Holy Cats!

1904 Diary: Jan 6-7 (Of Celery and Ventriloquists)

Arose 11 AM. Wnet up and got my pay and then went over City on an errand for Mother.  Walked home. Went to work. WOrked till 1230. Retired 1255 AM.

Remarks:

Feel like da sponge. Everything balled up. Bad headache, but I ain't been boozing.

Arose 11 AM. Went up skating on Alfords but they were just cleaning it. Not very good. Got into work 3 PM. Wyman said "to the board tomorrow" but Mabre called up later and said same as usual. Staid around till about 1245 listening to the porter ventriloquist. Had my harmonica in and Parke heard me playing it. Retired 115 AM.

Remarks:

Like taking money from a baby. Could drink a pint of "sky juice" I feel so devilish.

1904 Diary: Jan 4-5

 

Arose 10 AM. Took a walk after breakfast. Went around Somerville first and back to the Terminal. Met Kenefick and we rode out on Lowell car. He was going to school. I get off at Sommerville Park and walked back home. Did some writing after dinner. Then went to work. Club up Moulton Street gone to the wall for fair now. Relieved Plack. Worked til 1230. Retired 1 AM. ]

Remarks:
Weather cold. Sun bright. Skating bum. Bum's drunk.

Arose 1130 AM. Loafed around till 3. Post working early shift. Clark at "WD". Worked til 1235 AM. Some one lost some celery and some chocolates and Charley Green and I had a great feed. Retired 1 AM.

Remarks:

Temp about 20. Rivers and harbor full of ice. No skating on acount of snow. Makde a bet with Dill and Cadigan today about saving money.

1904 Diary: Jan. 2-3

Arose 10 AM. Cold as the theoretical "Boston Girl" this morning and snowing hard. Took Ethel [his sister] out on her sled for about an hour. Had a great coast. Came in looking like a snow plow. Very dusty out. Went to work 3 PM.  Snow storm turned into a blizzard. Elevated ran slick surface lines tied up. Didn't even run snow trains. Temperature about 3 above all day. Retired 1 AM.

Remarks:

Too cold to make any. Ned Hammond was around today.

Arose 1230 AM. Relieved Clark as usual 3 PM. Very cold again today. Lots of snow on the ground. Temp averaged 0 all day. Four below at 12 md. Didn't run any double headers. Worked til 12:05. Retired 1:30 AM.

Remarks:

Same as yesterday. Plunking the key at "S" swift as possible.

1904 Diary: Jan. 1

Starting today, I will try and post an corresponding entry from the 1904 diary each day.  Enjoy!

Arose 11:05 AM. Went over the city and got my skates that I left there to be sharpened. Bought some pencils and a blank book also.  Kind of warm today but there is skating up on the playground. Working at "S". Got in to work 2:55 PM. Worked till 12:30. Retired about 11:15 AM.

Remarks:

Weather beautiful overhead and slushy underfoot. My week's pay for a skate. Haven't had one for about two weeks. Well, well! Such is life. Cash low. Bought a derby last Weds. Style 1111.

1904 Diary: Chief Kick a Hole in Shoe

Willie illustrates a visit to the Somerville Park.  He wrote half a page but then went back, crossed out half of it and drew "Chief Kick a Hole in Shoe" over it.

I wonder what was so risque that he felt the need to hide it?  Judging from the goofy picture, I'd say that he and Tom indulged in more than a little "moon juice" that night.

1904 Diary: Electrocuted 1 mouse

 This entry pretty much speaks for itself.  It must have been a slow, slow night down at the train station on March 8.

Arose 10 AM. Worked 3 PM to 1230 PM. Bob brought in trap and we caught a mouse and electrocuted him.  I staid til 2 AM. Came home and retired 230 AM.

Remarks: Played checkers with Jim. Tie game. 
Electrocuted 1 mouse.

Beans, Beans, good for your heart...

Larry has a bad case of indigestion.  Damn those beans!

Arose 6 AM. In at 630. Came home and read  "First Men on the Moon" [H.G. Wells] . After supper Tom called and we went up night school. After school they had a bum dance in the hall. I staid till 930 PM. Came home and retired but not to sleep on account of some horrible cramps. Didn't get to sleep until 330 am after mother got up and made me a hot ginger tea.

Remarks: Chiefly--Damn these beans.

Too bad his mother didn't have this: 

on hand to give him.  I wonder if the kid in the ad is an example of before or after a dose of the miracle Cascarets pill?

1904 Diary: In which Willie loses a dollar

Thanks to inflation, if you were to lose that same $1.00 today, it would be worth roughly $21.53 . And considering Willie made about $5.00 a week, that's a hefty chunk of his wages. No wonder he was so worried.

Could you have made a living on early 20th century working class wages?

Translation: Arose 10 AM. In to work 3 PM. Worked til 1230 am. Came home and retired 115 AM.

Remarks: Rode out to Jamacia Pond on wheel, 1135-1245 out and back. Got caught in a little shower coming home. It didn't last long though. I feel as though I were about to be overtaken by that sickness called "disinclination to work". Guess I'll work it off.

Arose 10 AM. In to work at 305 PM. Worked til 1230 am. Came home and retired 130 am.

Remarks: Weather kind of warm for this time of the year. Staid up til one thirty am figuring out how i lost a dollar during the day. Found out I was counting four half dollars I had as one dollar. This is night school night tonight.** The thought of it makes me sad. Me to the bed.

**(He was taking night school courses in shorthand to get a promotion at work)

 

A Thank You

I'd like to thank all the Something Awful forum members who turned Willie's 1904 Diary into a truly multi-media experience, from looking up the books Willie mentions reading , the songs he was listening to, the clothes he was wearing, photographs of 1904 Boston and even tracking Willie down on the census and finding out what became of him after 1904.  Thank you, goons!

1904 Diary: The Josie Saga

And now, as promised, I present the Josie Saga, a 3 part mini-series. Willie had a girlfriend, Mattie, but they were more off than on-again most of the time. Not being one to sit around and mope about it, Willie discovered romance amongst the switchboard cables down at the train station where he worked.

Translation: 830 am. Went down the bank and drew eight bones. Coming back I left my overcoat in a store to be cleaned. In to work 12 noon. Cadigan owed me 5 hours so he came up at 3 and worked for me til 500 pm. I borrowed his raglan and kid gloves and went over the city. Got some dry goods and came back to work. About 3 PM. I went down and bought some ice-cream. Brought some down to Josephine for which she let me hold her hand for awhile. Off work 1240 am. Retired 1. Remarks: Miss Josephine Coffie says she resides at 40 Revere St, Boston. Will call in my auto--later.

(Silly Willie, he doesn't have an auto! A forum member over at Something Awful has suggested that he was being sarcastic as Revere Street was part of a well-to-do neighborhood back then and our boy Willie was strictly working class.)

Translation: Arose 625 am. In at 640. Worked til 12 noon. Came home and read "The Green Flag" (a library book that belongs to Kenefick) Took a nap from 3-430. Mike called after supper. He trimmed me 7 games of chess and 2 of checkers. Remarks: Must cut "holding hands" with Josephine and study shorthand a good deal harder.

(But alas, Josephine has a secret. A big one.)

Translation: 520 am. In at 539. but they sent me down on the platform acct Pendergast sick. Came home and went to bed 30 pm. Got up at 6 pm and rode over to Park St. Waitied for Josie and then we walked to the theatre. It was all right we had a lovely time. Came home and retired 12 md (Cadigan says that Josie has been married and a has a couple of children. I don't know. I don't care) Remarks: We held hands during the entire play and when it came to the Radium Dances. Well, a kiss on the lips is worth 2 on the hand. Didn't count them all but there 5 or 6 long ones.

Yes, that does actually say "Radium Dance". And what's a Radium Dance, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

*The Radium Dance a song from the 1903 Broadway musical Piff, Paff, Pouf.   The song was "number 1 with a bullet" back in 1904.  And in case you're wondering what The Radium Dance sounded like, click here. **

*Thanks to Something Awful forum member  Deteriorata for finding both the song and the sheet music.

** And another big thanks to Something Awful forum member havax for taking the time to sit down and plunk out The Radium Dance on the piano.