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* TitleDrop: While many of the books use the words "little house" in various places to describe the Ingallses' dwellings, there's a moment in ''These Happy Golden Years'' where Laura, on the verge of marrying and leaving her family home, expresses her sentiments, which feels like a summation for the entire series:

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* TitleDrop: While many of the books use the words "little house" in various places the narration in to describe the Ingallses' dwellings, there's a moment in ''These Happy Golden Years'' where Laura, on the verge of marrying and leaving her family home, expresses her sentiments, speaks the words herself, which feels like a summation for the entire series:
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* TitleDrop: While many of the books use the words "little house" in various places to describe the Ingallses' dwellings, there's a moment in ''These Happy Golden Years'' where Laura, on the verge of marrying and leaving her family home, expresses her sentiments, which feels like a summation for the entire series:
-->'''Almanzo''': Next summer I will build a little house in the grove on the tree claim. It will have to be a little house. Do you mind?
-->'''Laura''': I have always lived in little houses. I like them.

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* SundayIsBoring: ''Little House in the Big Woods'' has poor Laura bored out of her skull on Sundays as a kid.

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* SundayIsBoring: SundayIsBoring:
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''Little House in the Big Woods'' has poor Laura bored out of her skull on Sundays as a kid.kid, when the social mores at the time forbade doing much of anything except for sitting still and listening to Bible stories. Pa consoles her by telling a story about how, when he was a boy, the rules of conduct for Sundays were even more strict, to the point that children weren't even allowed to laugh or smile.
** The Wilders--who live in puritanical New England--have even ''more'' strict guidelines about Sundays. Not only must everyone remain solemn throughout the day, but they're not allowed to do anything that could be considered "work"--not even so much as lighting the stove or hitching up the horses.

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** The issue is never touched on in the books, although we know pretty much every other detail of the Ingallses' various houses and daily routine, and it's a rather intriguing if potentially {{Squick}}y question to ponder (in particular, how they managed during the months of blizzards). There are also, of course, NoPeriodsPeriod. Grace is born between books. A close reading of ''Little House On The Prairie'' reveals that Carrie is only first mentioned in the text after the scene midway through where Pa takes Mary and Laura to visit the Indian camp and collect beads. It's mentioned by Laura in other sources that Pa took her and Mary on this excursion when Ma was in labor with Carrie. No attention is called to Carrie being newly present, and particularly since Carrie appears in ''Little House In The Big Woods'' which is set earlier (but in reality occurred later), the question of whether Carrie was just born or was there all along unmentioned is left open.

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** The issue is never touched on in the books, although we know pretty much every other detail of the Ingallses' various houses and daily routine, and it's a rather intriguing if potentially {{Squick}}y question to ponder (in particular, how they managed during the months of blizzards). There are also, of course, NoPeriodsPeriod. Grace is born between books. A close reading of ''Little House On The Prairie'' reveals that Carrie is only first mentioned in the text after the scene midway through where Pa takes Mary and Laura to visit the Indian camp and collect beads. It's mentioned by Laura in other sources that Pa took her and Mary on this excursion when Ma was in labor with Carrie. No attention is called to Carrie being newly present, and particularly since Carrie appears in ''Little House In The Big Woods'' which is set earlier (but in reality occurred later), the question of whether Carrie was just born or was there all along unmentioned is left open.



*** Interestingly, while Carrie and Grace might as well have been brought by the stork, both of Laura's pregnancies make it into ''The First Four Years''. Rose's birth is even mentioned, though it mostly consists of pain, chloroform, and some trippy hallucinations.

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*** * There are also, of course, NoPeriodsPeriod. Grace is born between books. A close reading of ''Little House On The Prairie'' reveals that Carrie is only first mentioned in the text after the scene midway through where Pa takes Mary and Laura to visit the Indian camp and collect beads. It's mentioned by Laura in other sources that Pa took her and Mary on this excursion when Ma was in labor with Carrie. No attention is called to Carrie being newly present, and particularly since Carrie appears in ''Little House In The Big Woods'' which is set earlier (but in reality occurred later), the question of whether Carrie was just born or was there all along unmentioned is left open.
**
Interestingly, while Carrie and Grace might as well have been brought by the stork, both of Laura's pregnancies make it into ''The First Four Years''. Rose's birth is even mentioned, though it mostly consists of pain, chloroform, and some trippy hallucinations.
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** The issue is never touched on in the books, although we know pretty much every other detail of the Ingallses' various houses and daily routine, and it's a rather intriguing if potentially {{Squick}}y question to ponder (in particular, how they managed during the months of blizzards). There are also, of course, NoPeriodsPeriod, and Carrie and Grace are carefully born between books even though this is inaccurate in Carrie's case.

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** The issue is never touched on in the books, although we know pretty much every other detail of the Ingallses' various houses and daily routine, and it's a rather intriguing if potentially {{Squick}}y question to ponder (in particular, how they managed during the months of blizzards). There are also, of course, NoPeriodsPeriod, and Carrie and NoPeriodsPeriod. Grace are carefully is born between books even though books. A close reading of ''Little House On The Prairie'' reveals that Carrie is only first mentioned in the text after the scene midway through where Pa takes Mary and Laura to visit the Indian camp and collect beads. It's mentioned by Laura in other sources that Pa took her and Mary on this excursion when Ma was in labor with Carrie. No attention is inaccurate called to Carrie being newly present, and particularly since Carrie appears in Carrie's case.''Little House In The Big Woods'' which is set earlier (but in reality occurred later), the question of whether Carrie was just born or was there all along unmentioned is left open.
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* DescriptionInTheMirror: In ''Little Town on the Prairie,'' teen Laura evaluates herself in a mirror before her first grown-up party, revealing what she looks like now that she's approaching adulthood.
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* BabiesEverAfter: In ''By the Shores of Silver Lake,'' it's mentioned that Black Susan, the farm cat the Ingallses left behind in the Big Woods, went on to have so many kittens that every household in the area has one of her descendants.
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* MysteriousAnimalSenses: On the prairie, guard dog Jack will attack anyone who approaches the house, even family friend Mr. Edwards. However, when the Ingallses are stricken with malaria, Jack approaches the first stranger to come along and all but begs them to come inside. Once he recovers, Pa remarks on how extraordinary it is that Jack understood they needed help.

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** In ''Farmer Boy'', Almanzo semi-accidentally throws a blacking brush at Eliza Jane, misses, and stains the wallpaper in their mother's fine parlor - a room which the children aren't even allowed to go ''into'' without their parents' supervision lest they damage something. Almanzo spends a few weeks dreading the whipping he'll get when the stain is discovered, but Eliza Jane hunts up some leftover wallpaper and secretly patches the stain to save him. When he ventures to ask her about it, she simply replies that he's the only little brother she's got. (And apparently, there's an evidence that suggests that this wasn't just a fictional anecdote! [[https://notgrass.com/dailyencouragement/a-visit-to-almanzos-home/]]

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** In ''Farmer Boy'', Almanzo semi-accidentally throws a blacking brush at Eliza Jane, misses, and stains hits the wallpaper in wall of their mother's fine parlor - -- a room which the children aren't even allowed to go ''into'' without their parents' supervision lest they damage something. -- staining the wallpaper. Almanzo spends a few weeks dreading the whipping he'll get when the stain is discovered, but Eliza Jane hunts up some leftover wallpaper and secretly patches the stain to save him.with some leftover wallpaper scraps and the crime is never discovered. When he ventures to ask her about it, she simply replies that he's the only little brother she's got. (And apparently, there's an evidence that suggests that this wasn't just there ''was'' a fictional anecdote! [[https://notgrass.com/dailyencouragement/a-visit-to-almanzos-home/]] black spot under the wallpaper in the parlor [[https://charlenenotgrass.com/a-visit-to-almanzos-home/ at the Wilder family home]]!)


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* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: In ''Farmer Boy'', when the older boys are probably going to thrash schoolteacher Mr. Corse and break up the school, Almanzo begs his father to do something. Mr. Wilder replies that Mr. Corse would not appreciate someone else fighting his battles for him. (As it turns out, he had already lent Mr. Corse his ox whip, which he uses in self defense to great effect).
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* BoringReligiousService: The church Almanzo and his family attend in ''Farmer Boy'' has no hymn singing or other diversions; the whole service is a two-hour sermon. Almanzo doesn't like it, nor the rest of the enforced idleness that comes with Sundays.
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** But then again, some sources [[https://www.wildercompanion.com/2019/11/when-was-almanzo-wilder-born.html]] have indicated that their age gap might be only 8 years (as was the age gap of their characters in the TV adapation) and there were suggestions that Almanzo might have altered his year of birth to make him eligible to apply for a homestead. A case of TruthinTelevision?

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** But then again, some sources [[https://www.wildercompanion.com/2019/11/when-was-almanzo-wilder-born.html]] html some sources]] have indicated that their age gap might be only 8 years (as was the age gap of their characters in the TV adapation) and there were suggestions that Almanzo might have altered his year of birth to make him eligible to apply for a homestead. A case of TruthinTelevision?TruthInTelevision?
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* ADeathInTheLimelight: ...[[spoiler:because Pa is dying and has requested that Laura come back to De Smet to say good-bye]].

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* ** ADeathInTheLimelight: ...[[spoiler:because Pa is dying and has requested that Laura come back to De Smet to say good-bye]].



** Mrs. Brewster in "''These Happy Golden Years''" is described as a sullen woman who sulks all day long, always speaks in an unpleasant tone, and does little more during the days than just the bare minimum of cooking and then sitting silently in her rocking chair. However when Mr. Brewster comes home on a very cold day, telling Laura there will be no school because they cannot keep the scool house at a reasonable temperature, mrs. Brewster suddenly becomes very affectionate in her tone, and hurries to help him try to get warm, including rubbing his feet to help get the circulation back. It seems that despite whatever form of depression or mental illness she was struggling with, she did truly love her husband.

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** Mrs. Brewster in "''These Happy Golden Years''" is described as a sullen woman who sulks all day long, always speaks in an unpleasant tone, and does little more during the days than just the bare minimum of cooking and then sitting silently in her rocking chair. However when Mr. Brewster comes home on a very cold day, telling Laura there will be no school because they cannot keep the scool school house at a reasonable temperature, mrs.Mrs. Brewster suddenly becomes very affectionate in her tone, and hurries to help him try to get warm, including rubbing his feet to help get the circulation back. It seems that despite whatever form of depression or mental illness she was struggling with, she did truly love her husband.
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* WinterOfStarvation: In ''The Long Winter'', the Ingalls and their neighbors have to face a long winter, complete with deprivation. Eventually two of the young men make a long trip in snowy weather to get food for the town.
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* SundayIsBoring: ''Little House in the Big Woods'' has poor Laura bored out of her skull on Sundays as a kid.
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* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Mrs. Brewster is shown to be a very unpleasant woman who is the primary source of Laura's misery during the latter's first term of teaching, and she is also one of the very few characters to *not* be enthusiastic about moving westward.

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* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Mrs. Brewster is shown to be a very unpleasant woman who is the primary source of Laura's misery during the latter's first term of teaching, and she is also one of the very few characters to *not* ''not'' be enthusiastic about moving westward.
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* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Mrs. Brewster is shown to be a very unpleasant woman who is the primary source of Laura's misery during the latter's first term of teaching, and she is also one of the very few characters to *not* be enthusiastic about moving westward.
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Overprotective Dad has been disambiguated.

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* BoyfriendBlockingDad: Gender-inverted. Pa has no problem with the much older Almanzo's courtship of Laura, and is actually quite a ShipperOnDeck for. ''Ma'' isn't too pleased about it; at one point she startles Laura when she forcefully opines that it seems Almanzo wants to break Laura's neck, and she hopes he breaks his own first.

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Overprotective Dad has been disambiguated.


* OverprotectiveDad: Averted with Pa, who has no problem with the much older Almanzo's courtship of Laura, nor of that courtship mostly consisting of driving around behind unbroken horses; he's almost a ShipperOnDeck. ''Ma'' isn't too pleased about it; at one point she startles Laura when she forcefully opines that it seems Almanzo wants to break Laura's neck, and she hopes he breaks his own first.

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By TRS decision Whip It Good is now a disambiguation page. Moving entries to appropriate tropes when possible.


* BadassTeacher: A gang of rough older boys comes to Almanzo's school every winter to beat up the teacher and drive him away... until this year's model, small, soft-spoken Mr. Corse, literally drives them out Franchise/IndianaJones-style with a borrowed bullwhip.



* WhipItGood: A gang of rough older boys comes to Almanzo's school every winter to beat up the teacher and drive him away... until this year's model, small, soft-spoken Mr. Corse, literally drives them out Franchise/IndianaJones-style with a borrowed bullwhip.
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* LighterAndSofter:
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* BewareTheQuietOnes: Caroline largely seems to go along with Charles' schemes, even when it takes her further and further from her idea of civilized life--but whenever Ma finally puts her foot down, it's notable that Pa immediately drops whatever he's doing and listens to her. A notable example is when Ma tells him point-blank that he will ''not'' go chasing after wheat that might not exist during ''The Long Winter,'' but a more subtle example is when Pa agrees to finally settle the family down based on Ma's wish for the girls to have an education.


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* CoolBigSis: Laura, to Carrie and Grace. Alice to Almanzo.
** Eliza Jane had her Cool Big Sis moment after Almanzo threw the blacking brush at her, missed and hit a wall in the parlour room. He was terrified that he'll be whipped for what he's done but she saved him by patching the stain over with a leftover wallpaper and their parents never found out about the stain.
** Gender-flipped in Royal's case. He's supportive of Almanzo and volunteered to accompany him find the rumoured wheat supply in "The Long Winter" ([[spoiler:they eventually agreed that Almanzo take Cap Garland instead in case the one who goes gets caught in the blizzard and one must survive for their parents' sake]]) and years later, took care of Almanzo and Laura when they became ill with diphtheria in "The First Four Years".
* CoolUncle: Aunt Lottie, Aunt Docia, and Uncle George are this in Laura's POV, and later Uncle Tom, who shows up in De Smet with a dramatic story about traveling through the Badlands looking for gold. Eliza Jane and Mary became this to Rose.


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* {{Irony}}: The entire premise of the series is that Pa is constantly convinced that if they can just find the right homestead, he'll be able to make a prosperous, independent living as a farmer, and then there'll be silk dresses, glass windows, and all the candy they can eat. In fact, as the series progresses, the family ends up living in worse and worse conditions while sinking ever deeper into debt. They only achieve any level of success and stability after Pa finally gives up, settles in town, and gains steady employment as a hired carpenter. Perhaps the greatest irony of all is that Laura became the only truly wealthy member of the Ingalls family...by publishing novels about her childhood poverty.

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** Carrie's just a nickname, she was named after her mother, Caroline. Almanzo's oldest sister was also left out of ''Farmer Boy'' so as to not confuse readers, since her name was ''also'' Laura -- which is also why Almanzo called his wife "Bess" or "Bessie" (her middle name being Elizabeth).

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** Carrie's just a nickname, nickname; she was named after her mother, Caroline. Almanzo's oldest sister was also left out of ''Farmer Boy'' so as to not confuse readers, since her name was ''also'' Laura -- which is also why Almanzo called his wife "Bess" or "Bessie" (her middle name being Elizabeth).


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*** In the same book, both the Ingalls' cat and Laura's first (pre-Charlotte) rag doll are named Susan.
** Mrs. Boast's real name is Ella, but Mr. Boast calls her Nell as a pet name in ''By the Shores of Silver Lake''. However, the more-significant character Nellie Oleson happens not to appear in that particular book.
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* CoversAlwaysLie: The Long Winter takes a sharp turn into a winter during which the town is trapped with no supplies by an unusually severe series of cruel blizzards, and is in serious danger of starving to death en masse, barely surviving because a couple of locals risk their lives to get their hands on enough supplies for the townsfolk to subsist on for the last leg of the winter. The cover depicts a joyful winter wonderland scene of two girls giggling coyly while a mischievous little boy surprises them with a snowball.
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* TakingTheHeat: The boys decide that if Miss Wilder is going to scapegoat Laura and Carrie, then perhaps she ought to deal with real troublemakers rather than go after two innocent students. So they start disrupting class on purpose to shift the blame from the girls and throw the young teacher off her game. Laura and Carrie can't show their appreciation, since maintaining decorum in school are SeriousBusiness, but the school board gets the memo and Miss Wilder leaves after they make a surprise visit. Later, Laura admits she feels sorry for the woman when teaching and understanding what she was going through.

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* TakingTheHeat: The boys decide that if Miss Wilder is going to scapegoat Laura and Carrie, then perhaps she ought to deal with real troublemakers rather than go after two innocent students. So they start disrupting class on purpose to shift the blame from the girls and throw the young teacher off her game. Laura and Carrie can't show their appreciation, since maintaining decorum in school are SeriousBusiness, but the school board gets the memo and Miss Wilder leaves after they make a surprise visit. Later, Laura admits she feels sorry for the woman when teaching and understanding what she was going through. through (although she, unlike Miss Wilder, ultimately finds ways to earn her students' respect).

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* LawOfInverseFertility: In a rather shocking moment in ''The First Four Years'', Laura and Almanzo take newborn Rose to show to the Boasts, the young couple befriended by the Ingallses, who have no children. As they leave, Mr. Boast comes back out of the house and awkwardly offers to trade his best horse for the baby, explaining that Laura and Almanzo can have other children, but he and Mrs. Boast can't: "We never can."
** HarsherInHindsight after Laura and Almanzo lose their second baby, and it turns out that they ''can't'' have another child, after all. (Rose was an only child, and her [[DownerEnding only child was stillborn.]])
* LighterAndSofter:

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* LawOfInverseFertility: In a rather shocking moment in ''The First Four Years'', Laura and Almanzo take newborn Rose to show to the Boasts, the young couple befriended by the Ingallses, who have no children. As they leave, Mr. Boast comes back out of the house and awkwardly offers to trade his best horse for the baby, explaining that Laura and Almanzo can have other children, but he and Mrs. Boast can't: "We never can."
**
" Becomes HarsherInHindsight after as it turns out Rose would be the only child Laura and Almanzo lose their second baby, and it turns out that they ''can't'' were able to have another child, after all. (Rose was an (other than a son who survived for only child, and her [[DownerEnding only child was stillborn.]])
* LighterAndSofter:
a few days).


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* OnlyChildSyndrome: Inverted in ''The Rose Years''; being an only child in a pioneer family is a tough lot, as it generally means a greater share of the work and more social isolation. Laura and Almanzo both admit that as much as the relationships with their siblings weren't always great, being an only child would be much worse.
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** Later, when the family's settled down somewhat, Carrie admires how nice Laura looks in her long dresses and hoops and wishes allowed that she was old enough to wear them too. Meanwhile, she's saying this just as a strong wind has caused Laura's hoops to bunch up, forcing her to pause and spin around to untangle them. Laura tells her that being fashionable is a nuisance, but that when you're her age, you want to be fashionable.

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** Later, when the family's settled down somewhat, Carrie admires how nice Laura looks in her long dresses and hoops and wishes allowed that she was were old enough to wear them too. Meanwhile, she's saying this just as a strong wind has caused Laura's hoops to bunch up, forcing her to pause and spin around to untangle them. Laura tells her that being fashionable is a nuisance, but that when you're her age, you want to be fashionable.
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* LongHairIsFeminine: Due to the standards of the time, all the women wear their hair long and braided. Girls wear the braids down; teenagers and adults pin them up. When Laura lets her hair loose as an adult, it goes down to her knees, and she admires it in the mirror, feeling slightly odd to be vain over "just hair." Some girls who lost their hair (cut off for a fever, for example) have to wear false braids to hide it, because short hair on an adult woman simply is not done.

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