In honor of the hundredth post of the Sepia Saturday blog, I present another brief excerpt from my great-grandfather's diary, relating an event that happened one hundred years ago, in 1911.
One day [David’s wife] Lena got rattled and angry and grabbed a plate from the table and threw it at David. It was his quick dodge that saved him from getting hurt. The plate struck the kitchen door and broke into splinters. When she sat down in her chair facing David, with her bare arms akimbo in an aggressive posture, she asked, “Well what do you intend to say now?”
David said, “I hardly think you’ll ever learn to behave ladylike.”
My sister Julian says:
"This scene is almost identical to a scene my mother describes during her childhood, in which Helen [our grandmother, David and Lena’s daughter] grabbed a stack of plates from the nearby hutch and flung them to the floor. Apparently Art, my grandfather, had not taken her side in forcing their children to finish her carefully prepared oyster bisque. Learned behavior?
... My mother’s recollections of her grandfather are of [a] quiet, gentle, blameless man. Grandma Lena was always criticizing him, according to her. 'What do you know?' Lena would say at the dinner table. But ...David portrays himself as someone who is very much in control of the situation, i.e., Lena. Not vice versa.
...It’s interesting to think about the way a child (my mother) would have perceived a scene like the one above. Absent the 'ladylike' comment, David would have seemed quiet and blameless, right? Thus, the version of David we hear growing up."
Myself, I wonder if this plate-throwing thing was a product of its time, rather like "kids these days" adopt the behaviors they see on TV? Case in point:
Artwork from the book George McManus' Bringing Up Father
I think it's natural to throw plates, glasses, pots and pans when the aggravation is great enough and a loud, satisfying crash is needed. Later on though the broken dishes or pots or mixers make it seem that maybe it wasn't worthwhile after all. Spoken from experience.
ReplyDeleteI’ve never understood why people throw things when angered or thwarted. Now, rushing upstairs, buying your face in the pillow and screaming, whilst drumming your feet on the bed.................
ReplyDeleteI think you are probably right about plate throwing being a learned behavior.
ReplyDeleteFabulous post. How wonderful to have a diary with entries like this.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as tho the males in your family were more patient than the females.
ReplyDeleteNancy Javier
Seeing a lot through a little - whether by images or words - is what Sepia Saturday is all about. Taking a description of a small event and filling it out with thoughts and memories. Keep throwing those plates, and keep contributing to the pleasurable experience that is Sepia Saturday.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that they had enough plates to throw. I can remember occasions when we had to share plates. I would love to have a diary like that from so long ago.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts run along with Bob's if someone in the family threw plates that meant we had to do without a plate. Too poor to keep buying plates. Thank goodness I never say that ever happen in real life. Great post for this special day.
ReplyDeleteQMM
Oh crumbs - plate-throwing is scary, and at the end of it you have not enough plates, so your's must have been a fiery lot :-) Jo
ReplyDeleteI wish I had some memories, written or otherwise, from 100 years ago. Preserve them. :)
ReplyDeleteHa, that's a great line: “I hardly think you’ll ever learn to behave ladylike.” Flying plates would be scary. Never flung one myself, but doesn't mean I've learned to behave ladylike either ;)
ReplyDeleteNo hint what caused Lena's or Helen's anger? Probably learned behavior (throwing plates) and unlearned behavior (self-control). I still think it's fabulous that your great-grandfather kept a diary and that you have it.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to be able to see the personalities of your ancestors so clearly. I suppose the better parts of their personalities showed up in other parts of the diary.
ReplyDeleteBarbara
If you've ever been in a Greek taverna when all the tourists have gone home, only the locals are left, and the party gets started, you'll know that plate-throwing can be very, very entertaining. This kind, however, sounds a bit ugly, but what family reminiscences to have.
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