Around Valentine's Day, 1928, With An Engaged Ruth Meredith

In her 1928 diary, Ruth mentions that she and John Kellogg were engaged on Oct. 19, 1927, which is earlier than I had thought.  The picture shows Ruth in 1928 in a cloche and
fur-collared winter coat with a beaded purse.  She was in Chicago, but I don't know where.

February 12, 1928, Sun. - "Church with John.  We took snapshots this afternoon.  Took long drive.  After supper we strung beads.  Bed 10:30.  'Lincoln's Birthday' ."

February 13, 1928, Mon. - "Monotonous day!  Raining!  Bright spot - John came to supper and we poked fun at each other.  Didn't do anything worthwhile tonite.  Looked over old valentines."

February 14, 1928, Tues. - "More rain!  Got valentine from Wanda.  John is buying mine tomorrow.  Just answered Esther's letter.  Pay day!"

February 15, 1928, Wed. - John bought 1 1/2 lb. box of chocolates with a bit of verse, entitled 'A Dumb Man's Wail'.  Good.  We saw 'The Loves of Carmen' in the movies tonight.  Also good."

February 16, 1928, Thurs. - "Got my new swivel desk chair this morning.  Tonite I washed my hair.  Florence & Clyde were at same show last night.  Now to read.  I must write Wanda soon."

February 17, 1928, Fri. - "Snow!  John over to eat.  Teased me about something he has in hiding place till 19th, which is our 4th month of engagement."

February 18, 1928, Sat. - "Papa drove me around and I did Mam's shopping.  She has stiff neck. Mama stayed home & the rest of us went to the show in Papa's car."

February 19, 1928, Sun. - "John gave cast aluminum percolator for 'hope chest'.  John & I went to Oak Park church with Papa.  Took snow pictures & then took long walk together."

Ruth doesn't mention that she is working now at Ward's.  The little clues are "pay day" and the swivel office chair.  Florence worked there too and Clyde was her steady beau, who married her in 1930.  I'm not sure who Esther is - maybe a work friend.

I'm guessing that Ruth and John went to a Methodist church on the 12th, which was his faith, and then to Oak Park's First Baptist on the 19th.  Ruth was raised a Baptist, as was her father, Jim Meredith, who was from Berrien County MI.  Ruth and John finally chose to go to Austin Baptist Church when they married in 1929.  It was the one Ruth's parents had been attending since at least 1922.  Ruth and John switched to the First Baptist in Oak Park when they moved there in 1941.  By then they had 2 children: Kenneth and Diane.

Ruth Kellogg Is Happy and Busy at 64 in Florida - 1971

If you think this doesn't look like Clearwater FL, you're right.  The picture of Pellettiere grandchildren Lynn, Cindy and little Katie was taken on a windy day in Palatine IL in the same year - 1971.  Our house behind them on Skylark Drive was brand-new, as you can see from the lack of bushes, flowers, trees.

I loved reading this page of my mother's diary because she sounded so happy.  This diary entry is not in Pieces of a Life.

Sat., February 27, 1971 - "As I write this (Sun. 1:15 P.M.), it us a beautiful, sunny 80 degree day.  Boats are out in the Intracoastal waterway, which our apartment faces.  A girl is sunning on the lawn below us.  Also workmen are placing new seawalls on the west side of our parking lot.

Now for Saturday!   I wore my orange pant suit to Jennings tonite - surprised them, I guess.  Claire served bread-cheese souffle & cake with ice cream layer.  We played bridge and Merle won.  Nice time all told.

In afternoon I was unusually busy at the gift shop from 2 to 5.  A lady patient spent $15.42 on several items - two of which I gift wrapped.  She wrote a check."

Until I read this entry, I didn't recall that Mom worked in the hospital's gift shop.  I would guess it was the Morton Plant Hospital, which is the only one I heard about in their years in Florida.  The Jennings were long-time friends of Ruth and John's in Oak Park at the First Baptist Church.  Several couples moved to that area and others vacationed there for a few months in the winter.  Ruth and John joined the Methodist Church when they moved to Florida because it seemed more like First Baptist.
John had started out as a Methodist from boyhood until he married Ruth in 1929.

Ruth's Diary and Diane's - Hello to Kate, April 22, 1960

The photo is 4 months after the diary entries on April 22.  Diane (33) holding a smiley K - Katherine.  Two perspectives on Kate's day of birth follow. From my viewpoint now, it seems almost like a dream...

The 4 of us - Dan, Diane, Lynn (3) and Cindy (2) Pellettiere - had lived in Mt. Prospect IL in our first house since moving back from New York City in 1966.  Grandma Ruth Kellogg (62) flew up from Clearwater FL to lend a hand

Ruth's Dairy - April 22, 1970
"RED LETTER DAY!  Diane gave birth to 3rd girl.  Name is Katherine Diane - 6# 9 oz.  Dan took Diane to hospital at 8 and the baby was all day on the way until 5:18 P.M.  At 8:30 tonite Diane phoned here & we talked 20 mins.  Dan out to friends' celebrating.  I phoned Ken and Mom. Dan phoned John.  Both baby and Diane in fine shape.

I kept busy all day with Lynn & Cindy and food preparation, dishes, wash, changing clothes, shoes, boots (after a spring downpour).  Tired now.  Dan put girls to bed but I had them bathed and ready before he got here.  Girls & I made batch of peanut butter cookies and I froze some."

Diane's Diary - April 22, 1970 
"I awoke at 3 AM with labor pains - irregular and mild.  By 5 they began to settle down to every 10 min.  At 6 called Dr. Levan.  At 8:15 Dan drove me to the hospital.  Contractions were irregular until 10 AM.  Went into hard labor in afternoon, but didn't dilate to 5 cc until 3 or 3:30, so I was on a muscle relaxant and in great pain.  Then I got a shot, which helped lots. 

 At 4:15 or 4:30 the nurse checked me & found me fully dilated.  She flew me into the delivery room & called the Dr.  Baby was born as soon as I started pushing down - 5:18 - beautiful ruddy, brown-haired pudgy little thing - Katherine Diane - 18 3/4" long and 6 lbs. 9 1/2 oz.  Dan went home at 6 PM.  Called home & talked to Mom.  Dan at Farrell's.   

Lutheran General (Hosp.) O.B. very crowded.  A record 292 babies delivered last month.  May come close this month."

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. 

Three Thanksgivings in the 1930s

The picture shows Ruth wearing the black fox stole John gave her for their 1st wedding anniversary in June, 1930 and her July 5th birthday.  She was 24.  Maybe this was taken in the yard at 4705 Byron St., Chicago where they owned and lived in a 3-flat.

Nov., 27, 1930 - Thanksgiving - "Thanksgiving Day.  Cold! Folks came for dinner.  Chicken good - pie no good.  Played cards, had cold chicken in evening & cookies.  John peevish again.  Read in bed until 9:30."

Nov. 26, 1931 - Thanksgiving - "Smitty saw Baby first time.  John did part of my ironing while I washed Baby clothes.  We walked over to folks for dinner at 12:30.  We had leg-o-lamb & everything to go with Thanksgiving dinner.  Played Bridge & Hearts.  Home 8:15."

Nov. 24, 1932 - Thanksgiving  - "THaNksgiviNg.  After work was done here, we went to folks'.  Kennie slept on porch while we enjoyed Thanksgiving chicken (I paid for).  John's brief case stolen last nite.  Played cards.  (John out from 2:30-7:00.)"

Interesting to see that they had chicken twice and lamb once in those years.  The Depression had started in October, 1929, so money was tighter and tighter with so many losing jobs or getting large cuts in pay.  That explains the lack of turkey, duck, goose on the table.  I remember having turkey and duck for Thanksgiving at Grandma & Grandpa Meredith's at age 5 or 6.

Smitty was best friend to Jimmie, Ruth's younger brother, in grade school and high school.  It seemed that the relationship began to fray when they were in their late 20s.  I think that Smitty married where Jimmie did not.  Jimmie isn't mentioned, but he would have been at the 3 Thanksgivings at 19, 20 and 21 years old.

Kennie (later called "Kenny") was born on Sept. 6, 1931, so only 2 1/2 months old in Nov., 1931. Ruth and John were still coping with being parents as well as having little money.   They walked to the Meredith's on Iowa St. that year.  By then they had sold the 3-flat and had moved to a flat at 5841 W. Superior St.  It was only a few blocks from the Merediths.

Maybe Ruth was feeling festive when she wrote the unusual lettering on "Thanksgiving" in the 1932 quote from her diary.  By then they were probably feeling more at ease with 1-year-old Kennie.  Ruth doesn't say anything else about the brief case.  Perhaps that's where John went when he was "out" - looking for the brief case.

The day after Thanksgiving in 1932 Ruth and her mother,  Lottie Meredith, cut each other's hair and Lottie washed Ruth's hair.  Before the Depression when Ruth was working for Montgomery Ward, she and her mother both had their short hair cut by a barber.

Ruth's Move to a New World, Oak Park, with "Emotion"

This photo of Ruth Kellogg at age 35 in Oct., 1941 was taken before she moved to Oak Park.  It doesn't appear in Pieces of a Life.  Some of the diary entries that follow were used in the book, however.  They are among the most heartfelt, revealing ones Ruth wrote.

Most of Ruth's adult teen and adult years had been in the safe cocoon that the quiet, comfortable Austin neighborhood provided on the far west side of Chicago.  The house that Ruth and John bought in Nov., 1941 was only about two miles from the familiar two-flat on Iowa Street, owned by Ruth's parents, but may as well have been on the moon.  

Sunday, Nov. 16, 1941 - "Well, it's happened!  We've put a down payment on a 7-room house!  At 1210 N. Euclid Ave., Oak Park.  It's 11 years old.  Needs a little decorating in spots.  Has 2-car brick garage like house - orange-tan face brick all around.  Gas vapor heat.  

Then we went to Florence's for 4 o'clock dinner.  Of course the talk was then all about house - we took them by ours tonight.  Too dark to see much.  I feel sort of sad about moving in a month from here."

Monday, Nov. 17, 1941 -  "All day my emotions were at a high pitch and I couldn't accomplish much.  I did phone in 'To Rent' ad for flat and then make house presentable.  But it's taking me all day to get used to idea of moving into strange house away from familiar neighborhood.

Kenny wrote composition about "Happiest Moment of My Life" - and the facts of buying house yesterday.  So teacher knows it already.

P.S.  I cried myself to sleep."

Thursday, Nov. 20, 1941 - "Thanksgiving Day was spent down with folks, as usual.  Had big turkey, etc.  Talked over different problems of house and furnishings.  Mama and I played Old Maid and then Bridge with Diane and Kenny.  

Golly, I'm in a muddle as to what to do first about Xmas and moving!"

Ruth and John went to dinner at Florence & Clyde Ballentine's in Elmwood Park.  Ken and I would have been invited because the Ballentines had a girl named Bonnie, who was 4 years old.

Ruth and John enjoyed playing cards, which is why Ken and I learned to play Auction Bridge and other games at 5 years old.  John was very competitive, which may have been why he wanted to live in upscale Oak Park.  Luckily for Ken and me, the school system was outstanding.  I remember feeling very out of place on my first day there in November, feeling that the other kindergartners already had become friends.  So I was echoing the feeling that my mother had.  I adjusted, thanks to some very thoughtful teachers and nice children.