The Diary of Abba Owen

Newest chapter in an ongoing serialization of the 1888 diary of Abba Owen, daughter of Ypsilanti mineral water baron Tubal Cain Owen and Anna (Stowe Foote) Owen. The Owens lived in a now-vanished house near the current day Roosevelt School building on EMU, where Tubal also had his magical and very profitable well.

Friday Aug. 31st: This morning Eber and I went down to Grandpa's and took a ride with his horse. Grandpa [went] to Plymouth this afternoon.

Saturday Sept. 1st: Here it is the first of Sept. and it does not seem as if we had had any summer at all. This morning it was quite cool and we had a fire. Eber has not [done] so well to-day and had the doctor this morning.

Sunday Sept. 2nd: Mama and I went to church this morning. Rev. Mr. Matt Williams preached. We liked him very much but he has a very weak voice. We all went down to Grandma's to tea. Grandpa arrived home from Plymouth just before tea and he said he had a nice time.

Monday Sept. 3rd: All the schools commenced to-day. The Normal which has [never opened] so soon [opened] to-day. I did not go to-day and don't expect to until Wensday as the first two days are for examination. Eber went to school today, he goes to the Union School. This afternoon Grandma Mama and I went down town.

Tuesday Sept. 4th: This morning Mama and I went up to Mrs. Post's and she gave Mama two lovely sea urchins that she picked up when she was at Florida. Papa found a large Indian hatchet in our back field and gave it to me. It is a lovely one and very perfect. Grandma and Grandma came up and took tea with us. Grant's Pump factory burnt down to the ground this afternoon.

Wednesday Sept. 5: Grandma started for Lewiston this morning at half past eight so we all got up early and went down to her house to see her off. I went to school this morning. They have had the Normal all fixed over and additions built on to it so that it is much larger. They have also had the organ in the chapel [put] onto the stage and the quire [sic] sit there also. The organ used to be in the back end of the hall so that your back was at all the music. It has been very cool today. This morning after [sum] the thermom. stood at 48'. We have had a fire off and on all day.

Thursday Sept 6th: This morning I was sick and did not go to school. It has been quite cool to-day. It said in the paper that there had been frost in a good many places in Michigan.

Friday Sept. 7th: I did not feel well to-day and did not go to school, had the Doctor this afternoon he did not want me to go to school this year but I think I shall. Mrs. Wheat and Mrs. Van Tyle of Detroit called on Mama this morning. Miss Post also called this morning; she has just returned from a visit in Detroit and she attended the funeral of Bishop Harris. Eber sleeps down to Grandpa's since Grandma has been gone. Grandpa received a postal from Grandma saying that she arrived safely at five o'clock. Cousin Will Cooke was at the train to meet her and she found Aunt Libbie better than she supposed her to be.

Thanks for reading! Tune in next Tuesday for another week of Abba's diary!

Old-Timey Naalbinding Rug

Dusty D just finished the rug she started and worked on during Heritage Fest.

Multiple people inquired about this mini rug during the Fest. It is made using the Scandinavian craft of naalbinding, which produces a thick squooshy fabric due to the tons of material it consumes.

Dusty D made this rug with a wooden needle that my husband made for me. The Vikings' needles were made of wood or bone.

DD put this rug in front of my husband's favorite sittin' spot in the interests of keeping his tootsies warm this coming winter.

And with the completion of this rug, Dusty D is officially done with HF and ready for fall.

Memoirs of a Heritage Fest Charwoman

(me).
Note also the handsome and rugged Tinderbox Man (swoon).

Thanks to HF organizers for giving us a spot in the Fest! It was incredibly fun and I'm grateful.

The Diary of Abba Owen

Newest chapter in an ongoing serialization of the 1888 diary of Abba Owen, daughter of Ypsilanti mineral water baron Tubal Cain Owen and Anna (Stowe Foote) Owen. The Owens lived in a now-vanished house near the current day Roosevelt School building on EMU, where Tubal also had his magical and very profitable well.

Friday Aug 24: This morning "Geneva Boy" broke from his stall and the men were all afraid to catch him. so papa sent over for Jud Newton (who has raised him from a calf) to come over and catch him, so Jud came over and went to get him before anyone knew it and pretty soon Papa and Richard heard Jud a-screaming and they ran and found him onn the fence almost scared to death. It seemed that the bull had knocked Jud down and hooked him but the horns did not go into the flesh but tore his clothes and scraped him and it made him very sore and lame. We telephoned for the doctor and he said that Jud would be all right if he kept still. Papa said that he would kill Geneva Boy, so the butchers came up this afternoon and Mama Grandma and I and all the men-folks went down to the field and Papa had a repeating rifle and when the bull came up to the water trough to drink Papa stood on the other side of the fence and shot at him and he reared up but did not fall so Papa shot again and he fell. Geneva Boy was a registered Holstein and a very handsome animal and he weighed 870 lbs. when dressed for market. Eber was dressed today and laid out on the lounge.

Saturday Aug 25: Eber has not been so well today and has been in bed. Dr. Batwell gave Grandma some medicine last night and when I went down there this morning I found her in bed but she got up and came up to our house and spent the day. Today I got the "Spy" by Cooper from the Ladies Library. This evening mama and I went down to the Post Office.

Sunday Aug 26: To-day has been a very pleasant day. Mama and [I?] walked down to the pastures this afternoon. To-day I [illegible] "The Spy" and liked it bery much and while we were in Lewiston [New York, on the Niagara trip] we visited the grave of Mr. and Mrs. Hussler who took the characters of "Betty Flanagan" and "Lieutenant Hollister" in the Spy. This evening we all went down to Grandma's to supper. Eber was able to go by riding down.

Monday Aug 27th: To-day has been quite warm. Mama took Eber out for a drive and he is feeling better.

Tuesday Aug 28th: This morning Mr. Yost came up with a handsome black horse and wanted to sell it to Papa and Papa gave him two horses [Sun] which belonged to R. and the mustange and $125 for it and then gave it to Richard and he was delighted.

Wensday Aug 29th: We all went down to the barn this [morning?] to see Richard's new horse. Its name is "Robin." Mama has gone out this afternoon to try and find a gitl but she did not succeed.

Thursday Aug 30th: Grandpa bought a new horse to-day. It is an iron gray and very pretty. Its name is "Kitty." Mama has been out both this morning and afternoon to get a girl but they are very scarce, that is a good one, so she did not get one.

Friday Aug. 31st: This morning Eber and I went down to Grandpa's and took a ride with his horse. Grandpa [went] to Plymouth this afternoon.

Thanks for reading! Tune in next Tuesday for another week of Abba's diary!

Heritage Fest Photos

Here is part of my presentation area: Grandma's Trunk, loaded with mystery artifacts for kids to handle and ask questions about. Kids loved this and I loved giving them an opportunity to touch and ask about weird old artifacts of the past and draw parallels to the present. The trunk was very generously loaned to us by Linda French; major kudos to her for her kindness.
Grandma Bien at Grandma's Trunk, working on naalbinding a rug. One thing learned during the HF is the usefulness of bonnets. You might think they just enforce tunnel vision, which they do, but they also offer an invaluable means of privacy.
Here is one of the many young folks who tried clothes-washing on my authentic scrub board. Kids enjoyed trying out scrubbing clothes and I tell ya, the sample clothes I took to the fest are sparkling clean from being washed all day! :)
Fritz during one of his many successful demos of fire-starting with flint and steel. Note the Huron Valley Ambulance personnel at the demo. They drove up into our area in their motor-cart and said, "We heard about your demonstration--they said it was really interesting." In other words, Fritz's exemplary demo skills had spread through the fest to reach the HVA guys! They got into it and enjoyed making a fire with char cloth!
HVA guy making a fire with char cloth. Thanks again to the kind HF organizers who gave us a spot in this year's fest!

Highlights of the Heritage Fest

1. Seeing people fascinated with the Tinderbox Man's presentation of how to start a fire with char cloth. This is a very effective and practical method, as opposed to the exhausting and ineffectual bow-and-drill method familiar to Boy Scout veterans. In fact, the guy on Survivorman packed char cloth in one unaccompanied trip to the Arctic.

2. Seeing polite and inquisitive kids interested in the mystery artifacts. A few times, when kids were looking and new folks came up, I did this: told the kids, "Wow, you guys are good at this. Would you like to tell the new people what these things are?" And they invariably did, with a combination of gravity and pride that would have melted my heart were I not a crabby curmudgeon.

3. Seeing the bouncy castle display of no fewer than 6 castles deflating at 6 p.m. on Sunday into little puddles of garishness. Poof goes the giant shark.

4. Successfully avoiding all carny food purveyors and packing a picnic of cheese, bread, fruit, and water for nummies.

5. Gazing reflectively from my chair, rug on lap, at the passing parade of humanity on the path 200 yards away as most of it walked slowly/dazedly past our presentation area in a quest for...what? Something other than authenticity and a hands-on encounter with history. But why? Must mull.

6. Seeing the emo teen roll her heavily kohl-rimmed eyes and toss her stripey hair with fashionable impatience as her adorable young sister geeked out over the artifacts. Oh, I know you're too cool to take interest, but I count it as a failure on my part to engage you on your terms. I know I can't interest everyone but I will remember you and try to think of a way to make my presentation relevant to you for next year so that you can also have fun with it.

7. Hangin' with Mike the Beermaker.

8. Just being there in a beautiful park on a sunny day with my sweetie and doing fun stuff with interested participants. A BLAST.

Emergency Bonnet Starching Tips

Readers: Ever go to an historical reenactment and get flustered as heck while making multiple trips back to a museum where your stuff is stockpiled because your sodden bonnet, previously nicely starched, goes all floppy and falls over your face, exacerbating your already exhausted state and reducing your vision to a pinpoint?

Here's a handy tip for the 99% of people who do not have starch at home (cue the incredulous folks with 15 boxes of starch at all times in their pantry). Make up a mixture of half-and-half white glue and water in a pan to about the depth of 1/2 inch. Soak and wring out the front area to be starched. Put a dish towel over a bike helmet positioned on a 6-inch high section of log that is for some reason on your dining room table along with a victrola, a week's worth of mail, several cool goose feathers salvaged from Riverside Park, and a candle snuffer. Drape the bonnet over the towel-covered bike helmet and smooth into place. Position floor fan to blow towards the front of the bonnet.

The airstream should be strong enough to lift up the front frill of the bonnet, where it, as well as the starched "head-shield" section, will dry in a pretty shape. And there you go--you're set for another day of historical reenactment! Presuming it doesn't rain again and leach glue into your hair to mingle and dry, so that you have to wear said bonnet to your job Monday morning. If this happens--well, haters gonna hate. Ignore them.

H.F. Fun

Grandma Bien and the Tinderbox Man had a total blast at Heritage Fest with Mike the Beermaker, who is super nice. Had some very sweet li'l kids handling and guessing about the objects in Grandma's Trunk and people were fascinated to see T.M.'s demo on how to make fire with flint and steel and char cloth. Also my naalbinding demo was a hit; gonna take one of my naalbinded rugs from home tomorrow as extra demo piece. Thank you to all the nice folks who visited our area and see you tomorrow starting around 10!

Look for Grandma at the Heritage Fest Sat. and Sun. Afternoon

Grandma Bien, spotted picking a tomato in her garden. She'll be at the Heritage Fest Saturday and Sunday starting at 1 p.m. Come on out and check out her trunk full of mystery artifacts. You can also visit the Tinderbox Man, learn how char cloth works, and even take home your own piece to try it at home. See you there!

History of the Corner Health Center

This week's Courier story profiles one of the buildings on this Sunday's Historic Homes tour, the Corner Health Center. Its long and varied history includes serving as a butcher's home, two long-running groceries, and an S & H redemption shop. Grab a paper copy ot the Courier to check it out!

Wednesday Mystery Spot: Ypsi's Steel Magnolias

Last week's Mystery Spot was a stumper, but you figgered it out. Rather, BF did--and even made a special trip to the Ford Lake boardwalk tower and took a picture looking out over the lake. Now, that is dedication!

This week: Well, they're really not the same shape as tuliplike magnolia blossoms [/overly detail-oriented garden nerd]. But close enough. These creations of some anonymous welder or other bloom year-round somewhere in town. As summer winds down and snow creeps closer, these will be the last flowers standing, blooming straight out of the snowdrifts. But where?

Grandma's Trunk

Here is the chest that I'll use on Sat and Sun at Heritage Fest for "Grandma's Trunk." Check this out--it's a beautiful and very piratey trunk! The interior is lined with faded pink paper and two pictures of elegant women. The visible rack comes out to access the large chamber underneath.

This trunk was most kindly lent to us by Linda French. We are very grateful to her for her generosity and trust in us with this lovely old antique.

Dusty D will fill this trunk with Mystery Artifacts from my own collection. The idea is that kids can try and guess the function of e.g. my darning egg, sad iron trivet, candle snuffer.

The secret compartment under the rack will hold a rug and various key supplies to help Grandma make it through a day out in the sun. :D

The Diary of Abba Owen

Newest chapter in an ongoing serialization of the 1888 diary of Abba Owen, daughter of Ypsilanti mineral water baron Tubal Cain Owen and Anna (Stowe Foote) Owen. The Owens lived in a now-vanished house near the current day Roosevelt School building on EMU, where Tubal also had his magical and very profitable well.

Friday Aug 17th: This morning I did not feel very well so I lounged around. The Doctor came this morning to see Rickey and he said he would not come any more and Rickey says that he will get up in the morning. Got up and dressed in the afternoon but is feeling weak. I went down town this afternoon.

Saturday Aug 18th: This morning Mama, Rickey Grandpa and [I?] rode up to the pasture to see the horses and to take them some corn. This afternoon Papa was watering the grass and I went out and helped him.

Sunday Aug 19th: Grandma and I went to church this morning. Prof. Sill delivered an address. This afternoon Mr. Post came down and asked us to come up and see their fountain, which is supplied from our place, so Papa mama and I went up and sat on their verandas. This evening we went down to Grandma's to lunch and had a nice time.

Monday Aug 20th: I got up real early and got my chores all done before breakfast. Grandpa, Rickey and I drove up to the pasture and brought Rickey's horse "Molly [Bann]" home. We do enjoy our water-works so much this afternoon I went out and watered the vegetable garden. Mama and I went down town to-night.

Tuesday Aug 21st: This morning I went down and fed and watered Eber's chickens and rabbits. Grandma and I went up to Mrs. Post's this afternoon and made a long call. Grandpa and Grandma took us here tonight. Mama received a letter from Eber and also one from Hattie.

Wensday Aug 22nd: To-day has been a great deal cooler than yesterday, this noon the thermometer stood at 66'. This morning a [peedlr] came along and mama bought a pair of lace curtains, a couple of lovely towls and a silk throw. Mrs. Glover called this morning. This afternoon Mama and Grandma went over to call on Mrs. Prof. Shepard. Prof. Sheppard and [Mrs.?] start to-morrow for Dakota where he is hired to teach at an agricultural college. This evening about half past six Ebe drove us with Prof. [Ludiser]. Ebe has been sick nearly every since he has been away, he was taken [jorist] about as Richard was. The doctor said he came very near having typhoid fever.

Thursday Aug 28: Prof. [Luderen] stayed over night and went on the none o'clock train. Eber has been in bed all day. Grandma was up and spent the afternoon.

Friday Aug 24: This morning "Geneva Boy" broke from his stall and the men were all afraid to catch him. so papa sent over for Jud Newton (who has raised him from a calf) to come over and catch him, so Jud came over and went to get him before anyone knew it and pretty soon Papa and Richard heard Jud a-screaming and they ran and found him onn the fence almost scared to death. It seemed that the bull had knocked Jus down and hooked him but the horns did not go into the flesh but tore his clothes and scraped him and it made him very sore and lame. We telephoned for the doctor and he said that Jud would be all right if he kept still. Papa said that he would kill Geneva Boy, so the butchers came up this afternoon and Mama Grandma and I and all the men-folks went down to the field and Papa had a repeating rifle and when the bull came up to the water trough to drink Papa stood on the other side of the fence and shot at him and he reared up but did not fall so Papa shot again and he fell. Geneva Boy was a registered Holstein and a very handsome animal and he weighed 870 lbs. when dressed for market. Eber was dressed today and laid out on the lounge.

Thanks for reading! Tune in next Tuesday for another week of Abba's diary!

What's the Difference Between a Wagon and a Carriage?

What's the correct word for this onetime local vehicle and why would you choose that word? The answer is just barely visible in this photo.

Was the canopy an add-on? It seems a bit tacked-on to the outside of this craft, does it not? If this vehicle was owned and not rented, DD imagines that it belonged to a wealthy family who could afford to maintain a vehicle not of immediate practical use, but only for leisure.

Hmm, carriage or wagon?

Interview with EMU Professor Kao

This is neat: EMU marketing prof Faye Kao is working on a project involving Ypsi History and has asked if I would consent to be interviewed and audio/video taped. She said she'd read my book. I told her I'd be glad to do so after (the frenzy of preparing for) Heritage Festival. I also told her the caveat that I am by no measure a historian (think David Halberstam) but only a local-history writer. So we'll see how it goes in a couple of weeks or so.

Love and/or Sandwiches: from the 1906 "Aurora" EMU Yearbook

We were coming from the picnic,
A wand'ring over the land;
The moon was shining brightly,
I held her little--shawl.

Yes, I held her little shawl,
(How fast the evening flies!)
We spoke in tones of love,
I gazed into her--lunch basket.

I gazed into her lunch basket,
I wished I had a taste;
Here sat my loving charmer,
My arm around her--umbrella.

Embracing her umbrella,
This charming little miss,
Her eyes so full of mischief,
I slyly stole a--sandwich.

--Author unknown

News from August 13, 1910: Charity Began at Home

Someone at the Archives the other day asked me if I knew what the onetime Ypsilanti Ladies' Home Association was. This group comprising society ladies was a charity. There were no welfare or federal programs to assist the poor. The LHA took it upon themselves to raise funds to distribute to families they deemed objects of charity. The group's members were "prominent" (trans.: rich husbands) society ladies. The amounts of money they raised and distributed, while better than nothing, have struck me as on the meagre side.

The group threw a fit (by the standards of the day) when cistern-digger and day laborer Oscar Lawrence had his destitute family's home burn down on Railroad Street around 1909. Ypsilantians contributed money directly to the Lawrence family. The LHA had an article published in the paper to the effect that they were (decorously) indignant that citizens had done so and that they were the proper arbiters of charity money for the local poor.

One hundred years ago this date, the Cherry Hill version of the LHA had its meeting. Attendees listened to a song, a recitation, a memoir of Yellowstone Park, and played a guessing game about flowers. They resolved to meet to "tie" (?) a comforter to give to "a certain family in need of this help."

If through the agency of these groups an Ypsi child received nourishing food when it otherwise would have had none, well and good. But DD is too far over on the cynic side of the spectrum to believe that there is much true altruism. Stories like these remind DD of Gwendolyn Brook's poem "The Lovers of the Poor." Fun fact: the poem is autobiographical. After Brooks won the Pulitzer, two ladies dropped by her home, without invitation, to examine her and peek in her house.

"Two Worlds" story reprinted in California

Dusty D heard this morning from Colleen Turner, who works with the Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association, an agency that serves 19 reservations. They would like to reprint my "Two Worlds" story from the Chronicle in their publication, and I told them I'd be honored, and thank you.

Personally this makes me feel good. If I, white person, have managed to write about this painful and sensitive subject in a manner which passes muster with a Native group, then that gives me a lot of satisfaction. It was quite a tricky piece and went through many edits. I chose a "just the facts" route and the issues involved are quite complex; books have been written on the subject of Carlisle. And it was a fact-checking nightmare...the truth kind of slides around on such a loaded subject and it can be difficult to find out reliable info. Anyways.

At any rate, that's quite an honor to me and thanks to the SCTCA.

Making Pesto the Olde-Timey Way

It is Dusty Diary's goal to induce blender envy in you, the reader. It's actually not just some plebian "blender." It's an OSTERIZER!

Add to that that this gleaming jewel is older than I am. It has four patent numbers on the bottom relating to various parts of the machine. The newest patent is from 1961. So, assuming they were hustling to make and sell it, I'm guessing this model is from 1961-2.

Ah yes, the model. Osterizer didn't just call this the "Blendo," or the "Mixwell," or the "Smoosh-A-Moosh," nosir. This paragon was justly dubbed with the moniker

The GALAXIE TEN... TEN... Ten... ten...
(echoey voice)
This baby is Solid State! Yeah! I like that. No foofy electronics, and it weighs a lot! The carafe is thick rugged glass. AND--best part--it has a nifty Atomic Symbol on the front! It's an ATOMIC BLENDER!

Dusty D had great fun making pesto at the 10 (!) different speeds, including Frappe! Whip! Mix! Blend! Puree! LIQUEFY! (yes, that is one of the settings).

The pesto was pretty much just incidental. It was numsies though.

Two Worlds: Ypsilanti's Role in the Indian Assimilation Era

Around the turn of the century, a Nez Perce teenager was taken from out West to Penn- sylvania.

He ended up in Ypsilanti as a Normal College business student.

At the same time, a Caucasian woman took her Normal College teaching degree in the other direction. She taught on a reservation school next to a mesa upon which lived the Hopi. Her essay reveals more about her attitudes towards the Hopi than about the Hopi themselves. It's not easy to read.

Today's Ann Arbor Chronicle story deals with the role Ypsilanti played in this tumultous era of Native American assiilation.

Wednesday Mystery Spot: Who Died?

I kind of hope those forecasted rains will sweep over us here in Ypsilanti. My garden is a bit parched and I keep running around with the hose, connecting it to each of the 4 soaker hoses in turn. Delectable beans, plump maters, and unbelievably crisp, cool, fresh cukes are in the balance! I never knew a bean could be so good until I cooked some of those cut-up Kentucky Wonders in chicken bouillon and put a big fat pat of butter on top with salt. Man, I ate those with the Big Spoon.

But not TOO much rain, else we might end up like Water Street when it was flooded in March of 1918! Congrats to Joe and Brent J. for their correct guesses!


Here are a bunch more photos of the flood. They were taken by Steve Pierce's grandfather.

This week's Mystery Spot also has something to do with water. This Spot is branded with the ominous crime-scene outline of a body and the question "Who Died?" But where is it? Take your best guess and good luck!

Ypsilanti Little League Pioneer Carolyn King

Thanks to iSPY for publishing my story on onetime Ypsilanti Little League pioneer Carolyn King, whose insistence on playing on the local team led to a nationwide change in Little League's erstwhile ban against women.

A new documentary film about Carolyn's life, featuring many scenes of old-time Ypsi, will be screened during the Heritage Festival. "The Girl in Center Field" will be shown at Ypsi High School on Saturday, August 21, at 8 p.m. Not sure if there's a charge but don't think so.

Abba Owen in the Upper Pasture

For her August 16 diary entry, Ypsilanti teen diarist Abba Owen says that she and her grandmother took a walk to the "upper pasture" to watch Abba's father's hired workers thrash the mid-August oat crop.

Thursday Aug 16th: To-day has been very warm, at noon the thermometer stood 92' in the shade. This afternoon Grandma and I walked up to the upper pasture to see them thrash oats. They thrashed a stack of oats for Papa, he got about 150 bu. of oats off of three acres of land.

As you know Tubal Cain Owen's landholdings once covered about half of the modern-day EMU campus. Where was the upper pasture?

Since the Owen House was near Forest Ave. and College Place, it seems logical that the "upper pasture" was some distance from the house and possibly to the north. I'm guessing it was the northern section of the large central section or the separate western section.

The northern section of the large central section today comprises the parking lots off of Huron River Drive, the lake with its fountain, and maybe the Bowen Field House/Olds rec IM. The separate western section today comprises the Hill/Hoyt/Pittman apartment high-rises, the bee-yootiful Student Center, the onetime "Sleepy Hollow" area just south of the Center, and the parking structure. Hm. They rode a buggy back, suggesting it was this farther area. Yeah, I'd guess the separate western section.

Dusty D is on campus about twice a week. Next time I go, I'll stop on the bridge by the Student Center, look out over Sleepy Hollow, narrow my eyes, and try to picture the golden oat-fields in the August sun.

Here's a video of men thrashing oats one one of those giant old, pre-OSHA machines. I've also seen threshers used with/with built-in straw balers. Despite the machinery, it's still a hard day of work in the August sun. Abba and her brothers didn't have to worry about helping; their dad was rich.

The Diary of Abba Owen

Newest chapter in an ongoing serialization of the 1888 diary of Abba Owen, daughter of Ypsilanti mineral water baron Tubal Cain Owen and Anna (Stowe Foote) Owen. The Owens lived in a now-vanished house near the current day Roosevelt School building on EMU, where Tubal also had his magical and very profitable well.

Friday Aug 10th: To-day has been quite cold, the thermometer stood at 64' this morning and we had a fire all day. Grandpa and I went down town this morning and it rained before we got back. Mama received a letter from Eber today saying that they were having a splendid time and they arrived there at one o'clock and Prof. Sudner was over to Trenton to meet them and he also said that they were invited over to Miss Gray's to spend the evening. To-day mama, Grandma, myself and the girl canned a bushel of huckel berries to-day and it was a job.

Saturday Aug 11th: This morning Mama and I unpacked our trunks a job we did not enjoy very much.

Sunday Aug 12th:: This morning Mama and I got all ready for Church and it began to rain and continued to rain all day so we did not go. It seemed strange not to have the boys here today. When Grandpa and Grandma came up to dinner there were only five to sit down at the table. Grandma invited Mama Papa and I down to lunch this evening and we had a nice time.

Monday Aug 13th: Today has been quite warm. Mama and I drove all around this morning to see if we could get a second girl, as we have only one now, but we we found one woman who said her daughter might come and if we would come over tomorrow she would tell us so we came home. Mr. and Mrs. Sill and Mrs. Graham called this evening and after the event Grandpa, Grandma, Mama and I drove down town.

Tuesday Aug. 14th: last night after we were all in bed there came a pounding at the door, and Papa got up and it was the boys come home. Rickey has been sick every since he went away and so Eber brought him home. They came home on the cars and left their horse at Grose Isle and Eber went back this morning and will probably stay two or three days and then drive home. The doctor came last night to see him. He has been in bed all day. Eber brought home some lovely large Black Bass that they caught and we had some for dinner and supper and Grandma also had one for dinner and they were very nice. To-day has been real pleasant but tonight it rained a little. To-day is Mama's birthday. I wrote a letter to Louise [Snigdin] this morning.

Wensday Aug 15th: This has been a hot sultry day. Grandpa and Grandma spent the afternoon and took tea. I drove down in the evening for the mail.

Thursday Aug 16th: To-day has been very warm, at noon the thermometer stood 92' in the shade. This afternoon Grandma and I walked up to the upper pasture to see them thrash oats. They thrashed a stack of oats for Papa, he got about 150 bu. of oats off of three acres of land. We walked up, but Papa had the horse and buggy up there so he had Grandma and I ride home. This evening it grew dark and it litninged but it has not rained yet. Richard feels better to-day.

Friday Aug 18: This morning I did not feel very well so I lounged around. The Doctor came this morning to see Rickey and he said he would not come any more and Rickey says that he will get up in the morning. Got up and dressed in the afternoon but is feeling weak. I went down town this afternoon.

Thanks for reading! Tune in next Tuesday for another week of Abba's diary!

N. Huron Street Back in the Day

Here's a photo of the west side of N. Huron to accompany the dead frog story in YpsiNews.com. The photo is from a bit prior to 1909, I'm guessing, but is undated. Cooper's photo studio, and impromptu fishing-tackle factory, would have been at the southwest corner of Huron and Pearl, on the second story. I believe you can see Pearl where there is a gap between buildings, there; the squarish building to the north of all the others is, I take it, just north of Pearl.

The "Occidental," seen at right, was as you know a mineral-waters spa and hotel. It operated in the 1890s and 1900s.

Thanks to Absolute Michigan...

...for re-publishing my "carpocalypse" story, first published in the Ann Arbor Chronicle! Yay!

That's quite the compliment and I appreciate it! Thank you, Absolute Michigan.

The Photographer Who Inherited a Dead Frog

How would you feel if, at the reading of your beloved departed parent's will, you found that you had inherited a dead frog?

Ypsilanti photographer Charles Cooper had just such an experience. He set out to make the most of it.

Read all about it in today's YpsiNews.Com!

Sleuth Alert: Where was Ypsi's Hixson Lunch?

Here's a neat li'l thing. Dusty D was reading old copies of the Normal College News the other day and in this delightful and highly literate old EMU paper, there were always a few pages of advertisements. Here's one, from the December 19, 1903 Normal College News:

A closer look reveals an ad for "Hixson Lunch," a 24-hour eating spot primed to provide short orders for diners without a lot of time. But where was Hixson Lunch? There's one clue in the ad below about a different place recently discussed on this blog. Do you recall? Can you figure it out? Where was Hixson Lunch?

What if Mad Men's Don Draper Designed Facebook Ads?

Maybe something like this.

Though I must note in a truly annoying way that FB doesn't have ads for...itself.

At any rate. Link has three morsels of humor with which to stave off existential gloom for the next few minutes.

When College was Cheap, Nobody Went

In 1903, the average person received a life total of about nine years of schooling. About 6.5% graduated from high school. Only around 2% of college-aged kids attended college.

Aside from students living with Ypsilanti relatives, most of the students at EMU in 1903 lived in a boarding house. Some had in-house home-made "meal plans" in their boarding house and others ate at a separate house that only provided meals.

Per one ad in the October Normal News a room in a boarding house was 75 cents to one dollar per student per week [$18 to $24 today, or $72 to $96 per month]. "Table board" was $2 to $3 per week [$47 to $70, or $188 to $280 per month]. At least one yearbook from this period, in its "jokes" section, pokes fun at what it characterizes as meagre fare to be had at boarding houses.

Tuition per 12-week term at EMU was...$3.

Even after adjusting for inflation since 1903, college tuition seems absurdly cheap. And yet almost no one attended from the cohort of college-aged kids. Is this an indication that the standard of living in a mostly agrarian society was simply too low to spare the money? Or are there any other explanations?





--October Normal News 1903

There Is No Better Lung Developer!

The electioneering is over. No more yard signs, pamphlets, arguments, junk mail, people with clipboards successfully fended off by a locked gate and two ferocious dogs who actually want nothing more than a tummy scratch. And some meatball drippin's from the cookie sheet. Man, they loved that. And those were some good meatballs. Very juicy; turns out it only takes 45 minutes at 350 degrees, not an hour.

My POINT is, it's time for Ypsilantians to pull together. We've got a new mayor, well, a used mayor I guess, and some incredible people doing amazing things like Amanda Edmonds at Growing Hope and Andy Ypsilanti building the Water Street Trail. There's a lot of challenges, but a lot to cheer about. A little old-style boosterism raises your neighbors' spirits. And a rising tide lifts all boats! Except sunken ones.

Here's what you can do. It's historically accurate and fun, a rare combination. Just memorize these authentic old EMU cheers. In the privacy of your own room work them over until you feel that you have them perfect. Then--Yell. The next time you're taking the #4 bus past EMU, just bust one out. Add some synchronized movements. You will attract the attention of your busmates, and that, my friend, is what we call a conversational opportunity. You can teach THEM the chant. Heck, yell it with enough energy and you'll get the whole bus doing it! Even the too-cool-for-school teen slouching in the corner over his iPod. You've got to reach them when they're young.

Here's Dusty Diary's favorite, but feel free to choose any of the 3 cheers laid out in this article (click to enlarge). And next time you hear this cheer wafting in the Ypsilanti breeze, take a look around for ol' DD. I could use some lunch.

"Hip-Zoo! Rah-Zoo! Quis, Qui! Quis, Quo!
M.S.N.C.! Tri-ump! Fe-o!
Peninsular! Michigan! Wolverine!
Alla-garoo! garah! gareen!
Normal College! The White! The Green!
Peninsular! Michigan! Wolverine!"

--October 1903 Normal News

Wuerth Theater story in today's Courier...

...be sure to grab a paper copy (it's not online this week). The article and photos look great thanks to the Courier staff's usual wizardry. Thank you Courier folk!

UPDATE: Whoopsie, I was wrong. It IS online, sorry, I must have missed it. Buy a paper copy anyways so you can put my article in your Dusty Diary Articles Scrapbook. That thing's gonna be worth a fortune someday at Sotheby's.

Circa-1900-Photo Sleuthing

It's fun to try and pin down the spot from which this photo was taken (click for larger images). To begin with, the legends written on this photo read, from left to right,

High School (now Cross Street Village)
River Street
Deubel Mill (demolished)
Follett House (still part of Depot Town)
M.C.R.R. Depot (demolished, mostly)
Thompson Building (burned)


Now then. The big building at far left (labeled "A")...hmm, there are two possibilities on the 1895 plat map, above; the large building at left ("A") and the smaller one labeled "School." But the building in the photo is right up against the street, whereas the school seems to be set back a bit. On the other hand, there appears to be more land in the photo between the big building and the tracks than there is indicated on the plat map. Hmm. Gonna guess that the road most prominent in the photo, right next to the farmyard, is Grove.

The fenced area in the photo ("B")---is that the old Gilbert property?

In the background is an odd-shaped building ("C") that I'm guessing is the now-vanished railroad roundhouse. Do you think so?

Another complication is that if the visible street is Grove, the photo's foreground farmyard appears on the plat map not as a big plot but subdivided into several tiny lots. It's possible that the farmer in question bought several of these lots for his little farmyard, but it seems more likely that it would be shown on the plat map as one bigger property, like the "Gage, Est." property at the southeast corner of the tracks and Prospect.

I'm not sure. What do you think?

* * * UPDATE! * * *
There are some amazing sleuths out there; my hat is off to you. No sooner had I posted this than one eagle-eyed reader ID'd the big building: it is part of the modern building of Marsh Plating on Grove! Check it out!

You can even see this old section on Google Maps; the staggered roof line gives it away:

You can see on that map that SOS Community Services currently occupies the site of the old cruciform 5th Ward school building, which seems to have been demolished.

Take a gander at what Joe said: "I think the picture was taken at about Prospect [as cmadler said also] and Congress. It also looks like it was taken from atop a building. I would guess maybe the 5th ward school."

Looks as though that was the only high point around, on the old plat map. Folks, I think we've figgered this out: this is a photo taken from atop the old 5th Ward school, looking northwest towards Depot Town. You guys are amazing! Thank you!

Man Between Two Worlds

Working on a story about a young Nez Perce boy who was taken from his parents and birthplace in Idaho and sent in 1898 to the oldest Indian boarding-school at the time. These schools, run by the federal Bureau for Indian Affairs, were not benign. They sought to acculturate the "primitive" Indian to white society by stripping away all familiar customs, forbidding native language, and inculcating the idea that Native customs were dirty, inferior, and uncivilized.

It's a heartbreaking story.

One student at one Indian boarding school later came to Ypsilanti's Normal Training School.

He had been raised as a Nez Perce. He died not long after leaving the Normal Training School. Dusty D has written to a Pennsylvania historical society connected with this man's Indian boarding school, has ordered what appears to be the definitive doctorate thesis on the school, and has received valuable info from a scholar on the subject.

This student was the only graduate of his Indian boarding school's graduating class to go to university--though he did not satisfactorily complete the course of study at his Indian boarding school. He vanishes from Ypsi city directories by 1905, and the common English-language name he was given makes census searches difficult, to find out his eventual fate.

He died by 1918, less than 40 years old.

The story of G. M. haunts Dusty Diary.

Wednesday Mystery Spot

Dusty D has been torturing her friend BF all day by dawdling and dawdling and dawdling on posting today's Mystery Spot. The poor man visited the blog twice, just to see if it were up. Was I industriously posting it? No, I was being a lazy slug. Well, maybe "torturing" isn't the right word. Likely he wasn't "tortured"; perhaps "exhibiting mild interest" is more like it. Maybe "bored, will look at anything" is more accurate. At any rate, here we go.

Last week's Mystery Spot was made slightly easier by the fact that I used the address as the jpeg name. That's MENSA material right there. But I didn't do it this time!! So there.


This picture is the old office building for the Detroit, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor and Jackson railway, later the D. J. & C. railroad. It was at 3 River Street near Michigan Avenue. The actual waiting room, the downtown stop, and the freight depot were at 13 Washington Street. Thomas and cmadler nailed it.

All day today Dusty D has been sneaking peeks at the weather radar in the hopes that the promising big angry red blobs skimming past Chicago would make it here. Phooey, they did not (and I'm sitting here in my un-AC'd home with a wet dish towel on the back of my neck as I type this, which actually works surprisingly well). But perhaps it's just as well those blobs fizzled out, or we might have had something like this:




But where in town did this cataclysm happen? Take your best guess and good luck!

Michigan Avenue's Blue and Gold Picture Palace

Enter under the glittering marquee to a cork lobby floor under two giant hanging lamps. Tickets secured, walk down the hall to the theater in the rear. Ooh, baroque blue and gold decorations. Look, leather-upholstered seats. It even has fancy-schmancy box seats, look, right over there. Wowie. Sshhh, the movie's about to start.

Ann Arbor clothing merchant J. F. Wuerth had done up his Ypsilanti theater in style! Read more in the Thursday Courier. In the meantime, see is you can puzzle out which movies were showing that day (click for larger image).