For those of you familiar with the Laura Ingalls Wilder books or Little House on the Prairie, you may know that the Ingalls family started out in Wisconsin. 'Ma' and 'Pa' grew up not too far from here, in Brookfield, Wisconsin, about 15 miles west of Milwaukee. The Little House in the Big Woods was near the town of Pepin in Western Wisconsin.
In any case, these little houses have nothing to do with Laura Ingalls Wilder, but when I first moved to this state I couldn't figure out what these little houses were. They were too close to the road to be safe to play in. I've never noticed them anywhere else in the country. Some are fancy, like the one to the right.. others are very worn & plain like the one below.
Eventually I learned their purpose; they are little shelters for children- to keep them out of the worst of the snow & bitter cold while waiting for the school bus. One usually finds them near the road when the house has a long driveway, especially out in the country.
Dawn/RoseMorninStar
I did know that "Little House" was set in Wisconsin. When I did some telemarketing for OSHA, I called there quite a bit and always was surprised to see the actual names of the towns that were in the series.
ReplyDeleteWe have some of those little houses here too. I shot two photos of them, but didn't know what they were for so I haven't posted them.
Next week I will put my two up. Great idea and thanks for the enlightenment.
Jules
That's so quaint. Yes, I think this is exactly the kind of circumstance in which the word 'quaint' is appropriate...
ReplyDeleteAnd thoughtful, too, for the children. Thanks for writing about it, Dawn, I love slices of life like these.
I have a very fond memory of the Ingalls Wilder books- my mum translated Little House into Polish, you know! It wasn't until years later that I realised just what a remarkable woman Laura Ingalls Wilder was, and that the hardships she faced were provided by society as well as the natural world.
Looks like I'll have to revisit my childhood bookshelf...
Neat story, Rose!
ReplyDeleteI hope the little houses don't fade out all together if only for the history and tradition of them.
Calma