"CHRISTMAS AT PLUM CREEK"

Davetucson wrote:

Rhonda wrote:

I've seen this episode twice this week since COZI TV has been playing "Christmas" episodes all week from all of their shows......Something I caught and have to question about is.......Charles did the wheel work for Nels to sell to the man wanting them and got paid good money for it.  He took part of the money and bought candy for the girls' for Christmas, and the rest was used to order the stove for Caroline; which did NOT get ordered because Laura traded Bunny for the stove......My question is, did Charles get his money back since the stove was not ordered?  Was it applied to credit; which would've been nice for them, but it is never mentioned again.....I know this is not the focus of this episode, but knowing how the Ingalls didn't have a lot of money for Christmas anyway, it would've been nice to know that Charles got his money back....especially since Nels had the opportunity to give him his money when he and Nellie came to pick Bunny up on Christmas day...

Watch the uncut DVD Rhonda........and you will find the answer!

Guess I'll have to dig my set out....this was on TV the other morning and that was something that hit me about this episode.....I knew LH didn't leave any weird things hanging, and this was hanging....

I don't remember seeing the answer to that on the uncut DVD... that is the only one I have now.

Is there something special about this episode? If there is, what is so special about it?

I have mixed feelings about this episode. While I think it is sweet that Laura wanted to get that stove for Ma, I hate it that she sold Bunny so that Bunny would be a gift for Nellie. If she had sold Bunny to almost anyone else in town, I don't know if it would bother me so much. The only thing that makes this bearable is knowing that Laura will get Bunny back. And I also have a hard time believing that she's really crying that much because Pa worked hard on the saddle. Maybe I'm too cynical. Or selfish. I wouldn't give up my horse to buy a stove for my mom! I hate to think of Bunny being sent off to be abused by Nellie for a year or so....

But I love Carrie in this episode! She seems to have more lines in this one (and I think delivered quite well for a youngster) than she has in a lot of later episodes.

I feel like Melissa Sue Anderson really flubbed that line about "sewing how to show" or whatever she says when she then quickly corrects herself, but not after Melissa Gilbert has spun around and started laughing. Does anyone else think that was an actual flub and not really part of the script? In any case, she covered it up well and just carried on after correcting herself, as if it was real life.

LauraIngallsfan wrote:

Right, an Easter themed episode would have been nice. I wish we could purchase / see the thanksgiving one..

THE LAST FAREWELL was sort of Easter-themed.

I just finished this one, recorded from COZI-TV. Argh! They cut out the part where Ma is upset that Laura sold Bunny and says something like "she loves that pony" and Pa says "she loves you more." Why would they cut that out? Isn't it sort of the whole point?

In any case, it seems like a lot of people like this episode, but I've never been able to like it because of Laura selling Bunny. I do understand that she loves Ma more than Bunny, but if only Pa had told Laura he was getting the stove for Ma! By Laura selling Bunny to pay for the stove, Pa didn't get to give Ma the gift he wanted to give her, Bunny went to Laura's worst enemy, and Pa's gift for Laura was not able to be used. It would have been different even if Bunny were being sold for almost anyone other than Nellie Oleson, especially knowing that it will be about two seasons that Bunny has to live with Nellie as his owner, and seeing how awful Nellie treats him/her. (By the way, did Bunny transition to another sex sometime during the series? Wasn't "he" a "she" in later seasons??)

Also, it would have been different if Laura sold Bunny in order to pay for some life-saving surgery or something, but for a stove??? No, maybe I just love horses and pets too much, but to me it is like selling a part of the family. I realize that back in those times, horses may have been more like owning a car, though.

I also think Nels seems a bit out of character when he is talking to Charles. He used "ain't" I think twice, once when he said something like "there ain't a wheelwright in the whole county" and then "you ain't no wheelwright" to Charles. I don't feel like he normally uses "ain't." But that is a minor point.

Carrie is pretty darn cute in this one. I think it is cute how she is mimicking Laura outside of the mercantile, walking with her hands behind her back.

Also, why was Laura letting Nellie ride Bunny in town in the opening? Was she maybe just trying to make Nellie jealous? Can't really blame her too much if so, since Nellie seemed all about making all the other girls in school jealous with her nice clothes, expensive dolls, etc.

I think the music used when people are shopping at the mercantile may be the same music used many years later in BLESS ALL THE DEAR CHILDREN when Laura, Rose, and Almanzo are shopping in Mankato!

Also, from various comments (not here, but elsewhere), it seems like people believe that Ma hid the shirt she made because she was trying to save face or something. I always assume she hid it because she did not want Mary to be upset but wanted Mary to feel proud and special, having made the shirt for Pa mostly on her own (with Mrs. Whipple's help). So I never see that part as Ma being angry or hurt herself, but just that she is going to keep it secret from Mary. She may have even told Charles at a later time that she did get him something and what it was. He may have also told her why he worked so hard making the wheels and how he expected to give her the stove. I think they would both have appreciated knowing that they didn't forget giving gifts to each other, and I think they maybe could even find some humor in how their daughters gave them the gifts they intended to give one another. Also shows how well the family members know one another, that they would even plan to give the same gifts.

amyk wrote:

I think the music used when people are shopping at the mercantile may be the same music used many years later in BLESS ALL THE DEAR CHILDREN when Laura, Rose, and Almanzo are shopping in Mankato!

I never noticed. I will have to check one day.  

amyk wrote:

Also, from various comments (not here, but elsewhere), it seems like people believe that Ma hid the shirt she made because she was trying to save face or something. I always assume she hid it because she did not want Mary to be upset but wanted Mary to feel proud and special, having made the shirt for Pa mostly on her own (with Mrs. Whipple's help). So I never see that part as Ma being angry or hurt herself, but just that she is going to keep it secret from Mary.

I always thought it was to protect Mary's feelings as well. She could have given it to Charles later and the girls probably would never realize he had two of the same shirts.

amyk wrote:

He may have also told her why he worked so hard making the wheels and how he expected to give her the stove.

I thought about this the other day. Laura bartered with Mr. Oleson to buy the stove, but Charles did work to buy the same stove. The only logical explanation for Bunny being sold is because that was Nellie's Christmas gift, and no one wanted to disappoint her. Otherwise, Mr. Oleson could just have accepted Charles's work as payment for the stove.

But if Mr. Oleson did that, then Laura would have been "deprived" of her gift for Ma, and I think that was a major point that the episode wanted to make - how Laura loved Ma so much that she was willing to give up her prized possession (Bunny). I actually find this a bit out of character for Laura. Yes, she loves Ma, but Laura is the one who seems to be more of a "normal kid" who would not really sacrifice her beloved horse for a stove, even to make Ma happy. And she didn't do anything like that for Pa, although she loves him dearly. She made him that scarf. So couldn't she just have made Ma some kind of scarf? To me, that kind of present, once she made with her own hands, would be very precious. Or if Laura could have worked for Nels or someone else in town and made the money herself, that would have been sufficient for me. But I think they really wanted to show that sacrifice she made.

I watched this episode for the first time in years and I have to say I probably prefer the Christmas episode that came later in the series. I hated to see Nellie get something she wanted especially when it was at Laura's expense. Nellie showed what a spoiled brat she was by automatically expecting she would get Laura's horse just because she wanted him.

I always have a hard time actually enjoying this episode because of Laura giving up Bunny. Also, knowing how cruelly Nellie treated Bunny (and she apparently had Bunny for about two years), that adds to the sadness of this episode. I just wish that Laura had not given up Bunny or that Pa had stopped that from happening rather than him telling Ma that Laura wanted to do it. Just knowing that Laura was willing to do it would be sufficient for me, if I were Ma, I think. I would feel so bad knowing my daughter, who did not have a lot of "extras" in life, had to give up her beloved horse. And if they saw Nellie riding around on Bunny, that would just be there all the time as a reminder of this.

I started a new blog dedicated to Christmas. Since it covers Christmas shows, I'm talking about "Christmas at Plum Creek." Nothing new, but just shared my thoughts. https://christmasyearroundccm.blogspot.com/2023/09/christmas-on-tv-little-house-on-prairie.html