Book Review: Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Kalish

I delved into this book with great anticipation. The author is only a few years younger than my mother and the area she writes about in rural Iowa is just 50 miles east of where my grandfather was born.

There were many things to like in this book that combines anecdotes from the 1930s with recipes and how to do things the old way. I enjoyed the anecdotes and would have enjoyed the book if it had been sprinkled with less of the recipes and more of the stories from the 1930s--stories which ranged from poignant to laugh-out-loud funny. Her stories range from such events as box socials (and giving a complete explanation of what one is for those who may not know) to how to gather honey from bees (and what happens if you do it the wrong way). She tells of how hard work it was it was back in the day, but does recall there was time for a bit of leisure as well.

At once a memoir, a how-to book, and a cookbook, Kalish tells her story with enthusiasm but with a bit of pompousness that was a bit unnecessary. She acts as if she was the only person ever to know how to do some of these things described and that her way was the only way. Heck, I am 25 years younger than she is and I can remember doing many of the same things at my grandparents' farm in North Dakota two decades later, and even do some of these same things today. Although the subtitle mentions "hard times" it is clear that due to help from her grandparents and a self-sufficient farm, Kalish and her siblings never really went without anything on her farm during the depression so anyone who is reading this book and expects it to be a true hardship tale best look elsewhere. It is a great look down memory lane for those from Kalish's generation who I am sure will enjoy reading and reminiscing about another time and place. It seems though that most of the time the author is writing for an audience who hasn't lived through any of these events, remembers none of these times (stoking an old wood fire, splitting wood,making head cheese, butchering a chicken, making May Day baskets). That said, it is quick interesting read but recommended with reservations as although a memoir, how-to book and cookbook, it doesn't completely succeed at any of these.