Inconsistencies

I agree with showing the inconsistencies. Avoiding them completely must be difficult, since the creativity to write so many episodes observing all the details of dates, characters, historical events often makes their existence unfeasible.

Season 5, episode 17: Laura gives a boy a peanut butter sandwich. This is one of a number of references to peanut butter, which was not sold until 1904.

Some people have noted that peanut paste was available a little earlier and that people may even have made their own, but the extreme unlikeliness of even peanuts let alone peanut butter being available on the frontier still qualifies this as an error.

Season 5, episode 20 nitpicks: Andy left the lantern by the side of the barn, presumably starting the fire, but when the family discovers it, the middle of the barn is blazing and the side where the lantern was appears to have little or no flames or damage.

The ice in the icehouse wouldn't be uncovered, but packed tightly in sawdust. Of course they left it uncovered to show it was an icehouse.

Season 5, episode 23: Doctor Baker says anthrax isn't contagious in the same way as smallpox so people can help their sick relatives. Then he tells Charles and Jonathan not to touch the sick sheep barehanded because they could pick it up that way. Why could people get anthrax by touching the sick sheep barehanded and not by touching the sick people barehanded?

Season 6, episode 1: Laura calls Albert "Little Lord Fauntleroy." Little Lord Fauntleroy was not published until 1886. They can't be up to 1886 here unless they have done another three-year forward skip.

Season 6, episode 2: Charles claims he was out of school at age 12 working to support his family as "man of the family." This makes no sense as he has a father and older brother still living when he is an adult. There could be an explanation but it is not given.

Season 6, episode 4: Caroline stops the wagon, puts on the brake, picks up a letter, and then starts the wagon with the brake still on.

Season 6, episode 7: in the chase scene where Albert has fainted while holding the reins, the fake reins he is holding can be seen along with a second set of reins which is actually controlling the horses.

Season 6, episode 8: the type of box springs on Mr. Edwards's bed wouldn't have been available on the frontier in the 1880s. The electric chair was conceived of in 1881 but not used until 1889.

Season 6, episode 10: Doc Baker is uncertain of an appendicitis diagnosis and insists a young boy seek help from a surgeon, while in Season 1 he made a definite diagnosis on Mrs. Oleson and performed the operation himself. It's possible every case is different. This has happened to me and my sister. We both went to the ER different times presenting some, but not all, symptoms of appendicitis. After being there half the night, I was told to get out or be charged with trespassing. My clothes had already been removed before being put into the ambulance and it was very uncomfortable. I was 30 miles from home, with no car and wearing only a hospital gown in the early hours of the morning. My sister was also turned away. It turned out she really did have appendicitis, which I also may have had but had to recover on my own, so the appendix doesn't burst in every case. Or in this case it could have been Mrs. Oleson so who cares?

Season 6, episode 15: In Season 6, episode 2, Charles claims he was out of school at age 12 to support his family as "man of the family." He must not have been out long, because in Season 6, episode 15 he attends a reunion for the Class of 1856 in which he seems to have graduated. Since this is a 25-year reunion, the year here is identified as 1881.

Season 6, episode 22:  The Ingalls seem to have forgotten the death of their first and only grandchild just a few episodes earlier.  In fact, they seem to have forgotten his very existence.  When Laura tells Ma that the teacher she is subbing for smokes a pipe, Ma laughs.  One would think a pipe would be a sore subject as one caused the death of little Adam Jr. but maybe not as Pa still smokes a pipe (he is seen picking up tobacco in the previous episode).  More troubling is that in discussing Laura and Almanzo potentially getting together they laugh about possibly becoming grandparents--apparently heartlessly forgetting that they were in fact grandparents until a tragedy took little Adam.

Previously Pa allowed Mary to get engaged at 13 with a promise of marrying at 15. Now he is just allowing Laura to date at 16 and saying she can't marry until 18.

Season 6, episode 24: Is Nellie's and Percival's marriage legal? Marriages can be performed by ordained clergy, a justice of the peace, or the captain of a ship, but is a doctor qualified if he is not also one of these other things?

Season 7, episodes 1 and 2:  flat disc-shaped records were not invented until 1890.  Previously recordings were on cylinders.  The term Victrola was first marketed in 1906.  As for when it would have been socially acceptable for Nellie to discuss her pregnancy symptoms in mixed company (to a man and his unmarried date) and for the young couple to be kissing on the stagecoach, who knows, but certainly not in the early 1880s even with the laxer rules on the frontier.

Since Laura gets married in the second of these episodes, they must now be up to 1885.

Season 7, episode 6: This is the first episode which didn't just have a few inaccuracies but was so unbelievable it was painful to watch in places. The idea that a person who went almost totally blind at a very young age could paint such realistic landscapes beggars belief. All of the actors did the best possible job they could with this material (written by Michael Landon himself).

Although not mentioned by name, Vincent Van Gogh cutting off his ear is referenced. How many other artists cut off their ears? That didn't happen until December 23, 1888. Since Laura was married on August 25, 1885 and this is only a couple of episodes later it should still be 1885.

Season 7, episode 7: the picture window Charles was putting in was broken and he closed the shutters until he could replace it, yet an outside shot shows the shutters open and the old window in place.

Season 7, episode 8: Albert's pen pal claims she was the captain of the basketball team. Basketball was invented in 1891 and girls' teams doubtless came later. It should still be around the fall of 1885 here. She also claims to have danced in "Swan Lake." Although "Swan Lake" was first performed in Russia in 1877, it was not performed in America until 1940.

Season 7, episode 9: the schoolchildren are calling Laura "Miss Wilder" rather than the correct "Mrs. Wilder." Also in the credits, Nellie is still Oleson rather than her married name of Dalton.

Season 7, episodes 9 and 10: Nellie eats ice cream in a cone. Ice cream cones were not invented until 1896 and patented in 1903.

Season 7, episodes 11 and 12: The large sign on the Restaurant and Hotel says Nellie's, and everyone refers to it as Nellie's, but the windows still say Caroline's.

Season 7, episode 12: There must have been a reuse of titles, as Hersha Parady is credited as Alice Garvey, who was killed quite awhile earlier. Also Jonathan and Andy Garvey are credited when none of the Garveys appeared in this episode.

Season 7, episode 13: A night shot shows the windows of the Restaurant and Hotel reading "Nellie's." The next day, they again read "Caroline's."

As far as I can tell, this is the first episode in which Michael Landon did not appear at all.

Season 7, episode 15: Hester Sue leaves a lantern burning in the basement of the new blind school. She should know better as a fire in the basement destroyed the old blind school.

Season 7, episode 16: Laura tells her class of the five boroughs forming New York City. These were not consolidated until 1898. She also speaks of the Brooklyn Bridge being incomplete. She is way behind the times as it was completed in 1883 and since Laura is already married it should be at least 1885 here.

Season 8, Episode 1: Caroline is seen walking on her way to work with the older children as they go to school. There is no sign of Baby Grace or explanation as to where she is. This is one of a number of unexplained absences of Grace.

Laura promises to write Mary in Braille so Adam can't read it. Adam can read Braille and is the one who taught it to Mary.

It is strange that Belinda Stevens is found at the bottom of the ice house near the blocks of ice. She should be near the door desperate to get out.

Season 8, Episode 2: A teddy bear is seen at the bazaar. Teddy bears were not invented until 1903.

Season 8, episode 3: Charles tells Almanzo, "I've got a bridge to sell ya." This can't have been an expression in the mid-1880s, at which time the famous Brooklyn Bridge selling scheme was barely started. The con artist responsible, George C. Parker, was not arrested until the 20th Century.

Season 8, episode 9: This is only the second episode I have noticed in which Michael Landon does not appear.

Season 8, episode 10: At the end an unnamed man clearly based on Colonel Sanders appears. At this time Laura is expecting Rose, who was born on December 5, 1886. Laura is clearly showing, so this is well along in 1886. Colonel Harland David Sanders wasn't even born until September 9, 1890. He started his restaurants in 1952. His appearance was clearly an inside joke because whenever fried chicken appeared on the show, KFC was used.

Season 8, episode 11: In a flashback set during the Civil War, Santa Claus is depicted as wearing a red suit. This image was popularized by cartoonist Thomas Nast, and the red suit wasn't really standard until 1881. Santa is also spoken of as living at the North Pole, a brand new idea at the time, also promoted by Thomas Nast.

It is Christmas and Laura is still expecting baby Rose. Rose's real birthday is December 5. Unless Laura was planning to carry her for another whole year, the series didn't intend to use Rose's actual birthday.

Season 8, episode 12: Confusing weather. In the previous episode, they were snowed in up to the level of the house's second story. In the very next episode, there is no snow whatsoever. Some of the trees appear as in summer while others look like in fall. It is cold enough for Caroline to wear a coat and scarf, but warm enough for James to go swimming. Laura is still expecting baby Rose.

Season 8, episode 14: The year is given as 1885 and Laura is already five months pregnant with Rose, showing that the show isn't sticking to the timeline of Laura's life. Laura was married in August of 1885 and didn't give birth to Rose till December 5, 1886. She should have been five months pregnant in August 1886.

The factory is shown with electric lights, which Minneapolis did have as early as 1882.

Season 8, episode 15: In a relatively rare instance of an actual consistency, the distance between Walnut Grove and the Ingalls place is given as three miles, exactly the distance in the book On the Banks of Plum Creek.

Personally I was very uncomfortable with Uncle Jed hugging and kissing Cassandra after Doc Baker told him he had consumption. Doc Baker was the only one who knew so the others would have no notion of protecting themselves. Consumption is contagious and deadly.

Season 8, Episode 18: Pa and Almanzo open a box of period correct square nails, and are then shown using incorrect round nails.

Eliza Jane rips opens a letter with some news she wants to share. When she goes to tell the family about it, she is holding an unopened envelope.