The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder
Page 27
Secretary, State Historical Society
Pierre, South Dakota
Dear Sir,
You will remember having some correspondence with my sister, the late Mrs. Caroline Swanzey, regarding Ingalls family exhibits in your museum.
There are “Pa’s fiddle,” a set of my Little House books, and perhaps some other items which she intended sending you.
I am writing to offer you enlarged photographs of Pa and Ma, Mr. and Mrs. C. P. Ingalls, to place with the exhibit. The photos will be unframed for greater safety in mailing, but if you will have them framed under glass, I will gladly pay for it if you will send me the bill.
If you will accept these pictures for your collection let me know and I will send them.
Yours sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
You can see photos of Pa and Ma
OCTOBER 24, 1947
Dear Mrs. Carson,
I was glad to hear from you and hope you will forgive me for being so long in replying. It keeps me busy just doing the work and letter writing is neglected.
You must have had a wonderful vacation in California. I have visited the state three times and would like to go again.
Almanzo and I are well as usual and busy as always.
On your next visit to S. Dakota, if you should go to Pierre, you can see photos of Pa and Ma in the museum with Pa’s fiddle.
With kindest regards,
Your friend,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I feel sure his illustrations of my stories will be beautiful
In 1946 Harper & Brothers decided to issue a uniform-size edition of the Little House books, with new illustrations. It was a complex plan, as postwar difficulties still plagued publishers. Ursula Nordstrom envisioned the new edition as a grand marketing technique to reach upcoming baby-boomer readers. She engaged Garth Williams as the artist; his illustrations had graced the 1945 bestseller by E. B. White, Stuart Little. Williams met with Rose Wilder Lane for advice. She urged him to visit her parents, and he did.
NOVEMBER 3, 1947
Dear Miss Nordstrom,
I thought you would like to know that Mr. Garth Williams, wife and little daughter arrived here safely and visited us on Thursday of this week. They are very charming people and I think I helped a little in his work. He made drawings of old family pictures I have of the same dates as my stories and seemed very pleased to have found them. I feel sure his illustrations of my stories will be beautiful.
One thing I should have told him is that “Jack” the bulldog was not as pictured in the published books. I think that strain was developed later. Jack’s legs were straight and stood tall on them. His face was not wrinkled all out of shape but was smooth with powerful jaws. He was tall enough that I rode on his back without touching the ground.
Mr. Williams will know that kind of English bulldog and if he is told he will make no mistake if he should picture Jack.
With kindest regards,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I love those old missions in California
NOVEMBER 24, 1947
Dear Miss Nordstrom,
I am a little late in doing so, but still I do thank you for the book, “The Good Night at San Gabriel.” It is a sweet story.
I love those old missions in California and long to go back and see them again.
In my book “By the Shores of Silver Lake,” there is a mistake in spelling the name of a town east of De Smet. I must have spelled it wrong and then let it get by me in reading proof. In the last paragraph on Page 157 “I’ll get to Brookins” should be spelled Brookings.
Again on Page 212—4th paragraph it should be spelled Brookings.
Also on Page 205—2nd paragraph, the g is left out of the word.
I think those three pages are the only places the name of the town is mentioned. I have thought it did not matter, but I did not realize the books would be used in schools and as historical reference.
I would like to have the spelling corrected anyway in the new edition, for the name of the town is Brookings.
Again thanking you and wishing you a happy holiday season, I am
Yours sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
The complicated system of life that has been thrust upon us
Once again Laura’s dissatisfaction with American government and modern life is referenced in this note.
DECEMBER 5, 1947
Dear Mrs. Newman,
Thank you for thinking of us so kindly. We are well as usual, still taking care of our home and ourselves, by ourselves.
You ask what I think of life today. I will say this. I think it was easier and we were happier fighting all the difficulties and dangers of our pioneer life, than anyone is fighting the complicated system of life that has been thrust upon us now. Space is too small to say what I think of it but I am hoping that conditions will change if we all do our best to bring it about.
Love to you and Patty,
Your friend,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I cannot agree with what is said about the Ozarks
Children’s Book Week in the Syracuse Public Library system was celebrated with exhibits concerning the Little House books.
JANUARY 3, 1948
Dear Miss Nordstrom,
Even though a little late I still want to say thank you for your Christmas greeting and the book “Inside the U.S.A.” It is very interesting, though I cannot agree with what is said about the Ozarks, or I should say, about the people of the Ozarks.
Yesterday I wrote the answer to the last of my 210 Christmas cards and letters.
I wrote Miss Wise [Doris Wise, the head of the Syracuse library’s young reader department] as you wished and later a letter in answer to those the children wrote me. Featuring Little House books in Syracuse libraries was certainly grand publicity and I hope I expressed my appreciation rightly to Miss Wise. I am glad to have the picture of the display of the books.
By the reports N.Y. is having very bad weather. I hope you are not too much discommoded by it. Our weather was fine until New Year’s day; then snow came and ice, making highways unsafe. But now it is again warm and sunny, with snow rapidly disappearing.
I trust you had a Merry Christmas and wish you a Year of Happy Days. With kindest regards,
Yours sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Sometimes I feel lonely
The renown of the Little House books prompted old childhood friends and relatives to reconnect with Laura. Millicent Carpenter Axtell, a first cousin from Wisconsin, was one of the letter writers. Her mother was Martha Quiner Carpenter, Laura’s aunt.
JANUARY 20, 1948
Dear Cousin,
Your letter was a pleasant surprise. It had been so long since I have heard from you, and as you say “years and age have crept up on us.”
I am sorry about you having rheumatism. My hands are not as nimble as they used to be, but still I am very well for 81 years old in February. Manly is rather feeble, being crippled in his feet. He is ninety one. We are living by ourselves in our old farm house and I am doing all the work for ourselves and the house. We have good neighbors just across the road and Manly drives the car so we go to town quite often.
[The letter continues with a summary of her family members and Rose’s career as an author.]
Sometimes I feel lonely when I stop being busy enough to think. It does keep me hurrying to do the work and write as much as I must to keep with the people who write to me after reading my books. The books are selling well. I had more than 200 Christmas cards and letters to answer. . . .
Give Alice my love and tell her I will be looking for her letter. It is nice that you can be with her. I was glad to have your letter and hope to hear from you again.
Lots of love,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Perhaps better in the telling than I deserve
Elizabeth Rider Montgomery was an educator and author. She is best known for creating the first Lo
ok and See reading primer in 1940, with the characters Dick, Jane, Sally, and their dog, Spot. Her 1949 book, The Story Behind Modern Books, included a chapter on Laura Ingalls Wilder.
JANUARY 24, 1948
Dear Mrs. Montgomery,
I am pleased with the chapter about me and my books. It is all true though perhaps better in the telling than I deserve.
There is one wrong impression that I have corrected in the copy. The stories Pa told us were only in the Little House in the Big Woods and were so indicated. All the rest is from my own memories.
If you will take out the paragraph I have surrounded, page 3, and insert it where I have marked X on page 5, perhaps beginning it with the line I have written at the bottom of page 5, I think the impression I have pointed out will be corrected. All the rest is absolutely correct.
Thank you for the list of the books you are writing about. My Little House in the Big Woods is keeping very good company indeed and I am proud of it.
It was kind of you to tell me where my books stand in popularity.
I had never thought I was in any way remarkable for having my mss. accepted. It may be as sister Carrie once said to me, “You are always so busy doing, you never stop to see what you have done.”
I wish you success in the book you are writing and if I can be of any help, let me know.
Yours sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
It is flattering
Dr. Irvin Kerlan worked in Washington, D.C., on the staff of the Food and Drug Administration. He started collecting children’s books as a hobby, especially signed copies, and original art and manuscripts. Laura’s inscription in his copy of By the Shores of Silver Lake reads: “Dear Dr. Kerlan, Some day when I have passed away / (The flowers will bloom just the same.) / Someday my face will be forgot / My only memory be a name.” Dr. Kerlan’s collection expanded; he offered it to his alma mater, the University of Minnesota. The Kerlan Collection is one of the world’s greatest repositories of rare children’s books and memorabilia.
FEBRUARY 2, 1948
Dr. Irvin Kerlan
Washington
Dear Sir,
I will be pleased to autograph copies of my books if you will send them to me by mail with return postage.
It is flattering that you should wish to add my series of “Little House” books to your library and I thank you for the compliment.
Hope you will be able to secure the eight books.
With kindest regards,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I do not wish my letter to seem abrupt
Robert and Ella Boast, friends of the Ingalls family in De Smet since 1879, died in 1921 and 1918, respectively.
MARCH 18, 1948
Dear Mrs. Carson,
I have so many, many letters to answer that sometimes I am far behind with them. Now that Spring is here and house-cleaning on hand I shall have to stop writing altogether I fear.
It is not possible for me to get help for housework so I must do my work whether I can or not. So far I have been able to keep it up after a fashion for which I am thankful.
We are both very well though it has been a long, hard winter and we are glad Spring is here. We have tomato seeds planted in the house and six little kids at the barn.
The Boasts have both been dead for many years.
Rose is well, but the winter there has been very hard.
I do not wish my letter to seem abrupt. I have written so many letters, my hand cramps.
With kindest regards,
Your friend,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Sir Walter Scott and Tennyson’s poems were great favorites of mine
In response to a survey of childhood reading experiences of children’s authors, Laura responded with her meager memories of books.
APRIL 29, 1948
Dear Miss Watson,
It seems I must have done without all the good books when I was a girl. The two checked on the list are all of the list I knew. [A book list was submitted to authors, asking them to check books familiar from their childhoods; Laura noted only Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Lorna Doone.]
The poems of Sir Walter Scott and Tennyson’s poems were great favorites of mine.
My father gave me a little book of verses called “The Floweret” in 1872. It was published by Lee and Shepard in Boston. I still have the little book, but of course it is long since forgotten by others.
My sisters and I read our stories in the old Youth’s Companion which was no book but a children’s paper.
Sorry to be of so little help to you.
With kindest regards,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I must tell you how much I enjoyed it
APRIL 30, 1948
Dear Betsy,
I have so many, many letters to answer that I have made a rule to write only once to each person. But your letter is so interesting that I must tell you how much I enjoyed it.
It is wonderful to live where you can watch the wild animals and birds. I would love to see them. Thank you for writing me about them.
Yours sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
You certainly had courage to live on your claim
MAY 3, 1948
Dear Mrs. Schaefer,
Your letter is most interesting and inclines me to think, as we so often have said, that the world is small.
I did not know the Billy Allens, but that is understood when one remembers how many strangers flocked into that new country. Mr. Wilder probably knew him, but it is so long ago that he does not remember.
I wonder if Mr. Allen and Rita Allen know that Carrie died two years ago this June. Grace, my younger sister, died four years before that, and Mary several years before her.
I am the only one of the family left and I was 81 last February. Mr. Wilder is 91.
You certainly had courage to live on your claim so far from any one as you did. No one who has not pioneered as we have can understand the fascination and the terror of it.
Royal Wilder married in eastern Minnesota and lived there until his death years ago. He left one daughter. Eliza, the sister, married and lived in Louisiana. She also died years ago, leaving one child, a son, Wilder Thayer, who lives in Louisiana.
We lived on the claim for four years, then spent one year in Minnesota and one year in Florida. Went back to De Smet and lived in town, coming from there here in 1894.
Please give my regards to Mr. Allen and Rita.
Yours sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I remember how lovely the bluffs along the lake were
Reba Wakefield was a children’s librarian in Saint Paul, Minnesota. “For many years,” she wrote Laura, “I have given your books to boys and girls to read . . . they love them so much that they are always out of circulation.” Her family also had lived in the Pepin, Wisconsin, area, so “with the feeling that Lake Pepin is a bond of kinship between us, I couldn’t resist writing you.”
JUNE 7, 1948
Dear Miss Wakefield,
Thank you for your most interesting letter and the old fashioned name card.
The card is quaint now and pretty and your recollection of your mother’s stories of her childhood are so near my own it seems to make us almost kin folk as we say here.
Indeed I do remember Pa and Ma often speaking of Stockholm and I knew it was not far away.
Also I remember how lovely the bluffs along the lake were then and my memory was refreshed when my husband and I re-visited that country about 58 years ago.
I would love to see it again, but likely never will for my traveling days seem to be over.
Again I thank you for telling me of Lake Pepin as it is now.
Yours sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Things of real value do not change
The United States’ State Department compiled a list of American books for translation into Japanese as part of a reeducation program in the occupied country. The Long
Winter was one of the first titles published. Laura was asked to write a message to Japanese children as a result.
Rocky Ridge Farm
Mansfield, Missouri U.S.A.
JULY 8, 1948
Dear Japanese Children.
Though you are far away and speak a different language, still the things worthwhile in life are the same for us all and the same as when I was a child so long ago.
Things of real value do not change with the passing of years nor in going from one country to another.
These I am sure you have.
It is always best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures, to be cheerful in adversity and have courage in danger.
With love to you all and best wishes for your happiness, I am
Sincerely your friend,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
My schoolmates are still very distinct in my mind
The Kennedys are mentioned in On the Banks of Plum Creek.
AUGUST 16, 1948
Dear Mrs. Spears,
Your letter was a pleasant surprise. It is so interesting to hear from one of the Kennedy family. I am sure it must be the one I remember.
There were Daniel and Christy. Then if I remember right, Cassie, Sandy, Nettie and a smaller girl whose name I do not remember. If I am right, this smaller child was a baby when last I saw the Kennedy family which was about three years after meeting the others at school.
It is so long ago that my memory may not be accurate, but those who were my schoolmates are still very distinct in my mind.
Plum Creek was two miles north of Walnut Grove or as it was sometimes called, Walnut Station.
A friend [Garth Williams] who is to illustrate a new edition of my books visited Walnut Grove and Plum Creek recently so I know they are still there.
Thinking you may be interested I am sending you a list of my books.