Entries for April 7 - 1911 and 2011 (Chicago/ New York)

Rita's Entry: Friday, April 7, 1911
Practiced before going to rehearsal.  Only 5 there.  All in.  Wretched headache.  Early to bed.  Shopped a little for Tin at Carson's.  Madison and Wabash or Madison and Fifth Ave.?  Joke.  I'll never tell.

 IN RITA'S DAY:  I wonder if Rita was referring to a sort of competition between NYC and Chicago.  Both cities wanted to host the Columbian exposition in 1893.  During the battle between them, Chicago was often referred to as the "second city,"  but they got the exposition because New York didn't have an appropriate place.  Still, New York City was considered by most to be the most fashionable place in the country.  The above painting of Madison Square by Theodore Robinson was done about 1895.   Madison and Fifth were the big streets in NYC and Wabash and Madison was major area in Chicago.

TODAY:  Madison Square has once again become fashionable.  It has one of the nice pedestrian areas in NYC (see above).

Judy's Entry: Thursday, April 7, 2011
Went out to do a lot of errands.  Mom had to go to bank to deposit her IRS refund.  Then grocery shopping, post office, gas station.  Decided to find new gas station because the one I usually go to has started to charge 10 cents more per gallon if you use your credit card.  Did a lot of cooking... bean salad, banana bread, chicken francaise.

Entries for April 6 - 1911 and 2011 (Harmony lesson)

Rita's Entry: Thursday, April 6, 1911
Harmony at 10.  Beautiful - Wow!  Fiddle at 11:30.  O.K.  Orful backache - Feel grippy.  Practiced.

IN RITA'S DAY: It sounds like Rita basically took two classes in 1911.  A class in harmony with Adolf Brune and a private violin lesson with Alexander Sebald.   A class in harmony was described by a 1910 catalog:
 After the class, you will be able to

1.        Analyze music enabling you to determine the key of any composition and its various harmonic progressions

2.       Be able to transpose at sight any accompaniments you may be asked to play

3.       Harmonize melodies correctly and arrange music for bands and orchestras

4.       Detect wrong notes and faulty progressions whether in printed music or during a performance of a composition

5.       Memorize rapidly, one of the greatest benefits of harmonization

6.       Subsititue other notes whenever it becomes impossible or inconvenient to play what is written

TODAY: Harmony classes are a part of music theory classes and, at least by the descriptions below, are a little bit more specialized(?)  Descriptions are from Northeastern:

Music Theory III (Harmony) - 3 hoursThe study of 18th and 19th century chromatic harmony. Includes exploration of modulation, borrowed chords, Neapolitan 6ths and other practices of the period. In-depth score analysis, student writing exercises and compositions utilized. Prerequisite: 2563 or equivalent.


Judy's Entry: Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Another morning with the senior citizens.  This time at the local firehouse where we visited, played bingo and got a free lunch.  Our friends, Madelyn and Larry, announced that they will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on April 9.  Came home to research paint colors and diaper services, both for my daughter who will spend tomorrow night.  Mom made chocolate chip cookies and my son came and ate 7 or 8.

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Entries for April 5 -1911 and 2011 (Chicago's "L")

Rita's Entry: Wednesday, April 5, 1911
Orchestra practice at 9:30.  Hard work as usual.  Am to go for rehearsal Friday at 11 and then play for matinee on Saturday.  Walked down to L with my young friend - I must learn his name.  Read and sewed.  Practiced.

IN RITA'S DAY:  The "L" consisted of four different lines and the Chicago Loop that enabled people to get to the down town areas (see postcard above with the Art Institute in the background).  In 1911 an informal alliance of the four lines began, but not until the summer.  They were more officially joined in 1913.  One of the most interesting characters in the development was Charles Yerkes, who was a jerk.  He is the poster boy for the robber barons of the time period (see below).  Although he died in 1905, his influence lived on since he was responsible for the Chicago Loop.  It is sort of ironic since he didn't want elevated trains and he grew to hate Chicago.  He was involved in blackmail, bribes and every sort of illegal manipulation.  He kept himself out of prison by getting the dirt on politicians.  He moved to one of the Dakotas so he could divorce his wife of 22 years to marry a 24-year-old.

TODAY:  The elevated trains in Chicago are still a great way to get around. One of the original cars (probably like the one Rita used) is on display in a Chicago museum (see below).  As for Yerkes, they named a crater on the moon for him.  I don't know why...

Judy's Entry: Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Spent the morning at the senior center, singing and doing zumba.  After lunch I went to the book barn to look for decorating books.  While I was gone, Mom had a visit with several Jehovah Witnesses who came to the door.  Starting to organize pictures and color samples for my daughter's new home.

Entries for April 4 - 1911 and 2011 (Stradivarius violin)

Rita's Entry: Tuesday, April 4, 1911
Home and practice.  Fran home for lunch.  Rained.  Tin and I went to Chamber Music Recital.  Hugo Kortschak and Arthur Rech.  Played a sonata by Adolf Brune that was perfectly great.  Poor man was so fussed he didn't know what to do.

IN RITA'S DAY: Hugo Kortschak (above) was the assistant concert master of the Chicago Symphony at the time and a popular violinist who later had quite a career in many places and ended up the Dean of Music at Yale.   Arthur Rech was at the piano and the composer, Adolf Brune, was Rita's harmony instructor.

Stradivarius

TODAY: One of the reasons Kortschak remembered today is that he owned at different time some of the finest violins.  He owned a Stradivarius in the 1920s.  There are around 700 Stradivarius violins (see above).  Some say they are such fine instruments because they were made during the Little Ice Age, which was around 1600.   Others say it was the varnish Stradivarius used.  But it is true that virtually all of them have been refurbished with new bridges, strings, etc. so the modern changes have also improved them.  One sold at public auction for 3.5 million.  Others have probably been sold for more but they were private sales.

Judy's Entry: Monday, April 4, 2011
Went out to Kohl's and HOme Depot this morning and then had to wait around for the plumber who was to come between noon and four.  Of course, he showed up a little after three.  Then had to go to the store.  Goulash for supper.  My son came over.

Entries for April 3 - 1911 and 2011 (College)

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Rita's Entry: Monday, April 3, 1911
Lesson at 9:30.  He was awfully late.  Piano tuner in Room 32 made us get into adinky little box of a room at the end of the hall.  Northing but technique, good and hard.

IN RITA'S DAY: Institutions like the Chicago Musical College were in the tradition of music conservatories.

In the late 1800s, six major conservatories opened in the United States: Oberlin (1865); Boston (1867); Cincinnati (1867); New England (1867); Chicago Musical College (1867); Peabody (1868). Sollinger described how these American conservatories sought to do more than merely educate the musically gifted. the term, con  Originally the term conservatory, connoted an institution accepting only the most talented students for professional training.  In Rita's day while the conservatory prepared many fine professional musicians, its philosophy extended beyond that goal. The founders were concerned with uplifting the cultural level of the whole nation. In order to educate as many students as possible, the conservatory system of class instruction was used and students of all ages and levels of ability were accepted, not just the talented few.  These new colleges were also interested in being profitable and had ads like the one above.

TODAY:  Almost any student can get into college today.  High schools brag about the high percentages of graduates that continue on to college, but too many don't give the statistics about how many actually get college degrees.  With so many things distracting young people today, studying often is not on their minds when they go to college.

Judy's Entry: Sunday, April 3, 2011

After church I cleaned out closets getting ready for a spring that I'm sure will come fairly soon!  After lunch I took my grand-dog, Roscoe, on a long walk.  Then there was laundry, etc. 

Entries for April 2 - 1911 and 2011(snow and slang)

Rita's Entry: Sunday, April 2, 1911
Tin and I went to S.S.  Mrs. H. still very interesting.  Came home in rousing snow storm.  Met a big rotten apple on the way to church.  Bah!  Spent the afternoon in.  -- ssh -- put your foot on the soft, soft pedal.

IN RITA'S DAY: Seems like snow in April wasn't that uncommon in Chicago and still isn't.  Have had 10+ inch snows in April, one in 1970.  The rotten apple that they met appears to be just a disagreeable person.  Starting in the late 1800s that term and also the term "rotter" were used for objectionable people in general.  "bad egg" and "pill" were also used, but the former was more popular in the 30s and the latter was not as strong.

TODAY: We have a number of terms for objectionable people, most of them vulgar, but when you see someone who really annoys you today, the usual response is "What an asshole!"  Also dickhead and son of a bitch.  A more gentle response might be to just call the person a jerk, but I could hear Rita in 2011 saying "Met a real A-hole on the way to church."

Judy's Entry: Saturday, April 2, 2011
Nicer day today.  Both my daughter and son were over this morning helping my mother with her puzzle.  Everyone got along!  Then my daughter and I went out to get some leggings and scrapbook materials for her.  She still doesn't look like she is expecting, but clothes are getting tight.  Had pizza and watched the end of "The Perfect Storm."

Entries for April 1 - 1911 and 2011 (April Fool's Day)

Rita's Entry: Saturday, April 1, 1911
April Fool - stung Fran on snow.  Fooled Mrs. S. with spilled ink.  Fran went to Maggie Pepper.  Whole day culminated in grand fooling of Mr. S. with aforesaid ink.  "Come in here but - hold your temper."  O dear.  Went shopping.

IN RITA'S DAY: April Fool's Day was taken seriously.  I learned that disappearing ink was invented by a man named Wellcome around 1869 so I am assuming that it could be purchased in 1911 to use for a prank.  But I could be wrong and the April Fool's joke Rita pulled was done in a different way.  One famous prank that is repeated online occurred on April 1, 1915 when a French pilot, during WWI, dropped a bomb on a group of Germans.  The bomb turned out to be a football with a note attached saying "April Fool's."  I don't know if I believe this.  Was the note in French?  German?  Of course, the football did sort of look like a bomb (see below).

TODAY:  The Internet is a great source of April Fool's jokes... YouTube today did a salute to 1911, in celebration of their 100th year online.  The Army announced that their official hat would be the Stetson.  And IKEA introduced their new high chairs for dogs (see below).

Judy's Entry: Friday, April 1, 2011
It snowed today!  What a prank Mother Nature played on us.  The snow didn't stick, but the day was cold and dark.  Didn't pull any jokes today.  Just did the regular things.  Did more work on illustrations for our children's book.  This is going to be a BIG job.  MJ was cancelled because Barbara's father is not well.  Hope things improve for him.