March 31, 1918 - Easter Sunday and daylight saving time

After a 10 day hiatus, Mary restarts her diary entries today, Easter Sunday.  Of  course she went to mass,  received communion and entertained friends, but mostly had an uneventful day.   She did not comment on the fact that March 31 was the first day of daylight saving time.

Throughout the month of March local newspapers reported on the progress, and eventual signing by President Woodrow Wilson on March 18, of the daylight saving bill.  Some European countries including Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany, had already instituted daylight saving timeearlier in the war.  According to a March 3, 1918 article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the United States Chamber of Commerce supported the bill, giving 52 reasons why it should be passed including savings of coal, expedited training of armed forces, increased production in shipyards and factories, improved health of workers, decreased industrial accidents and improved transportation during rush hour.  As March 31 approached, watchmakers advertised free assistance in moving watches forward on Saturday, March 30.  When Sunday, March 31 arrived, newspaper articles documented instances of people missing trains, being late for church, households where several family members each turned the same clock forward an hour, and even a cat that missed its breakfast because it turned up at 9 AM instead of 8 AM.

1918 was the first daylight saving time in the United States.  It began the last Sunday in March and ended the last Sunday in October.  It was repealed in 1919, although some states and cities (including Philadelphia) continued to shift their clocks seasonally.  During World Ward II daylight saving time was again instituted nationally for three years and immediately after the war was repealed with some cities and regions of the country again continuing the practice despite national repeal.  The Uniform Time Act of 1966 set daylight saving time from the last Sunday in April (changed to the first Sunday in April in 1986) to the last Sunday in October. During the energy crisis of the 1970s, national daylight saving time was implemented in 1974 and 1975.  Since 2007 daylight saving time in the United States extends from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.  Hawaii and the non-Navajo portions of Arizona and overseas U.S. territories have opted out.

Lent and Stations of the Cross

Mary's intense Catholic religious devotion pervades her diary, a devotion that continued throughout her life.  During Lent and with Easter fast approaching, Mary on March 15 followed the Catholic tradition of attending the Stations of the Cross on a Friday .  A good summary of the tradition can be found here.

The following day she attended "St. Columbus's to see the show called the Curate."  She writes that she did not enjoy it, later felt very "blue" and cried.  She ends the day with a note expressing some ambivalence about her relationship with her soldier boy Frank.

Mary's spelling of proper names, as is often the case, fails her once again her.  "St. Columbus" was St. Columba Catholic Church on 24th Street and Lehigh Avenue in Philadelphia.  In more recent years with the consolidation of several Catholic parishes in Philadelphia, it was renamed St. Martin de Porres and there is a very good review of the history of the church, including multiple exterior and interior photos at the Philadelphia Church Project.   A nice article about a plaque at the church that was dedicated in 1919 to the Parish soldiers who served in World War I can be found at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Edythe Radis

Mary often attended the movies, sometimes went to Vaudeville shows and other times socialized at home or at other people's homes.  One name that repeatedly comes up throughout the diary as someone with whom Mary participated in all the above activities was Edythe Radis, rarely referred to as Edith Radis, other times simply as Miss Radis.  Some of the individuals mentioned by Mary can be identified in more detail.  Edythe Radis is one of those.

Edythe appears in the 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 census.  She was born on September 7, 1896 in Massachusetts to Russian born Jewish parents.  In 1900 she was living in Fall River, Massachusetts with her parents Samuel and Rosie and her 5 siblings, the oldest three of whom had been born in Russia.  The family apparently emigrated from Russia around 1891, possibly as early as 1888 based on the 1910 Census.  In 1910 they were in Philadelphia and by 1920, still living in Philadelphia, although her father had likely died because she was living with her mother as head of household and a younger sister.  In 1930 she was still single, employed as a nurse and living with her now married younger sister and her family.  She traveled some according to ship manifests, in 1927 returning from Southampton, England and in 1931 returning from Havana, Cuba.

Edythe married James M. Dallas in New York City on October 22, 1934.  She was 38 years old.  She continued to travel, sailing with her husband from NYC to California in 1836 and to Bermuda in 1956 without her husband, and declaring a Carmel, California address in 1962.  Subsequent addresses in city directories indicated she then lived through the 1960s and into at least the early 1970s in Monterey, California.  She died June 15, 1989 and was buried in Biloxi National Cemetery in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Edythe actual served in the United States Naval Reserve Force, enrolling 7/20/1918, and serving in active duty from 9/20/1918 to 8/8/1919, serving in the Distributing Barracks in Philadelphia from 9/20/1918 to 11/11/1918 and being honorably discharged on 7/25/1920.  Mary does not acknowledge Edythe's military service in her diary although they attended shows together on July 20 and 21 and August 28 and unsuccessfully sought out a possible movie venue on August 22.

Victrola

On February 19, 1918 as on some other days, Mary's diary entry mentions playing her Victrola.  These were the days before commercial radio and of course before television and other electronic media that we take so much for granted today.

The Victrola was made by the Victor Talking Machine Co. of Camden, NJ.  On the first of every month the Evening Public Ledger would have an advertisement for new Victrola record offerings.  For example, the March 1, 1918 Victrola advertisement touted "Jascha Heifitz again displays his genius.  The wonderful young Russian's mastery of the violin is evidenced in this brilliant rendition of Elgar's dainty 'La Capricieuse' which cannot fail to captivate you."  Also "Sousa's band plays two stirring Sousa marches" and others.

Here is an ad from the February 10, 1918 The Philadelphia Inquirer for a Victrola "talking machine".

 

 

The player is on top of the console, the console being used to store the records.  This complete unit selling for $79.50 would be the equivalent of nearly $1,300 USD today.  A YouTube sample of how a record might sound can be found here.