Little Heathens

I’m currently reading a memoir by Mildred Armstrong Kalish called Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression. During the height of the Depression in the 1930’s Mildred’s father left the family, and her mother took the children to live with the author’s stern but loving grandparents. The author vividly describes incidents from her rural childhood and reflects upon their significance in shaping the trajectory of her life. The picture on the back sleeve shows Mrs. Kalish, now in her eighties, standing next to a woodpile and leaning on an axe. I love this book which offers glimpses of the hard work and joys of childhood in a previous generation. One representative anecdote gives you a good idea of the book’s style and explains the title:

“The whole family worked all day in this manner until all of the hay from the field had been gathered…When dusk came, Mama would fetch a steaming kettle of water from the kitchen stove and bring it out to the porch where, during the summer months, we set up a washing station…She started with us girls, giving us a soaping from head to toe and sending us, towels and nightgowns in hand and naked as jaybirds, across the grassy lawn to the windmill. Once there, Sis and I pumped pails of refreshing cold water and doused each other all over until we fairly tingled…When Grandma learned of this audacious ceremony, she tore into us, using her favorite term ‘littleheathen.’ ‘A body’d think you had no upbringing,’ she proclaimed…Grandma’s displeasure merely reinforced our child-centered belief that all was as it should be. The exhausting labors of our day, the soothing soaping with warm water, the exquisite drenching with the cold fresh water, and the donning of the clean cotton nighties at the end of the ritual bonded us so completely to one another and to Mama that there was no room for such a critic.” P. 111

My own maternal grandmother was similarly raised on a Midwestern farm in the early decades of the last century, and I’m reading Little Heathens with her in mind; Mrs. Kalish’s vivid descriptions are filling in a piece of family history for me. In 1983 my grandma wrote down some of her own childhood memories, which could easily have been passages from Little Heathens:

“Then [my parents] moved to northwestern Kansas and settled on a farm. Here [dad] raised sheep and did some gardening. The place was on Beaver Creek, so there were trees, some wild fruits such as plums and grapes, etc… In 1902 when I, Susan Emily, was one year old, we moved to Goodland, county seat of Sherman County. We were now on the open prairies, away from creeks, rivers or lakes. To secure water deep wells needed to be drilled. My father hired a well driller to drill enough wells to furnish water for the extensive gardening. He made a large reservoir for storing the water and to let it out into ditches to water the garden. A windmill was set up, and that part of Kansas always has plenty of wind, but little rain. As soon as any of us children were old enough to be useful, we were put to hoe-weeding and picking beans and tomatoes. As a child I felt sorry for our neighbor’s children because they worked less hours than we did. I thought they just would not grow up to amount to as much as they would if they worked more now… My parents sold produce from door to door …they also sold cream, butter and eggs. Our table was always stocked well with a variety of vegetables, milk, eggs, home baked bread, and a smaller amount of meat. We were more fortunate than our neighbors as regards food variety, but were taught stringent economy in all things. Of course I would have been delighted had my parents furnished a stocking cap to wear to school instead of a bright colored woolen scarf, but I did not expect such a luxury and was satisfied to wrap my head with the warm scarf in cold weather.”

We Americans today know little of the self-sufficient frugality that was a part of life just a century ago. I consider myself a thrifty person, and by Silicon Valley standards we live simply. However, Little Heathens is giving me a great appreciation for what our ancestors went through, and teaching me humility.