From On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder:
Then Ma took them into the bedroom. She knelt down by the box where she kept her best things, and she took out three books. They were the books she had studied when she was a little girl. One was a speller, and one was a reader, and one was a 'rithmetic.
She looked solemnly at Mary and Laura, and they were solemn, too.
"I am giving you these books for your very own, Mary and Laura," Ma said. "I know you will take care of them and study them faithfully."
Imagine a world where textbooks could be handed down from mother to daughter. How did the publishers make money?
Those of us with late readers in the family will be pleased to hear that Laura was at least 7 when she started school in Plum Creek, and she barely knew the alphabet. Her future husband Almanzo was still in the primer class at the age of 9. It doesn't seem to have held them back much ...
Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in 1857. Her family moved to Walnut Grove, Minnesota ("Plum Creek") in 1874. I got the dates from this timeline.
ReplyDeleteHeh, and I think Laura was 15 or 16 when she began teaching. Though, by her own accounts, it sounds like she didn't enjoy it and wasn't a particularly great teacher. And then there was poor Almanzo's sister, who had a horrible time teaching Laura.
ReplyDeleteWhat stands out to me about this passage was how serious Laura and Mary were about accepting the books and how Ma impressed upon them the importance of studying. I don't know how typical that was in those days, and maybe this was something that didn't even happen and Wilder added it in as a lesson for the kids reading her book. (I think she did a lot of that.)
What will our kids hand down? A worn copy of an...e-reader? Which is why I never bought my kid one.
ReplyDeleteHere, my son. Have my copy of TERC Investigations. Treat it well.
ReplyDeleteTo me this just speaks to how expensive information was in the 1800's and it's a good thing that we're not there anymore.
ReplyDeleteBut, to add a twist to the "how did publishers make money" question: copyright was 42 years (up from 28 originally) in that era and now it is over 100. We're moving the wrong direction on that.
She was born in 1867.
ReplyDeleteCynthia812 -- thanks for the close reading! You're right.
ReplyDeleteActually, they struggled their whole lives financially. They both worked hard at back-breaking work. It wasn't till their educated daughter Rose helped her mother write and publish her books that Laura and Almanzo's finances improved.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, are you suggesting that Laura and Almanzo's financial problems were caused by insufficient education? I don't think so. Actually, their problems were caused by Almanzo's health problems.
ReplyDeleteand also by the the choices they made to live the way they wanted to live! personally, id call them quite successful :)
ReplyDelete(different anonymous than above...)