Ruth Meredith and John Kellogg Marry

Ruth and John married in the Meredith's flat at 5458 W. Iowa St. in the Austin neighborhood on the far west side of Chicago.  I don't know how they managed it - must have moved much of their furniture into the 3 bedrooms in order to have room for 24 guests, who also had dinner there.

Saturday, June 1, 1929 - My Wedding Day!!!
"Up early.  Lady upstairs washed and set my hair.  Gifts arriving all day.  Pressed my wedding veil -- some job
   Had 24 at ceremony & dinner.  I was excited when I was repeating after Dr. Gardiner, but John seemed very natural.  Mr. Brenken drove us to the photographer's & back.  Tin cans on our car.  During dinner they tried to get us flustered.  I cut wedding cake.  Florence caught my bouquet from front porch.  Sausen stole me after that.  Finally at Hotel Morrison.  Forgot dresses.  Folks brought them down."

From there Ruth and John went to Detroit for their wedding trip, an area John was familiar with, having lived there as a teen.  After a week, they went on to Ann Arbor where John's mother and step-father lived.  Most of this is in Pieces of a Life.

A Hot July in 1934...and Even Hotter at the Biograph Theatre!

Ruth (28) and Kenny Kellogg (not quite 3 years old)  returned from Ann Arbor MI on July 16, catching a bus in Ypsilanti.  They had visited John's mother, Esther Wood, and his stepfather, Guy Wood as well as seeing Dorothy Hiltner, John's sister and Sara Jane, Guy Jr., his stepsister and stepbrother.  The picture of them was taken on the Wood's front steps in Ann Arbor. I've used it before and think it's also in Pieces of a Life .  Ruth had stopped there for 5 weeks on the way back from staying with John in NYC for  month.  He was working for Sealtex on the East Coast.

It was a hot summer,which Ruth mentions time and again as she does the housework, ironing, cooking in the flat above her parents' apartment on Iowa Street in Chicago. The washing was done in the stone basement, so would have seemed much cooler. Also, she was washing and ironing John's shirts and other clothes, which meant carrying heavy boxes to the post office to mail them to New York City.

On July 22, Ruth says, "Gangster  Dillinger shot to death tonite by police & gov. men as he came out of the Biograph Theatre. Another hot day!  We got ice cream bars every day.  Played Hearts in cool breeze of porch tonite."

Ruth mentions on the 24th that it was "Hot! 105 degrees in the shade."  I wonder if she had been aware of John Dillinger.  He became a famous figure because of all of the newspaper coverage of his shady career, not to mention the movies later made about him.

1966 - Ruth, Diane and Lottie with the Fourth Generation, Lynn Meredith

Ruth Kellogg's diary entry and the picture of her with daughter Diane Pellettiere and mother Lottie Meredith are not in Pieces of a Life. This picture was taken in Mount Prospect IL in Aug., 1966 after Diane and Dan, both 30, moved back from New York City.  One of Dan's clown paintings is on the wall above Lottie.

The scab on Diane's leg came from a fall she took running into Randhurst to buy more paint for the walls she was painting.  Though Diane was carrying Lynn in her arms at the time, the baby was unharmed.

Thursday, May 12, 1966
   "No word yet (3 PM) from N.Y.  Am taking pills to ward off a cold and not doing much -- just pot-roasting beef for supper and knitting & watching TV.  
    Dan phoned at about 10:20 PM.  Diane had a little girl, about 6 lbs. -- name Lynn Meredith.  All O.K.  She went in at 9 AM.  Up at 2 AM and birth about 9:45 PM.  I phoned Beth & Ken the news."

Ruth uses Central time rather than Eastern for each event.  For instance, Lynn (6 lbs. 7 oz.) was born at 10:38 PM at Beth Israel Hospital in New York...The Kelloggs had two other grandchildren by then, Philip Alan (5) and Roger Winslow (2), but this was the first girl.  There would be two more, Cynthia Jo and Katherine Diane.

Ruth (60) flew to NYC to help out from May 16-25.  During that time, Dan flew to Chicago and looked at houses over a weekend, driven round by Diane's brother, Ken.  Dan and Diane had discussed what they wanted in a house before he left, so Dan worked off of that list - and bought a house on May 22 at 1101 Greenfield Rd., Mount Prospect.  They occupied it in August and were happy there until they outgrew it and moved in 1971.

Ruth and John were packing to leave for Florida on any day when they weren't babysitting for us (or Ken). They were now able to occupy their condo with the renter having moved to NYC.  They left on Monday, August 29, started unpacking boxes in FL, but then flew back to Chicago on Sept. 4 to do more packing and also see the Ken's and Diane's families as well as Lottie and Jim, Ruth's brother.  The Greyhound Moving Van came on Sept. 9 and Ruth and John left on Sept. 12, spending the next few weeks unpacking, making small changes in their condo.

It was an enormous change for both Ruth and John.  They both cried on Sunday, Aug. 28 when their Gamma Nu Sunday School class gave them a parting Revere Bowl.  They had been at First Baptist since 1941 when they moved to Oak Park.  One blessing that made it easier was the many church friends who either moved to Clearwater or vacationed there.

Happy Driving-to-FL New Year, 1966-7!

The picture shows (l to r - back row):  Jimmie Meredith, Ken Kellogg with Roger (3), wife Beth, Grandma Lottie Meredith, John Kellogg;  (front row) Dan, Diane & baby Lynn Pellettiere, Ruth Kellogg, Philip Kellogg ( 6).

It's Christmas, 1966 in Dan's and my first house at the corner of Greenfield and Greenwood in Mt. Prospect, IL. The Kellogg-Meredith-Pellettiere family gathered to have dinner together. Notice 3 of Dan's paintings - and a Van Gogh - behind us.

I'll go back through some of the many events of 1966 another time.  Here's what Ruth said on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 as the Kelloggs left to return to their condo in Clearwater FL.  They no longer had a house or apartment in Illinois for the first time since 1929.

Saturday, December 31, 1966   - "There were few flakes of snow in air as we left Diane & Dan's at 7 AM.  D&D got up to see us off and would probably go back to bed.  We gradually ran out of snow area, taking road slower because of blowing snow over the road.  I ate 2 P.M. lunch alone at Kum Back Inn while J. got the car greased.  I then drove clear here - to Hopkinsville - the last 25 miles after dark - 5:15 J. went for haircut."

Sunday, January 1, 1967  - "We left Ky. Motel at 7:15 A.M.  Had rain & fog last part of trip today, so were glad to get to the Robinhood Motel south of Atlanta, Ga. early - 4:20 eastern time.  We had dinner south of Monteagle (where we first hit fog in mountains, but not hard to see road.) They predict snow tonite in that spot.  I did about 1/2 of the driving today."  

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.

The Kellogg's Christmas in FL, Complete with Polaroid Camera

There's a lack of Kelloggs-in-Florida pictures from the early 1970s.  This one is from 1975, showing the family playing cards around the table.  In the picture are Ruth (65), John (72) and grandson Phil, who was 15.  He, his brother, Roger, and  father, Ken, had moved to Florida in June, 1971 after Ken was divorced.

Here's a Christmas entry from Ruth's diary that wasn't in Pieces of a Life.

Christmas Day, 1971 
"A gorgeous, warm, sunny day!  We went for Mom and Jim early and went in for 20 minutes.  Then all drove to Ken's - who took movies of our arrival.  Philip got started fast on gift-giving and soon the living room was cluttered with papers, boxes and games!

In A.M. I opened John's gift - a new Polaroid camera & case!  We studied it for over an hour & decided it was too complicated for the little use it would get.  It's going back!  Also opened all our other gifts here.  List in back of book.

Xmas dinner was FUNNY.  Two places we went to eat were too crowded.  So we ended up with carry-out fried chicken & back to Ken's to eat it & potato salad & Jell-O mold - our Christmas Dinner!  We were hungry enuf to enjoy it - no work!"

"Mom and Jim" were Lottie and Jimmie Meredith, Ruth's mother and brother.  At this point, Jim was living at home with Lottie, medicated for his schizophrenia.  Ruth did write a list of her gifts in the back of the diary. Besides the camera, she got a green nightgown and Hallmark diary from us, a cookbook with some of my recipes in it from the 3 girls, gold scuffs, tennis socks and 2 half-slips from Lottie, a purse and a diary from Jim and a sliver evening purse from "B & K & boys".  That was habit or maybe a hint of the dementia to come - to add Ken's former wife to the list. She was no longer in the picture.

John and Ruth had stopped coming north to Illinois for Christmas by this time.   Back in Palatine, Dan, myself and our 3 little girls (Lynn, Cindy, Katie) were having our first big Christmas dinner in a lovely new house in Hunting Ridge.  A few relatives would have joined us. 

A Slice of Ruth's Life in 1940

In the photo, probably taken in Ann Arbor, Diane and Ruth are wearing outfits Ruth had made.  Apparently I wasn't keen on having my picture taken.

Let's view a slice of Ruth's life in the Fall of 1940, as a 34-year-old homemaker with two children, living in the Austin section of Chicago.  Her words are in a tiny diary with 5 days on a page, so brief snippets sketch her activities, thoughts.

Thursday, Oct. 31, 1940 - "Diane got her first permanent.  Her head is full of curls.  Cute.  Cried a little.  "  I remember this. The curlers were attached to a big machine and it was very uncomfortable because of the heat and being unable to move around.  I was only 4 1/2, so I wonder why my mother felt the need for curls on my straight, fine white-blonde hair.  Maybe it was Shirley Temple's fault.  She was a wildly popular, adorable child movie star with curly hair.

Friday, Nov. 1, 1940 -  "Had my hair done and a manicure.  Jeanette drove (with Will) 4 of us to Vange's for sewing club meeting."  This may have been after Evangeline moved very far away to Arlington Heights.  That was considered "the boondocks" by Chicagoans.

Saturday, Nov. 2, 1940 - "Shopped, baked.  Show was 'All This and Heaven Too' with Bette Davis.  Good.   Ruth and John are still going to movies, but now on Saturday, always arriving before 5:00 when the lower daytime prices changed.  Ken and Diane went too.

Sunday, Nov. 3, 1940 - "Took a lot of toys to Nursery of Church.  After ride we ate at new Robin Hood's Barn and then saw show."    Going to the Baptist Church on Sunday was also part of the pattern of their lives.  They had wrestled with the question of whether to go to John's Methodist Church, but decided on Baptist right before they were married. Robin Hood's Barn was a huge, rustic restaurant on Lake St. in Oak Park.  We went there about once a month for several years.

Tuesday, Nov. 5, 1940 - "Voted for Wilkie.  Got my FUR coat finally.  Bought Kenny nice overcoat."  Ruth's fur coat was a full-length mink-dyed muskrat.  I remember the soft feel of it.

Wednesday, Nov. 6, 1940  - "Wilkie lost!"  The other guy running - for his 3rd term - was a chap named Franklin Delano Roosevelt.    My parents were very Republican politically, but wasn't their party's day. They would have been stunned to know that FDR would run in 1944, deep in WW II and win a 4th time.