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| Marjorie at age 15. She was probably referring to this picture when she wrote,"I got my picture taken. Fair" (10 April 1937) Apparently she did not particularly like this photograph of herself. |
When I, Matt Crawford, was twelve years old my family, which
included my parents (Scott & Ann) and my brothers (Steve, Joe, & Pete),
sold our home in West Valley City, Utah. At the same time my maternal
grandparents (Marjorie Allred & John Williams) also sold their home in the
avenues of Salt Lake City. All of us moved into a home in Sandy, Utah in February
1987. Since grandpa had Alzheimer’s, grandma was no longer able to care
for him on her own—hence the moves into a combined home. Among the many memories
I have of my grandparents, this one is pertinent to this post: grandma loved
watching soap operas. Often while watching these, or any other program for that
matter, she would have her radio blaring the tremulous tones of operatic
singers. (Two ironies: [1] she listened to operatic works while watching her
soaps, and [2] a bunch of teenage boys would later ask their grandma, in the
basement apartment, to turn down her radio.) When asked why she watched her
soap operas she would intone, “For the story.” However, after reading from
grandma’s teenage diary, I think she really watched them and loved operatic
music because they reminded her of a carefree, yet drama-filled youth.
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| Cover of the diary |
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| Inside of the diary |
In 1936 Marjorie and her family (parents and five siblings) resided
in Idaho, moving homes once that year (23–25 April), and entries for that year
centered around five topics: movies, opera, boys, dancing, school, family, and
church.
Movies
Marjorie went to the movie theater more than sixty times with
friends, family, or on a date. Sometimes she attended the theater more than
once in a single day (2 January; 8 February), or simply caught a double feature
(25 April; 2, 16 May; 6, 11 July; 26 September). With a female friend she saw
“A Tale of Two Cities,” and commented “[We] both cried!” (2 January). Of the
Marx Brother’s comedy “A Night at the Opera,” she noted, “It was sure funny”
(16 June). Of other shows she simply put something like, “The show was just
grand” (13 July; see also 2 January; 31 August; 20 September; 7, 9 October; 8
November). Understandably, with school out, she saw more movies in the summer.
Opera
Through the magic of radio Marjorie loved to listen to operatic
voices. She would listen to full length operas by tuning in to “The
Metropolitan Opera House in New York” (4 January; 8 February), or just listen
to programs which displayed favorite voices of the day such as Grace Moore (6
January; 17, 24 February; 2, 22 March; 12 April), Nelson Eddy (6 January; 16
March; 20 December), Lawrence Tibbett (18, 25 February; 3, 17 March), Lily Pons
(26 February), Helen Jepson (5 April), Margaret Speaks (4 May; 30 November),
and Richard Crooks (4 May; 30 November). Though she favored operatic voices,
she condescended and still enjoyed the tones of Fred Astaire (29 September).
Boys
To say that Marjorie was infatuated with boys is an understatement.
After a boy named Ray took her to a double-feature at the theater she gushed:
“Ray is adorable. I sure like him. He’s tops with me. I hope I am with him” (2
January). Not many days later she observed that a “there is the cutest boy in
English” class (20 January), and a number 33 on an opposing basketball team
garnered: he “sure is cute” (25 January; see also 22 February). A Norris beat
out a Bob for an invitation to a Dance Club Party (3, 19 February). Norris also
won the month: “Nothing in this month interests me, [except] for Norris”
(Memorandum section following February).
In March “he” arrives on the scene. “Dell…made a swell blind date.
Oh he is just grand and a perfect dancer” (7 March). This infatuation would
last well throughout the year, and this despite Dell living in Utah. She would
think about him, talk with him on the phone, or write, or receive letter from,
him regularly, and receive this exuberant approbation: “Gee he is swell.”
(8–13, 18, 23–24, 28 March; 3, 10 April). Despite Dell’s obvious debonair, she
branched out regularly.
In May she wrote of Dick: “I do love him so” (19 May). But perhaps
the most entertaining judgment of boys is “thrill, thrill”—a phrase she used after
being driven home by Bob after the movies (23 May). Even so, she later
lamented, “The night I was with Bob was very romantic, but why is he such a
darn fool?” (Memorandum section following May).
June brought new romances. When an extended family relation
arrived for a visit from Canada, the driver was a “young boy whose name is
Max.” Marjorie continued, “He’s wonderful, and terribly nice; like music and
doesn’t smoke! or drink. He held my hand. We went to the carnival!” (10 June).
Two days later Wayne, an eighteen-year-old boy from Arkansas, also took her to
the carnival. “He held my hand and said, ‘Marjorie you’re sweet.’” To which she
later wrote: “Gee it’s a thrill” (12 June). The next day Wayne gushed “loads of
… nice things” to Marjorie as he held her hand. She confessed, “I know he was
going to kiss me, but was interrupted” (13 June). The next few days are all
about Wayne, until he left, it seems, for good. Those days eventually included
the “sweetest and most sincere kiss,” as well as confessions of “I love you”
(14–18 June). Wayne consumed her thoughts so much that month that she spurned
Bill for trying to kiss her (28 June; Memorandum section following June).
Spurning anyone who was not Wayne did not last long. Dick “kissed
me,” she put, but found it wanting: “I guess it’s all right” (3 July). A couple
weeks later Dell—who keeps popping up through letters, phone calls, and either
by him visiting Idaho, or her visiting Utah (25 June; 16, 18–20, July)—kissed
her. Her verdict? “It was nice” (21 July). The kissing continued to the end of
the month.
As summer drifted away we know she approved of her continued
relationship with Dell because he got a “Thrill, Thrill” (17 August), which flirtatious
words did not even come after he gave her “6 red rose buds” (27 November; see
also 1, 4, 9, 21 August; 22 September; 21 October; 12, 21, 25–26, 28 November).
Even so, after school started she “discovered” and went out on a date with Bob
Marley (10, 19 September)—don’t get too excited, this was not the famous
Jamaican singer-songwriter, because he would not be born for 9 more years.
Marjorie’s Bob Marley got a mixed review: “I sure like him, damn him” (13
November; see also 4, 11 December). Meanwhile she also liked another boy,
exuding: “Seeing Ray sure gave me a thrill” Memorandum section following
November; see also 28 November).
The year ended with a bang, not only with some of the boys
mentioned above, but with Howe, Ivan, Garth, and Paul (4, 11, 13, 16, 18
December). Howe won out, taking her to a ball, giving her a box of chocolates
on Christmas Eve, and putting his arm around her at the movies (23–24, 31
December).
Dancing
Marjorie enjoyed and excelled at tap dancing. At the beginning of
the year she was asked by a teacher to assist in the dancing club after school
(7–10 January). She continued her own growth not only through teaching dance,
but also taking lessons, and performing programs (13–14, 29 January; 4, 10–14
February). It appears that dance club was held on school property and in
private homes, including at Marjorie’s own residence (31 January; 11, 20
February; 8, 15, 22 May; 19 June). She observed that the dance club was
“orderly,” which she liked (10 January); even so, she wanted it fun. Once she
complained: “I had club tonite and are those girls boring—good gosh! a bunch of
little babies” (20 March). Also, dance club extended into learning ballet at
least once, which she found enjoyable (6 October).
Marjorie not only danced through the club organization, but she
attended school dances and went out dancing as part of a date (4 July; 4 August;
2, 23, 30 October; 6, 13 November; 4 December).
School
Like most teens, even now, Marjorie endured school. She was upset
at needing to change her schedule (16 January). She mentioned having hard tests
in English and History (1 October). One day she wrote that she “wore [her] rose
dress” to school, but other than that, “nothing much happened” (5 October). Her
A in Typing, D in History, and C in English yielded this obvious observation:
“not so bad and not so good” (21 October). On another occasion she noted with a
hint of amused accomplishment: “Got our report cards today. I got A, B, C, D
right in a row” (2 December).
Her friends at school, especially the boys, as mentioned above,
were the highlights of school. She also attended boys’ basketball games (25
January, 21–22 February), and spent time with her many female friends. She
babysat with a friend named Jean and raked in a whopping thirty-five cents (13
August; see also 18 November; 7, 14 December). When she did not like some of
her friends, she blasted them: “Damn quarrelsome kids” (20 February), and, “Gee
Ruth give me a pain” (26 April). When things were going well she would note
something like, “Monkeyed” around with friends (14, 16, 19–20 August; 19
September).
Family and Church
Marjorie’s family and church activity are background players to
the other themes in her journal of this year. Male and female friends seemed
much more important than family, and church was attended with friends by her
side, not family.
Though Marjorie and her family were members of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, there was not a lot of gospel instruction going on
in the home. Her father was gone quite a bit for work and her mother was
involved in other things. Even so, she mentions family members and church
meetings with some regularity.
She recalled teaching her six-year-old brother, Alan, a couple of
tap steps at home, and then penned, “He sure looks cute when trying to do it”
(6 January). Once she went “downtown with Mom and … got something to embroider”
(8 August; see also 5December). On occasion she mentions her parents heading to
Salt Lake, assumedly for her father’s work, or that her father just got back
from some type of business trip (22, 31 August; 11 September). They bottled “peaches
and tomatoes” together (3 September).
She attended church meetings fairly regularly with friends; summer
attendance was the most spotty, yet she finished the year with a bang, going eight
weeks in a row (e.g. 16, 23 February; 15, 29 March; 5, 12, 19 April; 16 May; 21
June; 9, 16, 30 August; 20, 27 September; 4, 11, 18, 25 October; 8, 15, 22, 29
November; 6, 13, 20, 27 December). Perhaps the most noteworthy event for church
was when the ward met in the local Presbyterian building because the LDS chapel
was way too hot (2 February).
Conclusion
Marjorie’s year of 1936 was a typical teenage mini-soap opera, or drama.
Major players included many boys, friends, and school, with time for dancing,
opera stars, church, and family. Marjorie was a typical teenage girl, which is
great! It is great because it gives hope to us all. In her patriarchal
blessing, which she received when she was 32, it reaches back in time and
observes: “You have led a virtuous life. Your inner-most thoughts have been
virtuous all the days of your life.” We can all change and become better
through time and Jesus Christ’s Atonement.
