This is an on-line version of my grandmother’s daily diaries. Mary Helen Harris started keeping a diary in 1931 and continued to chronicle the details of her daily life until her death in 1972.
This effort to share a glimpse of her life with family and friends also offers the opportunity to show what it was like to live in the midwest (Toledo, Ohio) in the early to mid twentieth century.
While Blue Gradma made diary entries every day, I will eventually be omitting some entries for brievity. I also will add photos of the main ‘characters’ so as to make the entries more meaningful.
Any text in [brackets] is added by me to explain characters, places, or events that cannot be understood from context.
I will be adding content for one month of entries at a time, as I can get them typed up, beginning with 1931 and working my way up to 1972.
A GoogleAlert for Irene Dunne brought your diary entry to my attention. Very useful in understanding life’s daily turn in those days. Thanks, this is a good idea well done!
Jerry,
I can’t get over how much your “blue grandma” looks like your son Will in this picture.
-Fran
The daily diaries of Blue Grandma is a great idea-
It’s interesting to see how life was lived back in the 30’s. Scary to read about the diphtheria and how it was treated, placing a warning sign on the house so people stayed away.
I can’t wait to find out what happened to Will after his run-in with the law and how the little “villains” Jimmy and Billy have grown up.
I’ll be checking in from time to time.
Dave
WOW… I believe my great-grandmother is the “Mrs. Vollmayer” mentioned Jan. 28, 1932! My mother grew up on Collingwood, born in 1943. I think her parents were married in the late 30s or early 40s, so my grandfather’s mother or an aunt may have been the Vollmayer who visited your Grandmother! My mother’s parents died while my mother was still in high school, so I don’t know much about them. I’m just starting to search the internet to see if I can learn anything for free before joining Ancestry.com.
I love the idea of putting your grandmother’s journal on line!!! I would love to see a journal from my grandmother.
Laura
Fred & Gertrude Potschner are my grandparents, and MaryAnn is my mother. I would love to have a copy of this through 1972. Loved reading about my family in this. Andy Ellwood