Hotzell (Hot as Hell) - June 9, 10 - 1911 and 2011

Rita's Entries:
Friday, June 9, 1911
Took Frances to train.  New N. W. depot is perfectly gorgeous.  Miss Baker and Mr. Stuart bro't Fama down.  Ralph Crowl bro't stuff from Mary.  Gene there too.  Delightful.  Fama had roses!!!  Gene and I examined depot.  Came home and went to bed.  Hot -Hotter - Hottest.  Wretched headache.  Talked with Mr. N - "What does this mean - sitting in the dark?"!   Mr. S., Tin and I went to lake to cool off.  Ice watch on back porch.

northwest depot in 1911

Saturday, June 10, 1911
Found broken A string at 8 when started to practice.  Hotzell but walked to Belmont and back.  String broke five times!  Took L down to Belmont and returned or exchanged said string.  Got in about hour and a half.  Sewed etc.  Mr. and Mrs. S. and Mr. N. went off no one knows where.  Came back and went off again.  Tin and I went to drugstore with draft.  "Miss Chamberlain"!?  Bo't candy (!) and took a little walk.  Lugged umbrella to keep off rain.

IN RITA'S DAY: June 9 and 10, 1911 set heat records for Chicago.  It was 98 degrees both days, but that was just the start of a long hot summer.  For three days in early July 1911, the heat was over 100 degrees.  I believe it is a record that still stands.  I love the way Rita writes "Hotzell."  It was hot all over the country in 1911.  The picture above shows people cooling off in NYC by licking ice.

Judy's Entry: Thursday June 9 and Friday June 10, 2011
It was pretty hot here on Thursday... up in the 90s.  Mom and I went with the seniors to see "Singin' in the Rain."  It was quite good and of course theater was air conditioned.  We got home just minutes before a cold front came through with heavy rain, winds and more hail than I've seen for a long time.  Electricity out from 6:30pm until 4:30am.  When we lose power, we also have no water - which is much worse!  Friday is much cooler but temps still about 10 degrees above normal.

TODAY:  These last few days have seen record breaking temperatures.  Washington DC hit 102 degrees and in Philly it was over 100.  Above is a picture of a man selling water bottles that he froze over night.  A little different than licking ice like they did in 1911!