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[Various locations in the Midwest, 1925. Very good.. 75pp. of manuscript text, with two pages of additional notes laid in. Contemporary "Pippin Composition Book," with red cloth backstrip and decorative paper covers. Some rubbing and edge wear. Occasional short closed tears to text. A unique record of the automobile and railroad adventures of a young woman named Alice Gehant of Ashton, Lee County, Illinois. Her diary covers almost eighty pages, and details her experiences on the road in the Midwest, traveling through Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota in the first quarter of the 20th century. Gehant was traveling by car when very few people in the United States could afford to, much less have the desire to do so. Gas was cheap, but miles were slow, cars were unreliable over long stretches, and every town and city had to be traveled through as there was no interstate highway system, roads were a luxury, and progress to your end destination took real effort. Gehant memorializes some of these aspects of early automobile travel in the present diary. It is comprised of diary entries in eight sections detailing different trips between 1914 and 1925, as follows:
1) "Our Trip to Minnesota - August 19, 1914" 23pp. She traveled by car.
2) "Aurora and Joliet, 1917." 5pp. Again, by car.
3) "My Second Trip to Minnesota, July 21, 1919." 15pp. Traveled by train.
4) "Mt. Vernon Trip, November 28, 1923." 6pp. Traveled by car.
5) "Mt. Vernon Trip #2, Thursday, May 15, 1924." 6pp. Again, by car.
6) "Mt. Vernon Trip #3." November 1924, but written later. Four lines of text recording a quick trip.
7) "Mt. Vernon Trip #4, June 6, 1925." 2pp. By car.
8) "3rd Trip to Minnesota, August 15, 1925." 16pp.
The diary commences with Alice's family packing up their "auto" with blankets, canned goods, clothes, toiletries, and their tent. The family would typically travel along until nightfall then stop at a home along the road and ask permission to camp in their front yard or elsewhere on the property. These requests were usually granted. Alice relates particulars of the persons encountered in the towns along the way in these trips which occurred over a ten-year span. Some trips have more detailed entries than others.
The diary opens with Gehant's first entry on August 19, 1914: "When Grandpa first suggested our trip I was afraid it would turn out like it did last year, but it didn't to my surprise. We couldn't go until we had threshed and we were the last in the ring.... We took a piece of bacon, about 30 eggs, boiled chicken, potatoes, tomatoes, salt, pepper and sugar, coffee and tea, pickles, bread, a can of condensed milk and some jam. We started from home Wednesday, August 19, 1914 at about 11:30. We went to Ashton first as we had to get Gus Wagner's Blue Book, papa's watch, a basket of peaches and our travelers checque. I and the auto stayed down below the track as we didn't want to go through town all loaded up. While waiting there I started this story..."
A sampling of quotes from various trips are as follows:
Our Trip to Minnesota, August 23, 1914: "At Superior, we stopped and asked how far it was to Petersburg and the woman said to go north until you came to a school house and then to go east. While we were going north, we went past a small lake. It was 5:30 when we got here and they weren't home. They had gone to East Chain but got home about 6:45. The first day we went 53 miles, second day 92, third day 91, fourth 98 and 102 last. We took the Lincoln Highway to Cedar Rapids and from there the Red Ball to Waterloo and from there the northern Iowa Pike. Altogether we went 436 miles without any trouble."
Our Trip to Minnesota, "Wednesday" in September 1914: "We passed through Marshalltown early in the morning. They were having the State fair there. A little way out of Marshalltown there was a big puddle of mud, we turned out along the Side and we got stuck. We went out to the fence where we got a pointed fence pole, Pa dug out in front of the wheel and then he got in and ma pushed but we couldn't make it go. Then he got out and put a board in front of a couple of wheels and still it wouldn't go. Then a couple of fellows in a 1914 Reo came along and they got out and pushed but it wouldn't go. Then we got our chains out and hitched on to the front of their car and they pulled us out. When they started they got stuck on the other side. Then we had to back through the mud and pull them out. We fixed our lunch in the mourning and didn't stop long at noon. In the afternoon the roads in some places were dreadfully rough. In one place there was a hole in the road about as big around as a dishpan where it had cave in.... We stopped for the night at a place east of Lisbon. Their name was Andre. We all slept in the house in one bed. They had a fine big brick house. The man was always swearing we found three or four whiskey bottles out in the barn. They charged us a dollar. About 5:30 we had supper. Pork tenderloin, fried potatoes, brown gravy, sliced tomatoes, beet pickles, cabbage slaw, bread butter and jelly and pie. I had chocolate pie and buttermilk."
Second Trip to Minnesota, Tuesday, July 29, 1919: "Next we went to Estherville about two miles out we saw an airship. It circled around a couple of times and then finally lit right in the next field. A passenger got out and we got out of the car and went over and took two pictures of it. Then another passenger got in and we saw it start up again."
Mt. Vernon Trip, Wednesday, November 28, 1923: "Had a load going out. Took 2 comforters, woolen Blankets, 30 qts of fruit (2 beef, 1 pork, 1 cranberries), onions, carrots, krout, Raisins, Celery, Bread, Butternut Cake, Mince pie, can corn, cookies, mamma's coat, etc., etc."
Third Trip to Minnesota, Saturday, August 15, 1925: "Had an American Kamp Cook gas stove (Made at Albert Lea, Minn.). Had cupboard made on side and door comes down for table. On other side had a long box with cover, on running board for clothing and also place for the dog."
Third Trip to Minnesota, Monday, August 17, 1925: "Just a wonderful morning. Such air and sky. Left Nashua camp about 7:20. Charles City next city. 8:15 when we left. Quite nice city. Floyd next. Pop. 350. Fine paving to Mason City. Rudd. reg. 562 56 miles to Albert Lea. A couple of miles out. 9:00 Nova Springs next town at 9:15. A Pretty place. Tourist park. Bot bread - 20, Pork Steaks - 20, cheese -10, Peanuts - 5."
A wonderful and unique record of early automobile travel by an enterprising young woman from Illinois.
