Just-a-Mere Clubs

Week 12: #52Ancestors – Membership

By Eilene Lyon

My paternal grandmother, Reatha Halse, has several photos in her album from 1945 labeled Just-a-Mere Club. They were taken in Corvallis, Oregon. Her sister-in-law, Loretta (Frydendall) Halse, was also a member and probably got Reatha involved. (In 1945, Loretta was soon to be the ex-Mrs. Al Halse.) I found several mentions of “Mrs. E. A. Halse” (Reatha) being a co-hostess.

A Newspapers.com search reveals that there were Just-a-Mere clubs in 41 states in the 1940s, but it does not appear to have been a national organization. Sometimes they blended the name into one word: Justamere. It seems each club had its own particular agenda.

In Virginia, Just-a-Mere clubs originated about the time of World War I. They were preceded by “Tomato Clubs.” Their purpose was to provide home demonstrations as an outreach of the extension service. Canning was a major topic, but nutrition, home decorating, and sewing skills came into play.

In Mansfield, Missouri, author Laura Ingalls Wilder founded a Justamere Club as a study group in the summer of 1919. It’s not clear if this was one of the first clubs and/or the model for others.

The groups in Oregon in the 1940s often revolved around card games, such as bridge and Five Hundred. The hostess decorated the “guest rooms” with flower arrangements or greenery. Sometimes the entertainment included a photo presentation of gardens or scenic places around the state. In Salem, there was a flower-arranging demonstration at one time, but cards and photos seem to have been the regular activities.

In Corvallis, the Just-a-Mere Club was closely allied with the Pythian Sisters (affiliated with the Knights of Pythias fraternal lodge), another organization Reatha belonged to. The earliest mention in the local paper dates to 1925 and the last to 1973. In addition to cards games, they often did “needlework.” For another club, this clearly meant quilting, but I’m not certain about the Corvallis group’s projects.

I haven’t found any recent mentions of existing Just-a-Mere clubs, with the exception of the one in Mansfield, associated with the Wilder Home Museum. Rather, it makes its way into many an obituary for women of a “certain age.” It seems we have moved past the need for generic women’s clubs like these.

Feature image: The Corvallis, Oregon, Just-a-Mere Club in 1945. Reatha is not pictured. Unfortunately, Reatha did not identify any of the women in these pictures.

Sources:

The Corvallis Gazette-Times

The Statesman Journal (Salem, OR)

The Capital Journal (Salem, OR)

The Bulletin (Bend, OR)

The Nevada Daily Mail, June 15, 1976

The Farmville Herald, January 21, 2016

Thurman, Judith. “Wilder Women: The mother and daughter behind the Little House stories.” The New Yorker, August 10 & 17, 2009.