Strange winter weather

High and lows. Laura Ingalls Wilder and  her family, friends, and neighbors had to deal with blizzards and blizzard like conditions. And they did it without electronics. THE LONG WINTER deals with this long winter season. I still need to read this book. 

Books at the homes

I was re-reading a section of MY CRAPPY NOVEL dealing with entertainment. My character had brought a copy of the McGuffey Reader and math grades 1-5 combo(I made that up because they are sold separately, STILL). I was wondering the following:

1. How many books did the average homesteader have on the premises? City dweller? Country dweller? 

2. Remember Johnny Appleseed? I believe he had a tale about splitting a book in half so he and his neighbors could each read a section and then tell each other their parts when they got together once in a blue moon during the winter season. Now I could be wrong. It could have been another famous homesteader. What was the name if the book? 

3. Were books STILL looked upon as an upper class, caste, or luxury item? 

4. Did the music students pay or borrow their music book from the teacher in the story where she was being courted by Almanzo? 

Mount Rushmore documentary on TV

So what does Mount Rushmore have anything to do with little house on the prairie? Quite a bit. Laura Ingalls Wilder sister was married to working man who helped name the monument.  More later. 

Rose Wilder Lane, Laura Ingalls Wilder

http://www.ecommcode2.com/hoover/research/wilder/index.html

Rose Wilder Lane diaries and papers. 

Shirley temple passed away

Today Shirley Temple Black passed away at re age of 85. She was famous for being a child actor. She was born in 1928 a year before the Great Depression would rear it's ugly head. Many would go to the movie theaters to forget their woes. I wonder if the ingalls-wilder clan did the same? What was their first reaction to movie theater! 

Having asked a lady who works at the library she said it was Rose Wilder Lane who mentioned going to the theater with her parents. 

"POX"

Today I skimmed the book "POX" on search library overdrive. I was able to skim and jump to the part of anti-vaccinationist. This chapter takes place in the early turn of the 20th century. I recommend you read it. Dr. Immanuel Pfeiffer was an anti-vaccinationist who thought the vaccine poisonous. 

I heartily recommend people read this book. Laura Ingalls Wilder's family would have had to have dealt with this. Compulsory or voluntary vaccinations? 

Smallpox vaccinations are no longer required nationally for school age children. It's amazing how the pendulum swings back and forth. 

What has changed from 1902 to 2014? Hygiene awareness. In 1902 not everyone had running water or toilets. The result? People didn't take daily baths as the modern 21st century person would. When Laura was a child it was common for people to take a FULL bath once a week. The rest of the week spit shine baths were the norm. Today no one would put up with that in this society. Personal hygiene kits have changed as well. 

During Laura's time one soap was used for EVERYTHING; hand washing, face cleansing, bathing, shampooing, washing dishes. Today soap has become specialized. Dish washing detergent to wash the dishes. Shampoo to wash hair. Conditioner to help the hair out. A bar of soap to bathe with. Facial cleansing soap to help rid acne and toothpaste to brush your teeth. If you were using baking soda to wash at one point you used it to brush your teeth. 

What else changed? Mortality rate of infants and children. Mortality rate of birthing mothers. Life expectancy increased with better medicine.  Also WORKING TO THE BONE TO SURVIVE. 

On The Shores of Silver Lake

In this story I previously mentioned that Mary Ingalls is blind.  What I didn't mention was how recent it had been. The story opens with the family recuperating from Scarlet Fever. Mary is already blind. The family had her hair cut for medical/hygiene reasons.