Friday, December 31, 1920

Fair mild damp winter day. Arose 10 A.M. Helped father etc. Breakfast. Did odd jobs. Dinner. Repaired tire chains. Took short nap. Unloaded 70 cases eggs. Delivered eggs. Candled eggs. Lay down with intention of going to Watch night service but slept from 8:30 P.M. to 9 A.M. Ruth to E.C. dance with Lambert.

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Watch Night originated with the Methodist church. According to Wikipedia,

The founder of the Methodist Church, John Wesley, originated watch night services in 1740, sometimes calling them Covenant Renewal Services.[2][3] The services provided Methodist Christians with a godly alternative to times of drunken revelry, such as Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.[2] Today, a Methodist watch night service includes singing, spontaneous prayers and testimonials, as well as scripture readings; the liturgy for this service is found in The United Methodist Book of Worship.[1][4]

I am not sure who Lambert was or why Ruth would be going to a dance with him, but there was a David Lambert, a 30-year-old single realtor, who lived in Schenectady at the time. But where was Mark? Hmmm.
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This marks the end of Datebook 1920. It's been an enjoyable year of tracking the adventures of Stanford Stillman Closson of Schenectady, NY. I'll be continuing his diary in my next blog, Datebook 1921, the year Stanford graduates from college. What will he do this year? Will he continue his friendship with Merlin Finch and his romance with Dorothea Reynolds? To find out, stay tuned!

Thursday, December 30, 1920

Fair mild bright damp day. Arose 9:45 A.M. Chored around. Beat rugs etc. Dinner. Greased Ford. Down town with H.H. Bought clothing. Bowled. To Marion B's with D.S.R., Ruth, H.H. & Mark Sawyer. Little party. Fine time. Walked home. To bed 2:30 A.M.

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Ah, I guess this is Stanford's New Year's Eve Party. The only couple who don't carry on into the future is Stanford and Dorothea. I wonder why? We may never know.

Wednesday, December 29, 1920

PARKERS CORNERS: - mild, overcast. Arose 7:45 A.M. Breakfast - sausage etc. Played piano. Wiped dishes. Back to city 11 A.M. Home. Read letters, paper etc. Took nap. Candled eggs with H.H. Bowled 1 game at Morse. To Barcli with D.S.R. Enjoyable evening. To 215 P.B. To bed 1 A.M.

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Well, it looks like Stanford stayed overnight at Dorothea's house. Interesting! Are they getting serious at this point? I wondered what happened to the two of them later?

Stanford went to the Kingsbury's house again. No other information about that.

Tuesday, December 28, 1920

Beautiful bright windy clear day. Arose 8:30 A.M. Cleaned up and dressed. Read. Around town with D.S.R. and Lizz in Dodge Limousine and thence to Parkers Corners. Dinner. Exercise shoving straw around. To Guilderland Center with D.S.R. and Mr. Stalker hunting up kittle. Read and Visited. Supper. Qualifications for attendance, Old Maid, Widow or Bachelor. Mrs. Houck, Mr. & Miss Houck, Mr. Witherwax. Played games in evening. Took people home. Talked. Read, etc. TO BED 1 A.M.

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Guilderland Center is a town about 9 miles southwest of Schenectady. Not sure what Stanford means by "kittle" here. Anyone have a guess?

I guess Stanford was making a joke about the guests they had for supper that evening. Witherwax is probably Harry Witherwax, who in 1920 was a widower of 48 living in Guilderland. Mr. and Miss Houck are probably Hattie and Frank Houck, aged 38 and 40, respectively, single siblings living in Guilderland. Not sure, but Mrs. Houck could be Anna Houck, a widow living in Albany. It's not clear how Stanford knows these folks, but since Stanford is at the Reynolds', perhaps the guests are their friends. 

Monday, December 27, 1920

Overcast cool day. About 5 or 6 inches snow. First of any account for the year. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast. Helped father. Cleaned walk. Over to Church to help John Roberts take platform down etc. Dinner. Candled eggs. Played games. Took bath etc. To bed 9:30 P.M.

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I'm assuming the platform had something to do with Christmas? The only John Roberts I could find in Schenectady was a butcher, married to Laura, and at the time he had 8 children. By 1930 he had 10 kids. He may be the one Stanford spoke of twice in his diary.

Sunday, December 26, 1920

Beautiful, bright, cool. No snow on ground. Arose 9:45 A.M. Fooled around. Cleaned up. Took bath. To S.S. Merlin & I to Reynolds to CHICKEN dinner. Fooled around in P.M. In to E.L. and Church. Sunday School exercises. Good. Saw Reynolds off. Lunch at home. To BED 11:15 P.M.

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I wonder where Reynolds went?

Saturday, December 25, 1920

Beautiful, bright cool ideal Christmas day. Arose 3:30 A.M. To 215 P.B. Out with D.S. R. in Kingsbury's Kar to sing Carols with E.L. 26 in 4 cars. To Church for breakfast. Home. Distribution of gifts around tree. Fooled around. Bowled at Morse with H.H. Home. To Party at Gertrude Anthony's house with D.S.R. 16 present. Good time. To bed 2:30 A.M.

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I have at last identified the Kingsburys, mentioned a few times in Stanford's diary this year, thanks to his clue about where they live: 215 P.B.[Parkwood Boulevard]. They are Whalen and Agnes Kingsbury, and they have two sons, Charles and Fred, and an Irish servant, Martha McCabe. In 1920 Mr. Kingsbury worked at a Warehouse, perhaps the one Stanford worked at the previous summer.

I think Stanford's pictures of what he did that day (note the M.T. for mistletoe) are cute!