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KALAT, DOROTHY K. [later MRS. WILLIAM E. WIRSCH] : 1934 - 1937 ORIGINAL, CHARMING MANUSCRIPT 5-YEAR DIARY HANDWRITTEN BY A 12 YEAR OLD CLEVELAND GIRL-NEXT-DOOR

16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall. On offer is a charming, original Depression era manuscript diary handwritten by a young school girl by the name of Dorothy Kalat [later Mrs. William E. Wirsch] who lived in Cleveland Ohio. Dorothy was born on December 30th, 1922 which makes her only 12 years old when she first wrote in her diary. The diary covers the years of her life from 1934 to 1937. There are also a few handwritten letters from two girlfriends [Tessie Maschek and Ruth Ourmule] and several honour roll cards and other school cards. She was an excellent student and also on several different clubs. Readers will find charming entries that one might expect from any 12-15 year Cleveland Ohio old girl during the Great Depression years and making for a picture of life and times. Historians and researchers may be surprised at how little the Depression is reflected in Dorothy's diary as she appears to want for nothing and is a happy child. Her first entries: 'I played with my paper dolls most of the day, at night Rose came over and we had a lot of fun. Today I went to school for the first time in a week. I saw Fritz and took two flops on the icey sidewalk. The girls were teasing me of Fritz. In school we had a spelling test. I am in the first group in arithmetic.' Later she mentions her Christmas as the 'swellest ever' and a list of 4 gifts. Diaries of this type are very often witness to the growth from child to young woman and this is certainly the case here. Her handwriting shows changes yearly and from her loopy cursive at 12 to a tight smaller cursive at 15 reflects too the changes to her school and activities. Dorothy as a diarist is sporadic: 1934 and 1935 are full from January 1st until mid May then blank until late June. Then she takes a short break from writing during parts of October and on the 31st of October she completes her diary to December 31st. In 1936 she writes from January 1st through to March 30th and then some in the fall of that year. So this year is about ¼ full of writing. Then in 1937 she only writes for the month of January. The diary is in good shape other than the flat which was used to close the diary is torn. Pages and binding look good. It measures about 4 ½" x 6". BIO NOTES: from her online obit: Dorothy K. (Kalat) Wirsch, a longtime resident of Warrington since 1955, went home to be with the Lord Monday Oct. 14, 2013. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio and the daughter of the late James and Elizabeth (Menger) Kalat. She was the loving, faithful wife of the late William E. Wirsch; beloved mother of Wendy and Gary Wirsch (Sue); and the devoted, loving grandmother of Samantha, Evan and Ryan. Mrs. Wirsch was a faithful attending member of the Neshaminy Warwick Presbyterian Church and was considered a founding member of the Village Players in Hatboro. She was a retired nurse from Abington Memorial Hospital and enjoyed ballroom dancing.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Good+

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