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The Prairie is Calling: Why "Little House Discussed" is Back!


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The Pimping of Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Ingalls Wilder began working for a living at age 11 as a live in babysitter for a family who lived near her home in Walnut Grove, and she was paid .50 cents a week for her effort. And so began the pimping of Laura Ingalls Wilder to help make up for Charles Ingalls' mistakes. Yes, I'm going there. Laura Ingalls: A Product of Her Environment If Laura Ingalls minded going to work at any early age, she never mentioned it, at least not when she was 11. By her own admission Laura found being a live in babysitter to be an easy job and when she wasn't playing with the child, she was able to read and relax. However, let's not pretend it was a good life. She was in the company of unsavory people thoughout her life and this particular job ended after a local drunk came to her bed at night and told her to "lie down and be still."  I think we all know where that would have gone if Laura didn't threaten to scream. To her cr...

Maggie & George Masters: The Ingalls Houseguests During The Hard Winter

In " The Long Winter ," Laura Ingalls Wilder shared the hardships endured by her family during an especially brutal season. The family faced starvation in cramped quarters. In fact, there wasn't even any fire wood and Charles Ingalls and family had to twist hay and huddle - all of them- around the stove for warmth. What Mrs. Ingalls omitted from her story was that the family actually had houseguests - Maggie & George Masters and their baby. In fact, to hear Mrs. Wilder tell it, they were the houseguests from hell. At least George was. So who were George and Maggie Masters and why did the Ingalls family take them in during the hard winter? Read on, Laura Ingalls Wilder fans, it's a tawdry tale of a child conceived before marriage, Ma's generous spirit, and the man who took advantage of that generosity. The Ingalls and Masters Families The Masters Hotel in Burr Oak, IA The name "Masters" comes up quite often in the true life tale of th...

My "Little House" Pet Peeve: The TV Show Ingalls Family IS NOT the Real Ingalls Family

I'm easy going, Laura Ingalls Wilder fans. I don't complain a lot and I try to take life as it comes. But with all of the publicity surrounding " Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography " there's something that's been happening a lot lately and it's sticking in my craw. Images of the wrong family are being used to portray the Ingalls family in articles and reviews.  For example, this article from The Guardian : And this article from The Express about " the rea l" Laura Ingalls Wilder. Come again? That's not "the real" Laura Ingalls Wilder. The problem isn't exclusive to reviews of "Pioneer Girl," though. For example  this blog post discussing racism in the "Little House" series of books: People. This is the REAL Ingalls family: Ingalls Family L-R: Caroline, Carrie, Laura, Charles, Grace, Mary This IS NOT the real Ingalls family: When talking about the rea...