Bibliopoly

F.H. PUTNAM

1925 & 1929 HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT DIARIES OF A LUMBERMAN, FARMER, RURAL ENTREPENEUR AND NEW FATHER

WINCHESTER NEW HAMPSHIRE NH 1925

Description

32mo - over 4" - 5" tall Manuscript On offer are the 1925 and 1929 handwritten manuscript diaries of F.H. Putnam of Winchester New Hampshire. F.H. Putnam ushered in 1925 by listening to the radio after everyone else went home. He stayed up till 3:30, pulling in Cincinnati, Chicago, Kansas City, Zion Illinois and Ottawa, Canada. A New Hampshire farmer and lumber man through and through he writes with pride that during the day he hauled two loads of wood and split the big birch log that he'd given up on the day before. "Split a new wedge doing it, though. On Jan 2. Two loads of wood; spread 2 loads of manure. Sat. Jan. 3 Mended belt, filed saw… sawed 1 ½-2 cords. Put 1 beam sled together. Sun. Jan. 4 Carrie got church services from Springfield; I got service from Shady Side Presbyterian church on KDKA. Daffy freshened [gave birth] nice heifer calf - Zoya. Mon Jan 5. Got 3 loads of manure and spread. Carrie took sick in evening, District nurse came. Doctor Labdell came up a little before 12. Baby was born at 12:26. Jan. 6. Harriet Rilla Putnam was born, 8 lb 6 oz. Took me to 10 o'clock to get milking done, doing work in house 'between cows'." Mr. Putnam has a 1916 Allen motorcar, which gives him problems, and of course he can't use it during the snow season; for that he uses his sled. Entry for Christmas is colorful and interesting. Mr. Putnam is a fine diarist always mentioning names of visitors, visits and business dealings. This diary though is much more than a standard farm diary in that Mr. Putnam provides in his writings a charming look at a man whose life has changed with the birth of his daughter. He easily takes over baking bread, cleaning the house, churning butter and still doing all his farm and lumber work. He also shows readers that life in a rural community is not without its benefits as he has many helpful friends and neighbors. The 1929 diary which has a number of 1930 entries too is sporadic and sparse but has some interesting entries: we read that he has taken on a job with the Boston Fuel Company while maintaining the farm and then a few months later he quits. It appears the farm is now mostly orchards and his interest in apples becomes near obsessive. He writes about beekeeping and a fair number of clippings from newspaper about apple market, accompanied by list of bushels of each type of apples he sent to market. Cloth covered standard diaries with calendar, postage rates, population of principal cities, tides, etc. VG. Good