Professor Hamilton's Diary: Dec. 22, 1935

They go to a Christmas pageant; Mayor LaGuardia declares prohibition...on artichokes

For the second Sunday in a row, Professor Hamilton skipped church, probably tired after driving his family to his in-laws in Bronxville, Westchester County, the day before. “I lay abed late,” he wrote. However, he did “quite a little typing” and listened to the radio. That afternoon he joined his mother-in-law, Margaret and the children in attending a Christmas pageant at the Dutch Reformed Church. “Children were good and enjoyed it,” he wrote.

In nearby New York, colorful Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia proclaimed war on the artichoke. Paid subscribers can find out why the sale of this humble vegetable was tied to a “greedy” Italian mob.

Don’t you want to know what happened to daughters Gwennie and Mary Elizabeth after they grew up? Alas, only paid subscribers will know when I share their story on Dec. 27. Give yourself a Christmas gift and sign up today for just $5 a month or $50 a year. That way you will also be ready to enjoy the diaries of Mrs. Ross, a Washington, D.C. matron writing about the early days of World War II; Walter E. Askew, chief of police in Newnan, Ga. in 1930; and Myra Jackson, a young farm wife and mother living in Petrey, Alabama in 1932. For various reasons, these diaries are incomplete, but each provides fascinating insights into America during those turbulent years. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts!

The postcard of the Dutch Reformed Church in Bronxville is being offered on eBay. The photograph of artichokes at a market was accessed via Wikimedia Commons.