Sunday, December 13, 1936

KATE ENTERTAINS FOR LUCILLE'S BIRTHDAY

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Went to Kate's - she is entertaining

in honor of Lucille's birthday.

Lovely steak dinner.

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Although Edna doesn't make note of it in her journal, the Boston Redskins played their last game of the 1936 season on this day. It was also their last official game as the BOSTON Redskins.

George Preston Marshall introduced the Redskins to Boston in 1931. The played home games at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. The Redskins were never well-received with local papers giving more space to Harvard Football and Major League Baseball.

Despite 1936 being their first winning season and also finishing first in the Eastern Division of the NFL, the games had poor attendance.

Frustrated by the lack of support, Marshall gave up the home field advantage and opted to have is team play the NFL Championship game at the Polo Ground in NYC instead. The Boston Redskins lost that game to the Green Bay Packers 21 - 6.

Marshall eventually moved his team to Washington D.C.

FENWAY SET UP FOR FOOTBALL

1936 Boston Redskins

Friday, December 11, 1936

A SHOWER FOR HELEN

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Gray day but not very cold.

About 50 in attendance at

the shower given for Helen

by Lucille, Alice + Rosy.

Good time.

Lunch - pressed chicken

sandwiches,

cake (dark + light)

jello and coffee.

Helen rec'd beautiful gifts.

Shower for Helen.

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There are so many times as I read through my great grandmother's journal that I wish she had included a recipe. I don't have any of her recipes, so I try to find recipes from the era that might be close to what she was preparing.

I unearthed a couple of pressed chicken recipes on the internet. .

I am not sure this recipe resembles what Edna made and served at Helen's shower.

I don't think I would enjoy a pressed chicken sandwich so it's not a recipe I plan to attempt in the near future. But if you try it or have a pressed chicken recipe you want to share, I would love to hear from you.

https://recipecurio.com/pressed-chicken-handwritten-recipe-card/

Thursday, December 10, 1936

LUCILLE TURNS 33. ENDA DRESSES 3 ROOSTERS.

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This is Lucille's 33 birthday.

I dressed 3 roosters

and made pressed

chicken for sandwiches

for shower to-morrow.

Also made

Angel Food cake.

Lucille decorated it

for the shower.

Lucille's Birthday

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Tonight, I chatted on Facebook Messenger with my cousin Cate Wenger about a few family stories. Cate’s grandmother and my grandfather were siblings, two of Edna and Henry’s children.

I think it would make Edna very happy to know that her journal from 1936 is connecting her family in 2020.

Cate and I were chatting about her grandmother, Lucille.

On December 10, 1936, Lucille was celebrating her thirty-third birthday. She would be 117 years old today.

Lucille Johnson Watts

Lucille was the first born of Edna and Henry’s six children. Born in 1903, Lucille was perhaps the most gentle and quiet of the Johnson siblings.

Lucille was a schoolteacher before marrying John Watts on October 28, 1930. When she was just 22, Lucille taught at Bowne Center. Two of her siblings, Morse and Helen were her students.

Lucille had scoliosis which was significant enough to cause a noticeable hump in her back. According to her granddaughter Cate, it also caused Lucille to be in pain most of the time.

John and Lucille suffered the loss of two children before adopting a daughter in 1939.

On November 3, 1931, Lucille gave birth to an infant who died the same day. Seven years later, on December 2, 1938, Nancy Arlene Watts was born to Lucille and John. Nancy died three months later on February 24, 1939

Lucille and John adopted an infant daughter, Mary, in October of 1939.

John, Lucille and Mary Watts

Mary is the mother of my cousin Cate.

There are journal entries from Edna in 1939 in which she notes that Mary is a "such a good girl.”

In 1963, Lucille died at the age of 59. She preceded both of her parents and all of her siblings in death. Her husband John would outlive her by more than twenty years.

Cate said that her mom (Mary) and grandfather (John Watts) didn't talk much about Lucille. They both missed her too much.

Cate's dad Chris, however, is a storyteller. Thanks to him, Cate has heard stories about her grandmother.

Cate shared one of those stories with me.

“There was the time grandma had the house all tidied up to host a Farm Bureau meeting. My mom (Mary) always had ducks, partly due to Aunt Jen Pardee (Henry's sister) supplying her with ducks. Mom had an orphan duckling in a box in a back bedroom. Well ...the duckling got loose and was racing through the house. Grandma Lucille (who never swore) told her to ‘Catch that damned duck.’”

I think Edna would have said the same thing if a duck was loose in her house when she had just tidied up for a meeting.

I love the Johnson women!