With kindest regards,
Sincerely yours,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
You and Rose are certainly in sympathy
Mayfair Togs, a national clothing manufacturer, proposed an apparel line based on descriptions in the Little House books. The plan included distribution coast-to-coast. Alongside the clothing, The Long Winter would be displayed for sale. George Bye reported the proposal, along with the news that “we visited Rose . . . and she told us of a little dirt road where there were some red trilliums growing wild. . . . I dug up a dozen of them, using a screwdriver!”
MAY 15, 1941
Dear Mr. Bye,
Your letter just came and of course I am willing that the clothing manufacturer should use “The Long Winter” in a publicity stunt.
Seems crazy for them but fine for Long Winter. I am glad you gave them permission.
You and Rose are certainly in sympathy if you would dig up wild flowers, especially with the tools you had.
The hillside slope west of the house has been a mat of wild pansy blooms all spring. Rose says they do not grow there. These are not wild violets but regular pansies with two colors on each blossom and only a little smaller than the cultivated ones.
Sincerely yours,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I am sure Harpers are making a good thing on these books
JULY 3, 1941
Dear Mr. Bye,
I am sending you today, by express, three copies of my ms. Little Town on the Prairie. I hope you will pardon the use of a second hand envelop, as I cannot get that size here.
Harpers is, of course, expecting this book, but I think they should give me a better contract than for The Long Winter or else a new contract for Farmer Boy, which I practically gave them.
I am sure Harpers are making a good thing on these books taken all together and naturally I want a fair share.
I am trusting you to do your best with the contract. . . .
By the way, whatever became of the deal with Mayfair Togs?
Yours sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I hope you enjoyed reading Little Town
Little Town on the Prairie reached Harper & Brothers in July 1941. Ursula Nordstrom declared that it “seems to me to be absolutely perfect. Sincerely, it is beautiful. When Nellie Oleson came into the school I almost wept with pleasure and anticipation. Congratulations on a beautiful piece of work.” A 15 percent royalty was negotiated “without much of a struggle,” according to George Bye.
JULY 15, 1941
Dear Mr. Bye,
Attached you will find the contract with Harpers, signed. I am pleased with it and the adjustment on Farmer Boy and appreciate very much the good job you have done.
I hope you enjoyed reading Little Town and that it was up to standard.
Rose writes me that the book market is bad, but I’m hoping not too bad.
Sincerely yours,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
The days of Little Town were great days
George Bye continued to praise Little Town on the Prairie. As Eleanor Roosevelt’s literary agent, he was entertained at her social events. He once persuaded Rose to accompany him to the Roosevelt home in Hyde Park; she attended out of curiosity. In July 1941, Bye wrote to Laura that “I have covered a lot of ground in the last few days, going from a picnic given by Mrs. Roosevelt in Hyde Park last Saturday to another picnic given by a Connecticut park commissioner on Mohawk Mountain last night. . . . I found myself telling incidents from ‘Little Town on the Prairie.’”
AUGUST 1, 1941
Dear Mr. Bye,
I am pleased that you found my Little Town so interesting and flattered that you thought some of my anecdotes good enough to repeat. . . .
Ask Rose to tell you the one I told at Detroit Book Fair about the easterner who saw his first Dakota mirage and took a short walk to breakfast to the lake he saw from the hotel. Like all my stories, it is true.
Harpers have not been fair in making the adjustment on Farmer Boy. Like you, I think it is not so much the money for there is not much difference in that, but it is the recognition of the credit due the book. However, what is done is done, and we’ll let it go at that.
The days of Little Town were great days and at times I have a strong feeling of nostalgia for them.
Sincerely yours,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Greatly disappointed not to be at De Smet
In addition to the Wilders, Aubrey Sherwood befriended Harvey Dunn, a renowned magazine illustrator, teacher, and painter of the prairie. In 1938 Rose and Dunn met at the New York City Society of South Dakotans, where both gave speeches. Dunn was reared near De Smet. His uncle, Nate Dow, married Grace Ingalls. The artist made regular summer visits to the family homestead from his New Jersey studio. “Harvey Dunn has done a great thing in his paintings and it does seem as though they and my stories should be connected in some way. I should be proud to have our names connected because of our work,” Laura remarked. Dunn admired her books, saying, “I would have been proud to illustrate the Little House books.”
AUGUST 20, 1941
Dear Mr. Sherwood,
Thank you so much for the photos, and the copies of the De Smet News. I am sending one on to Rose today.
Rose is at her place in Conn. Likely this is the reason she did not attend the S.D. Meeting in New York.
Mr. Wilder and I were greatly disappointed not to be at De Smet for the Old Settler’s reunion this spring. We had fully intended to be with you on that date, but Mr. Wilder was not able to go. He has been in poor health all summer and is just now on his way to recovery. We hope for better fortune next year.
I have had one book published since Silver Lake. It is called “The Long Winter” and goes on with the story. Still true as to what it tells but not pretending to tell all the history.
Another will be published this fall. The title is “Little Town on the Prairie” going on with the story of De Smet.
The Long Winter was very well received and my publishers think “Little Town” is even better. I think you would enjoy them for they seem to please grownups fully as much as children.
The De Smet News was very interesting though we do not find many names we remember.
Again thanking you for the pictures and the papers, we remain
Yours sincerely,
Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Wilder
I haven’t decided on a title for the book yet
By the end of 1941, the outline for These Happy Golden Years was complete. Laura previewed the book in her response to a reader.
NOVEMBER 4, 1941
Dear Miss Bracket,
In the next book Laura really grows up.
She teaches her first school in the winter twelve miles from home, walking from her boarding place one half mile across the prairie to the schoolhouse which is an abandoned claim shanty.
Mary comes home for her vacation the next summer and Laura again sews for a dressmaker in town.
Refusing to teach the Brewster school again, she goes to school the winter following.
In the spring she teaches a country school near the claim.
She takes sleigh rides with Almanzo in the winter and buggy rides in the summer while he breaks horses and colts to drive.
She goes with Almanzo to singing school where they are taught singing in the old fashioned way. On the way home from singing school they become engaged.
The winter afterward Laura goes to school in the new graded school and the following spring she teaches school once more and for the last time.
Mary comes home again that summer.
Laura and Almanzo are married and Laura goes to live in another little house on a claim.
None of this sounds very exciting but it will give you something to work on and I hope it is what you want. I haven’t decided on a title for the book yet.
Sincerely yours,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Have you seen the boo
k in its published form?
The dust jacket for Little Town on the Prairie, with artwork by Mildred Boyle, caused a minor brouhaha. Laura’s cheeks were enhanced by a brightly colored circular blush. Laura made one of her few complaints about illustration in the Little House books.
NOVEMBER 19, 1941
Dear Mr. Bye,
Is Harper overlooking the payment of balance due on publication of “Little Town on the Prairie”?
They did before, you remember. If so please remind them. Not that I especially need the money, but I like to have it.
Have you seen the book in its published form? It is quite striking, especially Laura’s cheeks, for which Miss Nordstrom apologized and promised correction in next printing.
We are having an unusually warm, wet season. Just now it seems to have set in for a Thanksgiving storm, but if it storms too badly, Mr. W. and I shall say we don’t believe in celebrating the 20th anyway, and put off our excursion to the city in search of turkey until the 27th.
Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving, if it is still in the future in your state, I remain
Sincerely yours,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
If Rose has any objection
George Bye sent news that “the State of Ohio wanted to buy a special edition of Little House—running to three thousand five hundred copies—for public school use. . . . Harper’s figure they can produce the book cheaply and sell it to The State of Ohio at 96 cents a copy. . . . The big point, according to Miss Nordstrom, is that this opens up a new field . . . and they will be able to go out after new states.”
DECEMBER 15, 1941
Dear Mr. Bye,
The news in your letter was certainly a surprise. It seems to me a very good proposition, but as usual I depend on your judgment. . . .
If Rose has any objection, you will no doubt hear from her. If she has I will expect you to consider it as you no doubt intended when you sent her a copy of your letter. Whatever you and she decide will have my approval.
Wishing you and yours a pleasant holiday season I am
Yours sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I was nearly swamped by my Christmas mail
Signed copies of Little House books were cherished by Nancy Lee Sorenson. In Laura’s reply to another letter from Alvilda Sorenson, she mentions the loss of her sister Grace Dow, who died in Manchester, South Dakota, on November 10, 1941.
DECEMBER 29, 1941
Dear Mrs. Sorenson,
I hope your books reached you safely. Your letter should have been answered sooner, but hope you will excuse the delay for I was nearly swamped by my Christmas mail.
What a sorrow your little girl’s deafness must have been to you and how proud you must be now that she has so far overcome the handicap. Please give her my love.
The death of my sister, Mrs. Dow, saddened the holidays for me. There are only sister Carrie and myself left of our family now. Because of Mr. Wilder’s illness we were unable to make our usual trip to S. Dakota last summer, to see my sisters. Carrie lives in the Black Hills, near Mount Rushmore.
Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year, I am
Yours sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
You ask if Laura was a real person
FEBRUARY 28, 1942
Stone School—4th Grade
Saginaw, Michigan
Dear Children,
I’m sorry to have been so long in answering your letter. Please excuse the delay, I have been very busy.
You ask if Laura was a real person. She was.
I was the Laura you have been reading about and all the books are true stories about me and my parents and sisters. All real people and things happened to them, just as I have told about in the books.
Mary never got her eyesight back, but she learned to do many things, besides getting her college education at the Iowa College for the Blind.
I am writing another book now that I hope to have ready for you next fall. Its name is not chosen yet, so I can’t tell you what it will be called.
Your friend,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
We used to drive that old road
JULY 29, 1942
Dear Mr. Sherwood,
Many thanks for the copy of The De Smet News and your kindness in vouching for the truth of my little books. I appreciate it.
Your description of the old prairie road to Lakes Henry and Thompson made both Mr. Wilder and myself very homesick for De Smet. We used to drive that old road on Sunday afternoon in our courting days.
We are well as usual and wish the best to you and yours,
Sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Begging your pardon for being a nuisance
Aubrey Sherwood’s advocacy for De Smet’s history and famous folk was a frequent topic in his newspaper editorials and feature stories. Some wags, when picking up their weekly De Smet News, asked: “Wonder what Laura Wilder and Harvey Dunn are up to this week?” Aubrey never relented; in essence, he published a journalistic history of both creative former residents. The correct name Laura sought in this letter was Lake Kampeska.
AUGUST 17, 1942
Dear Mr. Sherwood,
“One good turn deserves another,” they say, and as you already have done the one I am asking for another, twisting the old words to my advantage.
There is, or was, a lake near Watertown—Lake Kampeskie—but I am not sure of the spelling and have no map showing the lake.
I will appreciate it very much if you will give me the correct spelling of the lake’s name.
Also if you would send me another copy of your paper, the same date as the one you did send—vouching for the truth in my books and telling of the Old Prairie Road.
I sent it on to Rose neglecting to note the date and I would like to have a copy to keep.
Am enclosing 10 cents for the paper and begging your pardon for being a nuisance.
Yours sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
The best I can do and all I can say
The following three letters deal with the manuscript of These Happy Golden Years. The late submission precluded a pre-Christmas release date for the final volume of the series. In her letter of September 28, 1942, Laura makes an allusion to America’s already heavy involvement in World War II. By spring 1943, when Golden Years appeared, publishers were dealing with rationed paper.
SEPTEMBER 10, 1942
Dear Mr. Spock,
I am sorry I have made everyone so much trouble, but I could not get my new story ready any sooner.
Have written Miss Nordstrom that it should be ready for her in a few days and I hope it will be in time for this fall printing.
Neither Mrs. Lane nor I have an extra copy of mss. She will have it typed there for me and turn it over to your office as soon as possible.
That is the best I can do and all I can say.
Sincerely,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Rose may be a little partial to my work
SEPTEMBER 25, 1942
Dear Mr. Bye,
I am anxiously waiting for my carbon copy of my mss. which must by now be completely typed. Please send it to me at once as I need time to study it a bit before reading proof.
The haste and resulting confusion has left me somewhat vague as to a few details that need correcting and my hurry will not be over until the proof is read.
I do hope you will enjoy reading the book, but you must not expect too much of it, for Rose may be a little partial to my work.
Do please hurry to me the copy of the manuscript.
Sincerely yours,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
This children’s story is now complete in eight volumes
SEPTEMBER 28, 1942
Dear Mr. Bye,
Attached you will find the signed Harper contract. Considering the situation confronting us all, I think it is a very good contract. Thank you for your promptness in attending to the busin
ess.
I am eager to hear your judgment of the book when you have finished reading it. This children’s story is now complete in eight volumes.
Sincerely yours,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I hope you get a copy for Christmas
Years after Mary Phraner Warren asked Laura Ingalls Wilder about sourdough bread, she became the author of twenty-three books. She is among many who became inspired to authorship because of the Little House books.
NOVEMBER 12, 1942
My Dear Mary,
I am glad that you and your sisters like my books. I have written the “one more book” you want to finish the series. It will be published this month and its title is “These Happy Golden Years.” I hope you get a copy for Christmas and that you like it as well as the others.
Sour dough was really a substitute for sour milk and was used in cooking just as sour milk was.
We had no baking powder in those days and used soda with sour milk or sour dough. To start it, Mother mixed warm water and flour, a pinch of salt and a little sugar, making it about as thick as gravy. This was kept in a warm place until it soured. It was then used as sour milk to make the biscuit, but a little of it was left to help start the next batch souring. Enough more water and flour, sugar and salt were added to make enough for use again.
We used it only when we had no milk, which of course is better.
With love,
Sincerely yours,
Laura Ingalls Wilder
He is such a cute little rascal
Many of the children who wrote enclosed photos of themselves with their letters. Laura saved them all.
JANUARY 10, 1943
My Dear Erma,
Thank you so much for your Christmas card and especially for the photo of yourself and your darling puppy. He is such a cute little rascal and I’m sure you love each other a great deal.
The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder Page 22