July 25, 1941 (Friday)

NO RELIEF IN SIGHT FROM THE HEAT

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Another very very hot

day - with no relief

in sight so the weather

reports say.

Cleaned up stairs this

P.M.

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My dad is 91. He grew in a house adjacent to the family farm where his grandmother (Edna) and grandfather (Henry) resided. When it was really hot, my dad recalled that as as a kid, he would sometimes sleep on a mattress under a tree in his grandparent's yard or on their front porch.

Sleeping porches gained popularity in the early 1900's as a way to beat the heat and stave-off disease. Tuberculosis and the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 contributed to what was called a "sanitary revolution." The idea of sleeping in open-air rather than an enclosed space was thought to stay-off disease.

"By the turn of the century, much of American society had embraced the idea of open-air sleeping. From that time until around 1925, many families insisted that their new houses be built with that modern, health-giving amenity: the sleeping porch." (Kahn,Eve and Jowers, Walter. "Night Moves: The Sleeping Porch From a Health Conscious Era." Chicago Tribune, August 3,1986)

Sleeping porches were distinctly different than a front porch on a home. Unlike the front porch that was used for socializing with friends and neighbors, sleeping porches were meant to be a private porch used only by the family. They were often enclosed with screens and located on the upper level and/or at the rear of the home.

Although the first in-home air conditioning unit was installed in a mansion in Minneapolis in 1914, it wasn't until the 1950's that air conditioners gained popular use in homes across the United States. With the rise in use of air conditioning in homes, the sleeping porch fell out of favor. New homes were designed to contain air rather than promote cross breezes and many existing sleeping porches were enclosed to create additional square footage.

I, for one, love the idea of a sleeping porch. I also love the idea of air conditioning. In my dream world, they can and should co-exist.

July 24, 1941 (Thursday)

The Dirty, Wet Clothes of Hank and Orlo

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Another hot day.

Hank and Orlo setting up oats.

Washed this P.M. - The dirty

wet clothes of Hank & Orlo

that they got setting up

oats.

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It was a hot day. Edna documents that. She doesn't mention any rain but she does mention that Hank and Orlo's clothes were dirty and wet. They must have been drenched in sweat after spending the hot day in the fields setting up oats.

I haven't had much luck finding historical weather data on the internet unless it was for a major weather event. I did find mention of a heat wave, with temperatures in the 90s and 100s in Indiana from July 24 - August 11, 1941.

July 25-August 11 saw 90s & 100s separated by only one 88-degree day to split them into two distinct heat waves (July 25-August 4 & August 6-11). Every day July 23-31, but one, saw lows in the 70s. It also brought higher humidity that drove the heat index +105 for days.

--From: Top Heat Wave From Each Decade (WLFI)

Over these same days in her journal, Edna remarks on the hot temperatures so I imagine they were experiencing similar temperatures in Bowne Center as they were in Indiana.

I am not sure Edna enjoyed washing those dirty and wet clothes but I think she was glad to do something for Hank and Orlo after they worked all day in the heat.

July 23, 1941 (Wednesday)

A VISITOR FROM ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.

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Very hot.

Mrs. Gusta Wright (nee Aldrich)

from St. Petersburg, Fla.

called this A.M. she is in

Mich on a 9 wks vacation.

I gave her a dish of

raspberries with cream + sugar

and spice cake which she

enjoyed very much also

gave her a pint of raspberry

jam.

Ironed this P.M.

Helen and Dean here

this evening. I gave Helen

a pair of silk hose for

her birthday.

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Finding documents and news items and photos to support things my great grandmother writes in her journal is always fun and interesting. Sometimes the discovery is easy and other times it takes a lot of digging.

This entry had me a bit confused at first because I made an assumption about Edna's visitor from St. Petersburg. It was common then to use the husband's first name after the title of missus. So I incorrectly assumed I needed to figure out Mrs. Wright's first name because Gustus must have been short for Augustus, her husband.

I think I actually uttered "thank you, Edna" when I saw she made note of her visitor's maiden name —nee Aldrich. My search for information about Mrs. Gustus Wright was going to be a lot easier.

I immediately found several news articles from the St. Petersburg, Florida area from the 50's referencing Mrs. Augustus Wright attending church group meetings and garden club parties. But I could not find any information about an Augustus Wright that matched records for a spouse with the maiden name of Aldrich. It was just a coincidence and not the right person.

I adjusted my search a bit using another assumption. The Aldrich family was probably from the Bowne Center area. Almost immediately I came upon a census record from 1880. Mr. James Aldrich and his family resided in Bowne Center in 1880 and they had a daughter, age 8, by the name of Gusty.

1880 Census - Aldrich Family in Bowne Center

I searched a little bit more and found a marriage record for Gusta Aldrich to Charles Wright on October 25, 1902. Charles was 39. Gusta was 31.

1902 Marriage Record for Gusta Aldrich and Chas Wright

I have not discovered any records to indicate that Charles and Gusta ever had children.

Charles Wright died on New Year's day in 1931 in Greenville, Michigan.

According to the death certificate, Charles had been under a doctor's care for several months for "carcinoma of the rectum."

Gusta Aldrich Wright died in 1961, thirty years after the death of her husband.

Both Charles and Gusta are buried in the cemetery at Bowne Center.

I am not sure how Gusta ended up in Florida or when she made her final journey back to Bowne Center.

Someday, I hope to know more of Gusta's story.

I hope Gusta enjoyed her visit with my grandmother (and that jar of raspberry jam).