In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

c 5 C A World of Women Oh, if I had a kind friend A friend that I could trust It would be a source of joy to me To know that I was blest With one in whom I could confide My secrets hopes and fears And who would not in coldness turn From me in furture years. Diaries, Memoranda, 1863 At the end of every year, Emilie would summarize some of the major events that happened in her life and in the world in the back section of her pocket diaries. At the end of her 1863 pocket diary, in what seems to be an uncharacteristic practice for her, she wrote a poem. It is the only time within the three-year period that she did so, and since she spent a majority of her time in the company of others , a poem of longing for a friend seems to be out of place. Moreover the style and language in the poem that Emilie wrote about not having or needing to find “kind” friends is also uncharacteristic, as it is different from the style and language Emilie typically used during her daily entries. Perhaps she copied the poem from one of the daily newspapers or one of her women’s magazines, as was commonplace at that time. Other than her daily entries, Emilie did not add anything to her books. She did not draw or doodle on the pages, and there are no grocery or to-do lists. She only recorded her daily activities, which is why the poem seems so out of place. According to her pocket diary entries, 1863 was not a particularly harsh or difficult year for her; in fact when comparing the three years, 1865 seems to be the worst—that was the year she met with and wrote about more hardships, personal disappointments, and sadness. In either case—whether she was writing about her feelings, trying her hand at poetry, or copying a poem that she liked—her pocket diary is where she chose to record it. Diaries, Pocket Diaries, and Journals The way that Emilie used her pocket diary, as an extension of herself, was very different from how pocket diaries were being marketed. Although they were originally A World of Women 147 marketed to businessmen on different social levels, the practice of keeping records seems to have been exclusive to the “middle and upper” ranks, and the design of the diaries reflected the habits of their clientele. Unlike diaries, which were designed for men to use for their private introspective writing, pocket diaries were originally designed and marketed as semi-private spaces to record public activities or family events. First introduced in London in 1812, pocket diaries were originally designed for merchants, with tide tables for the Port of London, a section for recording notes, and a page for recording cash accounts. They were introduced in America around 1850 and were advertised as “Blank Diaries,” companions to the almanacs that were designed specifically for businessmen. Although the daily pages were blank, the books did include a list of eclipses, postage rates, and the daily sunrise and sunset times, as well as the distances between major U.S. cities and other commercially related information.1 The first pocket diaries were simple in their construction. They were designed as mini-books that were small enough to be carried and easily opened. Later versions , released around 1857, had tabs, loops, or locks in the front, which subtly affirmed that the pocket diary was beginning to assume a more private form. At the same time that pocket diaries assumed a more private look, they also began to be marketed to women as a place to record family events and traditions. There was a reciprocal relationship between women and their pocket diaries: the limitations of the pocket diaries, which allowed only brief daily comments, helped women shape their lives, while the structure of their lives then shaped how they used the pocket diary.2 Growing up in antebellum Philadelphia, Emilie Davis was uniquely situated to participate in the elite social and literary practice of keeping a daily pocket diary . She came of age during a time when boys and girls were instructed either in school or by their mothers to keep a daily record to “monitor their behavior, correct moral lapses, and use their time wisely” as they learned the “habits of order and regularity.”3 Further, girls were provided with etiquette instruction in how to...

Share