Rural Route Bookstore

Scandinavian-American and Rural Humor Books

Books about Farm Life, Small Town Life, the Midwest, and Scandinavian-Americans

       Featuring the Heartwarming Humor of "Those Lutheran Ladies"      Tell a Friend

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Cloth Stuff & Jewelry

 EXCLUSIVE:

These exclusive sterling silver charm bracelets and the necklace are reminiscent of your high school days, but with a lot more class!  Designed by Suzann Nelson and Janet Martin,  Those Lutheran Ladies (midwestern authors, humorists and performers), and sold exclusively by them, the bracelets come in two styles.

Rural Charm Bracelet
Nostalgic Rural Charm Bracelet
Sterling Silver, 7 inches

JE - 01    $59.95

Charms are: 
a great tractor, most likely a '53 WD Allis -- wide front end with fenders and a hitch,  a majestic barn complete with a double-door hayloft,  an outhouse with a half-moon in the door -- shelter for the Sears Roebuck catalog, a windmill with blades that really turn, a charming farm house -- vintage 1910 but frequently remodeled, and a pickup truck -- maybe a '53 Dodge.


Those Lutheran Ladies Charm Bracelet
Those Lutheran Ladies' Charm Bracelet    
Sterling Silver, 7 inches 

JE - 02    $59.95  

Charms are: a Jell-O mold, a Bible inscribed on the binding, a cup and saucer -- not too dainty,  a church with a cross on top of the steeple, a pan for baking bars,  and Luther's rose symbol.


Due to popular request, we are making a sterling 2" bracelet extension available. This will make either the Rural or the Lutheran bracelet 9"; just the answer to the prayers of those rural, Lutheran ladies who have developed big wrists from stirring all that rømmegrøt and Jell-O.

JE-Ext    Bracelet Extension   $2.50

Luther's Rose Pendant

Bracelet                                              Necklace


This beautiful sterling silver pendant of Luther's rose and 24" chain make a perfect gift for your favorite Lutheran, from a new confirmand to a great-grandmother. The pendant is imprinted on both sides so there is no problem with it flipping over when you are bending down to pick up dropped church bulletins. The quality and size of the links in the chain are particularly nice--petite, yet strong, and the length of the chain allows you to just pull it over your head unless you are still sporting a foot-tall 1960s "beehive" plastered down with AquaNet.

JE-03    Luther's Rose Necklace    $22.95

Cloth Stuff

Whether you're drying dishes in a steamy church basement after the Lutefisk Supper or just plain steaming from the inside out after a certain age, Caragana has a practical product ( a bleachable dishtowel or a hotflash hanky) designed to help you maintain your cool.

And speaking of practical, how about a sturdy apron in "new" hymnal red.  Good for men and women of all sizes, the straps are adjustable unlike those on some modern garments. Eight of these aprons hanging in your church basement kitchen are just the incentive the men will need to help serve up that slippery lutefisk. Of course, for normal events we have normal T-shirts with abnormal slogans.

Jiggle Your Jell-O T-shirt
Jiggle Your Jell-O
  T-shirt

This new T-shirt is great for the Jell-O fanatic in your family.

It also has a peace-keeping function: If you are a Jell-O Norwegian-Lutheran family hosting a Catholic family that hasn't quite adopted the changes proposed by the Pope following the Second Vatican Council which convened in 1962 and you feel you better serve fish (even though it isn't even Christmas so you can't offer up your favorite, lutefisk), have the kids go down to the river and catch some "Sunnies" and pan-fry them in lard. Sunfish are hardly bigger than minnows on steroids so make sure the kids catch a lot. Top off this multi-ethnic meal by serving Jell-O for dessert.  Just remember:  When serving fish, the Jell-O should be green — just like the bowl on this T-shirt.  See also our Jiggle Your Jell-O Mousepad and Jiggle Your Jell-O DVD.

CA 9-01   Navy T-shirt  M, L, XL - $16.00
CA 9-02   Navy T-shirt XXL, XXXL - $18.00

"Confirmed Lutheran" T-shirt 

Above Martin Luther's Seal it says, "This is Most Certainly True" and below it the shirt is stamped just like a passport saying, "Confirmed Lutheran!" Good for today's confirmands as well as for those who "read for the minister" when memory work really mattered and "Public Questioning" or catechization was enough to make Lutheran boys' voices squeak in public.  Designed by Suzann Nelson and Janet Martin,  Those Lutheran Ladies.

Available in Reformation Red.

CA 2-11a Red T-shirt  M, L, XL -     $16.00
CA 2-11b Red T-shirt  XXL, XXXL - $18.00

My, some hefty Lutheran kids must have been confirmed in October.* 
We are temporarily out of XXXL in this shirts.  More are being ordered. 

(*For those unfamiliar with Lutheranism, the most popular months for Lutheran youth to be confirmed are October and May.  May Confirmations used to be the rule, but I suppose with women having to get jobs in town, fieldwork and graduations, fishing opener and Mothers' Day, things just got too hectic for some folks and the big shots at synod headquarters started to tamper with tradition — just like they do way too often with hymnals. It is tough for some of us to force our brains to adjust to new routines.  For readers unfamiliar with Lutherans, you are either surfing the wrong Web site or you could become well-informed by ordering books at Rural Route Bookstore.)


Scrap Lumber Cap Scrap Lumber King Cap

Norwegian Lutheran men, never known for their verbosity, can now make a public statement without saying a word! These caps are great for those quiet men in your life who save scrap lumber so they won't have to spend good money on new lumber, yet they spend money like flies plastered on a screen door in August when they see a new cap they don't yet own. These caps are so comfortable that some men, and not just Norwegian bachelor farmers, have been known to keep them on inside the local VFW. Don't forget to get the book that started this fashion trend, Just How Much Scrap Lumber Does A Man Need to Save?  

The khaki cap is the same sandy color as the tan Scrap Lumber T-shirt. The brim is denim blue, and the strap in back is leather and fully adjustable.  Designed by Suzann Nelson and Janet Martin,  Those Lutheran Ladies.

CA 2-16     CAP     $16.00

Scrap Lumber T-shirt Scrap Lumber T-shirt

A sketch of a happy, busy man looking over his scrap lumber pile and the saying, "Just How Much Scrap Lumber Does a Man Need to Save?," from the book of the same name, fill the front of this t-shirt. It has been suggested that a warning label belongs with this item because a man from Minnesota who wore the shirt to a tractor show in South Dakota almost had it ripped off his back by a woman who found the t-shirt more enticing than the old tractors.

Now available in two colors:  white (for church picnics and sanitation board meetings) and tan which won't show where the coffee from your 'termos' spilled when you bumped over the culvert they are installing on County Road 49.

Designed by Suzann Nelson and Janet Martin,  Those Lutheran Ladies.

CA 2-14a   White T-shirt  M, L, XL - $16.00
CA 2-14b   White T-shirt 
XXL, XXXL - $18.00
CA 2-14c   Tan T-shirt M, L, XL - $16.00
CA 2-14d   Tan T-shirt XXL, XXXL - $18.00


This Bag is not a Toy T-shirt "This Bag is not a Toy" T-shirt

Sure we played with sticks and rocks, but plastic bags??  Are you sick of dumb warning labels?  Stuff like warning infants who take cough medicine not to operate machinery, or people standing in the shower (under running water) not to operate a hair dryer.  Time to make a statement?  Then it's time to wear this new red T-shirt. In other words, "Hands Off!  Don't mess with me."  Designed by Suzann Nelson and Janet Martin,  Those Lutheran Ladies.


CA 2 - 19a   T-shirt   M, L, XL - $16.00
CA 2 - 19b   T-shirt XXL, XXXL - $18.00

Jell-O Apron

Jell-O Apron     Redesigned!               

This is a no-nonsense apron in "new" hymnal red is a little sturdier than those flimsy, see-through organdy ones you got when you were a "waitress"  at your cousins' weddings. Also good for men who dish up mashed potatoes at church suppers or try to be modern city-slickers and flip burgers in the backyard. The motto above the bowl of Jell-O states: "Lutheran Jell-O Power: One Box of Red Jell-O, One Cup of Whipping Cream, Fondly Remembered as Lutheran Cuisine!"
 
MH 1 - 04  Apron  $21.95



DishtowelLutheran Church Basement Dishtowel   Redesigned!      

When you're not drying dishes, you can use this towel for picking eggs, for headgear for the kid playing Joseph in the Sunday School Christmas program, or for keeping your "do" in place before a big "doing."  White with red printing.

MH 1 - 07  Dishtowel  $7.95

Order by using the 'Place an Order' form or you may order by phone (800 494-9124).  For payment and shipping charges, see 'Place an Order.'
All Caragana Press products are available at wholesale prices to qualified retailers, organizations, churches, schools, and libraries.  Call 800 494-9124 for details.