Tuesday, March 31, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 31, 1964
Tuesday, cloudy and cool showers. Clifton, David, and I left for L.A. at 9:45 am.  Went to San Diego first, then Escondido, and had two new tires put on the car at Sears.  Stayed with Jack and Vera Roberts one night, had quite a time finding them.  They have a beautiful home.

Comment: Quite a road trip... Here is Dad with son David on his lap. Doug is on the right, Wayne is on my mother's lap. Probably in 1947 on Hubbard Hill.

Monday, March 30, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 30, 1964
Monday lovely warm day.  Had letters from Louvilla and Lorraine saying Glenn was real bad.  Allen Case had died.  David's state tax came.  I wrote to Lorraine, Billie, and Louvilla.  Allotment check came from Dougie. 

Comment:  Doug is saving money through the military allotment program.  I saved about $2400 while I was in the Army and thought I was rich when I got out.  Reggie Haskins saved enough to buy a 1956 blue and white Ford Sunliner when he got out and I always thought that car was the coolest in the world......Glenn Taylor was my first cousin, son of Dad's sister Evelyn and Clifford Taylor. Glenn had only a short time left to live.  He died of kidney disease on April 11, 1964, at the age of twenty-two.  

Sunday, March 29, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 29, 1964
Sunday, Easter.  Thin cloudiness in am but real warm.  Went to church and Sunday school programs, lovely Easter program.  We went to Marilyn's and Jim's for dinner.  The kids went to beach in pm.  Howard's called Marilyn's toward night.  Girls and I went to church with them.  "How you hear the news" a beautiful Easter hymn.

Comment: Howard's has to be Howard and Aunt Lorraine Vaughn....Dad's second oldest sister....here's a picture of Howard as a young man with his family...he's in the middle.......appears as if he is the only boy....

Saturday, March 28, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 28, 1964
Saturday, lovely, warm day.  Marilyn and kids here in am early and went down the street.  Carol bought new blouse, I washed and we were over there for dinner.  Clifton and boys worked at lumber for chicken house.  Rykers here in evening and watched bull fights and played rook.

Comment: They must be getting the bull fights on the Mexican stations....wonder if they censored the gore.........

Friday, March 27, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 27, 1964
Friday lovely day.  Carol still at Marilyn's.  Marilyn and Anita went to Friends Church at noon, Carol baby sat at Anita's.  Marilyn and Anita rode bicycles in pm.  Carol stayed at Marilyn's overnight again.  Bad earthquake in Alaska. 

Comment:  The Good Friday Earthquake was a 9.2 quake, making it at the time the second largest in recorded history.  A woman who worked for me was there and and said Anchorage was without water and power for about 3 months and the quake was so severe that she remembers the ground rolling like large ocean waves....

Thursday, March 26, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 26, 1964

Thursday, nice day, real warm.  I still didn't feel very good.  I wrote to Doug and Mother.  Carol stayed at Marilyn's.
Comment: Here is a picture of Frances as a very young girl..maybe four years old.....

Wednesday, March 25, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 25, 1964
Wednesday, lovely day, Marilyn went to dentist and I to doctors, 8:30 am.  I came home and washed.  Marilyn, Anita and kids here in pm a while.  Clifton had some typing done.  Clifton and I went to Rykers for supper and then played some rook.  Met Marilyn and Jim after and went to El Patio for cakes.  Girls went to show with David and Liz.
Comment: Busy day......an on this day in 1911, when Dad was about 3 years old.... one of the darkest moments of America's industrial history, the Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory in New York City burns down, killing 145 workers.  The owners had a history of burning down their factories to collect the insurance money and therefore made sure that  sprinklers and other devices to fight fires were at a minimum in case they wanted to burn this one...and of course, they got away with it....take a read.....
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/triangle-shirtwaist-fire-in-new-york-city 

Tuesday, March 24, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 24, 1964
Tuesday, still cloudy and cool with rain in the am.  Clifton and David went to San Diego to look for jobs.  I felt better but my head still dizzy.  Marilyn, kids and Carol went to Anita's in am.  Miss Menthorn was sick and I took her up some crackers and egg in milk.  We went to Marilyn's for supper.
Comment: Not sure what "egg in milk" is...I remember my Dad eating saltine crackers crushed up in milk with salt and pepper and I still occasionally have "bread and milk", again, with salt and pepper in a large glass...

Monday, March 23 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 23 1964
Monday cloudy cool rainy.  I woke up 5 am dizzy and sick.  I was in bed till 2 pm.  Carol did work and got meals. Marilyn worked.  Patty was here and Sue stayed at Marilyn's all night. 
 Comment:  A poor spell coming on...probably a migraine but I'm not sure it was ever diagnosed...I've had some incredible headaches, the worst during a malaria episode but not sure it it was any worse than this.....it must be terrible....and there is even a whole field of "migraine art"...take a look....

http://www.headache-adviser.com/migraine-art.html 

Sunday, March 22, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 22, 1964
Sunday, cloudy, cool and heavy rain at night.  We went to Sunday school and church and at Marilyn's for dinner.  Went to church at night and to Friends Church for hymn sing.

Friends Church Ramona, CA

Comment: Four church Sunday....Friends Church around the turn of the century......

Saturday, March 21, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 21, 1964

Saturday cloudy and cool.  Wayne worked.  Marilyn worked 6 am to 2 pm kids were here and all for here for supper.

Comment: First day of spring............

Friday, March 20, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 20, 1964
Friday, beautiful day, 80.  I washed in am.  Sue still home with cold.  Richard Lewis here for dinner.  Took horse and cows to Escondido but didn't sell them.  We went to Carousel at night.

Comment: Not sure, but think this Richard Lewis used to be our neighbor when we lived in Gilboa. Richard was my scoutmaster, drinking companion, and baseball coach....this is the house that we used to live in Gilboa...sitting on the stump is Marilyn holding Wayne. Doug and David are crouched to the left of the stump. Doug was 6, David was 4, Wayne was 2, Marilyn was 12. I was ten at the time......

Thursday, March 19, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries.

March 19, 1964
Thursday, lovely day, 72.  Sue home from school with a bad cold.  We went to Marilyn's for dinner.  Sue stayed with kids while we went to Escondido.  Went to E-Z farm to see about selling our horse.  Practice at 7 pm for Easter.  Wrote another letter to LaVerne and Roberta.

Comment:  LaVerne, Robert  and first son John late sixties...

Wednesday, March 18, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaires

March 18, 1964
Wednesday, beautiful day, 80's, had letters from Doug and Roberta.  Clifton wrote to Doug and Gerald.  I washed again.  David went to Escondido in am.  We went to dump.  Girls and I went to prayer meeting.
Comment: I don't remember the letter from Dad. He seldom wrote but I do recall seeing post cards he sent our mother when he was working in Mass building toll stations and the job was too far to commute each day.....here is a message from Charlotte (Haskin) Carlton about her Aunt Maude and Barry Taylor and Maude's memory of 80 years ago.

..I called Aunt Maude this morning for a chat and she is doing well and sounded good.   She told me Barry Taylor called her a couple of weeks ago asking her some questions about our family.   I told her she was a treasure to all of us and she was so thrilled Barry called her and she said they talked and talked.    She also told me today 3/17 eighty years ago was her Bridal Shower and it was at Frank Hess's (I hope I remembered that correctly) house and she still has the list of everyone that was there and what they gave her.   She still uses the angel food cake dish and grinder.    She said your brother Doug is looking so much better now after his surgery and has gained some weight so that was nice to hear.   cc  Here is a picture of Maude at LaVerne's in 2007 .......

Tuesday, March 17, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 17, 1964

Tuesday, very windy in am, warm, 70's and 80's.  I ironed.  Marilyn worked from 2 pm to 10.  Kids here and Kathy Goodman too.  Jim here for supper.  We went downtown For supper, bought Sue sneakers.  Doug called from Virginia.  $100 unemployment check came.

Comment: Not a word about St. Patrick's Day even thought there is some Irish blood on the Barber side somewhere.......and I betcha you did not know this from Wikipedia:


"Originally, the color associated with Saint Patrick was blue. Over the years the color green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew."


St. Patrick's day is probably the most celebrated saints day in the world. The three-leaved shamrock is said to be used by him to explain the trinity......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick's_Day

Monday, March 16, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 16, 1964
Monday, sunny, very windy, 70's I washed,  did some mending.  Had letter from Gerald and a card from Doug saying he was back in Virginia March 15.  

Comment:  Doug back from the Med, unfortunately do not have any pictures of Doug in his uniform but here he is a kid with a sailor hat on...from left, Wayne, David, Doug, Carol, probably about 1954 or 5 or so. Doug would have been about 10 or 11.....

Sunday, March 15, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 15, 1964
Sunday, beautiful, warm day, 80's, partly cloudy in pm.  Went to church and Sunday School, Jim's here for dinner.  Went to park in pm, and over to Highland Valley Road to see about lumber for Jim's chicken house, picked up David and Liz.
Comment: Double church Sunday, The Ides Of March: In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed (23 times) to death in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. The group included 60 other co-conspirators according to Plutarch.^[2]

According to Plutarch, a seer had foreseen that Caesar would be harmed not later than the Ides of March and on his way to the Theatre of Pompey (where he would be assassinated), Caesar met that seer and joked, "The ides of March have come", meaning to say that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied "Ay, Caesar; but not gone."  There's always a smart ass somewhere.....

Saturday, March 14, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaires

March 14, 1964
Saturday beautiful day.  Marilyn worked from 6am till 2pm, kids were here until 2.  Sue went home with her.  Clifton, Carol and I rode over to airport in pm.  Had heels put on Sue's shoes.  Wayne worked for McKenzies all day.  Carol went to birthday party at night.

Comment:  And this is where they probably parked..... "The airport is mostly used for general aviation, the California Department of Forestry (CDF) and the United States Forest Service (USFS) jointly operate a fire attack base."  Wikipedia....

Friday, March 13, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 13, 1964
Friday, cloudy in am, clearing in pm, warmer 60's.  I washed in am and cleaned the house.  Marilyn went to work from 8 to 2.  Patty and Dean were here till 2.  David took them home and picked up Marilyn on way home.  Clifton went to Escondido in am about a job selling houses.  Wrote cards to Lorraine, Louise, Evelyn, and Louvilla. Went to Friends Church with Chloe and Ralph Howard and heard George Fox College Choir.  One of the best.  Carol and Sue went over to Anita's, Marilyn and Jim's were over there.
Comment: Friday The Thirteen ..never knew Dad was looking at a real estate job, seems like a busy Friday...and here is more than you ever wanted to know about the origin of the superstition about this day: From Wickipedia...

History

Rossini by Henri Grevedon

According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century.^[4][5][6] The earliest known documented reference in English occurs in Henry Sutherland Edwards' 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini:

Rossini was surrounded to the last by admiring and affectionate friends; Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky

Consequently, several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.

One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.

• In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 Descendants of Muhammad Imams, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
• Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales,^[3] and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys, begin new projects or deploy releases in production. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s.^[6][7] It has also been suggested that Friday has been considered an unlucky day because, according to Christian scripture and tradition, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.^[8]
• One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth,^[9] in which an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.^[4] Records of the superstition are rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common.

Wednesday, March 11, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 11, 1964
Wednesday nice day, Wayne's Birthday.  Marilyn, Verda and Mae, and I went to L.A. with Tops Club from San Diego. Left at 6 am and home Thursday 1:10 am.  Saw Capistrano, St. Sophia, Greek Orthodox Church, and ate at Onita's.  Toured Hollywood and saw the "Bowl".  Did some window shopping on Hollywood and Vine and Sunset.  Went to Farmers Market.  Went to Chinatown and ate at Rice bowl. Did some window shopping then headed for home.  Grand trip.  Marilyn had a bad head cold.
Comment: Lots of activity...Wayne's 18 birthday. He was the youngest boy and the first to die..... On this date in 1964, he is 18 years old with about 41 years left to live.....he was born 76 years ago today and I remember clearly when Mom brought him home from the hospital...here is my tribute to him upon his death. And before he died on December 3, 2005, the world was a better place....

In Memoriam: Wayne Maurice Hubbard

Wayne's Song

Wayne Maurice Hubbard passed away, the youngest of five boys
Who with three sibling sisters, brought the Clifton Hubbards joy

Born in 1946, a baby of the “boom”
Came to life in Cobleskill in a dim-lit birthing room

He lived his first years in Gilboa in deep, post-war depression
When young, he dressed in hand-me-downs as the last boy in succession.

Then we moved up to the farm, a place we called “The Hill”
And lived as dairy farmers, with rocky slopes to till.

One day he hit two hammers, steel splinter in his eye
I remember him just blinking and I didn’t see him cry

Another time he hit his head, rope swinging in the barn
And he said, “I think I’m crazy,” his eyes wide with alarm

He loved to sing and harmonize with a voice both sweet and true
He performed one time at the World’s Fair with sisters Carol and Sue

He was a loving boy and man, quick wit and smile so bright
And I’ve got a picture of him as he helped me fix my bike.

I went to see him one last time in north Virginia foliage
He said, “You know, I lived too fast, I should’ve gone to college.”

I played guitar and sang for him the old songs that he loved
“North To Alaska”, “Country Roads”; he hummed “Wings Of A Dove”

I did “You Are My Sunshine”, then through a throaty moan
I heard him say his last request, “The Green, Green Grass Of Home”

Then just before I left he said, “Come on, let’s take a ride”
And we rode with Wanda through the lush Virginia countryside

And though near death, the only thing that preyed upon his mind
Was to make sure I enjoyed my trip and had some small good time

While on his deck, we said goodbye ’neath brilliant Autumn cover
Last words to me: “I love you bro’. It ain’t over till its over”.

He rides his speckled pony now, and it comes through clear and clean
Wayne may've done few things bad but never those things mean

And his kind soul and the many generous, loving things he did
Will live long in our memories and in the lives of his six kids.

Wayne Maurice Hubbard passed away, the youngest of five boys

Thursday, March 12, 1964, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 12, 1964
Thursday, cloudy, 57, cool.  We were at Marilyn's for lunch, she still was about sick with a cold.  Clifton and I went to Escondido in pm.  David and Wayne went to Jim's at night and worked on his car.  I wrote to Mother,  Doug, Gerald, LaVerne.  Had letter from Mother telling of plant office burning.  Floods in Ohio Valley still bad.

Comment: The plant that Bessie (Mother) is talking about was a glove making plant owned by Charlie Papa who is Mary Ann's cousin and very good friend and is in Richmondville, NY....Five Degrees....The damned car still not fixed....sure wish I had those letters she wrote...

Tuesday, March 10, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaires

March 10, 1964
Tuesday, cloudy most of the day but warm.  I washed in am.  We were at Marilyn's for dinner.  David went to Escondido in pm. Anita sick in bed with flu.

Comment: Not much going on but, on this day exactly 19 years before, 334 B29 Bombers dropped incendiary bombs on Tokyo killing at least 100,000 people, mostly civilians. Curtis Le May, the commander at the time later said: "Killing Japanese didn't bother me very much at that time... I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal."

Monday, March 9, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 9, 1964
Monday, beautiful day, warmer.  I made cookies and ironed.  David worked on Jim's car.  Marilyn, Jim, Clifton and I were at Coopers for supper.  Ronnie's and Rykers were there.  Had lasagna, salad, jello pie and coffee, everything delicious.  Bad floods in Ohio Valley.

Comment: That supper sure sounds good, it's been a long time since jello pie....still working on Jim's car....

Sunday, March 8, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaires

March 8, 1964
Sunday, beautiful day, warmer.  I didn't go to church because of cold and flu.  Liz and Carol Lee here in evening.  Clifton, the girls and I went to see horse toward night.

Comment:  Not sure what's going on with the horse.  The only horses I remember on the farm were work horses named Dick and Dan and Prince and Colonel and they went away when we got our first tractor.  Here is a picture of Dad, Marilyn and Me with Dick and Dan and our dog Vickie in front of the "wagon house"....probably about 1942 or so..

Saturday, March 7, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 7, 1964
Saturday, partly cloudy and cool, windy.  I was about sick with a cold.  Marilyn and kids here about noon.  Sue went with me to church in pm to practice piano for Easter.  Carol went to ball game and David helped Jim with his car.  Wayne worked on chicken ranch.  Took horse to sale but did not sell him.  We went to Marilyn's for supper.  Clifton and Jim went to sale and didn't get Jim's car fixed.

Comment:  We were always working on our cars, usually because we could only afford used ones and something was always breaking down.  Dad could fix about anything and did "ring" jobs, rebuilt carburetors, rear ends, and transmissions, replaced wheel bearing, brakes and electrical systems..not sure what is wrong with Jim's car but would be kinda surprised if it's not fixed in a day or so.   Unfortunately, that did not mean that they stayed fixed for long.  Here is Dad working on a 1936 Packard Clipper that always seemed to overheat.  On the small table to the left are various parts and tools.  Behind the table is a  roofing-tin pen that holds either baby chicks or pigs.  To the right is the rear wheel of an 1942 Allis Chalmers C Tractor.  The tire is a used 12 ply truck tire on a drop-center rim.  Stretching a 12-ply tire over a drop-center rim could take most of the day for a couple of kids.....

Friday, March 6, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 6, 1964
Friday,  partly cloudy and cool.  I washed in am. After, we picked up Dean and went to El Patio for coffee.  Marilyn worked from 6 am to 2 pm.  My cold was worse.  Wrote to Mother.  Marilyn and Jim went to Rykers for supper and stopped in here a few minutes after.

Comment:  Why some people keep diaries:  I think each paragraph contains a reason that Mom would "diary" but the entry by Sylvia Plath is probably closest to the mark...


What sort of diary should I like mine to be? Something looseknit and yet not slovenly, so elastic that it will embrace anything, solemn, slight or beautiful that comes into my mind. I should like it to resemble some deep old desk, or capacious hold-all, in which one flings a mass of odds and ends without looking them through....Virginia Woolf

I love this process by which each passing day is captured, not only its impressions, but also, at least by suggestion, its intellectual direction and content as well, less for the purpose of rereading and remembering than for taking stock, reviewing, maintaining awareness, achieving perspective.
(Thomas Mann, Thomas Mann: Diaries 1918-1939, selected by Hermann Kesten, translated by Richard Winston. Robin Clark Ltd., 1984)

As of today I have decided to keep a diary again--just a place where I can write my thoughts and opinions when I have a moment. Somehow I have to keep and hold the rapture of being seventeen. Every day is so precious, I feel infinitely sad at the thought of all this time melting farther and farther away from me as I grow older. Now, now is the perfect time of my life.
(Sylvia Plath,

[O]ne of the pleasures of reading diaries, it seems to me, is that they are . . . like conversations, even if the conversation is with oneself. Wanting to hold such a conversation is one reason for keeping a diary; another is that it slows down time.
(Alan Bennett, Writing Home.

Thursday, March 5, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 5, 1964
Thursday, nice day.  We were at Marilyn's for lunch.  She went to Escondido in pm.  Kids stayed with David.  They were all here for supper. Clifton and I went to Escondido at night, went to see about a job.  I had a head cold.  People came to see horse.  Ralph and Chloe here about 5 pm asked me to help with the Easter program.  Wrote to Gerald and Dougie

Comment: Another busy day..here is a picture of Mom as a baby with her mother, Bessie Laraway Barber (Van Tassel) probably in 1914 or so.....

Wednesday, March 4 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 4, 1964
Wednesday, sunny day, warmer.  David and Marilyn went to Escondido in am.  Had a letter from Mother.  Marilyn, Patty, Dean were here for dinner and all here for supper.  Sue and I went to prayer meeting.  Marilyn had 1 1/2 hr off of work.  I had a cold in my head.

Comment: Again, dinner was the mid-day meal and supper the evening meal..and on this day in 1918 – The first case of Spanish flu occurs, the start of a devastating worldwide pandemic.  It seems hard to believe that our parent's generation lived through the most severe pandemic in history.  It's also kinda strange that  I don't remember ever hearing them talk about it.  The polio epidemic in 1952 killed about 3000 people in the US and maimed many more.  I do have memories of kids killed, (Hubie DeWitt), and kids partially crippled, (Doug Van Aken) and that was just in our very sparsely populated area.  Our parents must have known of many friends and family who died during that period.....life goes on, I guess....and now for us still alive, we have lived through another plague that has taken almost a million lives in the US and about six million around the world and..life goes on, I guess or are we now facing a nuclear war??   It's always something..

Tuesday, March 3, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 3, 1964
Tuesday, nice sunny day, 62.  I washed, Marilyn worked from 2 pm to 10 pm.  Kids here for supper.  Wrote to Roberta and LaVerne.  David went to Escondido in the pm, advertised the horse and cow.

Comment: Not sure why they are selling the cow and horse, seems like they just bought them.......Here is the younger crew Mom is talking about back in the fifties, from left, Doug, David, Susan, Wayne, and Carol, must have been in the early spring....David and Doug were apparently playing catch. David is holding a rabbit....here is my story of an encounter with a rabbit during haying season.....http://hubbardfamilymusic.blogspot.com/2011/04/incident-while-backswathing-original-by.html

Monday, March 2, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 2, 1964
Monday, rainy clearing in pm.  Had letter from Dougie, did some mending.  Liz Walters was here for dinner.

Hubbard Hill, about 1946 or so

Comment: I think Dougie is still in the Mediterranean on a ship...
Here's a picture of Doug and me in front of the house, I think just after WWII. LaVerne's bike is in the background. The place is unpainted, windows are out, porch railing destroyed. These were probably the worst economic times on the hill....

Sunday, March 1, 1964 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

March 1, 1964
Sunday, fair in am becoming cloudy toward night, 60's.  We went to church, Jim's here for dinner.  We all went to see snow above Jullian in pm and called on Larry and Margaret Benton.  Ate supper with Marilyn and went to church and went to hymn sing at congregational church after.  Liz Walter was here with David.

Deep Snow In Julian, CA Late Forties......

Comment:  Sounds like David has a girlfriend...somehow, that's not a big surprise....