It’s the birthday of a beloved American author – Laura Ingalls Wilder. She was born on February 7, 1867.
Her books are so much a part of my childhood that they don’t even feel like books to me. I was 7, 8, 9 when I read them, and I can barely say I read them. I LIVED them. And the fact that at the same time that I was LIVING these books – a wonderful television series based on these books came on helped me immerse myself in that bygone age even further. Despite its bizarre and explosive ending, the series captured some of the simplicity and beauty in those books. Laura, Mary, Nellie Olson – all of these people were just woven into my childhood. We used them as reference points as kids. Whispering to each other about a classmate: “She’s such a Nellie Olson”. Even now, that particular description would work for me, in terms of telling me everything I needed to know about a person.
Here’s a wonderful image of the kind of pioneer cabin that the Ingalls family probably lived in:
Not only do her books work as great stories in and of themselves, but they portray the pioneer experience in such an immediate and first-hand way that it came to life for future generations. There I was, frolicking in the dirt of my backyard in Rhode Island, but because I had read those books I knew about the great plains, and covered wagons, and how medicine was … er … different back then … and what it was like to have NO money so that one Christmas they each got a cookie, and a shiny penny and a peppermint candy for presents. And the girls were THRILLED about these presents, which seemed insane to me, but the way the book was written I went into THEIR world, rather than expecting them to reflect mine. Laura Ingalls Wilder described that one blizzardy Christmas so well, and the beauty of those simple hand-made gifts – that I, as a child, really learned something about the world. I remember thinking, (I must have been 8 years old): “They only got a candy-cane and a cookie? And a PENNY??? But … how could they have been happy with that????” But the WAY she wrote it made it clear that the entire thing was magical and exciting … as the snow pounded against the log cabin windows. And so then I realized: “Wait. This is Christmas. This is their Christmas. They were happy. They were happy.” And I learned a wee lesson about … oh … materialism, and gratitude, and stuff like that. I learned that my world was not the only world. That my time was not the only time. Worlds of imagination opened up in my head.
Their lives were SO different from mine – and yet human beings themselves don’t change, and I found so much to relate to in those books. Getting into trouble, learning tough lessons about life, dealing with snotty school girls, the excitement of setting out on a journey with your family … these were all things I fully recognized from my own life.
Laura Ingalls Wilder was encouraged by her daughter (who was also a writer) to write down stories of her childhood. To get a glimpse of just how intense that relationship was, check out this fascinating New Yorker article about Rose Wilder. Quite a family psychodrama there, and it seems far far removed from the fresh windy air and wide open spaces that make up the landscape and world of the Little House books. By the time, Laura Ingalls Wilder started publishing, the entire world she described had pretty much disappeared. In one person’s lifetime. Her first book Little House in the Big Woods was published in 1930. Lindbergh had flown across the ocean. There were railroads criss-crossing the country. Autmobiles. Telephones. Laura Ingalls Wilder straddled an enormous generational divide. Her books are the bridge.
My favorite of the books were By the Shores of Silver Lake and also The Long Winter. I believe The Long Winter is her best book.
I’ll close with an excerpt from Little House in the Big Woods that brings a lump to my throat, and kind of captures the simple home-spun magic in these books:
When the fiddle had stopped singing Laura called out softly, “What are days of auld lang syne, Pa?”
“They are the days of a long time ago, Laura,” Pa said. “Go to sleep, now.”
But Laura lay awake a little while, listening to Pa’s fiddle softly playing and to the lonely sound of the wind in the Big Woods.
She was glad that the cosy house, and Pa and Ma and the firelight and the music, were now. They could not be forgotten, she thought, because now is now. It can never be a long time ago.
Happy birthday to an American treasure. And thank you for making me see, as a young child, that things like log cabins and Pa and Ma and firelight “could not be forgotten” … thank you for making that “long time ago” come to life for me, a young East Coast girl at the tail-end of the 20th century.
Indeed. These were the first books I read as a child. I loved them AND the TV show.
And I’m from the Midwest, but not HER Midwest like you said. Thanks for the reminder. Perhaps it’s time for a reread.
Thanks for the reminder, Sheila. I love her and her books so much. Farmer Boy is my favorite now, which is funny because I never read it as a child. I was a purist – I only wanted to hear about Laura and her family. So when I read it as an adult I was completely charmed by Almanzo and his family – but most of all by the FOOD DESCRIPTIONS!!!! My mouth is watering just thinking about them!
Carm – yes, I so agree that one of the really great things about those books is how palpably it brings to life a time and place that really no longer exists – but you can LIVE it. Like the building of the log cabin – how I remember that – and member when one of the logs fell on Ma’s ankle?? and Pa dragged the log off, horrified? All of those things were just so awesome for me to read as a young child, opening my curiosity and mind up to a different type of life.
Kathy – I’m with you, I kind of dropped off interest in the books as they got older. I’m not sure I have a clear memory of Farmer Boy now, although I know I read it. These books (for me anyway) were strictly grade-school reading – so once romance and marriage started coming in, I kind of got antsy. (Similar to how I used to feel with the Anne of Green Gables series – NOW I LOVE the books where she is an adult, but when I was 11 or 12, not so much).
I love your observation about the food descriptions – can you think of some examples??
I also believe The Long Winter is her best. An extremely spooky book, one that would make a great standalone movie. The opening scene alone is one of the best in 20th century lit, no exaggeration–when Pa is telling Laura about how you can tell how hard a winter will be from the thickness of a muskrat’s lair, and then he puts his hand on it…and tells Laura he’s never felt one so thick.
Chills, still.
Goosebumps!! I need to read The Long Winter again. I still remember the literal TUNNELS they had to build thru the snow to get to the barn.
Oh, and another scene that would play brilliantly: Almanzo and Cap Garland going to get the wheat from the selfish farmer. That farmer’s nasty rationale is so much like what you hear to this day. And I can’t be the only one who always thought Cap was much sexier than Almanzo. As I recall, some LIW biographers said it was Cap she had the bigger crush on for awhile.
One of the episodes that I remember almost word for word – and I believe this is in Little House in the Big Woods – is when one of the girls had an earache, and the doctor came and pierced the ear drum. It was so horrifying and real the way she described it – I winced reading it as a small one – and it just blew me away: medicine, and these doctors with their black bags coming via carriage in the middle of the night …
I never was a big Almanzo fan. Not sure why – I might have been affected by the actor playing him on the TV series, and I didn’t love him as much as I loved “Willie”. How I adored Willie.
I also loved By the Shores of Silver Lake – I just so wanted to slip into the pages of that book and live it.
When I was in grade school, my mother made me a flowered bonnet, just like the girls wore. God bless my mother. I wore it to school. With my jeans and hi-tops. Sadly there are no pictures of this outfit.
And Siren – don’t know if you already know the story of Rose Wilder (I did not) – but that New Yorker article is a real eye-opener. Talk about the makings of a good film. Or a mini-series.
Sheila – Luckily I had pulled out my copy of Farmer Boy to make sure I spelled Almanzo’s name correctly. Here’s a breakfast from one of the first chapters. “There was oatmeal with plenty of thick cream and maple sugar. There were fried potatoes, and the golden buckwheat cakes, as many as Almanzo wanted to eat, with sausages and gravy or with butter and maple syrup. There were preserves and jams and jellies and doughnuts. But best of all Almanzo liked the spicy apple pie, with its thick rich juice and its crumbly crust. He ate two big wedges of the pie.” What is amazing to me is the amount of food that they ate at their meals. Of course, the corresponding amount of work that they did made it possible, if not mandatory, for them to consume that much food. One thing that I probably wouldn’t have noticed so much as a kid was the differences between Laura’s family and their meals (after The Big Woods, which was also interesting to me in the descriptions of the meals – loved the maple sugar in the snow candy!) and Almanzo’s family meals. You had to wonder how the Ingalls family survived through those tough winters.
I must confess I’ve only read Anne of Green Gables, and that was years ago when I received it from my Grandma for Christmas. I just couldn’t get into her. Maybe I need to give her another try. I’m a Betsy-Tacy fan (fanatic might be a better word).
Kathy – I am a huge Betsy-Tacy-Tib fan as well. Did you know they just re-released those books in nice new editions, with the original illustrations, and a new foreward? I haven’t bought them yet, but I saw them in Borders at Christmastime and thought: Note to self …
Thank you for that excerpt with the food. Mouth-watering indeed!!! You need all that sugar to keep you going through the day, I suppose!
I also LOVED the maple sugar in snow candy idea.
God, the whole books are just so full of things like that.
Dear Sheila,
For months now I’ve been enjoying this blog of yours. It speaks to me in so many ways and makes me happy. Whenever I am checking on a book or a film I usually search it up here and find something that I can relate to in a very enriching manner. Wonderful work.
Deepan Joshi
New Delhi
Sheila, yes I know about the new editions – I already have them! I put them on my Christmas list and got all three of them. I’m a member of the Betsy-Tacy email list, and also the Betsy-Tacy Society. We are extremely fortunate to have the woman who is spearheading the reissues at Harper’s on the list. She says the next book will be two books that aren’t based on Betsy – Carney’s House Party & Winona’s Pony Cart. It’s due to come out next October. I had never seen Carney (knew about it, though) until I joined the list back in ’94. We sent around photocopies so I finally got to read it. It was very strange to read one without Betsy as the main character. By the way, have you read the Betsy-Tacy Companion, by Sharla Scannell Whalen? It’s billed as a biography of Maud Hart Lovelace, but it’s so much more than that. Each chapter is based on one of the books, along with one called The Early Years, and the last two were Then What? and What Ever Happened To…. If you love the books, it’s a must-read. Tons of pictures of the people and places of Deep Valley. Unfortunately it’s out of print now. I have a signed copy from Sharla’s book tour – I drove 2 hours with my mom to see her, and then when I got there I realized I forgot my copy of the book! My mom bought me another copy for Sharla to sign, so I gave the other one to my sister.
I read Carney’s House Party back in the day – i always really liked her as a peripheral character in the Betsy books.
I haven’t read the companion – sounds like I really need to pick it up!!
I loved Laura Ingalls. I wanted to BE Laura Ingalls. And youve no idea how happy it makes me to know there were other Betsy-Tacey-Tibb fans – for the longest time I thought I was the only one (growing up that is) – I made sure I introduced them to my little girl when she was growing up.
*waves to Red* its me again…popping up out of nowhere. Ive been wandering “other” lands, but decided I needed to pay a visit here to refresh the soul.
Hey Sharon!! Always good when you pop by – you are a kindred spirit, in terms of passion and obsession. :)
I loved these books, and have handed them off to my daughters as well. (my girls don’t share my obsessions with these, nor the betsy-tacy-tib books.)
Sharon, you should go visit Mankato, MN – the original Deep Valley! Their houses are still there, but the last time I saw it, the Chocolate house was a disturbing Blue. And, the children’s libraryis the Maud Hart Montgomery room (with a wall covered with a map of Deep Valley!)
The big hill was much bigger when I was younger also…
I mean Karen should visit Mankato. Sorry Karen!