Thursday, December 3, 1936

EDNA LEAVES THE PAGE BLANK

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Edna did not write it down so we don't know what she did on this day in 1936.

A new edition of the Lowell Ledger was published on this day in 1936. Perhaps she spent part of her day reading the Ledger. Thanks to the Kent District Library, you can read the entire Lowell Ledger for that day, but I wanted to share a couple of interesting bits here.

There were ads and articles specific to / for woman in this edition (and in most editions of the Ledger at this time).

Take Pursang to feel like a new woman. Your appetite will improve. Nervousness disappears. Energy and strength USUALLY return.

Now! Women can be more comfortable and experience greater personal daintiness than EVER BEFORE.

There was also an advertisement letting people (likely the ladies) know what types of gifts men appreciate. There was not an ad letting men know what gifts to give to the women in their lives.

Finally, in this week's edition of the Lowell Ledger there is a column by author Kathleen Norris.

Norris wrote more than 90 novels, many of which were bestsellers. She also wrote stories that were printed in papers, such as the Lowell Ledger, and magazines like Ladies' Home Journal and The Atlantic.

Her writings often espoused moral values including "the sanctity of marriage and the nobility of motherhood." Norris was involved in the women's suffrage movement as well as a scandal in which she was captured in a photo with Charles Lindberg and Senator Burton Wheeler at an America First Committee Rally in 1941. In the photo they appeared to be giving a Nazi salute.

Norris' column for December 3, 1936 is WHAT DOES THE WORLD OWE THIS WOMAN?

Wednesday, December 2, 1936

FOOTBALL

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Morse went to G.R

Went to L.A.S.

Good attendance.

Good dinner.

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On this day in 1936, Morse went to Grand Rapids. A few days earlier, on Thanksgiving Day, he went to Saginaw with some friends to see a football game.

After reading Edna's Thanksgiving Day entry noting that Morse went to see a football game by Coach Finch's team, I was curious. Who was Coach Finch? A brief mention in the Dec. 3, 1936 edition of the Lowell Ledger gave me an answer. Morse and his friends once played football for Coach Finch.

There must have been a bond between these young men, who were a few years out of high school by this time, and their former coach that compelled them to make this journey on Thanksgiving Day.

Morse in his football uniform

The Johnson men have a history of playing football.

Both of Morse's brothers, Bob (my grandpa) and Hank also played in high school.

It is interesting to note that all three of the brothers, despite living in the same location, attended and played for different high schools. The difference in their ages, changing district boundaries, and school closures must have been at play. My grandpa played for Alto. Morse played for Lowell. Hank played for Caledonia.

My grandpa is the fourth guy from the left.

According to my dad, Hank had to quit football in high school after sustaining a serious injury during a game ...he ruptured his spleen.

My dad (Dick) and his brother Paul both played football and baseball in high school. My dad was a star pitcher for his high school team. I will tell you more about that some other time.

The photo below is the 1948/49 Caledonia High School football team. That's my dad under the red arrow sporting the number eleven. It just so happens that the guy I married always wore the number eleven on his jersey.

Two of Hank's sons, Jim and Steve played football in high school (about 20 years apart). Jim was a star football player. He went on to play in college for Michigan State. Jim was a freshman in 1987 when MSU won the Rose Bowl. He started for MSU in 1989, 90 and 91. In 1992, he was drafted by the Denver Broncos.

That's Jim with his mom Maxine.

You haven't met Maxine in Edna's journal yet because in 1936 she hadn't quite made her way into the Johnson family. Hank and Maxine marry in 1946 and make their home on the farm with Henry and Edna.

Edna and Maxine, both incredible women, each resided on the farm for over sixty years. Their stays overlapped by twenty years (1946 - 1966).

Tuesday, December 1, 1936

DIME STORE SHOPPING

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Beautiful day - mild.

Laura Flynn and I went

to P.T.A. Council meeting at

Godfrey - Lee School.

A Health Program.

Very interesting.

Rode down town with

Mrs. De Konning.

Did shopping in Dime Store.

Went to Lucille's to-night to make

plans for a shower for Helen

to be given at Lucille's Dec. 11.

Addressed the invitations.

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Godfrey-Lee public schools are located in Wyoming, Michigan which is adjacent to Grand Rapids. After the Health Program, Edna and Mrs. De Konning went downtown to shop. At that time, downtown Grand Rapids was a mecca for shopping. I am guessing the downtown Edna references is Grand Rapids.

Arcadia Publishing produces books on local and regional history using a pictorial format. We have a lot of their books in our home for several reasons:

1. John was a book buyer for Borders Group, Inc once upon a time and, at one point, Arcadia was one of his publishers

2. They publish books about everyplace imaginable in the United States

3. Their books are nicely done and connect you to a time and place ...with the holidays just around the corner you should check out their website. You might find a perfect gift for someone on your list.

One book in their catalog is 20th Century Retailing in Downtown Grand Rapids. Written by Michael Hauser and Marianne Weldon, the book details the history of downtown Grand Rapid's dime stores including Kresge's. Although Kresge's had been in the downtown for several years already, in 1936 they opened a brand new store.

This is a picture of Kresge's in 1936. This is the dime store that I imagine Edna walked into to do her shopping on this day 86 years ago.

The Arcadia book about retail stores in downtown Grand Rapids includes an image of a window display at Kresge's in 1936. I also imagine that Edna looked at this very window.

When I was a kid, we didn't often go to downtown Grand Rapids to shop. By then, the city had several shopping malls including Rogers Plaza, Woodland Mall, and Eastbrook Mall. The malls in Grand Rapids, like shopping malls across the country, changed the way people shopped. Eventually all of the department stores and dime stores and most of the specialty stores in the downtown closed.

In the 1980's, when I attended college in Grand Rapids, much of the downtown was vacant. But today, the downtown is again an epicenter for commerce and entertainment.

On this day, Edna is also helping to plan a shower for Helen. In the December 3 edition of the Lowell Ledger I found another mention of Helen and Red's marriage. This reference was in the "Social Events" section as it detailed the reception that Edna and Henry gave for Helen and Red.

The article says that the couple were "quietly married." Although Edna doesn't say, I think they are planning a baby shower and not a post-wedding bridal shower.