Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum adds on their Facebook page:
“We are planning on a “Christmas Open House” in the near future. Refreshments and pictures inside Laura’s home next to the Christmas Tree will be events that will be taking place. Keep on checking for updates on the upcoming Open House with dates and times. We hope to see you all there!!!!!!”

I really wish I could go. A photo of me in front of the Christmas Tree at Rocky Ridge, WOW! However, after getting caught in a blizzard last December on a Laura trip, and considering the way the birds have been tanking up on birdfeed, I’m not even going to try this time. If anybody else does, please report back.

Sarah S. Uthoff blogs at TrundleBed Tales; look for her on Twitter and YouTube and Blog Talk Radio
Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association, Vice-President and Membership Chair

Hoover Christmas Preview

Don’t forget to check out the video of my program from the opening.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas

And if you haven’t seen it yet, watch the video of the Hoover Presidential Library’s 1995 Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas exhibit.

Little House Legacy

Sarah S. Uthoff blogs at TrundleBed Tales; look for her on Twitter and YouTube and Blog Talk Radio http://tobtr.com/s/1423557

But since I’m a lousy knitter and clumsy with instructions, I know better than to attempt my own craft projects, so instead I admire other people’s handiwork from afar. Which is how I found myself swooning over Mimi’s Laura-inspired crafts at her blog The Happy Honeybee. Last week she posted photos of her gorgeous contributions to a Little House craft swap, the same one that several BLH readers are participating in this year. I don’t know which project I love more—the felt stockings, or the little tag ornaments made with bits of Garth Williams art.

I’m also a big fan of these collage postcards that she makes using snippets of art and text from the books (and not just because it’s one of the few projects I could pull off). Yet more Little House crafts can be seen in this post. Thanks so much for the inspiration, Mimi!

If you’re looking to make some unique Little House ornaments, Nancy Cleaveland over at pioneergirl.com has been making paper-craft decorations using pages from old Little House books. Quite a few are posted on her blog right now, including this one.

And if you’re just not a hands-on kind of person, you can always drop by Etsy.com and type “Little House on the Prairie” into the search engine. I’m tempted to get this pendant for myself!

I’m expanding this program to continue doing it. If you have any suggestions of what else I should include, please comment.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas

Read more about the exhibit here:

http://hoover.archives.gov/programs/featuredprogram.html

Sarah S. Uthoff blogs at TrundleBed Tales; look for her on Twitter and YouTube and Blog Talk Radio http://tobtr.com/s/1423557

What was the most special or unique Laura Ingalls Wilder gift you ever got for Christmas?

Mine was probably the Christmas after my first trip with my family to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri. I had spent a long time in the gift shop, then located in the building that houses the bathrooms in the center of the parking lot, staring at the china shepherdess replicas. Christmas morning  there waiting for me was a china shepherdess. Somehow my mom had managed to get one purchased at the gift shop and in the car without me noticing, kept it out of sight the whole trip home, and didn’t spill a word until Christmas morning. It’s still one of the most special pieces in my collection.

That’s my story, what’s yours?

If you don’t have one yet, what present (that you could actually get – not in a museum or lost to time) would you like to get this year?

Sarah S. Uthoff blogs at TrundleBed Tales; look for her on Twitter and YouTube.

First up, do they have a complete set of the books yet? If not, a set of their own is a great place to start. The three most common editions currently available are hardback, full color illustration paperback, and pencil drawing illustration paperbacks. (Note that the full color illustrations do no have all the illustrations shown in the pencil illustration versions in the later books in the series.) They are also available as books on CD as read by Tony winning actress Cherry Jones.

Second, interest in Laura is wide spread enough to support many books about Laura and her life. Here are some suggestions.

Prairie Girl by William T. Anderson – an 80 page introduction to Laura’s life

Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography by William T. Anderson – a 256 page version of Laura’s life without footnotes, written at a jr. high/high school level, but very approachable for adults as well

Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder by John E. Miller – the best scholarly biography on Laura, “choked with facts” and a treat for any devoted Laura fan

Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Writer’s Life by Pamela Smith Hill – more of a literary analysis than biography this newest biography from the South Dakota State Historical Society provides an in depth analysis of Laura’s writing

Third, there are books that help you feel more a part of Laura’s world.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Country by William T. Anderson and Leslie Kelly – photographs of Laura Ingalls Wilder  homesites around the country

Laura Ingalls Wilder Songbook by Eugenia Garson – a collection of sheet music to songs in the “Little House” books with notations where they appear in the books

Little House Cookbook by Barbara Walker – a collection of historic recipes as made in the books

Fourth, get them a replica of something out of the books.

Many young Laura fans start a Laura collection with a bonnet or apron. Although you might be able to make your own or from a local source the homesite gift shops also sell them (see list below).

In a very memorable scene in the first book of the series, Little House in the Big Woods, Laura gets her first rag doll for Christmas. In the books, she is called Charlotte. Every homesite gift shop sells their own version.

Also, in that first book, Ma receives a china shepherdess figurine. In all of the rest of the books, a house truly becomes a home once Ma puts out the china shepherdess. There are three replica versions of this figurine available. Walnut Grove, Minnesota’s looks the most like the version used on the TV show, but it is made of resin, not china. The version sold at Mansfield, Missouri is designed by children’s book author/illustrator Cheryl Harness. The version sold at De Smet Memorial Society in South Dakota was designed by a local artist.

Ingalls Homestead tells me that their biggest seller is a tin cup. Laura and Mary each got a tin cup for Christmas the year they were in Independence, Kansas.

Laura’s faithful companion through the first half of the series is her faithful bulldog Jack. Most of the homesites have at least one (and in some cases many) stuffed versions of her faithful friend for you to cuddle with.

A final touch of the books might be a recording of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s voice. Laura Ingalls Wilder Speaks is a CD with the only known recording of Laura’s voice and Pa’s real fiddle playing music. Laura reads a thank-you letter to school children in California as an older woman, but it’s our Laura’s voice. There are a number of Laura music CDs brought out by different artists and groups. This is the only one with Pa’s real fiddle so that you can really hear it. Of all the Laura music CDs I own my other favorite is a Tribute to Charles “Pa” Ingalls. It also features Pa’s real fiddle accompanied by, apparently, the world’s first bluegrass symphony orchestra. Other fans prefer other recordings see them listed in the online stores.

Fifth, a gift that keeps on giving. If your Laura fan isn’t a member in the organizations that support Laura yet, each homesite has its own fan membership and the group that supports this website and the Laurapalooza conference is also offering gift memberships. (Most of the time I was growing up my mother bought me one life membership in a different Laura organization each year for Christmas.) A subscription to the Homesteader newsletter (the site independent newsletter – which I am a contributing editor for) or a set of back issues can also help her learn more.

Sources

While you can get many of these Laura based presents from multiple sources (unless otherwise noted), we urge you when possible to shop at Laura homesite museums. These museum dedicated to Laura get no regular backing from her estate and rely on admissions, donations, and gift shop sales to stay open for us to visit and preserve Laura’s legacy.

The following Laura Ingalls Wilder sites are still open and allowing you to order for Christmas. I’m listing the cut off date for Christmas orders to reach you before Christmas as given to me by the homesites.

Walnut Grove MN

Phone 1-800-528-7280

http://www.walnutgrove.org/store

Last Day for Priority Mail – December 16th

De Smet SD

Memorial Society

Phone 1-800-880-3383

http://www.liwms.com Click on Holiday Guide or Gift Shop

Last Day for Priority Mail – Aren’t listing one

Ingalls Homestead

Phone: 1-800-776-3594

http://www.ingallshomestead.com/giftshop.html

Last Day for Priority Mail – December 21st

Mansfield MO

Phone 1-877-924-7126 (Toll free)

http://www.lauraingallswilderhome.com/categories.php

Last Day for Priority Mail – December 20th

Malone NY

Phone (518) 483-1207

http://almanzowilderfarm.com/store.htm

Last Day for Priority Mail – December 15^th

Malone also says for their set up, online ordering has a quicker response.

And Don’t forget you can also get your Laura fan memories of Laurapalooza 2010

http://beyondlittlehouse.com/laurapallooza-liw-conference-in-minnesota-in-summer-2010/laurapalooza-merchandise/

Sarah S. Uthoff blogs at TrundleBed Tales; look for her on Twitter and YouTube.

“Then Thanksgiving was past and it was time to think of Christmas.”

~Laura Ingalls Wilder, in On the Banks of Plum Creek

I find it interesting that 130+ odd years ago, it was considered time to think of Christmas once Thanksgiving is past. I find it interesting because it doesn’t seem so very long ago that this was still true. For over one hundred years then, at least, the Christmas season began once Thanksgiving was past.

I’ve been disturbed in recent years to see the Christmas decorations going up right after Halloween, in homes and stores and towns alike. The trend is to start the Christmas season earlier and earlier, and I think it’s really taking away from the whole feeling of Christmas.

But this year, I was appalled to walk into stores in early October and see rows and rows of Christmas displays right alongside the Halloween ones! The kids were barely back in school, and the weather was still warm and nearly summer-like. Christmas hadn’t even entered my thoughts yet. And yet, there it is, almost three months before the holiday, greeting you in every store.

I know why it’s happening, of course. The earlier the retailers can get people thinking about Christmas — and buying for Christmas — the more people will end up buying and the more money they’ll make. But they’re spoiling Christmas, and we’re letting them. I try to ignore it. But I’ve seen neighbors hanging their Christmas lights, and friends putting up their Christmas trees, earlier and earlier, clearly driven to keep up with the stores.

It’s really bothered me because I just wasn’t ready for Christmas. We still needed to look forward to Thanksgiving. And with more and more stores open on Thanksgiving Day, and pushing Black Friday sales a day early, or starting late Thursday night instead of early Friday morning, Thanksgiving has now been completely overtaken by the retail business, as well.

I’m curious to see what others think about this. Is it only me that’s disturbed? Maybe you like an extended Christmas season. Maybe shopping on Thanksgiving is a fun new tradition you want to start.

Many say I’m an old-fashioned girl, and I’m okay with that. I like Laura Ingalls Wilder, and I like her notion that the Christmas season begins once Thanksgiving is past. And I plan to stick with that, no matter what everyone around me is doing.

But what do you think?  Does beginning the Christmas season early make it better for you? And how early is too early?

Thanksgiving dinner was good. Pa had shot a wild goose for it. Ma had to stew the goose because there was no fireplace, and no oven in the little stove. But she made dumplings in the gravy. There were corn dodgers and mashed potatoes. There were butter, and milk, and stewed dried plums. And three grains of parched corn lay beside each tin plate.

At the first Thanksgiving dinner the poor Pilgrims had had nothing to eat but three parched grains of corn. Then the Indians came and brought them turkeys, so the Pilgrims were thankful.

Now, after they had eaten their good, big Thanksgiving dinner, Laura and Mary could eat their grains of corn and remember the Pilgrims.

Parched corn was good. It crackled and crunched, and its taste was sweet and brown.

~Laura Ingalls Wilder, On the Banks of Plum Creek

There are so many legends and myths surrounding the story of the first Thanksgiving that I wonder sometimes if anyone can possibly sort out truth from fiction. (Hmm, does that remind anyone of a series of books we all know and love!?) The “grains of corn” story apparently was a popular one during the nineteenth century, although typically the legend says it was five grains of corn, not three.

Does it really matter whether it was true or not that the poor Pilgrims were rationed nothing but a few grains of corn, or whether the Indians actually brought the Pilgrims turkeys? Though both are considered myths, isn’t it the spirit of the story, and the lesson in gratitude and sharing with those in need that it teaches, that matters? What a beautiful “Little House” tradition to incorporate into one’s Thanksgiving Day celebration.

So where do you get parched corn?

Add this recipe to your Thanksgiving meal preparation, and enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

How it works:
During the month of December, participating members are sending Little House related gifts to the Frontier Girl member whose name they were assigned.

The fun part is that the givers will send their gift as if it is from one Little House character to another. For example, a giver might decide to be Pa, and send an appropriate gift to Mr. Edwards.

Everyone on the board can enjoy ALL the gifts, however, because the last part of the exchange is that each recipient will come to the Frontier Girl board as their character and post a thank you note TO the character who sent them the gift. So in the above example, the recipient will post a thank you note, pretending to be Mr. Edwards writing the thank you to Pa. Everyone can read and enjoy these in-character thank you notes.

To join:

Register to become a member of the message board and then send a message to Beyond Little House’s own Laura Welser letting her know of your interest. Act quickly, for signups close Wednesday, November 24!

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas!!

A Little House Christmas
November 20 – January 2, 2011

Twenty trees decorated in the traditions of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family.

The brochure reads:

You are invited to a VIP Member Reception for the new Hoover Museum Exhibit.

A LITTLE HOUSE CHRISTMAS

Christmas trees decorated in the traditions of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family.

[Ed. Note - I've seen the prospective list, actually it would be more accurate to say decorated in accordance to themes from the life and writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder. ]

Hoover Library-Museum

West Branch, IA

Nov. 19, 2010

4:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Program from 5:30-5:50 pm

with Sarah Uthoff appearing as Laura Ingalls Wilder

Also hors d’oeuvres and wine tasting included.

Please RSVP by Nov. 15th

Back to the editor notes:

Not a member, find out how to become one at the link below. I joined in order to attend both days of a long ago Laura event and never looked back.

http://www.hooverassociation.org/association/join_renew.php

Call 1-800-828-0475 or e-mail info@hooverassociation.org

If you can’t make it the 19th, visit the exhibit anytime between November 20 – January 2, 2011.

Photos and video will be posted when available.

Sarah S. Uthoff blogs at TrundleBed Tales; look for her on Twitter and YouTube.