Woman With A Message

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October 23, 1912

From 8-year old Hilda’s diary:

After school today, Grandmother wanted to see my sampler. She said the cross stitch was very good but the back of it looked as if a hen walked through all the threads and messed them up. I said no one would see the back if it was going to be framed. She said that it is a dreadful thing to think that no one looks behind your ears either but don’t I have to scrub back there too? She said the back sides are always more important than the front sides and our underwear should be cleaner than our dresses and kitchens and bathrooms should be cleaner than the parlors. She said that she will wait and examine my sampler again next week and she hopes it will be neater and if it isn’t she won’t frame it and she should teach me to think about the back sides.