This is a Hopewell baby book from 1916, kindly shared by Hope Sudlow, that records the birth of Hope’s mother, Lou Etta Laning, on May 27, 1916.
This charming book is written as a love letter from the mother, also Lou Etta [Thatcher] Laning (1888-1968), addressed directly to her new baby daughter, who had the same name because “your father desired you to be named like your mother.” The father was John Thorne Laning (1888-1965), a railroad signalman and telegraph operator.
Besides recording the mother’s description and thoughts on the early years of her first child, this book also provides wonderful glimpses into the time and place, including copious photographs. How and where were babies born? What were some of the first milestones in their development? How and what were babies fed in the first year? And what childhood ailments did babies have, and how were they treated? What was a typical family meal for a first birthday? How and where did families take their babies on outings?
== Read the full 1916 Lou Etta Laning Baby Book (PDF) ==
The House
The book starts with a photo of the family’s house, “Sunnysides,” a four-square still standing at 105 West Prospect Street. The photo shows a house with good sidewalks and a baby carriage: “That is your carriage in front of the door.”
From a historical perspective, the photo is interesting because there is a placard in the window to the right which is from the 1916 presidential campaign, with photos of Charles Evans Hughes and Charles W. Fairbanks (who lost the election by a narrow margin to Woodrow Wilson).
But Lou Etta writes about another detail that is less obvious: “The cat on the walk is our cat, Beauty, and the cat at the bottom is her son, Betty [sic].” (The cats are not easy to find – Beauty is barely visible on the right sidewalk, and only Betty’s tail is visible at the bottom center.)
The Birth
The baby also was born in this house: “This is your birthplace. It is on West Prospect Street, Hopewell NJ. The room on the upper right-hand corner is where you were born.” The attending doctor was Hopewell fixture Dr. Theodore A. Pierson, and the nurse was Tabitha E. Parker. The birth was at 2:50 am.
The book also notes a particular ritual by the nurse on the next day: “On May 28, 1916, Miss Parker carried you up to the attic with a Bible and a silver spoon and said, “May you have heavenly wisdom and earthly riches.” (This is according to an old saying to go up before you go down.)” [This suggests a wish for, and balance between, both spiritual guidance and material prosperity.]
The baby’s weight was recorded as 7 1/2 pounds at birth, 14 at pounds 6 months, and 18 pounds at one year.
First Birthday
The first birthday, Sunday, May 27, 1917, was recorded as a special event with a dinner and multiple cakes:
It was a warm day, but had a shower late in the afternoon.
You were at the table in your high chair, and had bread dipped in water, a very little ice cream and a few small pieces of cake.
Dinner Menu – Roast veal, gravy, creamed asparagus on toast, mashed potatoes, olives, pickles, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream, pink and white checkerboard cake, coffee, and your birthday cake, which was a yellow cup cake with white icing and one pink candle. Mother lit the candle, grandmother cut the cake and helped you put the light out.
Outings
The book reports multiple outings, including walking around town, visiting around the area (on trolleys, cars, and wagons), and travelling to Philadelphia on the train.
The first walk around Hopewell circled streets as we still know them:
On June 28th [1916], we took you downtown for the first time, in your carriage. We went down Broad Street, crossed over and went by Grange Hall [on Mercer Street], up Model Avenue, down Greenwood Avenue to Broad, up Broad Street, Laning Avenue, Prospect Street to Sunnysides.
The first big trip around the area in December 1916 was particularly eventful: “Your first time in church, your first funeral, your first auto ride, trolley ride, wagon ride:”
December 5th, you went by trolley to Trenton then Bordentown, from Bordentown to Mansfield by automobile to the Quaker Meeting House (built in 1812) to your great great-uncle Joe’s funeral. From the meeting house by auto to beyond Columbus to your great-uncle Isaac Johnson’s farm there to your great uncle Gilbert and great-aunt Mary Fenmore’s by wagon, then to Bordentown by wagon.
Then the next year saw several trips to Philadelphia via the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad from the station in Hopewell:
On May 7th [1917] we took you to Philadelphia by the P and R. You were on the subway. You were photographed. Had a fine time.
On September 21st 1917, mother’s birthday, you went to Philadelphia the second time. You ate at Hanscoms [Bakery] on Market Street. Was in Lit’s [Lit Brothers] shopping for your winter clothing. Had orange ice and cake that day and enjoyed it very much.
Feeding
The first six months saw the baby being weaned onto infant formula and powdered supplements and then solid food:
About the fourth or fifth week, I gave you one or two feedings a day of Mellin’s Food. [By] the sixth week two or three feedings a day. I think that the reason you lost weight the tenth week was the heat, and you probably had not had enough Mellin’s Food.
[An infant formula, powder diluted with cow’s milk, made from wheat, malted barley, and bicarbonate of potassium.]
In October, I stopped nursing you and gave you Horlick’s Malted Milk and water, and it seemed to agree with you. You were better every way.
[A powdered meal replacement and nutritional supplement, a mixture of wheat flour, malted wheat, and malted barley.
During your tenth, I think, I would give you crackers and water or milk to moisten and a bread-crust, but the last would choke you. At 11 months old, I gave you a little bread and milk, crackers and milk, a little orange juice, and cream of wheat (cooked in a double-boiler).
In September. I gave you orange juice, baked potato, egg (soft boiled), crackers, cream of wheat.
Health
The baby had common ailments during the first six months, including colic and a cold:
You were troubled with red-gum the first and second month. [Red-gum was a rash associated with teething distress]
You were troubled with colic until nearly three month’s old, and sometimes afterward you had it.
You had a cold in December, and I used kerosene and sugar for it. Then olive tar and sugar with goose grease in your chest.
[A few drops of turpentine or kerosene oil on a teaspoon of sugar was a home remedy for flu and colds. Goose grease was used as a decongestant for whooping cough and chest colds.]
The following years saw other common children’s afflictions, and vaccinations:
In year 1923, you had old-fashion measles.
On March 23rd, 1924 you started with mumps, both sides.
Vaccinated June 18th, 1924.
Scarletina [scarlet fever, a symptom of strep throat]
June 1929 – Chicken-pox.
May 1930 – Measles (look like old fashion) everyone had three day.
Firsts
The book has multiple sections for reporting the baby’s “firsts,” including Smile, Sounds, Sitting, Standing, and Teeth.
Sounds:
You started to coo during your third month.
Among the first sounds you uttered was” you-you-you”, “mamma”, “eh”, “etta-dada.”
On the 20th of November, you laughed very loud while I played with you.
During your eighth month, we thought you called me, “Etta”, and your father, “Da-da.”
At eleven months you said “up a day”, “Etta”, “dada”, “pretty-pretty”, “see, “Hannah-Hannah-Hannah.”
Sitting and Standing:
On September 17th, you were at your grandma’s sitting on my lap, and you leaned away from me and sat up by yourself. The 5th month you sat up when I dressed you.
At 9th and 10th month, when anyone sang or played, you would move and try to sing.
You sat in your own nursery chair in your 11th month.
On the first of May, you raise yourself partly on your feet with your hands on each side of the coach and jumped and bounced it up and down.
About your 17th month, you tried to stand alone at times. You crept up steps at this time.
On August 1st, somehow you got up in one of the willow chairs and reached your shoes on the colonnade.
When I worked in the kitchen, you stood by the dining-room door and watched me.
Teeth:
The first few days of your 8th month, your first tooth showed white and the day you were nine months old, it felt sharp.
Your two upper teeth showed slightly at Easter.
You had six teeth when you were one year old.
Your seventh showed during your thirteenth month. It hurt you a great deal.
Plus one final first: “Baby’s first War Savings Certificate – February 28, 1918 – $5.00. (It will buy bandages, no doubt.)”
== Read the full 1916 Lou Etta Laning Baby Book (PDF) ==
Thanks again to Hope and Dick Sudlow for the baby book and family information. And, yes, the name “Lou Etta” was two words, and the “Laning” family name had one “n” – unlike the current street in Hopewell, but the same as the current street in Pennington.
We welcome additional family information, photos, and videos to share about life in Hopewell.
