Friday, August 31, 1866

Milton and I went to the Fair today; saw quite a number of very nice things, among them a knitting machine which knits stockings very completely, and a great deal of fancy work. I saw quite a number of friends whom I was glad to see. [I] heard that Wm Wales and family are to be called home from the south. This I think will be a great disappointment to them and no doubt a great trial. Ruth Emily is better:  mother came home.  This evening Betty Davis has gone to stay with her a day or two.

~Mary Jane Edwards

On the previous day, Mary Jane wrote that all the family had gone to the fair at Knightstown, at that time a small burg of around 1500 residents about two and a half miles southwest from their farm, as the crow flies.

I can’t imagine that seeing a knitting machine making socks was exciting, but I can certainly understand how difficult it must’ve been to keep all those farming brothers in mended socks. With four boys in our household, finding a pair of socks that matched on a school morning was cause for celebration. Except for the morning that I spotted my burly 6’2” son wearing hot pink socks: my hot pink socks! Where were his?! Probably full of holes. Thankfully, I never had to sit by the fire and darn stockings in the evenings. I just bought more.

Mary Jane also notes that the “fancy work” attracted her eye. Of course, this would have been exactly what Friends were supposed to eschew.

But it appears that she is not the only one whose head was turned by the fancy, worldly items sold and demonstrated at the fair. She wrote that she saw a number of people she knew- presumably also drooling over time-saving devices and highly decorated clothing.

It must’ve been a challenge to stay plain in a world being swept up by new technology.

My mind replays a scene in “Friendly Persuasion,” the movie based on the book by Jessymyn West. The Birdwell family, Hoosier Friends, also go to a county fair and deal with the temptations of dancing, shooting for fun, singing, and even fighting. It’s a film well worth watching as the family members wrestle to live out their testimonies during Morgan’s Raids in 1862 Southern Indiana.

Mary Jane’s entries make me wonder what temptations pull today’s Friends away from a life of worldliness? Technology, entertainment, lifestyle choices. Are they basically the same as during her time?