We lived on a farm in Kansas about twelve miles from town. My sister was ten years old and I was seven. In the winter time our folks would leave early in the morning while the ground was still frozen with the wagon and horses. They did the shopping and had to wait until the ground was frozen over again before they started to come back home, so by then it was getting dark. My sister and I were afraid to stay in the large house after dark so we would light a lantern and go out to the “little house in the back,” and stay and look at the Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogues to pass the time. I guess we thought we were safer in there rather than in the house!
Virginia Anderson
El Cajon, California
Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.