From 8-year old Hilda’s diary:
After school today I went to the beach with Grandmother and Grandma Uri. We sat on a bench on the sand but I wasn’t allowed to play in it because Grandmother never allows me to get my clothes dirty. So I didn’t have any fun. Grandma Uri had brought her ear trumpet along and I had to nearly scream into it because it was so windy and the wind seemed to blow the sound away and I could hardly hear what she said to me. The conversation wasn’t very interesting but I had an idea how hard it was for her not to be able to hear what everyone is talking about.
Photo (circa 1910) courtesy of SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY