Little House series: book vs reality

[Sister Mozz]

Holy hell, I didn't know about Charley trying to kiss Laura during On the Shores of Silver Lake. I do remember Laura talking to her a cousin about a girl who had got married at thirteen and how glad they were they weren't getting married. I bet fundies love the idea of that, or at least promising a thirteen-year-old to someone. I'm going to have to read that one again because I remember it freaking me out when I was younger and I never read it again.

I know this was posted a few pages back, but I'm just catching up. I once met a fundie who wore headcoverings and floor-length dresses (because ankle-length aren't modest enough? :roll: ), and she said she planned on having her daughters ready for marriage at age 12. Yeah, because nothing could go wrong with marrying a 12-year-old off! :evil:

[thekate]

I know this was posted a few pages back, but I'm just catching up. I once met a fundie who wore headcoverings and floor-length dresses (because ankle-length aren't modest enough? :roll: ), and she said she planned on having her daughters ready for marriage at age 12. Yeah, because nothing could go wrong with marrying a 12-year-old off! :evil:

Dubbleyoo. Tee. Eff.

[Loveday]

I wish I was. In all its drug-induced glory:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGtntYrlKkw

I'm kind of afraid to watch this, but thanks for giving me the choice! :lol:

[Sola]

No one else I knew ever read Little House but they aren't very big in Britain.

I read them (ok you didn't know me then :D ).

I do wonder if I was given them to read because my family was a GCF (good Christian family) and my dad was a vicar. That might be a little of free jinger rubbing off on me though as we certainly weren't fundie.

I loved them, and I absolutely loved the TV series. I still watch it now when it comes on cable occasionally, that and the Waltons (Little Miss Sola loves the Waltons). My mum went in her attic a few weeks ago and gave me a pile of my old books and one of my old dolls (and the doll looks quite Mennonite actually - hmm perhaps more fundie than I thought LOL), but none of my Little House books were there. I remember having 2 or 3, I guess they may have ended up at a jumble sale. I was quite disappointed as I really fancied reading them again. Oh well.

[YPestis]

I've often given Pa a pass for eating the pancakes with Almanzo while the family was starving:

1. This was told from the POV of Almanzo, not Pa. We don't hear about Pa feeling guilty or whatnot because Almanzo did not realize the town was starving (in the books). The two brothers were living comfortably and it was only when Pa came to them that they took note of how thin Pa was and how his family may be starving.

2. What else was Pa suppose to do when he was offered pancakes? What does most starving people do when offered good food? Most people would EAT IT! What good would it have done for Pa if he refused the food? By eating what was offered right there, he can eat less food at home thereby enabling Ma to stretch their food.

3. Pa was in the process of trying to find food for his family. That's why he came in the first place. This was not a social call. He ended up getting food for the family after taking a meal with them. In the end, it wasn't like Pa ate a full meal and then went home to watch his family starve.

4. Pa couldn't exactly take the bacon and pancakes home. It was also offered to him specifically as a polite interchange for company. It would have been rude (for that time period) to just grab the offered food, put it in his pockets, and run.

My parents lived through the famine that killed 30 million in 1960's in China. They've had experiences similar to what Laura endured in "The Long Winter". Only it lasted for four years for them, not seven months (and replace coarse, brown bread with corn three times a day). They talked about feeling guilty whenever they were offered a chance to eat something "good" like pork or cookies, and they couldn't share it with family members. How each delicious bite were filled with thoughts that their younger siblings or parents were not there to share in this exquisite treat. However, it never occurred to them to not take the offered food. Starving people don't stop to think of the moral reasons for saying no to food. Only that they would try to bring some of it back, if possible, to share with the family. Furthermore, the hungrier the person, the less likely he will stop to think about others when handed food. I don't think my parents ever starved to that point, but they never judge when they hear of theft and other crimes committed by hungry people.

I think Pa Ingalls has done many questionable things. But the scene in "The Long Winter", if it's true, is not one of those. Pa was trying to find food for his family. He found a homestead with a steady source of food, and he took an offered meal before taking more food home to his starving family. I think people are offended by the fact the book didn't note his thoughts on eating such a glorious meal amidst such scarcity but that was done stylistically to show Almanzo's POV in that chapter, not Pa's.

[thekate]

I read them (ok you didn't know me then :D ).

I do wonder if I was given them to read because my family was a GCF (good Christian family) and my dad was a vicar. That might be a little of free jinger rubbing off on me though as we certainly weren't fundie.

I loved them, and I absolutely loved the TV series. I still watch it now when it comes on cable occasionally, that and the Waltons (Little Miss Sola loves the Waltons). My mum went in her attic a few weeks ago and gave me a pile of my old books and one of my old dolls (and the doll looks quite Mennonite actually - hmm perhaps more fundie than I thought LOL), but none of my Little House books were there. I remember having 2 or 3, I guess they may have ended up at a jumble sale. I was quite disappointed as I really fancied reading them again. Oh well.

Little House in the Big Woods is here: http://www.gutenberg.ca/ebooks/wilder-w ... -01-h.html

I haven't found LHotPrairie online yet, but will check again when I'm not on the iPod.

Apparently the copyrights are disputed which may be why they're not all in public domain. Or maybe only the first is old enough.

ETA

I've often given Pa a pass for eating the pancakes with Almanzo while the family was starving:

1. This was told from the POV of Almanzo, not Pa. We don't hear about Pa feeling guilty or whatnot because Almanzo did not realize the town was starving (in the books). The two brothers were living comfortably and it was only when Pa came to them that they took note of how thin Pa was and how his family may be starving.

2. What else was Pa suppose to do when he was offered pancakes? What does most starving people do when offered good food? Most people would EAT IT! What good would it have done for Pa if he refused the food? By eating what was offered right there, he can eat less food at home thereby enabling people to stretch their budget.

3. Pa was in the process of trying to find food for his family. That's why he came. He ended up getting food for the family after taking a meal with them. In the end, it wasn't like Pa ate and then went home with no food for the family.

4. Pa couldn't exactly take the bacon and pancakes home. It was also offered to him specifically as a polite interchange for company. It would have been rude (for that time period) to just grab the offered food, put it in his pockets, and run.

My parents lived through the famine that killed 30 million in 1960's in China. They've had experiences similar to what Laura endured in "The Long Winter". Only it lasted for four years for them, not seven months. They talked about feeling guilty whenever they were offered a chance to eat something "good" like pork or cookies, and they couldn't share it with family members. How each delicious bite were filled with thoughts that their younger siblings or parents were not there to share in this exquisite treat. However, it never occurred to them to not take the offered food. Starving people don't stop to think of the moral reasons for saying no to food. Only that they would try to bring some of it back, if possible, to share with the family. Furthermore, the hungrier the person, the less likely he will stop to think about others when handed food.

I think Pa Ingalls has done many questionable things. But the scene in "The Long Winter", if it's true, is not one of those.

Plus, that meal probably meant the rest of his family got to eat his share of dinner that night.

[Sola]

Little House in the Big Woods is here: http://www.gutenberg.ca/ebooks/wilder-w ... -01-h.html

I haven't found LHotPrairie online yet, but will check again when I'm not on the iPod.

Apparently the copyrights are disputed which may be why they're not all in public domain. Or maybe only the first is old enough.

Ooooh! Thanks for the link!

[stabbycat]

I remember reading somewhere that in the manuscript for Pioneer Girl, Pa brings home some maple syrup from Almanzo's house. It wasn't like he was hoarding all the food.

[freejoytoo]

Yay Sola and Artemis! :) I think I'm a lot younger than you guys but it would have been cool to have know you!

This thread has inspired me to get out my books. I own The Little House in the Big Woods, The Long Winter and These Happy Golden Years. I think I need a trip to the library.

[Maude]

Yay Sola and Artemis! :) I think I'm a lot younger than you guys but it would have been cool to have know you!

This thread has inspired me to get out my books. I own The Little House in the Big Woods, The Long Winter and These Happy Golden Years. I think I need a trip to the library.

+1. I've been meaning to read Wilder's books for years, as I've only ever just skimmed 'Little House in the Big Woods.' I don't know why I never read them as a child; I'm kind of sad that I didn't.

[Sola]

Yay Sola and Artemis! :) I think I'm a lot younger than you guys but it would have been cool to have know you!

This thread has inspired me to get out my books. I own The Little House in the Big Woods, The Long Winter and These Happy Golden Years. I think I need a trip to the library.

Now we need to do a British 'Free Jinger Little House' con. We can all dress as Laura too.

OK, I'm getting carried away now :D

[Beth_Anne]

for Wolfie (no one has ever said italics were hard to read, sorry, I use them everywhere because they remind me more of penmanship.)

My first post, though I've been reading a lot for about a month or so, to sort of learn my way around.

I loved the books, innocently as a child, and seeing much more between the lines as I grew older. I loved how you could see glimmers of the real Laura now and then--slapping Mary, always feeling plain next to her (and was it ever a shock when I saw a real photo of Mary, for she was NOT beautiful by then--the leeches on Nellie and so on. She seemed like a very real little girl to me. Of course I believed that every word was as it happened, until I began researching after I grew up. The baby brother was a jolt, and so was Laura's baby son, especially since he was never named. But I remember Laura saying in an interview that of course she had no idea she was writing history, and I took that to mean that the liberties taken were to make the books suitable for children and marketable, as well.

Couple things....I had not thought about Laura and her family being hungry as often as they would have been, but I bought THE LITTLE HOUSE COOKBOOK in 1980 when it was first released and I still cook from it. Much is made therein about how Laura writes about food, especially in FARMER BOY, because the idea of such a bounteous table as Almanzo had during his years at home was all but heaven to Laura, especially the sweets.

I found out entirely serendipitously that my husband and I were married on Laura and Almanzo's 100th wedding anniversary. We chose it because we liked the symmetry of 8~25~85. They could have said the same thing, but of course that wasn't what it was all about for them. Still, it was a fun thing to know.

And there is a new juvenile fiction book out that could have been inspired by the Frontier House tv series, called LITTLE BLOG ON THE PRAIRIE, by Cathleen Davitt Bell. Check it out! It is a purely enjoyable read. And THE WILDER LIFE is very good, too, filled with a few surprises you won't expect.

There is also a book of columns Laura wrote for farm journals and papers, called LITTLE HOUSE IN THE OZARKS. I enjoyed it very, very much, a true peek inside her marriage and, again, she just seemed like someone you really knew--or wanted to.

GHOST IN THE LITTLE HOUSE is....disturbing. There's sure a lot to hold to the thinking that Rose did a lot more of the writing (or at least editing) than anyone would have believed, and since Rose and Laura always had a stormy relationship, it could only have made it worse.

Now back to my reading here......;)

[Sister Mozz]

Here is a comprehensive summary of the Sylvia episodes.

http://www.angelfire.com/ultra/misc/lhotp_sylvia.htm

Thanks for the link! I saw Part 1 when I was 10 or 11, when the show was in syndication and you never knew which order/what time slot they would air the episodes. I never saw Part 2 and I have always wondered how it ended. I had no idea that she died at the end. Who thought that was good subject matter for family TV?

[Glass Cowcatcher]

Glass Cowcatcher, those photographs are great!

Man, this thread just keeps getting better!

Glass Cowcatcher wins the interwebz today on this thread. :bow-blue:

LOL. Never thought my secret stash of train pics would win me an Interwebz. :lol:

[Glass Cowcatcher]

I found another good one!

[PennySycamore]

Oh my god!!! That is one big snowbank!

[Markie]

Did anyone else watch, Pioneer Quest - a Canadian frontier reality show? Two couples built up a homestead and had to survive in the Manitoba frontier for a year. They couples ended up not really liking each other by the year's end. I really enjoyed that show. I also was a big fan of 1900 House, Manor House and a BBC reality show about WW2 Evacuees.

[Witsec7]

LOL. Never thought my secret stash of train pics would win me an Interwebz. :lol:

My personal favorite is the Wellington Avalanche at the Great Northern yard.

[Glass Cowcatcher]

My personal favorite is the Wellington Avalanche at the Great Northern yard.

Wow. Snow really sucks, that's all I'm going to say about it :shock: .

I'd have to nominate Tay Rail Bridge as my favorite, as much as you can have a favorite disaster.

[Witsec7]

Wow. Snow really sucks, that's all I'm going to say about it :shock: .

I'd have to nominate Tay Rail Bridge as my favorite, as much as you can have a favorite disaster.

Wow do you know any worthy books on the subject ?

[Glass Cowcatcher]

Wow do you know any worthy books on the subject ?

Tay bridge specifically?

[Witsec7]

Tay bridge specifically?

Yea Tay bridge. We still have some cast iron bridges here in Oregon, small spans. I've also seen the inside of some Eiffel structures, including a church in Mexico. Engineering, trains and disasters, well that's some hot action for me on a Friday night :lol:

[Glass Cowcatcher]

Yea Tay bridge. We still have some cast iron bridges here in Oregon, small spans. I've also seen the inside of some Eiffel structures, including a church in Mexico. Engineering, trains and disasters, well that's some hot action for me on a Friday night :lol:

There's one called "The High Girders" by John Preeble that I want, but I can't find a copy this side of the Atlantic. Going to have to buy it online when I have some cash.

Online, though, there is a good sites [link=http://taybridgedisaster.co.uk/]here[/link]--check the bibliography. You can also access a PDF of the official report [link=http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=107]here[/link] and a collection of the forensic pictures taken for the inquiry [link=[/link]

[FundiesInMyFamily]

Angri-la, I love me some Shannen Doherty too!

Someone mentioned orphan Cassandra's brother a few pages back - his name was James. There was an epic episode where Pa took him into town where he was shot by a bankrobber and went into a coma. Charles took him into the woods for a month and built a rock altar and prayed real hard, and one morning he magically woke up and was perfect!

[clarinetpower]

Please forgive me if this has been mentioned, but if you're looking for a good book about prairie life at that time that actually includes some fundie whackadoo crazy-going, try O.E. Rolvaag's Giants in the Earth. He was a Norwegian who was a professor at St. Olaf College, and the book is about Norwegian settlers on the prairie, living in a sod house. I loved the book, though most people find it terribly depressing. Apparently it's part of a trilogy, but I've never seen the 2nd two books.