Keeping up w/LIW Historic Home and Museum

That would be great if you could, Rhonda! If you do, please post pictures!

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:


'Eighty years ago this month Laura Ingalls Wilder made a quick trip to Springfield, Missouri to have this photograph taken, part of a triptych. The reason? She was invited to Detroit to appear at a prestigious Book Fair, where her book ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK debuted. Harper & Brothers urged her to have a fresh photo made for publicity, and this was the pose she chose. It became her standard publicity photo for the next two decades. The photo, sometimes personally signed, became part of many American classrooms, since so many children requested her picture. Right along with images of George and Abe--all three of them February babies. It is amazing to reflect on the permanent and pervasive quality of Laura Ingalls Wilder's life and art during this, her 150th birthday year. And the celebration is not yet over. Stay tuned for another major event!'

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum shared Author William Anderson's post:

More on the Wilder 150th this month at Rocky Ridge Farm: Prof. David Scrivner, recently seen fiddling on CBS Sunday Morning, again expertly played the original Pa Ingalls violin for the crowd gathered on the lawn of the Wilder house. This is always an awesome, even emotional, interlude for visitors to the site....the "huge" museum parking lot was filled to capacity; shuttles were offered from Mansfield to Rocky Ridge. Countless volunteers helped make this event happen. As Wilder said: "If enough people think of a thing and work hard enough at it, it's pretty nearly bound to happen, wind and weather permitting."

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:


WHILE SUPPLIES LAST...
With any $100 order from our Online Store, we will include a CD or DVD of our choice, as shown in the picture! Online Store

Buy your gifts for the upcoming Holiday Season and receive this special gift for yourself!

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:

"Where were Laura and Almanzo Wilder 80 years ago this week? In Detroit, Michigan, at Hudson's, "the world's tallest department store." They rode from Mansfield to the Motor City in their 1936 Del Monte beige Chrysler car. Laura was a speaker at Hudson's Book Fair, where ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK was debuted. In her speech, Laura explained her writer's purpose: "I wanted the children now...to know what it is that made America as they know it. Then I thought of writing the story of my childhood...and eight volume historical novel." "

Nice! It's great that she has a connection to Detroit, even though It's a small one!

*I wanted to add that we didn't have a dry summer, but with the Farm being 30 miles on down the way from me, they might not have gotten as much rain as I did....
Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:


'Full of fruit' and 'extra well colored and smooth skinned' are ways the Wilders described their apple orchard during the month of October. Wilder apples were well regarded by fruit buyers and a cash crop for the farm. Today, thriving specimen apple trees grow on the site of the Wilder orchard. Despite a dry summer, the apples are thick on the branches. Jim and Clint Jackson, who maintain the grounds and the museum complex of buildings, sprayed and tended and watered the trees this season. Thanks for your dedication, guys.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum shared American Writers Museum's post.

To finish off her sesquicentennial year, Laura Ingalls Wilder is the subject of a major exhibit at the American Writers Museum in Chicago. Along with a text-and-image summary of her life and career, the exhibit will feature the original manuscript of THE LONG WINTER, loaned by the Burton Historical Collection of Detroit. The exhibit opens on November 18 and runs through the end of February. If you live in Chicagoland, or are passing through, the museum address is 180 N. Michigan Avenue.
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Association is an affiliate member of Chicago's newest museum, which opened earlier this year.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum


Here is a unique gift to give or get....exclusively published by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Association. Laura's original cookbook, lost for years, was rediscovered. It seemed a perfect new product for her readers to enjoy. The book is really tryptic: a full color tour of the Wilder home, with gorgeous photography by Leslie A. Kelly; a historical commentary by author William Anderson; and best of all, recipes for foods Laura served at her table. There are: main dishes, side dishes, breads, desserts, drinks and snacks. Laura's favorite housekeeping tips are also included. This is one of the best sellers in the museum shop. It is a bargain at $17.95, plus shipping. Check out our internet store on the LIW Home and Museum website. Laura Ingalls Wilder Home Website

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:


December fifth is the birthday of Rose Wilder Lane, the sole surviving child of Almanzo and Laura Wilder. She was born in 1886, on the Wilder homestead near De Smet, Dakota Territory. From a bookish child, Rose evolved into an early twentieth-century career woman and writer. From the 1910s until the 1960s, she was a familiar name as an American author, a world traveler and political observer. Rocky Ridge Farm was always an anchor during her life; she returned to make long stays with her parents through the years. Her influence on the farm is very evident yet today--the building of the Rock House, her renovations on the farmhouse, and development of the grounds. Rose was an influential force in the development of her family home as a museum, and was interested in the site until her death in 1968. Her writings have lasting appeal. Here in the bookstore, copies of her Let the Hurricane Roar (Young Pioneers), Free Land, and Old Home Town are still popular with visitors eager to read more of the Wilder family writings.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum shared Pamela Smith Hill's post:

'Museum director Jean Coday and authors Pamela Smith Hill, John Miller & William Anderson were among the interviewees. Here is a head's up on how to listen.'

'Pamela Smith Hill

In September during Wilder Days at Rocky Ridge Farm, a BBC crew interviewed several of us who were speaking or signing books at the event for a radio program entitled "Laura Ingalls' America." The program will air in the UK on Sunday evening, December 10, at 18:45. For those of us in the States, we can access the program online after it airs live in the UK.'

Read Here

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:


On this day, December 12, in the year 1839, Caroline Quiner Ingalls was born. She is also now known as simply Ma Ingalls-- certainly one of the best-loved mothers in American literature. She was lovingly portrayed in the Little House books, and her role as a nurturing and resourceful mother endured until her death in 1924. A teacher, churchwoman, loved neighbor, and respected lady in her longtime hometown of De Smet, it is good to remember her qualities of parenthood in our own times. The illustration by Helen Sewell appeared in the first edition of Little House in the Big Woods, as a frontispiece. Here we see Ma as the ever-protective mother, as she and Laura encounter a bear in the barnyard when they expected to find the family cow. As was her c tom, she acted calmly, and propelled Laura back to the safety of the warm, cozy, safe cabin in the woods.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:

'The holidays on Rocky Ridge Farm in 1931 were times of expectation. Little House in the Big Woods was accepted for publication by Harper & Brothers at Thanksgiving time, for publication the following April. A few weeks later, the book was picked up by a book club for children. Laura was eager to see how her first book was illustrated and packaged. It was published in a small first edition-- and has never been out of print since. (Document from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library).'

I really wish I was close enough to have gone to Christmas at Laura's. It sounds like it would be a great time!

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:

'The last week has been quite cold in Mansfield and the snow covered hills are beautiful here at Rocky Ridge Farm. The Rock House currently looks very similar to a picture featured in our new 2018 Calendar.

You can have your own copy of the Calendar by going to the following link and purchasing through our Mail Order Department, available all year long. The Calendar sells for $10.95.'

Order Calendar Here

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY -

The Mansfield Mirror, our local paper, reports, "60 years ago, in 1958, national publicity was anticipated for the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historical Association from the Harper Publishing Company. H.L. Shorter, Fund-raising Chairman, was given authority to select a resident caretaker at the Wilder Home, 'in order that out-of-town visitors would have a hostess'."

As we prepare for the opening of our 61st season, we hope you're making preparations to come and visit us! We'd love to be your hostess in 2018!

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum

"This is Laura Ingalls Wilder Birthday Week! And the conclusion of her highly celebrated 150th birthday anniversary. But the party goes on...schools, libraries, and museums will be marking 151 years since her birth on February 7, 1867. Almanzo Wilder was born February 13, 1857. It was the custom in the Wilder family to celebrate both birthdays on the same day. In their later years, they were invited to the home of Silas and Neta Seal in Mansfield for a birthday dinner. The menu was always Swiss steak, Almanzo's favorite.The photo below shows Laura and Almanzo, most probably during the winter of 1886, when they were nineteen and twenty-nine. It was common during those days for husbands to be considerably older than their wives."

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum


"Only Laura Ingalls Wilder's 150th birthday celebration rates an extension into another year...The Wilder exhibition at the American Writers Museum in Chicago is continuing this month. If you are passing through the city or making a special trip to see this many-faceted display, it will be in place through February. Appropriately, the original manuscript of THE LONG WINTER is on exhibit. It has been below zero at Rocky Ridge Farm lately, 79 years after Laura was working on this chill-inducing book."

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:

The Cherry Blossom Festival is an event that happens every year in my town.  In the past, they have had Alison Arngrim (Nellie), Dean Butler (Almanzo), Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou from the Andy Griffith Show) and First Lady Laura Bush.  It is always crowded and crazy during that time, so not sure I would try to venture downtown...  

Charlotte Stewart, Mrs. Beadle on the "Little House on the Prairie" TV show, will be one of the guests at the Cherry Blossom Festival Luncheon. Space is limited and reservations are required. We are happy to hear that seats are selling quickly, but we don't want you to miss out!

Friday, April 27 at 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM Tickets

Rhonda wrote:

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:

"Where were Laura and Almanzo Wilder 80 years ago this week? In Detroit, Michigan, at Hudson's, "the world's tallest department store." They rode from Mansfield to the Motor City in their 1936 Del Monte beige Chrysler car. Laura was a speaker at Hudson's Book Fair, where ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK was debuted. In her speech, Laura explained her writer's purpose: "I wanted the children now...to know what it is that made America as they know it. Then I thought of writing the story of my childhood...and eight volume historical novel." "

That's so awesome, Laura Ingalls Wilder visited Detroit, Michigan. I'm from Michigan. I think the Hudson's building been torn down.

Little House On The Prairie board game. That's the game, I'll love to play. Looks like fun to play.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:


"This "silk crazy quilt" as Laura Ingalls Wilder described it, was her work, made circa 1900. She writes of using it as a decorative bed coverlet. This type of quilt-making was a late-Victorian fad, created from scraps of velvet, silk and other fabrics. Rose Wilder Lane describes these quilts in her book on American needlecraft. The Wilder crazy quilt has been on exhibit for all of the 60+ years of the museum's existence. Now it is in very precarious condition, which some of the fabric literally rotting away. This key museum artifact is scheduled for preservation by Museum Textile Services in Andover, MA, when funds are raised. Won't you consider an earmarked donation for this project? Proceeds from the luncheon hosted by the Wilder Home and Museum during Marshfield, Missouri's Cherry Blossom Festival on April 27 will be used for the quilt project."

I'm hoping to make at least one trip to Laura's Rocky Ridge Farm this season.  Her place is just 30 miles from mine, so not a bad drive.  Just waiting for this roller coaster weather to find a happy place and stay for awhile...

Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum:

'It's time to start making summer trip plans. Here are some highlights of Mansfield, home of the Wilder family of Rocky Ridge Farm.'    Article w/ LOTS of Photos