Thursday, March 29, 1934

Walked to school with Pauline. Ruth Ray and Gweyn and I went skating, but Pauline had to go in.

Thomas Stearns Eliot AKA T. S. Eliot (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965)
Born in St. Louis, Missouri
Naturalized as a British Citizen in 1927

 Eliot was a playwright, literary critic, and an important English-language poet of the 20th century.
The poem that made his name, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock—started in 1910 and published
 in Chicago in 1915—is seen as a masterpiece of the modernist movement. It was followed by some
of the best-known poems in the English language, including Gerontion (1920), The Waste Land
(1922), The Hollow Men (1925), Ash Wednesday (1930), and Four Quartets (1945). He is also
known for his seven plays, particularly Murder in the Cathedral (1935). Eliot was awarded the
 Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.

Sunday, March 11, 1934

Mother went to church, but I stayed home and got dinner. In p.m. went to Linwood with Ruth Ray and Nadine and saw "Little Women."

"Little Women" - Original Poster
Starring Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Jean Parker, Frances Dee
Directed by George Cukor
Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott
Released: November 16, 1933
Running Time: 117 minutes

Partial Plot Summary:

Set in Concord, Massachusetts during and after the American Civil War, the film is a
 is a series of vignettes focusing on the struggles and adventures of the four March
 sisters and their mother, affectionately known as Marmee (Spring Byington), as they await
the return of their father, who is fighting with the Union Army. Spirited tomboy Jo (Hepburn),
who caters to the whims of their well-to-do Aunt March (Edna May Oliver), dreams of
becoming a famous author and writes plays for her sisters to perform for the local children.
Amy (Bennett) is pretty but selfish, Meg (Dee) works as a seamstress, and sensitive Beth
 (Parker) practices on her clavichord, an aging instrument sorely in need of tuning.



Tuesday, March 6, 1934

Walked to school today with Pauline. Mrs. Raifert came over. Played pinochle. Nadine was down. We drawed pictures.

Self-portrait of George Caleb Bingham (March 20, 1811 – July 7, 1879)

Born in Virginia but raised in Franklin County, Missouri, Bingham was a self-taught
artist. By age nineteen, Bingham was painting portraits for $20.00 apiece, often completing
 the works in a single day. He moved to St. Louis to ply his trade but contracted
measles, which left him weak and permanently bald. He continued to work in St. Louis,
though he kept his family and his principal residence in Arrow Rock, Missouri, where his home
has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Bingham next moved his family to Europe where he studied the Old Masters and
worked on important commissions from the Missouri State Legislature, as well as independent
 paintings. Upon his return to America, Bingham began painting more portraits, which had
always been his "bread and butter" work. Always interested in politics, he was appointed
State Treasurer of Missouri during the American Civil War.

In 1874, he was appointed president of Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, and
appointed the first chief of police there. In 1875, the governor appointed Bingham as
Adjutant-General of Missouri, and thereafter he was often referred to as General Bingham.
Toward the end of his life, although quite ill, Bingham was appointed the first Professor
of Art at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. He met with only a few students
 before his death.

Bingham's most famous painting, Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, is owned by
the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Wednesday, February 21, 1934

Walked to school with Pauline. Still had that substitute. Her name is Miss Miller. Handed in History scrapbook.

The Bott House - Kansas City, Missouri
Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright (born Frank Lincoln Wright, June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American
 architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and
completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with
humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture.

Frank Lloyd Wright designed two houses and one other structure in the Kansas City area.
The first residence is the [Dr. Clarence] Sondern house in the Valentine district, and the second
  is the Frank Bott residence in Kansas City, North. The other structure is the Community Christian
 Church at 46th and Main Streets, although his designs were altered in its construction.

Thursday, February 8, 1934

Walked with Pauline to school. Had swimming. Tried to swim underwater. Ruth Ray and Nadine came down.

Pythian Castle - Springfield, Missouri

Springfield's Pythian Castle was built by the Knights of Pythias in 1913. It originally
served as an orphanage and a retirement home for members of the order. In 1942, the
U.S. Military used it as a rehabilitation facility for wounded servicemen. During this time
the castle's dungeons also held WWII POWs. Today the Pythian Castle hosts tours,
dinner theater, ballroom dancing, weddings, and many other events.



Sunday, January 28, 1934

Went to Sunday School and church. In the evening Oliie and Mitchell were over. Sure was cold today.

A rope tow or ski tow

A ski tow, also called rope tow or handle tow, is a mechanized system for pulling skiers and
snowboarders uphill. The first ski tow was invented 1908 in the Black Forest, Germany
by Robert Winterhalder. The first one in North America was near Montreal, Quebec

On January 28, 1934, it was copied in the U.S., at Woodstock, Vermont by Bob and Betty
Royce, proprietors of the White Cupboard Inn. Their tow was driven by the rear wheel
of a Ford Model A. Their relative simplicity—a car engine, some rope and
 a few pulleys were all that was needed—made ski tows widespread and contributed to an
explosion of the sport in the United States and Europe. Before tows, only people willing to
walk uphill could ski. Suddenly, relatively unathletic people could participate, greatly increasing
the appeal of the sport. Within five years, more than 100 tow ropes were operating in North America.

Friday, October 13, 1933

Mr. Raifert died this morning at 5:15 a.m. Collected the money for flowers for him this evening.

Nikola Tesla
October 13, 1933

Tesla (10 July 1856 - 7 January 1943) was a Serbian-American inventor,
mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer. He was an important contributor 
to the birth of commercial electricity, and is best known for his many
revolutionary developments in the field of electromagnetism in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries. Tesla's patents and theoretical work formed the basis of
 modern alternating current (AC) electric power systems, including the polyphase
system of electrical distribution and the AC motor. This work  helped usher in
the Second Industrial Revolution.

"Electric power is everywhere present in unlimited quantities and can drive the
world's machinery without the need of coal, oil, or any other fuel." Nikola Tesla

Thursday, October 12, 1933

Walked to school with Pauline. Gave report in History. They took Mr. Raifert to the hospital about noon. (He was gassed in the war.)

Morning Glory (1933)
Stars: Katharine Hepburn, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Adolphe Menjou
Director: Lowell Sherman
Writers: Zoe Akins (play), Howard J. Green

Plot Summary:

When a naively innocent, aspiring actress arrives on the Broadway scene, she is taken

 under the wing of several theater veterans who mentor her to ultimate success.

Note: Katharine Hepburn won her first Oscar in Morning Glory.

Wednesday, October 11, 1933

I went swimming today. Bought my lunch. Yesterday we changed our seats in English. Washed the dishes.

Too Much Harmony (1933)

Musical comedy starring Bing Crosby and Jack Oakie
Co-starring Judith Allen and Lilyan Tashman
Director: A. Edward Sutherland
Writers: Joseph Mankiewicz (story), Harry Ruskin (dialogue)

Plot Summary:

A singer is involved with two women in his life, one a "good" girl and one a "bad" one."

Soundtrack:
Quite extensive and includes "Thanks" (written by Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow and
sung by Bing Crosby) and "Buckin' the Wind (also by Johnson and Coslow and sung by Crosby).

Tuesday, October 10, 1933

My grades are as follows: History - S; Expression - M; Latin - S; English - M; and Gym - M. Bought my lunch.

Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961)

Winner Take Nothing by Ernest Hemingway (1933)

This collection of Hemingway's short stories includes the
following titles from his first forty-nine stories:

• After the Storm
• A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
• The Light of the World
• God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
• The Sea Change
• A Way You'll Never Be
• The Mother of a Queen
• One Reader Writes
• Homage to Switzerland
• A Day's Wait 
• A Natural History of the Dead
• Wine of Wyoming
• The Gambler, the Nun, and the Radio
• Fathers and Sons

 Most of these stories were included in the 1987 collection,
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition.





Monday, October 9, 1933

Went to school. Ruth Ray came after me. Tomorrow is report cards for first five weeks. Walked home with RR.

William "Willie" Sutton (June 30, 1901 - November 2, 1980)

A prolific U.S. bank robber who, during his forty year criminal career stole an
 estimated $2 million, and eventually spent more than half his adult life in prison.
For his talent at executing robberies in disguises, he gained two nicknames, "Willie
the Actor" and "Slick Willie." When not disguised, Sutton was an immaculate dresser.

Sutton is famously known for answering a reporter, Mitch Ohnstad, who asked why
 he robbed banks by saying, "because that's where the money is." But in his partly
ghostwritten autobiography, Where the Money Was: The Memoirs of a Bank Robber
(Viking Press, New York, 1976), Sutton dismissed this story, saying: "I never said it.The
credit belongs to some enterprising reporter who apparently felt a need to fill out his
copy... "If anybody had asked me, I'd have probably said it. That's what almost
anybody would say...it couldn't be more obvious."

Sunday, October 8, 1933

Mother and I went to Sunday School and church. Bought the paper. Put up the parlor stove. I went to the show.

Upright Parlor Stove

Cast-iron parlor, or heating, stoves, whose ornate decoration reflected Victorian sensibility,
 came into vogue in the 1850s. Parlor stoves were far more efficient and a family was no longer
tied to the fireplace as its only source of heat. Parlor stove production continued until the 1930s,
when indoor heating rendered them obsolete.

Saturday, October 7, 1933

I straightened up the house this morning. Went to the store. I read my library books. Helen's and them were by.

The NY Giants defeat the WA Senators
on October 7, 1933, to win the 1933 World Series.

The 1933 World Series featured the National League baseball champions, the New York Giants,
and the American League champions, the Washington Senators, with the Giants winning in five
games for their first championship since 1922, and their fourth overall.

Washington, D.C. has not hosted another World Series since 1933, thus Game 5 was the
final Series game played in the nation's capital as of 2010. This Washington Senators franchise
 became the Minnesota Twins during the 1960–61 offseason, and would not reach the World
Series again until 1965. The second Senators team became the Texas Rangers. The transfer
of the Montreal Expos to become the Washington Nationals opens the door to D.C.
again potentially.

Friday, October 6, 1933

Daddy took me and Pauline and Harold and Beatrice and Lucille and Virginia to school. I made M on the History test.

"Morning, Noon and Night"
Stars: Betty Boop
Release Date: October 6, 1933
Director: Dave Fleisher
Copyright (c) Paramount

Rubinoff and his orchestra play the score for this cartoon about a bunch of cats
(‘the tom kat social club’) that threatens Betty Boop’s farm full of birds. This orchestra,
 led by the Russian violinist David Rubinoff, played sweet pseudo-classical music,
and this sets the tone for the this short.

‘Morning Noon and Night’ is a very sweet cartoon and somewhat reminiscent of
Walt Disney's "Birds in Spring" from earlier that year. Athough it doesn’t come
 near that cartoon in quality, it shows that Fleischer was getting more ambitious.
This ambition would lead to the launch of the "Color Classics" in 1934.

Thursday, October 5, 1933

Ruth Ray came by this morning but she didn't come till too late. I walked home with her tonight.

Vernon "Verne" C. Miller (August 25, 1896-November 29, 1933)

A freelance Prohibition gunman, bootlegger, bank robber and former sheriff in
South Dakota, Miller was the only identified member of the Kansas City Massacre.
Miller left Kansas City immediately after the massacre and fled to New York while
his girlfriend, Vivian Gibson, hid in Chicago. On October 5, 1933, FBI agents located her
apartment just days before Miller appeared at the door. He managed to escape
through a flurry of bullets. With lawmen and members of the criminal underworld
after him, his days were numbered. On November 29, 1933, a motorist traveling
outside of Detroit discovered a mutilated, naked body alongside the road. Fingerprints
taken confirmed that Miller's days were over. His date of death was listed as the
day he was found.

Saturday, September 30, 1933

Straightened up the house. Martha and Mary Jane from Topeka came down. I went to town with them. Later, Myrtle came down. We took them over to their brother-in-law's.

Inventor: Harry R. Drackett
Launch Year: 1933

When Windex was invented as a car windshield cleaner in 1933 by Harry R. Drackett, it was
essentially 100% solvent, and as a flammable product, it had to be sold in metal cans. When
 modern surfactants were  introduced after World War II, the product was reformulated.

The Sam Wise patent #3,463,735 lists several example formulae, one of which is 4.0%
isopropyl alcohol (a highly volatile solvent) 1% ethylene glycol monobutyl ether
(a less volatile solvent), 0.1% sodium lauryl sulfate (a surfactant), 0.01% tetrasodium
pyrophosphate (a water softener), 0.05% of 28% ammonia, 1% of a dye solution, and 0.01%
perfume. This formula was not only significantly less expensive to manufacture, but allowed 
the product to be packaged in glass bottles and dispensed with a plastic sprayer.

The product was recently reformulated by its current manufacturer, S. C. Johnson Company,
with more environmentally desirable solvents.







Friday, September 29, 1933

Went swimming today. Daddy and Mother came after me and we went out to look at a house. Bernice and I went walking.

Jean Harlow - September 29, 1933

Imprint Ceremony #24 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Since 1927, The Chinese Theatre has been the home of the star powered red carpet
 movie premieres and special events, where Hollywood's biggest and brightest stars
 have come to watch their movies! The most famous movie theatre in the world is known
 for its unique Forecourt of the Stars, featuring cement hand and footprints of major
movie stars from past to present.

Thursday, September 28, 1933

Walked to school with Pauline and Ruth K and Nadine. Wore my oxfords. I got a blister on my heel. Walked home with Ruth R.

Kansas City's Plaza Art Fair - 1932

During the Depression when many other companies failed, the Country Club Plaza
 looked for new ways to attract customers.  The Plaza Art Fair was started in 1932
 as a promotion to draw shoppers to the area and to lift their spirits.   Held on an empty
 lot on the southwest corner of Nichols Road and Central, where Tiffany & Co. is now
 (see the photo above), 90 artists displayed their paintings by leaning them against trees
 and benches. Paintings were priced from $1 to ten dollars. Artists enjoyed interacting with
each other and having conversations with those in the crowd about their work. All agreed
 it was a successful first-time event and should continue. And continue it has. This year
(2011), more than 250,000 people attended Kansas City's Plaza Art Fair.

Wednesday, September 27, 1933

Went swimming today. Had a test in Latin. I made 100%. Got my new shoes (oxfords).

1930s women's/girl's black-and-white oxfords

Every 30’s woman had to have a two tone white and whatever color was your favorite, shoe.
The two toned color combination was seen on casual and evening wear styles. Men too
embraced the striking patterns of two toned shoes and together women and
 men walked through the 1930s in style.

Price for a pair of women's/girls oxfords in 1933: From $1.98 to $3.52

Tuesday, September 26, 1933

I helped Gweyn clean the kids up this evening. Went down to the book shop and traded for a couple of mystery books.

Published 1933

Dorothy Leigh Sayers (13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was a renowned
English crime writer, poet, poet, playwright, essayist, translator and Christian humanist.
She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her
mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between World War I and World
 War II that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey.
However, Sayers herself considered her translation of Dante's Divina Commedia
to be her best work. She is also known for her plays and essays.