Christmas in Dairyland: True Stories From a Wisconsin Farm [Paperback]

Leann R. Ralph (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2003

Celebrate the Christmas season with twenty true stories from a simpler time, forty years ago, when happiness was baking cookies, decorating the Christmas tree, or even just getting out of wearing snow boots to school.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I heard you on public radio one day. I love your book!" ( A reader from Wisconsin) -- A Reader's Review (November 2003)

"I started reading your book right away and it was hard to put down." ( A reader from Texas) -- A Reader's Review (November 2003)

"Thanks for your fun and interesting stories about what life was like on the farm." (A reader from Minnesota) -- A Reader's Review (November 2003)

"When I got your book, I started reading it and couldn't put it down." (A reader from Wisconsin) -- A Reader's Review (November 2003)

I didn't grow up on a farm, but your stories make me think back to when I was a kid, -- A Reader's Review; December 2003

I heard you on public radio one day. I love your book! -- A Reader's Review; December 2003

I started reading your book right away and it was hard to put down. -- A Reader's Review; December 2003

Thanks for your fun and interesting stories about what life was like on the farm. -- A Reader's Review; December 2003

When I got your book, I started reading it and couldn't put it down. -- A Reader's Review; December 2003

From the Inside Flap

Forty years ago when I was a little girl growing up on our dairy farm in west central Wisconsin, I thought everyone lived on a farm. Then again, many of my kindergarten classmates lived on farms, too, so maybe I wasn't completely off base.

Later on, however, after I had graduated from high school and started traveling around the United States, I was hard-pressed to meet anyone who had ever been on a dairy farm, much less lived on one. People would ask me where I was from and when I told them Wisconsin, they'd say, "I suppose you lived on a dairy farm."

After a while, it became clear to me that for people in other states, 'Wisconsin' and 'dairy farm' were synonymous. I would explain that not everyone in Wisconsin lives on a dairy farm, and then I would find myself answering questions about what it was like growing up on a farm.

Today, most of the small family dairy farms like the one where I grew up are gone. My parents milked 20 cows, but farmers can no longer make a living that way. Milk prices have essentially stayed the same since the 1970s, and many small farmers decided to sell their dairy herds when their business expenses ended up exceeding their gross farm income year after year.

Even though most of the small family farms have disappeared, the evidence that they once existed remains -- in the empty dairy barns scattered around the countryside -- in the pastures that have been turned into residential subdivisions -- in the creameries that have been abandoned or converted into other uses. And in my stories about growing up on a Wisconsin dairy farm.

LeAnn R. Ralph; Colfax, Wisconsin

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Product Details

• Paperback: 156 pages
• Publisher: Booklocker.com, Inc. (July 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591133661
• ISBN-13: 978-1591133667
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,511,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A heartwarming anthology of true anecdotes of rural life, April 3, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas in Dairyland: True Stories From a Wisconsin Farm (Paperback)

Christmas In Dairyland: True Stories From A Wisconsin Farm by LeAnn R. Ralph is a heartwarming anthology of true anecdotes of rural life on a Wisconsin dairy farm. Even though Wisconsin is still known as America's Dairyland, life on a family homestead is fast being replaced by corporate agribusiness, and the memories treasured in Christmas In Dairyland are quickly becoming unique milestones of an era needing to be preserved in thought and print for the sake of future generations. Christmas In Dairyland is simply wonderful reading and is a "must" for all Wisconsin public library collections.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sweet tales from home and recipes too, April 30, 2007

By 

C. Thomas "book lover" (Eau Galle, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Christmas in Dairyland: True Stories From a Wisconsin Farm (Paperback)

This book is delightful! The stories are heartwarming, and ring true. I like how she describes her home life, and there are good authentic recipes in there too. A wonderful, gentle book for anyone you know!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A heartwarming book about a vanishing way of life. . ., October 6, 2004

By 

LeAnn R. Ralph (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Christmas in Dairyland: True Stories From a Wisconsin Farm (Paperback)

Christmas in Dairyland is a collection of short, true stories about a little girl growing up on a small dairy farm in Wisconsin in the early 1960s. The book tells of life for a young girl and her family-her father, who did the farming; her mother who, despite being disabled by polio, took care of the house and cooking; and a much older brother and sister, both of whom worked and contributed their incomes to the family.

The stories recall preparations for Christmas at home, school, and church, how LeAnn learned about her Norwegian heritage and, most important, the love that pervaded this close-knit mid-20th century American family. As a bonus, Christmas in Dairyland includes tried and true recipes for many of the Norwegian heritage foods featured in the stories, including lefse (wafer-thin potato bread), Julekake (a rich Christmas bread), fattigman (a deep-fried sweet cookie), and a variety of traditional Christmas cookies. For the more adventurous, there is a recipe for lutefisk (cod that has been preserved in lye). Finally, the book includes instructions for making colorful candles using old crayons, paraffin, ice cubes, and milk cartons.

About the Book
This is a heartwarming book about a vanishing way of life. Small dairy farms, with around 30 milking cows, were plentiful when the author was growing up and they provided a warm and loving home for hundreds of thousands of families back then. There are few left today, as small farms have been abandoned, sold for development, or gobbled up by industrial-scale farming operations. Small dairy farms can no longer provide for a family's financial needs. Even then it was a real struggle. But, though such families were often well below the poverty level in strictly financial terms, they were usually wealthy in love and family relationships, as these stories show.

One or more members of the family-the wife, a son, or daughter-usually had an outside job that contributed to the family income. And the farm usually provided sustenance-milk, beef, pork, chicken, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, and other produce, while mothers and daughters sewed and knitted to supplement clothing needs.. Most important, farm life developed close-knit, loving families that were strong on self-reliance, responsibility, and respect for hard work. My own wife grew up on such a farm and I have often heard her stories about the joys and difficulties-mostly joys-of growing up that way.

LeAnn R. Ralph's stories tell of the excitement of making ornaments and decorating the Christmas tree in her school room each year (another bygone era) and at home. The annual expedition with her father to select the "just right" tree from the stand of red pine on their farm was one of many experiences that built a strong bond between father and daughter. Then there was the year that she and her older sister climbed a large pine to cut off the very top for their tree because all the other pines had grown so much.

LeAnn learned to make lefse from her mother and tells of the mouth-watering aroma of the freshly made, thin Norwegian bread as she came home from school. "By itself, lefse didn't really taste like much, but once it was spread with butter, sprinkled with sugar and rolled into a log, I would have happily eaten nothing but lefse for breakfast, dinner and supper." It made my mouth water just to read about it and I was happy to find LeAnn's recipe for lefse (and other goodies) at the end of the book.
This is a good book for all ages, from pre-teens through octogenarian. The writing is clear, simple, and direct, easily read by young children, but not so simple as to put off adult readers. Children will connect with

LeAnn's description of a young girl's life on the farm, helping Dad with the chores, helping Mom wrap Christmas presents, yearning for a toboggan, and being surprised by her brother's purchase of a saddle for her pony, Dusty. They'll understand her attempts to get out of wearing boots, heavy coats, and mittens on warm winter days, "just because it might get cold." And some will relate to LeAnn's stark fear of having to stand up in front of all the people at church to sing a solo-memorized in Norwegian-of an old-country Christmas carol. Older folks will feast on the nostalgia, and may get tears in their eyes as they learn how that Norwegian carol affected one old woman in the congregation. People from all generations will enjoy the depiction of a close, loving family as it prepares for and enjoys Christmas in Dairyland.

About the reviewer: Boyd Sutton is president of Northwest Regional Writers and a member of the Yarnspinners critique group. He served for 11 years in the U.S. Army Infantry and Intelligence and wrote professionally as an analyst and manager with CIA for 27 years. He enjoys writing essays, fiction, and humor and has been published in local papers and magazines. Boyd won the Wisconsin Regional Writers' Assoc. Florence Lindemann Humor Contest in 2003. He is working on a spy novel and a nonfiction book addressing how Christian denominational doctrine ("Churchianity") sometimes interferes with Christianity.