Monday, October 15, 1934

Went to school. Mother stayed in bed sick today.

Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra

Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra was the first Kansas City jazz band to achieve national recognition, which it acquired through national radio broadcasts. It was founded in 1919, as the Coon-Sanders Novelty Orchestra, by drummer Carleton Coon and pianist Joe Sanders.


The orchestra began broadcasting in 1922 on clear channel station WDAF, which could be received throughout the United States. They were broadcast in performance at the Muehlebach Hotel in Kansas City. They took the name Nighthawks because they broadcast late at night (11:30pm to 1:00am). By 1924 their fan club had 37,000 members. Fans were encouraged to send in requests for songs by letter, telephone or telegram. That move became so popular that Western Union set up a ticker tape between Sanders' piano and Coon's drums so the telegrams could be acknowledged during the broadcasts. Their song "Nighthawk Blues" includes the lines: "Tune right in on the radio/Grab a telegram and say 'Hello'." In 1925, they recorded the Paul Whiteman and Fred Rose composition "Flamin' Mamie".

At their peak, each member of the Orchestra owned identical Cord Automobiles, each in a different color with the name of the Orchestra and the owner embossed on the rear. The Orchestra's popularity showed no signs of abating and their contract with MCA had another 15 years to run in the spring of 1932 when Carleton Coon came down with a jaw infection and died, on May 4.


Joe Sanders attempted to keep the organization going; however, without Coon, the public did not support them. In 1935, he formed his own group and played until the early 1940s when he became a part time orchestra leader and studio musician. In his later years he suffered from failing eyesight and other health problems. He died in 1965 after suffering a stroke.

The Kansas City Public Library acquired the scrapbooks and other memorabilia collected and prepared by Joe Sanders and the information is available to researchers.

Saturday, October 13, 1934

Aunt Jennie was up. Got overshoes today. Helen's were over. Went up to Pauline's. Nadine's sister had a baby boy. Ollie was over.

Sunday, September 30, 1934

Went to Sunday school. I stayed for church. Ollie was over. Played cards in evening.

September 30, 1934: Babe Ruth's final game as a New York Yankee. He batted 0 for 3. From New York, he went to the Boston Braves. He played in his last Major League game in Philadelphia on May 30, 1935, when he left the field with a hurt knee.   

Friday, September 21, 1934

Girls were down this evening. Played piano. Mother didn't feel very good. Went over to Mrs. Raifert's.

Group portrait of members of the Firestone Service Company bowling team with trophy, identified as the 1933-34 champions of the South Central Business Association of Kansas City Bowling League.

Wednesday, September 19, 1934

Note: Ruth didn't write in her diary today.

Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 – April 3, 1936)
September 19, 1934: Arrested for Lindbergh kidnapping and murder

A German ex-convict, Hauptmann was sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of the 20-month-old son of Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindberg kidnapping became known as "The Crime of the Century".

Thursday, September 13, 1934

Went to school today. Tonight got lessons all evening until I went to bed. Sure had a lot to do.



Saturday, August 18, 1934

Straightened up the house good. Made some donuts. Played ball with Anna Catherine and Pauline a while.

Randolph Scott (left) in Comanche Station


Born George Randolph Crane Scott in Orange, Virginia, on 23 January 1903,
Scott lied about his age at 14 and enlisted for service in World War I. After returning home he got a degree in engineering, then joined the Pasadena Community Playhouse. While golfing, Scott met millionaire filmmaker Howard Hughes, who helped him enter films as a bit player.

In the mid '30s he began landing better roles, both as a romantic lead and as a costar. Later he became a Western star, and from the late '40s to the '50s he starred exclusively in big-budget color Westerns (39 altogether). From 1950-53 he was one of the top ten box-office attractions. Later in the '50s he played the aging cowboy hero in a series of B-Westerns directed by Budd Boetticher for Ranown, an independent production company.

Randolph Scott retired from acting in 1962. Having invested in oil wells, real estate, and securities, he was worth between $50-$100 million when he died in Los Angeles on March 2, 1987.

Friday, August 17, 1934

I ironed today. Sure was hot. Ollie came over a while. Gweyn came over. Helen's was over this evening.

Salvation Army Penny Ice Truck
Kansas City, Missouri

The city's poorer residents had difficulty affording the ice produced at local factories, which prompted the Salvation Army to raise money for "Penny Ice" to be sold for a penny per pound to the needy.

Friday, July 27, 1934

Stayed all night with Gladys last night. Mother came up and we had a fried chicken dinner. We listened to the radio with Sue and Howard.

July 27, 1934 ad for new radio

Wednesday, July 25, 1934

Rained. Rita Mae and I walked to Susie's. Mother and Mart's went to Clay. Rita Mae and I came back and made candy.

Kansas City Star - July 25, 1934

History repeating itself?

Tuesday, July 24, 1934

Rita Mae and I practiced up at Susie's this morning. Went to show at Palmer. Saw "Dollar Down Family." Sure good.

Heim No. 20 fire station (former Heim Brewery)
Guinotte and North Montgall, Kansas City, Missouri

The Brewery was well-known in the Midwest for its lager beer
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After the Prohibition-era
demise of the brewery, Heim No. 20 operated as a Kansas City fire station.

Monday, July 23, 1934

Mother is still sick. Daddy and I went down to Mart's for dinner. I stayed all night at Rita Mae's.

Helen Stephens (1918-1994)

Growing up on a farm in Callaway County near Fulton, Missouri, Helen loved to run and jump and climb. She also had to work hard on the family farm. By the time she was in high school, her coach was working with her
and took her to St. Louis for her first official race. She beat Stella Walsh, a Polish gold medalist in the 1932 Olympics, in the 50-meter dash at 6.6 seconds, setting a new indoor record on a dirt track.

On August 4, 1936, eighteen-year-old Helen Stephens set the Olympic world record for the 100-meter event at 11.5 seconds. Her record stood for twenty-four years until Wilma Rudolph beat it in the 1960 Olympics. On August 9, Stephens was the anchor in the 400-meter relay team that also set a world record time of 46.9 seconds. She received a gold medal for each event.

Helen returned to Fulton after the Olympics and earned a degree from William
Woods College. She paved the way for future female athletes of all ages. She is in the National and United States Track and Field Halls of Fame as well as the Women’s Hall of Fame. Helen Stephens died on January 17, 1994. She is buried in Fulton, Missouri.



Saturday, July 21, 1934

Mother is sick. Rita Mae and Henry and Daddy and Mr. Lakes and I went to Clay Center. Stopped by Aunt Nellie's for a while.

Oreo Cookies - Happy 100th Birthday!

Oreo is a trademark for a popular sandwich cookie by the Nabisco division of Kraft Foods. Since its 1912 introduction, Oreo has become the best selling cookie in the United States, through the 20th century and into the 21st.

Thursday, July 19, 1934

Washed clothes. Us girls went after the cows. Went down to Olive and Warren's. We played on the swings.

Buster Keaton (1895-1966)

Born in Piqua, Kansas, Keaton was confined to a sanitarium in 1934 for
alcoholism. He escaped his straitjacket using a secret learned from the magician Harry Houdini. Keaton later gained control of his drinking. 





Wednesday, July 18, 1933

Went over to get some water at Erickson's. Then we went down to Martin Johnson's. Toasted marshmallows.

Mary Louise Brooks - AKA Louise Brooks
(November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985)

Born in Wichita, Kansas, Brooks was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known as the lead in three feature films made in Europe, including two G. W. Pabst films: Pandora's Box (1929), Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), and Prix de Beauté (Miss Europe) (1930). She starred in 17 silent films and, late in life, authored a memoir, Lulu in Hollywood. A notorious spendthrift, she eked out a post-retirement living as a courtesan with a few select wealthy men as clients.


Brooks was found dead of a heart attack after suffering from arthritis and emphysema for many years. She was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester, New York.

Saturday, July 14, 1934

I didn't do much today. This evening Mart's had fish here. Joe and Minnie came in.

July 14, 1934 - Dog Bite Victims Receive Pasteur Treatment

Scranton, PA: One of thirteen other dog bite victims, most of them children, receiving an inoculation of the anti-rabies serum, which is being furnished by the city health department. These thirteen victims were all bitten by dog from St.Ann Street in West Scranton.

Tuesday, July 10, 1934

Stayed at Henry's all day. Went up to Emmett and Melvin's for supper. Had fish. Sure were good. Went back to Henry's.

The French opened a new railway line which connected Brazzaville, 
 in the French Congo, to the Atlantic coast at Pointe Noire

Thursday, June 21, 1934

Mother and I went to town. She got shoes and some other things, and I got a pair of hose and some make-up stuff.

The gradual emancipation of women through the 1920s brought with it an independence of action, and there is no bolder way to express your femininity than with make-up. Without a doubt, the art of women’s make-up took off in strides during the 1930′s with the help of Hollywood glamour and the new rage of full color fashion magazines. Max Factor and Elisabeth Arden were becoming household names.The 1930s woman’s makeup look was much more refined than in the 1920s.

Friday, June 8, 1934

We got our report cards. My semester grades: History S; English E; Expression S; Gym M; Latin S.

Kansas City Blues - cap insignia
Class Levels:
A - 1902-1907
AA - 1908-1945
AAA - 1946-1954

The Kansas City Blues are a former minor league baseball team located in Kansas City,
Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding members of the American Association.

The Blues did not field particularly competitive teams unil 1918, when they won the AA pennant.
 The team won again in 1923, and again in 1929. They won the Junior World Series championship
 that year, defeating the Rochester Red Wings of the International League in a best-of-nine series.


In 1936, the Blues became a farm club of the New York Yankees. They won the AA championships
 five times in the 1930s and 1940s. When the American League Philadelphia Athletics moved to
Kansas City in 1955, the Blues moved to Denver, Colorado.

Thursday, June 7, 1934

Pauline and I went to Irving graduation. She got a permanent. I went to her graduation at Central Junior.

"The Scout"

The Scout is a famous statue by Cyrus E. Dallin in Kansas City, Missouri. It is more than 10 feet tall, and depicts a Sioux Indian on horseback surveying the landscape. The Scout was conceived by Dallin in 1910, and exhibited at the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, where it won a gold medal. On its way back east, the statue was installed on a temporary basis in Penn Valley Park. The statue proved so popular that $15,000 in nickels and dimes was raised to purchase it through a campaign called "The Kids of Kansas City." The statue was dedicated in 1922 as a permanent memorial to local Indian tribes. It is currently located east of Southwest Trafficway in Penn Valley Park, which is south of downtown Kansas City.