While Laura Ingalls Wilder is best known for the Little House books, in which the first book, Little House in the Big Woods, was published in 1932, it was not her first time being published.
In 1911, Laura began contributing to the Missouri Ruralist, with the first one being published in the special Breeders Special edition that appeared on Saturday, February 18, 1911. The article, titled Favors the Small Farm Home had the subtitle “It Lessens the Investment, Improves Country Social Conditions, Makes The Owner More Independent of Poor Help, Promotes Better Farming Methods and Reduces the Labor of Housekeeping.”
She was published under the name “Mrs. A. J. Wilder” with her location attributed to Mansfield, Missouri. There is also a photo of her house on Rocky Ridge Farm with the caption “A “Handy Size” Home That Gives the Housekeeper Half Her Time for Chickens and Outdoors.”
Laura would continue to be published in the Missouri Ruralist until 1924.
You can read Laura’s Missouri Ruralist articles in Laura Ingalls Wilder, Farm Journalist.
