Tuesday, January 31, 1933

Miss Lain came back today. We have a Civics and a Science test tomorrow at school. Scrapple for supper.

*Scrapple

Make a mush of 4 cups broth (beef, pork, chicken, or other meat) and 1 cup cornmeal. First bring the broth to a rapid boil. Add salt and pepper to suit taste, then stir in the cornmeal gradually. To the mush add 2 cups chopped leftover meat. Mix well and place in double boiler. Allow to cook about 1 hour. May be eaten hot or sliced cold and fried until brown.

Monday, January 30, 1933

Had swimming at school. Had that substitute yet. Ruth Ray didn't come by this a.m.

*Adolf Hitler, leader of the National Socialist Nazi Party, becomes chancellor of Germany.

 



Sunday, January 29, 1933

Went to Sunday School and church. Read the funnies. Went over to Raiferts a little while in evening.

Dagwood Bumstead and Blondie Boopadoop
Married: February 17, 1933
Copyright: Chic Young

Saturday, January 28, 1933

Stayed home toay. I played the victrola. Helped clean up the front room a little.

The "Orthophonic" Victrola
 Victor Talking Machine Company 
Sold new for as little as $50

Friday, January 27, 1933

Had a substitute Civics teacher. Name was Miss Evans. Miss Lain's mother died. Ruth Ray came down.

Release Date: January 27, 1933
The movie is famous for West's many quips and double entendres, including her seductive, "I always did like a man in a uniform. That one fits you grand. Why don't you come up sometime and see me? I'm home every evening."

Thursday, January 26, 1933

Rode home with Daddy, Mrs. M., Bernice and Ruth Ray. Aunt Kate was over. We cooked fudge candy. B (Betty) came down.

*Ruth's Fudge

2 cups sugar
2 squares chocolate, chipped
2/3 cup cream, milk, or water
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 tablespoons butter
Few grains salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cups chopped nuts if you want them

Place sugar, chocolate, liquid corn syrup, butter, and salt in a saucepan and heat slowly, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Cover until boiling point is reached. Cook without stirring until the temperature reaches 240 degrees, or until a soft ball is formed when a few drops are placed in cold water. Add vanilla extract (and nuts if using them), then cool without stirring to lukewarm (110 degrees). Beat until creamy and mixture loses its shine. Pour into a buttered square pan and mark into squares.

NOTE: If mixture becomes too stiff to spread, the candy may be kneaded, or a few drops of cream may be added to bring the mixture back to spreading consistency.

Wednesday, January 25, 1933

Viola Clark is going to give a mystery story up at school once a week, maybe until it ends. Mother traded flour for sugar so we can make candy.

*The Emergency Relief Administration (ERA) was created by President Herbert Hoover in 1932 to give loans to the states to operate relief programs that provided food and other aid to the unemployed. In May 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to set up the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), which gave grants to the states for the same purpose. FERA's main goal was alleviating household unemployment by creating new unskilled jobs in local and state government. Jobs were more expensive than direct cash payments (rather derisively called "the dole"), but were psychologically more beneficial to the unemployed, who wanted any sort of job for self-esteem to play the role of male breadwinner. From May 1933 until it closed in December, 1935, FERA gave states and localities $3.1 billion. FERA provided work for over 20 million people and developed facilities on public lands across the country.

Tuesday, January 24, 1933

Mrs. R’s birthday. Went over, played pinochle. Mother got sick so me and her came home.

*Crime writer Gerald Tomlinson was born in Elmira, New York. His short stories appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, as well as in various anthologies, including Edward D. Hoch's Best Detective Stories of the Year, Gregory McDonald's Last Laughs, and Mary Higgins Clark's Murder on the Aisle. In addition to authoring a mystery novel, On a Field of Black, he wrote numerous nonfiction books and articles. Tomlinson died in 2006.



One of the four Mystery League Magazines published in late 1933 and early 1934 by "Ellery Queen"



Monday, January 23, 1933

Went to school. Lots of new kids. Didn’t do much at school. Not much night work. Went to show. Saw “The Big Brain” and “Skyways.”

*The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified today. In brief, it changed the date of the presidential inauguration to January 20.



Average price of a movie with refreshments in 1933: 30 cents



           

Sunday, January 22, 1933

Had dinner up at Henry and Newt's. 20 of us altogether. Took pictures. Left at noon. Got home at 7 o'clock p.m.

The Parallel Presbyterian Church,now located in, a museum near Junction City, KS.

Saturday, January 21, 1933

Went to Clay Center. Me, Gladys and Rita Mae. Gladys went home. Had rain here.

Ruth and her beloved "country cousins"
(L-R) Ruth, Rita Mae, Gladys, Ruby

Friday, January 20, 1933

We went up home (Clay Center, Kansas). Stopped in at Joe's. Then I stayed all night at Mart's with Rita Mae and Gladys.

*Joe and Mart Thompson were Ruth's uncles. Rita Mae and Gladys were her cousins.

Clay Center, Kansas



Thursday, January 19, 1933


I think we're going to go up home (Clay Center, Kansas, where Ruth's mother was born). Tomorrow maybe but I sure do hope so. Had program at school.

Longfellow Elementary School
Kansas City, Missouri




Wednesday, January 18, 1933

Gave a talk on cats--the ones me and Rita Mae (Thompson) had. Had another Civics test.

*On January 18, 1933, Harry Ruby, Bert Kalmar and Grover Jones submitted to Paramount their temporary script for Cracked Ice, and Paramount announced that shooting would commence on February 15. This script shows the basic story of what would become Duck Soup starring The Four Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo).

Tuesday, January 17, 1933

We didn't have any tests at school. Ruth Ray's birthday - 14 years old. Bread pancakes for supper.

*Bread Pancakes

Soak 2 cups stale bread crumbs in 2 cups milk overnight. Keep in a cool place.

Add 2 eggs, beaten, 3 Tablespoons flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a pinch of pepper. Beat until smooth.

Pour batter by spoonfuls onto hot griddle. Cook until brown on both sides. Serve with cheese sauce.

Cheese Sauce

Melt 2 Tablespoons butter in pan. Blend in 2 Tablespoons flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, dash of pepper. Gradually add 1 cup milk. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Add 1/4 cup grated cheese, stir until melted. Serve at once. 4 servings.

Monday, January 16, 1933

Mother washed and baked bread. Ironed my gym suit. I had swimming today at school. Sure had a lot of fun.

 

1933 Sears Ad for appliances

Sunday, January 15, 1933

We went to Sunday School and church. Ollie was over this evening but didn't stay very long.

*After nearly a century of cooperative living, the utopian Amana colonists of Iowa begin using U.S. currency for the first time.

*Source: History.com

Saturday, January 14, 1933

Went to town today. Got my shoelaces. We ate our lunch there and bought us another cup of sure good coffee.

*

1930s girls' shoes



1933 lunch counter menu

Friday, January 13, 1933

Ollie was over again this evening but had to go home because she had told her daughter she would.

           

*Olympic javelin and 80m sprint champion Babe Didrikson Zaharis makes her first professional basketball appearance, scoring 9 points for the Brooklyn Yankees in a 19-16 win over the Long Island Ducklings. An equally gifted golfer, she later helped found the Ladies Professional Golf Association in order to provide the then-handful of professional women golfers with a tournament circuit.

Her motto? "Loose your girdle and let'er fly!"

Thursday, January 12, 1933

Had Math test. Graded Civics papers. Ollie and Raiferts and Mitchell were over. Listened to the radio. Played pinochle.

*Bing Crosby recorded JUST AN ECHO IN THE VALLEY from the film "Going Hollywood" in which he starred with Marion Davis.

Wednesday, January 11, 1933

Had Civics test. I wonder what I got on it. Aunt Katie, Helen and Uncle Laten were here this p.m.

Helen Stewart Koch
Ruth's cousin

Tuesday, January 10, 1933

Had English test. Went over to Helen’s for baked chicken dinner. Told ghost stories. Dinner was sure good.

*Baked chicken and dressing

Cut 3-4 pound chicken into desired pieces, cover with water, add 1 teaspoon salt, and stew until tender. Remove bones and set chicken aside until dressing is prepared. Save broth for dressing.

For the dressing combine 3 cups crumbled cornbread, 1 1/2 cups toasted biscuit crumbs, and 1 medium size onion chopped fine. Mix with chicken broth. Be sure to use enough to keep dressing moist. Stir in 4 raw eggs and some chopped celery and mix thoroughly. Add 2 chopped hard-boiled eggs. Last, add rubbed sage, black pepper, and salt to taste.

Combine stewed chicken with dressing and bake in preheated 350 degree oven about 30 minutes.

Monday, January 9, 1933

Went back again to school. Had swimming but didn’t have much time to swim.

          Jean Harlow models 1930s swimwear

Sunday, January 8, 1933

Went to church and Sunday School. Aunt Katie, Laten and Helen (Stewart) were over for dinner. Going over there Tuesday night.

*Anarchists and Syndicalists in Barcelona, Spain, lead a large uprising, which reflects the impatience of the lower classes at the government's social reform movement. The Spanish army quells the revolt.

*Source: Leage of Nations Archives

Saturday, January 7, 1933

Got my notebook and paper. Stayed at home today. Listened to the radio. I borrowed a magazine and read it.

  RCA Cathedral Design Radio

                                         January 1933

Friday, January 6, 1933

Graded Science tests. I made M. Today was Ollie’s birthday. We made a cake, but she didn't come over.

*Poor Man's Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put 1 cup sugar, 2 cups raisins, 1 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 cup lard (shortening), 2 cups water, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, pinch of salt in a pan. Boil 3 minutes. Cool. Add 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 3 cups flour. Mix and bake in a greased and floured cake pan about 45 minutes.

Thursday, January 5, 1933

Had Science test today. This evening all of Raiferts came over and so did Ollie Gatlin and played cards.

*Construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge spanning the entrance to San Francisco Bay. Because the Depression has dried up financing options, San Francisco-based Bank of America buys up the bonds to build the bridge. The Golden Gate Bridge officially opens on May 27, 1937, the longest bridge span in the world to date.

Wednesday, January 4, 1933

Made 85% on a Civics test today. Beans and cornbread for supper. Played pinochle. Daddy won. Mrs. Raifert and Hattie came over.

*Skillet Cornbread

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place a well greased 10-inch iron skillet into which a little corn meal has been sprinkled into the warming oven while you mix up the cornbread.

Sift together 1 1/2 cups corn meal, 1 heaping Tablespoon flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. Add 1 cup buttermilk and 1 egg to dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly and stir in 2 Tablespoons melted shortening (note: I use bacon drippings).

Pour mixture into hot skillet and bake about 25 minutes or until well-browned. Run a knife around the sides and turn out onto a plate.

Tuesday, January 3, 1933

Went back to school today. Met a new girl who walked home with me and walked to school with me this a.m. Girl was Bernice Gregory.

*Typical weekday breakfast for 1930s families eating relief food: Oatmeal with milk, bread and molasses, milk for children, coffee for adults.

*Courtesy the Betty Crocker Kitchens, General Mills, Inc.

Monday, January 2, 1933

Went over to Aunt Minnie’s today. Stayed a little while. Tomorrow school starts again after holidays.

*On January 2, 1933, the 5th Marine Regiment, United States Marines Corps, withdrew from Nicaragua. It trained and left behind a powerful National Guard in a country beset by struggle between liberal and conservative forces centered respectively in the cities of León and Granada.

Founded by the Spanish in the early 1550s, the two cities became competing poles of power. Their militant rivalry often left Nicaragua subject to outside interests even after the country gained independence from Spain in the early 1800s.

British and U.S. interests in Nicaragua grew during the mid-1800s because of its strategic importance as a transit route across the Central American isthmus. With the advent of the California gold rush, Nicaragua proved a popular interoceanic shortcut. Cornelius Vanderbilt's steamship company transported supplies and prospectors from the Atlantic, along Nicaragua's San Juan River, then across Lake Nicaragua to the Pacific.

Source: Library of Congress

Sunday, January 1, 1933

Ruth's parents: Hector and Agnes McKenzie

Went to Sunday School this a.m. Daddy had dinner ready. Mitchell came over and played cards in the evening. Last nite we went over to R’s (Raiferts). Had a lunch at 12 a.m. Played pinochle. (I read magazines.) Watched New Year in. Mother got her shoes.

*Average price of a pair of women’s shoes in 1933: $1.79.