Some Bumps in the Road for Ruth and John, 1927

This is Ruth Meredith's engagement picture, published in the local paper, "The Austinite"  in October, 1927.   They had been dating since right after her graduation from Austin High in June, 1926.  Her tiny diary gives us a peek at her life and John Kellogg's in December of 1927.

Sunday, Dec. 2, 1927 - "Wonderful weather.  Had an embarrassing moment - my bloomer legs came down while walking to church.  Won and lost at bridge tonight.  Late to bed."

Monday, Dec. 3, 1927 - "Had a pretty good time at the club meeting - won a prize for a game - also a wall vase in a grab bag.  John came for me without the car.  He had a smash-up!!!

Tuesday, Dec. 4, 1927 - "John is pretty dejected over last night's accident.  It was between him and a street car, which did all the damage.  Don't know how it will turn out."

Wednesday, Dec. 5, 1927 - "Tired. Washed my hair.  It's very cold weather.  Stayed home tonight.  John dropped in for a while.  He wrote letter to the street car co. while I read.  I rec'd my 2nd book, which is 'Claire Ambler'."

Thursday, Dec. 6, 1927 - "Am retiring early after my ablutions.  Will read 'Claire Ambler', my new book,  until am tired.  Mama got a stomach ache, so Papa and I had to do dishes."

These quotes were not in Pieces of a Life, nor was the newspaper clipping.  After meeting John, Ruth's vocabulary broadened.  He had had 4 years of Latin in high school and was well read.  Fifty years later he could still come up with Latin roots to words.  "Ablutions", which means washing up, was not something she would have said before John.  

Life is Bubbling Along for the Kelloggs in Clearwater, 1975

There was an article about John Kellogg in the Clearwater, FL newspaper in 1975, along with this picture.  He had turned 76 in August.

After reading through a few months of Ruth's 1975 diary, I was struck by how busy and cheerful she was after she and John had been in Florida for about 10 years.  They had a lot of friends, many of them from their church in Oak Park.  Living nearby were son Ken (44) and his second wife, Nellie, (39) along with sons Phil (15) and Roger (12).

Ruth's mother, Lottie Meredith, and her brother, Jimmie, lived close by in Largo FL.  They had moved to Florida a few years the Kelloggs migrated south.   Ruth had a lot of responsibility for Lottie (89) and Jim (64), but she seemed to take it in stride at 69.  In the diary entry, we start out at Ruth's beauty shop, where she had her hair done weekly.

Dec. 3, 1975 - Wednesday - "Mary cut my hair - her own idea - no charge!  Feels better.  I shopped for Diane's Xmas gift.  Got her a blue cardigan and blue T-shirt.  This made me 45 min. late to Mom's.

Jim & I went shopping & put lunch in oven on return.  So we ate about 40 mins. after noon.  I then cut Jim's hair & Mom did dishes.  Then I rolled up the front of her hair (she washed it on Tues.). Then I washed out 4 of her things.  I sat on edge of her ottoman & it tipped me onto the floor.  Hurt my seat!  Not a far fall, but unexpected!  

John baked beans for supper - in wrong dish - so lost a lot of the liquid on oven floor.  Ended up too dry.  I did put water on & warm it covered, a little."

This tells you what some days were like at that point in Ruth's life.  She and John also played doubles in tennis once or twice a week, took dancing lessons, played bridge frequently, shopped, read books and magazines. She wrote a lot of letters to friends and also to me up in Palatine IL.  Ruth played bridge with her women friends as well as John.  She was in a couple of women's groups, which she seemed to look forward to.