February 22, 1945 (Thursday)

EDNA FINISHES A QUILT. HANK GOES TO A SHOW.

---

A nasty day. Thawing

and raining most of

day but colder again

to-night.

Hank and Ed went to

show to-night.

I finished binding

my quilt that Ellen

Stanley pieced for me

five years ago or more.

Quite speedy eh?

Walter spent the day

with Hank and Ed all had

a good time I guess.

---

Typically Edna is pretty to the point in what she records about her day in her "Daily Reminder" journal. Every now and then, however, she will let a bit of her personality slip into what she writes. On rare occasions, she does make her feelings quite clear. More frequently, she will make a remark from which you might infer how she felt.

There were two remarks in this entry that caught my attention .

1. "Quite speedy, eh?"

2. "All had a good time, I guess."

The first remark, "Quite speedy, eh?," was made in reference to the fact that she finished binding a quilt that had been pieced together for her five or more years prior. She was giving herself a bit of hard time for taking so long. The remark seemed a bit sarcastic in tone. In 1945, she is the only woman living on the farm. She knows her days are busy and filled with hard work but perhaps she is also a bit disappointed in herself (maybe just briefly) for not getting to it sooner.

If she were recording this moment of her day in 2024, I feel like it likely would have been a Facebook post that ended in LOL instead of "Quite speedy, eh?"

I fell in love a little bit more with my great grandmother when reading those three words.

In contrast to the humor I sensed in her remark regarding the time it took her to finish the quilt, I didn't find amusement in the "All had a good time, I guess" remark. Rather, I sensed a bit of irritation or sadness.

Hank and friends had spent the day together. They went to the show in the evening. Perhaps she was still awake, writing this entry in her journal, when they returned home. Maybe she asked about their day and she got no good response. Maybe she didn't ask and they didn't offer. Maybe they didn't know she was still awake and just passed her over.

It really doesn't matter how it went down. She just has to assume they had a good time and as a mother she wanted a little more than that.

I guess.

I wanted to sit down next to her and tell her all about my day.

Edna doesn't say what show Hank went to but it was likely a movie showing at The Strand in Lowell.

The Lowell Ledger for February 15, 1945 featured an advertisement for The Strand. Abroad with Two Yanks starring William Bendix was showing on the big screen at The Strand on February 22, 1945.

In the film, Bendix and Dennis O'Keefe star as two Marines arriving in Australia after the Battle of Guadalcanal. While there, they compete for the attention of a girl, played by Helen Walker. Their rivalry leads to their arrest and subsequent escape from confinement ...disguised as women.

The New York Times said Abroad with Two Yanks was done in "the right spirit." (T.M.P. (Oct 26, 1944). "At the Globe". New York Times. p. 19.)

February 21, 1945 (Wednesday)

HANK CLASSIFIED 2C UNTIL AUGUST 1946

---

Nasty chilly day.

Raining this P.M.

Hank and Ed

playing poker most

of day and this

evening.

Henry went to Grand

Rapids again to-day

attending a special

meeting of Road Comm.

I finished ironing

and did some mending

this evening.

Ed came back with

Hank again last night.

Hank rec'd his new

Army classification to day.

2C until next Aug.

---

Nasty is an adjective Edna uses to describe the day. Surely, she is only using it in reference to the weather. The day itself must have been brightened by the news that Hank officially received word of his 2C classification (see February 19, 1945 post).

Hank's 2C classification had me curious about other classifications. A post on lisalouise.com, featured a helpful post entitled: Deciphering Draft Registration Cards for Genealogy: World War II with just the information I was looking for (and more).

"World War II, draft classifications were listed using first a “Roman Numeral and then a Letter” giving the status of each registrant.  Some of the more common Classifications included:  

• I-A: Fit for military service (could be inducted into service)

• II-B: Deferred necessary to National Defense

• III-A: Service deferred to hardship/dependents

• III-B: Occupation vital to War Effort

• IV-D: Minister of religion

• IV-E: Conscientious Objector

• IV-F: Rejected for Military Service

President Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act on September 16, 1940, which required that all men between 21 and 35 register. It was the first ever peacetime conscription in the United States.

It's relatively easy to find copies of your ancestors' draft cards on genealogy websites like ancestry.com. My grandfather, James L. Johnson (Hank's brother) registered with the selective service on October 16, 1940, just a month after President Roosevelt instituted the draft.

At the time of his registration my grandfather was 35 years old. He was also a single father and sole caregiver for two boys.

My grandfather died in 1992 at the age of 87. I was in my early twenties when he passed, but I recognized the boxy-style handwriting in which his name was written on his draft card, recalling it from birthday and Christmas cards I received from him.

February 20, 1945 (Tuesday)

EDNA AND LUCILLE SPEND THE DAY SHOPPING

---

Warmer to-day. Thawing

quite a considerable.

Lucille and I went

to Grand Rapids with

Henry.

We were busy all day

shopping.

Stores are quite full

of new spring goods.

Hank and Ed drew

manure again to-day.

Hank took Ed home

to-night as his dad

planned for him to

come home.

---

Downtown Grand Rapids was a shopping mecca in the 40s and 50s. According to a blog post on the Western Michigan Genealogical Society, it was the second largest shopping center in Michigan and "at its peak in the mid-1950s, downtown Grand Rapids boasted over one-million square feet of retail space."

It's no wonder Edna and Lucille were busy shopping all day.

A handful of the retailers that were in operation in downtown Grand Rapids in 1945 were still open for business in the 80s when I was a teen. While I most remember the Steketee's location at Eastbrook Mall, I also recall traversing the escalator at the downtown location a time or two or more. At the time, I didn't give much to thought to all of the people who shopped the downtown before me. Now, I love knowing that my footsteps have crossed the same path that my ancestors have walked.

Edna and Lucille, I like to imagine, shopped at Steketee's on this day. They also likely shopped at Wurzburg and Herpolsheimer's, and Woolworth, and Kresge's, and several other places. I shopped many of these brands in my youth but most of them, by then, were no longer downtown but shops inside the mall.

I most remember Kresge as the place where I would buy a frozen coke when I went to Woodland Mall. I also remember it for a surprisingly cool (and very affordable top) my mom bought for me when I was in the 8th grade to take a on a trip I was taking with a friend's family to Florida. It was white with cap sleeves and straps that tied in a bow at the back.

Above are a few images of how some of these storefronts looked around 1945.

If you want to know more, there is a great book, 20th Century Retailing in Downtown Grand Rapids by Arcadia Publishing Company that features images of all of these stores and many more along with bits of fascinating history. For instance, did you know that between 1932 - 1947 former First Lady Betty Ford was a model and later a fashion coordinator for Herpolsheimer's?

Perhaps Edna and Lucille and Betty (nee Bloomer) Ford crossed paths on this day.