TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1929 | HI: 50° LOW: 36°

Got to bed about 4 A.M. I felt terrible & couldn’t get to sleep. I finally dozed off & we were called at 8 A.M. It was raining cats & dogs. It kept up all day too & there was no parade so we sat in all day. There was a crowd up there (Aunt Kate’s) and we had a very nice time. Got home at 12 P.M.

That’s it, the first entry in the diary of Ethel.

On the page for “Important Records,” she has written (if no entry, she left it blank, I just thought the field names themselves were interesting all by themselves):

Date of This Record January, 1929
Address 33rd & Mifflin Sts., Phila, Pa.
Home Telephone Jac.5499R
Car No.
Bank Book No.
Weight 115 lbs.
Business Telephone Lom 4900
Motor No.
Watch No. Iwo 2 A.D.J.
Height 5 ft.
Valuable Papers are at
Size of My Shoes 4 1/2
Gloves 6 1/2
Stockings 9
Other Sizes to Remember Dresses – 16 & 18. Coates 16.

Coates spelled with an -es, interesting . . .

She fell asleep at 4 A.M., which is most likely because it was New Year’s Eve the night before. Why she couldn’t sleep, perhaps too excited? Upset? And who are “we”? There’s very little to go by, but I’m getting a ho-hum vibe that maybe New Year’s Eve wasn’t super fun for our girl Ethel.

I did look around and found that this parade is quite famous, and a little bit silly? And I mean that in the most delightful way, I love silly. As far as famous, it is at least in Philly (reminder to self: find out if using “Philly” is the same as using “Frisco” for San Francisco, as when I lived there, if you heard someone say Frisco, it was a sure sign they weren’t from there—and if so, don’t use it).

It’s called the annual Mummers Parade, and it turns out that this canceled parade did indeed take place four days later on January 5. We’ll have to see if this comes up again in a few days for Ethel? Did she end up going after all?

“Mummers”

Mummers is a very funny word that has to do with the Mummers Play, according to Wikipedia, it’s a tradition tracing back to 17th-century England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. There’s a lot of history and traditions that seem to have coalesced over the centuries, resulting in something to do with dancing around wearing costumes and big masks.

I found a Temple University site that requires prior consent to use their images, but there are some great photos here from the parade.

After the parade, there’s the partying, and the festivities centered around 2nd and Mifflin Sts.—31 blocks from Ethel!

. . . . . . . . . .

Image Credits:”Mummers2005-fancy” by Tyler McHenry at en.wikipedia: This was taken by either me or my girlfriend – Tyler McHenry on English Wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons.

“The Holy Rollers N.Y.B. in the 2008 Mummers Parade“. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikipedia.

“Mummers2005-stringband” by Tyler McHenry (This was taken by either me or my girlfriend) – Tyler McHenry. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons.