Between the Covers

Softcover. Small quarto notebook. Measuring 6¾" x 8½". Approximately 40 ruled leaves with roughly 7000 words in total. Illustrated wrappers with green cloth backstrip. The front wrapper is printed with "The Paragon School Series Composition Book Marginal Ruled No. 76." Very good with slight edgewear and light foxing on the first page.

A manuscript diary kept by 26-year-old Elizabeth Emde (née Thomas) of Kirkwood, Missouri from May to November of 1918. Along with her future husband Rudolph (they were married during the time span covered here on August 15th), she works long, odd hours in a local bakery called Martin's, with "Rudy" typically heading in at 2:30 a.m. The couple lives modestly, attends church on Sundays and gets around via streetcars, frequently visiting family in St. Louis City and adjacent Maplewood. Elizabeth was a dedicated diarist, writing approximately 50-100 word entries each day, and though not particularly emotive, the setting is of note as the metropolitan area of St. Louis was in the throes of the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 during the late summer and fall recorded here. In July, she notes a soldier on leave from Fort Riley, Kansas, the suspected epicenter of the flu strain that was at the heart of the pandemic, and the following day finds her boss out sick.

Perhaps due to her obligations as a food service worker or her location in the less populated suburbs of St. Louis, her own day-to-day life seems largely unaffected. In October she writes, “Got up at 930am. No church or S.S. in any church in St. Louis or County on account of influenza epidemic..” Additionally a few entries mention the ongoing war in Europe. On November 7 she writes, “Rainy day. Rudy came home at 645am ate breakfast late and then went to sleep. At 1230 the church bells and whistles started blowing and ringing to declare peace with Germany.” It is quickly followed the next day with “false report they say about peace.” While serving more as a marker of time and place rather than an outlet for her innermost thoughts, the diary endures to provide an uncommon, surviving primary source account of St. Louis during the Influenza Pandemic of 1918.

Item #453721