters left, I wanted to know exactly where Veda was attending school back in 1911. In a recent letter, Ethel had asked Noah if Veda was taking music in Brandon, but we don't know Noah's answer because we're missing his letters - the ones that cover these last few week before he returns to Belhaven to claim his bride.

However, once again I've been going through Ethel's Treasure Box in preparation for the next stage in Noah and Ethel's life. While sorting Noah's WW1 letters from those received from friends and family I found a letter from Veda with Brandon College letterhead and her mention of Clark Hall.

With the confirmation of where Veda was attending post-secondary school, I did some digging. For those who missed the first time I posted this map, here it is again with Brandon located in the southwestern corner of the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Map showing places mentioned in the 1911 Courtship letters.

The image on the right is a sketch of what Brandon College looked like when it began as Prairie College in 1880. Located in Rapid City, Manitoba it was an academic school for the general public as well as a training ground for Baptist ministers. In 1890 the school had moved to the growing city of Brandon, 20 miles south of Rapid City.

1900 saw the laying of the cornerstone of the renamed Brandon College, a new 3 1/2 story brick and Manitoba limestone building. (see postcard above) It offered a liberal arts program with theology courses and included high school and commercial departments.

Sketch of Prairie College. Source: Archives of Manitoba, Schools 5, Prairie Baptist College, c1884

In 1906, a school of music was added, and in 1910 Brandon College officially affiliated with McMaster University in Ontario. At first I thought Clark Hall was the actual music department of Brandon College, but the Historical Sketch page for Brandon University records that Clark Hall was first used as the women's residence of the college.

By the time Veda started her instruction in 1911, Brandon College music graduates in voice and piano were gaining national reputation, but I haven't found a source yet for any of those graduates. Hopefully I'll discover more by the time I post her actual letter which will be in a couple week's time. Meanwhile, here's a list of courses Veda could have been taking during 1911...

Henderson's Brandon City Directory for 1911, page 22 - Brandon College. Source: Peel's Prairie Provinces from the University of Alberta

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Early 1900 Camera Talk & Giveaway

5/20/2012

14 Comments

In recent weeks I've shown my Finnish heritage in photos and memoirs, and although I haven't spoken of my husband's ancestry, I've shown items belonging to his namesake, Uncle Nelson.

This week I want to show a shared passion - photography. If you've followed any of my blogs, you know I'm never without a camera and take pictures of everything. What I didn't realize when I started posting my family history was that my grandfather, known as Pappa, was a professional photographer before he left Finland. Couple that with the knowledge that my mother started taking pictures as a teenager, and you see where my love for the hobby comes from.

Although I'd love to claim this early 1900's photo as one from my family history, I'm actually using it with permission from the collection of www.kodakgirl.com.

See the camera the girl is holding? It's a Kodak 3A Pocket Camera. And that's the one that brings Nelson's family history in line with mine since he's the one with that particular model. His father, Wayne Draper, passed it on down from his father, Noah Draper. Nelson also received a box of letters written by his grandfather, Noah Draper, to Ethel Nelson, the woman he would later marry. The letters and photos start in 1911 and carry through WW1. I'll be featuring them in a future blogpost. For today, I'll start with some photos of the camera.

1911 Kodak 3A Pocket Camera

A bit of history on Kodak... In 1888, Kodak was the first company to mass produce a camera. Called, the Kodak Camera, it came loaded with enough film for 100 pictures and claimed that anyone could use it without instructions.

To prove their point, Kodak began an ad compaign using women which would continue for decades. Called Kodak girls, the ads featured women in normal walks of life using cameras. What I dislike about the ad campaign is that it shows the women of that era as being so simple-minded even they can use the camera.

1888, The 1st Kodak camera and Kitty Cramer, the 1st Kodak Girl

What I found fascinating about these ads is that it features active women doing things outside the home. They're always on the go, taking photos of all kinds of interesting people and things.

A Kodak Girl on the go carrying a Folding Pocket Kodak camera.

In the above ad, the Kodak girl is carrying a folding pocket camera similar to the Model 3A that Nelson received. I think she looks great!

And here's a fun bit of research...

1890 Kodak Factory

Kodak factory at Harrow, 1890s

Kodak’s Harrow factory was in use from 1891 for emulsion-making,
paper-coating and for the processing and printing of customers’ films. In this view, taken soon after its opening, female employees are seen printing negatives by sunlight in the upper gallery of Building 1.

The egg-white needed to coat albumen paper for contact printing was supplied by a flock of a hundred chickens kept on the site.

Gelatin silver print (printed later)

Image and text supplied by the British Library Online Gallery

Considering that Kodak has been in the news lately because of it's financial woes, I found it bittersweet to research their successful early stategies which benefited so many people. I wish they had been able to continue. And I thank George Eastman for making his vision a reality for the common person.

Do you have a camera? What was your first one and what kind do you have now?

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GIVEAWAY
Winner's Choice!
Leave a comment with a
valid email address by midnight, May 27th
to be entered in a draw for a book
from my giveaway pile.
If you're the winner, I'll email you the list and you can pick.

The pile contains an assortment of books including
inspirationals, mainstream,
autobiographies, self-help, devotionals and children's books, all new.

And maybe even a Dean Koontz novel, What the Night Knows, if it's still available.

May 23 UPDATE
The children's books are all gone, but the Dean Koontz novel is still available.

Winner beware!
The fiction books are a mix of inspirational and mainstream and
may contain scenes offensive to some people - which is why I don't want to keep them.
But I'm just guessing because I haven't read them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Jennifer AlLee: Daughters and Mothers Together & Giveaway

4/15/2012

31 Comments

This week we welcome back Jennifer AlLee to Author Memories.

Jennifer AlLee believes the most important thing a woman can do is discover her identity in God – a theme that carries throughout her stories.

She has written skits, activity pages, and over one hundred contributions to Concordia Publishing House’s popular My Devotions series.

A multi-published novelist in the Women's Fiction genre, Jennifer has two novels releasing this year alone.

Jennifer resides in the grace-filled city of Las
Vegas with her husband and teenage son.

Daughters and Mothers Together
by Jennifer AlLee

I come from a long line of stubborn…eh…strong women. Just look at this picture. Four generations gathered together. You might think we were all in one place because it was a holiday or some other special occasion. It may have been (since someone had to take the picture) but in truth, we were always together.

If you read my earlier Author Memories story, you may remember that I grew up in
Hollywood, CA in an apartment above a mortuary. That’s where all four of us women lived. Let me introduce you...

(L to R) Meta Wittrock (my great-grandmother), Marie Staats (grandma), Jennifer (me), and Rose-Marie Taylor (mom).

From the left we have Meta Wittrock (my great-grandmother), Marie Staats (grandma), Jennifer (me), and Rose-Marie Taylor (mom). We started out living in three different apartments , but since my mom was divorced and the other two were widowed, we eventually all ended up sharing the biggest of the apartments, which was my grandmother’s.

Interestingly enough, they continued to rent the other two. I remember that great-grandma’s apartment was tiny, but full of fun stuff, like her piano, her doll collection, and a bed so big you had to crawl over it to get to the kitchenette. And mom’s old apartment was where my
dog, Tinkerbell, lived. It was also where we went to do the laundry on an old, forest-green, barrel-shaped machine with a crank-by-hand ringer. Then we’d take the wet clothes to the roof and hang them on the line to dry. Yes, my friends, all this was in the heart of Holly-weird.

You might be wondering how we ended up living above a mortuary at all. Well, they all worked there at one time or another. My grandmother (the former ballet dancer) pretty much ran the place, meeting people and being a PR expert. My great-grandmother (the former beautician) prettied up the dearly departed by doing their hair and makeup. And my mother (when she wasn’t working one block away as the switchboard operator at The Broadway department store on the corner of Hollywood and Vine) filled in from time to time doing more
office-related jobs. Because of this setup, there was almost always someone upstairs with me when one of the others was off working.

Growing up in a house full of women has its benefits, but it also gets confusing. I never could figure out which one to call “Grandma” and which to call “Great-grandma.”At one point, I started addressing my great-grandmother as “Grandma” and my grandmother as “Great Marie.” Finally, someone decided it would be easier if I just called my grandmother by her first name, a solution which simplified my life, but confused the women of the First
Baptist Church’s Berean Bible Study group.

Great grandma and Jenny at Patty's Wedding

One thing I learned from these women was the importance of respecting your elders. The picture above is of my great-grandmother and I at the wedding of my Sunday School teacher, Patty. I was a flower girl. My mom wanted to make sure I didn’t wander off at the reception, so she told me to “take care of Grandma.” Apparently, I took my charge very seriously. She says I never left great-grandma’s side. From the expression on my face, I’d say no one was going to cross me and mess with my grandma!

The relationship between mothers and daughters is a complex one, full of joys and sorrows, ups and downs. Looking at these pictures brings back only the good memories, the things that make me smile. Maybe today would be a good day for you to pull out your photo album or scrapbook and take a sentimental stroll down memory lane. Enjoy the journey!

How about you? Have you ever lived in a multi-generational home? What have the elder women in your family taught you?

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Giveaway!

Leave a comment with a valid email address
by midnight, Apr 22
if you want to be entered to win a copy of Jennifer's novel,
The Mother Road.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Mother Road, Abingdon Press, Apr 2012

Sometimes, the end of the road is just the beginning.

Natalie Marino has made a career writing about happily-ever-afters, making her own life an open book in order to help others. She never expected her husband, to come home one day and demand a divorce so he can be with his pregnant mistress. To Natalie, who's struggled with infertility, it's the worst betrayal imaginable. She's still dealing with the shock when her father calls, delivering another blow: Her mother's Alzheimer's has progressed. He wants Natalie and her sister to come
home while she can still recognize them.

Desperate for a change of scenery, Natalie decides a road trip is in order, even if her estranged sister isn't the most obvious travelling companion. She and Lindsay will take Route 66 – the mother road – from Santa Monica, California, to their childhood home in Illinois. But when she picks up her sister, she's in for another shock: Lindsay is pregnant.

In a road trip that's one part Lucy and Ethel, one part Thelma and Louise, the two sisters trade snarky barbs, visit quirky tourists spots, and dodge Ben, Lindsay's ex-boyfriend turned stalker. Will their trip down the mother road bring the two sisters closer together, or turn out to be the biggest wrong turn yet?

Excerpt of Chapter 1 of The Mother Road

Jennifer invites you to visit her online at the following places:

website
blog
Twitter
Facebook
Inkwell Inspirations

31 Comments

Jennifer AlLee: A Girl's Best Friend & Book Giveaway

9/4/2011

15 Comments

This week we welcome Jennifer AlLee to Author Memories

Jennifer believes the most important thing a woman can do is discover her identity in God – a theme that carries throughout her stories. She's done extensive freelance work for Concordia Publishing House, including skits, Bible activity pages, and over 100 contributions to their popular My Devotions series. Her previous novels are The Love of His Brother, (Five Star, November 2007) and The Pastor’s Wife (Abingdon Press, February 2010). Her next novel is The Mother Road (Abingdon Press, April 2012). Jennifer lives in the grace-filled city of Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband and college-bound son.

A Girl's Best Friend
by Jennifer AlLee

When I was a kid, my family lived above a mortuary. And not just any mortuary. This one was in the heart of downtown Hollywood. To give you some perspective… this is a picture of my grandmother and I standing outside our home. The mortuary is the building to our right. The street behind us, running from left to right, is Hollywood Boulevard. If you look closely behind the building in the upper left corner, you can see the spire of the Capitol Records building. Yep, we were smack dab in the middle of the big city.

Living above a mortuary has its challenges. Solitude is one of them. It’s not like you can invite a lot of friends over to play. My mom was probably thinking about the solitude issue when she chose to buy me a dog for my second birthday. Since space was an issue it had to be a small dog, which is how I ended up with Tinkerbell, my Chihuahua.

Tinkerbell was about the best friend a girl could have. Her breed is usually known for being high-strung, but she was pretty easygoing. At least with me. I remember one time, during my “I want to be a vet” stage, I decided to practice bandaging techniques on her. She sat there patiently while I ripped an old dress of my great-grandma’s into strips and wound them around her paws and body. When she’d had enough she ran off, leaving a trail of raggedy material behind her.

But Tink was more than just a playmate. When I was about three years old, she saved my life.

My mom and I were in our apartment. She was in the bedroom, talking on the phone (back in the olden days when all phones had chords and you couldn’t roam the house freely while you chatted). I was in the living room, at the other end of the apartment. The doorbell rang. I drug a hassock over and stood on it so I could undo the security chain, then I opened the door. There was a man outside. I don’t remember if he said anything, but he picked me up and ran down the hall with me. I started screaming.

Then Tinkerbell came to the rescue. She charged down the hall, yipping and barking, her little legs pumping like crazy. She caught up to the guy and sank her teeth into his ankle. He dropped me and ran down the stairs. After my mom got me and everyone calmed down (including my great-grandmother and grandmother, who also lived above the mortuary) my mom went looking for Tinkerbell. She was standing downstairs at the open door, looking out into the street. I like to think she was standing guard, making sure the bad man didn’t come back.

So who would want to kidnap me? It’s all very soap opera-ish, the friend of an angry ex trying to teach somebody a lesson, etc… Obviously, I was just fine. But if not for my awesome dog, who knows what would have happened.

After an experience like that, you might expect me to have a dog today. But I don’t.
I doubt another dog could follow her lead. Tinkerbell was my hero.

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Leave a comment with a valid email address by midnight, Sep 11th
if you want to be entered to win a copy of Jennifer's novel,
The Pastor's Wife.
Name will also go in the draw for the Welcome Prize Giveaway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Book Trailer for Jennifer's novel: The Pastor's Wife