Laura Konger Nicodemus

Growing Up on the Farm in the 1930s' Laura Konger Nicodemus

This book beautifully illustrates how the kerosene lamp was used in place of electricity. It took many years to manually dig the holes for electric poles, and to hand-stretch wires-- from one pole to the other-- all over the United States. The author describes how scary it was to use the outhouse during the evening hours: when it was dark outside. A wood burning iron stove was used for cooking. She shows how the family worked hard together to make the farm profitable. The climax of the illustrates how awesome it was to experience electric lighting in the house for the first time (kinda like the younger generation seeing the internet for the first time). The final page illustrates how people later created more, and more things with electricity: including your television set, when none exsisted! It's amazing to the author's generation how many children today believe that electricity always existed; and how surprised they are today that "people" made electricity.