1917 ORIGINAL, CHARMING PEEK INTO YOUNG LOVE AND COURTING WITH THE AWFUL BACK DROP OF WWI LOOMING FOR A COUPLE WHO WOULD JOIN IN LIFE FOR NEARLY 6 DECADES
On offer is a lovely, original manuscript record of a young man's efforts to court a girl with whom he has obviously fallen in love. This soft cover journal is actually a notebook in which he has written in the dates and entries as the year progressed. Measuring 11 inches by 5.5 inches, it contains 96 pages and is approximately 80% complete. He also includes a record of his expenses, month by month. The cover is in good condition considering its age (100 years+) and the pages are all intact. His handwriting is legible. Edward S. Schwantes was born in Wisconsin in 1893, his parents came from Germany in the mid-19th century, later his family moved to Clark County in Washington. He kept this journal in 1917 when he was 24 years of age. Although it records many things that took place in his life that year, its focus is his courting of a young woman names Olga. Casual research has not turned up very much biographical information on Schwantes. We know he served in the U.S. Army and was discharged as a Private but the service years are not known. He is also recorded years later as a building contractor. He died in 1975 in Salem. However, did he get the girl? The answer to that lays below. Schwantes is a labourer in the Ridgefield, WA area. He worked in carpentry, agriculture and a variety of odd jobs: "Worked in the woods all a.m. To town in the p.m. and took in cream & brought back grass seed. [ ] To library in evening". [Jan 25, 1917]; "Butchered old sow in the a.m. cut wood the rest of the day. Sent for 50 ¢ jar of Jacksons Influx Hair Grower & and one cake of soft Jacksons medicated soap - 25 ¢" [Jan 29, 1917]. In February, there is the first mention of 'Olga': "... took Olga home after church and found out some of her troubles. God help you, Olga to win out in your undertakings. God only knows how much I would like to help you and I'm praying for you all the time, Olga. I would like to do more and would do anything in my power to comfort and help you and protect you if only I dared to and I hope some day I will dare to ... " [Feb 18, 1917]. The relationship appeared to be blossoming over time: "... Had the pleasure of taking Olga home after church again and found out that her folks didn't object to my keeping company with her anymore." [Mar 18, 1917]. He notes her birthday and his gift-giving ability: "... took Olga home after church her 19th birthday and all I could give her was love; it seemed I didn't have enough of that to satisfy her ..." [July 8, 1917]. Throughout the year, he reports daily on his work, whether cutting wood, grubbing (clearing trees, shrubs, stumps, and rubbish from a site, often a prelude to construction), building and construction work, etc. References to he and Olga continue throughout the year, charting ups and downs. His journal also contains a detailed list of monthly receipts and expenses. And, in the end, did he get the girl? Yes - research indicates that an Olga was born in 1898 in Scappoose, moved in Ridgefield when she was about 16, in 1919 she married Edward Scwhantes and they were married for 56 years, until his death in 1975. During the WW2 Edward and their sons were in the army, and Olga worked as a welder in shipyards. One of their sons, Paul, was killed in action in the Philippines in November 1944. Olga passed away in Salem in 1996 at the age of 98. This is a wonderful looking into the life of an ordinary young man growing up in early 20th century America. His entries are well written and detailed. They give a social historian an excellent window into life in this time and place. The detailed information about receipts and expenses certainly help confirm other outside information about the economics of life at that time.; Manuscript; 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF; 20TH CENTURY; 1910s; WW1; CLARK COUNTY; WASHINGTON; WISCONSIN; EDWARD S. SCHWANTES; RIDGEFIELD; WA; VANCOUVER, WA; OLGA SCWHANTES; WW2 VETERANS; PRICES IN AMERICA IN 1917; YOUNG MEN IN 1910S AMERICA; EARLY 20TH CENTURY; COURTSHIP IN EARLY 20TH CENTURY RURAL AMERICA; RURAL WASHINGTON; DATING IN RURAL AMERICA; JOBS IN EARLY 20TH CENTURY RURAL WASHINGTON; AMERICAN ECONOMY IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY; GERMAN AMERICANS; AMERICANA, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, DIARY, DIARIES, JOURNALS, PERSONAL HISTORY, SOCIAL HISTORY, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, ANTIQUITÉ, CONTRAT, VÉLIN, DOCUMENT, MANUSCRIT, PAPIER ANTIKE, BRIEF, PERGAMENT, DOKUMENT, MANUSKRIPT, PAPIER OGGETTO D'ANTIQUARIATO, ATTO, VELINA, DOCUMENTO, MANOSCRITTO, CARTA ANTIGÜEDAD, HECHO, VITELA, DOCUMENTO, MANUSCRITO, PAPEL
