"My Horse Won - Gallant Fox!"

Ruth Kellogg, pictured in flapper garb, was not a gambler.  Neither was husband John, unless he was buying a business, a factory building or apartments to rent.  He always believed he could swing whatever it was by hard work.  He and Ruth had been married almost a year - June 1, 1929 - and were weathering the Great Depression..

However, 85 years ago Ruth did bet on the Kentucky Derby at work, which was the offices of retailer Montgomery Ward..  I wonder if it was her first bet ever.

Saturday, May 17, 1930
"Sixteen of office secretaries, (me too), bet a quarter a piece on Kentucky Derby horses ($4.00).  My horse won - Gallant Fox.  It's hard to believe.  Monday I'll get the money."

When I skimmed through this on the first reading, I thought she had bet $4.00!  Then I realized that it would have been a huge amount of money in 1930 with everyone losing jobs and cutting spending.  The 25 cents Ruth did bet made a lot more sense.

As kids in the 1940s, my brother and I had a horse race board game with a spinner that pointed to a number, determining  how many spaces your horse could travel on your turn.  There were 6 or 8 horses, all Kentucky Derby winners.  One of them was none other than Gallant Fox.

Celebrating Christmas, 1930

The picture shows Ruth in a canoe on her honeymoon in Detroit, 1929.  The diary entries below were in 1930,when Ruth and John Kellogg were married 18 months.  The Depression had been running the country downhill for over a year.

Wednesday, Dec. 24, 1930     "It was cookies we got Mon. from A.A.  Rec'd gift from Wanda - sent John with hers.  He didn't have to work today.  Had the first of 3 pots of baked beans for supper (4:00).  Again."

The cookies came from John's family in Ann Arbor, Michigan...Wanda was such a close friend of Ruth's in high school, but gradually drops out of the picture.  At this point John was still working for Montgomery Ward, but not Ruth.  After being shunted from department to department because of the huge layoffs of workers, Ruth was finally let go in August, 1930.  She went to an employment agency and attempted to find another job, but the economy was collapsing around her with jobs were fewer and fewer.  Notice that baked beans, a thrifty dish, was on the menu. Again.

Christmas Day, 1930      "Nice sunshiny day.  Took snap of John carrying Xmas bundles over to the folks.  Had a big turkey dinner and played cards later.   Ate a lunch in evening too.  Drove us home with our gifts.  Gifts listed under 'Memo'."

I didn't find a tally of the gifts for 1930, though the ones for 3 other years in this 5-year diary were listed.  I'm sure there were few of them with so little money coming in.