Rural Route Bookstore - Hometown Humor

Many authors and artists found on Rural Route Bookstore's website have contributed short stories or photography to this anthology. The stories, essays and great photos depict the rural life in the mid-twentieth century in the Heartland of America. In a foreword written by the popular, rural writer Roger Welsch, it becomes clear that this book has bits and pieces and even big parts of many folks' past.

The stories are based on themes familiar to both present and past farm folk: the farmstead, working the land, farm animals, and farm living. Together with an engaging and often humorous text, there's wonderful farm photography and artwork from Grant Wood, Bob Artley, Charles Freitag, and Francis Lee Jaques that is sure to evoke memories of days spent on the farm. Subjects cover outhouses, playing in ditches, going to the state fair, repairing tractors, getting electricity, clubs, kitchens, and finally deciding to hang it up; there is something for everyone.

Whether you grew up on a farm, know someone who did, or wished you had, you'll cherish this nostalgic collection of family farm memories. This Old Farm provides an entertaining and educational mirror into the past.

Fill 'er UP! American Gas Station by Tim Russell

A uniformed attendant jogs out with a smile, tips his hat, and goes to work. The days of full service gas stations are a thing of the past, but it will never be forgotten in the minds of many. Enhancing the clear, but well-researched, narrative are hundreds of black and white and color vintage photos of stations and attendants from coast to coast, and lots of reprints of advertisements. This all provides a wonderful visual trip back in time, and the size of the book would look grand on any retro coffee table. It makes a wonderful gift, especially for those hard-to-please father-in-laws or Uncle Archie.

Unlike many coffee table books, Fill 'er Up is interesting and fun to read. This colorful illustrated history of service stations traverses America’s landscape and history, spotlighting the culture and lore of the gas-pumping garage that has kept the United States moving for a century. Whether it's the last-chance Texaco or the Sinclair dinosaur winking in the distance, the beckoning Shell, or the winged Mobil horse, it's here in all its small-town glory of compact architecture, inspired promotions, art deco pumps, and endless views of the American horizon.

Author Tim Russell, one of the world's foremost collectors and historians of Petroliana, rolls out the ribbon of highway that takes us to all of those way stations of Americas motoring past.

MEM - 16 Hardcover $35.00

In this book, Dregni attempts to answer, "Who are these rather odd Scandinavians in our midst", "What does it actually mean to grow up Scandinavian-American", and what's the deeper side of living amongst Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, Danes, and Icelanders"? To answer these questions, Dregni tracked down and explored both the significant and the bizarre by looking at the historic sites, tales, foods, and traditions of Scandinavian-Americans in the Midwest.

In his younger days, the author considered it normal to collect silver spoons, be suspicious of flashy clothing, and take shots of turpentine to cure the common cold. Growing up with Swedish and Norwegian grandparents with a dash of Danish thrown in, Dregni assumed everyone had these habits and that they also enjoyed a good, healthy salad (Jell-O packed with canned fruit, colored marshmallows, or pretzels) or cod soaked in drain cleaner. Only later did it dawn on him that perhaps these habits were a little strange. By then it was too late: he too was hooked.

As his research progressed, Dregni learned some of the things less spoken about: poor immigrants living in sod houses while their children attended college, the births of the co-op movement and the Farmer–Labor party, and about government agents spying on Scandinavian meetings hoping to nab a socialist. And he was able to both flesh out and flush out new tales and ideas his ancestors had neglected to tell him.

MEM - 14 Hardcover $22.95

Hidewood: Memories of a Dakota Neighborhood by Robert Amerson

The "Dakota" referred to is South Dakota and the county is Deuel, which borders Minnesota. The time covered is from 1934 to 1942, and the daily activities range from fencing and water-witching as a lone person to celebrations and politics at the community level.

It appears that the author has achieved his goal of portraying the past by focusing not only on the tasks and topics of the day, but on "how it felt, sounded and looked".

MEM - 19 Paperback $17.95

This book is the 12th in the U/Iowa Press's series, "Singular Lives: The Iowa Series in North American Autobiography." This particular memoir is that of Paul Engle, noted American poet, editor, teacher, literary critic, novelist, and playwright. He is perhaps best remembered as the long-time director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and as founder of the International Writing Program (IWP), both at the University of Iowa.

In the dedication to his loving account, Engle writes, "I had a lucky life. Such a way will never be lived here again. It has gone with the wild buffalo skinners and the Indian fighters, with my mother's hands whose tough calluses tore the sheets as she made my bed, with that marvelous rich reek of harnesses and saddle leather, of horse manure and sweat which I happily breathed each day."

The anecdotes are rich and captivating. From family holidays with lively activities, uncles, aunts, and memorable foods to his job in the neighborhood drugstore dispensing castor oil, sodas, tonics, and liniments, Engle's absorbing stories capture the characters and atmosphere of life in mid-America at the beginning of the 20th century.

In reviewing his childhood in Cedar Rapids, IA, Engle found "the raw materials that shaped him" not only as a poet, but as a person as well. A worthy successor to Edgar Lee Masters, Engle recalls his boyhood years in Iowa which were so different from "the tasteless, flavorless, homogenized world" of the present.

My Best Advice is: Don't Go Home by Steve Lang

A two-month career as a clarinetist in elementary school, being "hitless at 29 at-bats," roller skating straight into a wall, and being a member of the only Swedish family in a town of Norwegians are just a few of the experiences that Lang (a lost Swedish-American transplanted in southern Texas where his roots are at risk and his quest for Elvis-sightings are suffering from drought conditions) writes about in this always funny yet frequently touching book about growing up in Erdahl (population 50), a very small town in Western Minnesota.

Growing up in Henderson: As We Remember It by Don Osell (with 20 contributors)
One copy remaining

Subtitled "Memories from Small Town America", this book is a collection of the author's memories of growing up in a small town (Frost, MN), in the 30s and 40s, but what sets this book apart from other memoirs is the author's ability to tell a good story, his fantastic memory coupled with a vivid imagination, and the fact that Frost -- perched on the Iowa border -- is filled with Norwegian-Americans. The result is a collection of stories about a warm, cozy place that seems to have been misnamed.

Colorful characters and exciting events (such as Halloween mischief and church controversies) are balanced with folksy ordinariness -- growing up in a place where people care for each other, little things can become big news, neighbors are the main entertainment, and dogs sleep in the street.

Like many site-specific memoirs, the incidents and characters often seem universal. As one reviewer wrote, "Even if you've never set foot in Frost, you may have grown up there."

Nostalgia

Living a Country Year: Wit & Wisdom from the Good Old Days by Jerry Apps

In yet another delightful book, nostalgia buffs are again treated to Jerry Apps' warm-hearted style, one guaranteed to bring the reader portions of wit, recall, and wisdom. One of Apps' lines I would do well to remember is "Learn how to leave some things alone"!

When describing the book's format Apps wrote: "I've tried something new with my upcoming book ... I've combined story-telling with several what I call witticisms and advice--for each month of the year. Then, by digging into my grandmother's and my mother's old recipe boxes, I've added an appropriate recipe here and there." In this book where each month gets its own chapter, even the chapter titles are appealing: Henry & His Model T, What About this Weather?, and Potato Vacation.

Apps has a rich biography. Sure, he was a professor, but more important to the purpose of this website is the fact that he was also a county extension agent in the 50's and early 60s. In other words, he knows his stuff! Apps, who grew up on a Wisconsin dairy farm in the '40s, has written over 30 books about "what it was like and what we learned." His wit and recall reaffirm our nation’s rural heritage, and more of his books will certainly be added to Rural Route Bookstore.

MEM - 11 Hardcover $17.95

Minnesota in 3D: A Look Back in Time by The Editors of Voyageur Press

With Built-in Stereoscope Viewer-Your Glasses to the Past

This Stereoscope book looks like a long-forgotten photo album discovered in Grandma’s attic. It opens up to display a lost world come to life again, but this time through 3-D photography.

This fantastic, beautiful book includes a brief, colorful history of stereoscope or stereo photography, which started in the 1850s and remained popular until the Great Depression in the '30s. It offered people their first photographic views of the world, and was the television or internet of that era. Traveling door-to-door salesmen sold millions of photos and many, many "viewers", which were odd-looking things made of wood and thick lenses. Look in Grandma's attic, and I bet many of you will find one.

This great book contains 45 reproduced images, along with their reverse sides which contain a detailed historical caption of the image. Each book contains a 3-D-type cardboard set of "glasses" with a special type of cellophane material.

MN - 02 Padded hardcover $19.99

Around the Quilt Frame: Stories and Musings on the Quilter's Craft Kari Cornell, ed.

Inspired by the sense of community forged by the millions of women who have gathered with friends to quilt throughout history, Around the Quilt Frame focuses on a common bond, and connects today's quilters to those of previous eras.

This unique compilation of essays and stories about quilts and quilting blends light-hearted tales with more philosophical pieces. From a variety of well-known quilting writers, (including Helen Kelley, Ami Simms, Lisa Boyer, Patricia Cox, Jean Ray Laury, and Sandra Dallas) these pieces stitch together a mix of contemporary and vintage pieces to create a patchwork of treasured and timeless tales guaranteed to warm those winter months.

MEM - 17 Hardcover $17.95 Now $12.95 A savings we are passing on to you!

Love of Quilts: A Treasury of Classic Quilting Stories Compiled by C.R. Benberry and C.P. Crabb

To stitch today's readers to the captivating worlds of quilters in other times and places, 28 short stories about quilts and quilters have been collected from the pages of classic magazines such as "Godey's Lady's Book," "Harper's Bazaar," and "Good Housekeeping."

From courtings that nearly went astray to husbands and wives brought together by quilts to quilters obsessed with securing scraps, this book — previously published in 1993 — has something for every quilter. In addition to interesting fiction, these stories also provide an important social history.

Two wonderful special features are a very comprehensive bibliography of quilt fiction, and a timeline that lists American quilt fiction, plays, poems, and patterns published from 1845 to 1940.

MEM - 18 Paperback $14.95 Now $9.95 A savings we are passing on to you!

Sunday Afternoon on the Porch: Reflections of a Small Town in Iowa, 1939 — 1942

Photographs by Everett W. Kuntz; Text by Jim Heynen

If you find yourself getting more and more interested in "recent" history as you get older, if you prefer the clarity of black and white photos, and if you are one of many fans of Jim Heynen's writing, you will truly appreciate this book of wonderful, "lost" photography by Iowan Everett W. Kuntz.

I had the privilege of meeting Kuntz' greatest fans, his wife and son, and heard their stories about their husband and father. Just before graduating from Ridgeway (IA) High School in 1939, Kuntz spent his entire savings of $12.50 on a 35mm Argus AF camera and made a case for it from a worn-out boot, scraps from a tin can, and a clasp from his mother's purse. Wherever he went for the next several years, around his parents' farm or to town on Saturday night, his camera was his constant companion as he captured rural and small town life in the 40s. Kuntz, however, didn't have the money to print these photos, but in time he was able to buy bulk film used for movie reels. He then rolled his own camera film, and developed it in a closet at home.

Kuntz eventually married, raised a family, and worked as an electrical engineer in the Twin Cities, while over 2000 negatives remained undeveloped in a box. When he became ill with cancer in the fall of 2002, sixty years after he had developed the last of his bulk film, he opened his "time capsule" and finally printed the images from his youth. Kuntz brought his childhood and hometown back to life, just as he was to depart from it. He died in 2003 leaving the rest of us a great treasure.

MEM - 04 Hardcover $29.95

Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm during the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish

According to the New York Times Book Review, this book is "one of the 10 best books of the year". A different sort of memoir that doesn't focus on the hard times, Kalish teaches the reader what life was like as a rural, rigid Methodist Iowan. She never feels sorry for herself although circumstances of her childhood—including a banished father—were quite bleak. Kalish loved her childhood, and one of her most-used phrases is "it was quite a romp".

Kalish took the values of her youth right on to college, became a highly respected professor, wrote this award-winning best seller, and has made the rounds on network TV programs. Ted Kooser, former U.S. Poet Laureate, compared this book to Hamlin Garland's "A Son of the Middle Border". If you lived through The Great Depression, this small book packed with joy will awaken your soul. If you didn't live through the Depression, you will glean some valuable history lessons.

MEM - 01 Paperback $12.00

Blueberry Summers Blueberry Summers: Growing Up at the Lake by Curtiss Anderson

A "robust" Norwegian-Lutheran family's summers at "The Lake" in the '30s and '40s in Northern Minnesota.

Anderson, a nationally recognized editor of many magazines, unknowingly began his prestigious career writing notes and letters on a hand-me-down Underwood typewriter as a young boy. These saved letters are now compiled into a coming-of-age memoir that brings the reader back to his summers at The Lake. The funny and warm stories recall picking wild blueberries, first romances, loving neighbors, his numerous dogs, and porch chats with Dear Old Aunt Ingaborg, a heavily accented relative from the Old Country.

"As a 100% Norwegian-Lutheran who lives in Northern Minnesota, the description of a "robust" family with this ethnic background rather throws me. I have yet to meet such a family, and I am not exactly young!" SN

MEM - O2 Hardcover $19.95

The Boys' House by Jim Heynen

Through 64 short stories, readers meet a group of farm boys who possess all the trouble-making talents of most young boys, yet they recognize and are in awe of the world's tiny miracles. The boys throw tomatoes at passing cars and make coat sails to carry them down a frozen road. Yet, they feed apples to a blind pony, teach a three-legged dog to shake hands, and rescue pigs from an unexpected blizzard. They also build a house out of junk cast aside by adults, "the boys' house". In their adventures, they encounter an unforgettable cast of characters that readers soon meet: the goose lady, the girl at school with six toes, the man who kept cigars in his cap, Spitting Sally, crazy Uncle Jack, and dozens more.

Critics have said Heynen's tales are as uniquely American as the writings of Mark Twain, and this book was chosen as an "Editors' Favorite Books of 2001" by The Bloomsbury Review. Nick Fauchald of Minnesota Monthly wrote, "Heynen's book is a masterful peephole into the young male psyche and the family farm culture."

Heynen grew up on a farm in Iowa, but now lives in Minnesota and is a Writer-in-Residence at St. Olaf College.

MEM - 03 Paperback $11.95

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Hometown Humor and Nostalgia