Chapter 5 - Laura is "Working in Town"

The happy chapters are coming to an end. In chapter five, Laura leaves her "happy place" to earn money for the family. Will she be able to cope with long work days, buttonholes, and hot-tempered bosses? 

Chapter 5 - "Working in Town"

Ma wonders what work there could possibly be in town for a girl that doesn't involve working in a hotel. Pa explains that Mr. Clancy (Real name: Chauncy L. Clayson) is opening a store only for dry goods. Imagine that, only dry goods! Pa explained how Mr. Clancy's mother-in-law, Mrs. Martha White, will be starting a business sewing shirts for settlers who are "baching" it and don't have a woman to do their sewing. Pa volunteered Laura to help Mrs. White sewing shirts. 

Pa says, "There's no flies on Clancy.  He's got a machine to sew the shirts." Pa then describes how the sewing machine works using words like "contraption" and "greased lightening." Laura knows Ma yearns for a sewing machine. It would save her SO much time. (Spoiler:  Pa buys Ma a sewing machine in the next book, These Happy Golden Years.) Laura is relived to find out she will not be operating the costly sewing machine. 

My current favorite "contraption" is my zucchini spiralizer.  I am making zoodles for family, friends, and people who walk by my house. My goal is to not waste produce from my garden. Keeping up with a zucchini plant is almost as challenging as keeping up with a two year old.

Laura learns, from Pa, that she will earn 25 cents a day PLUS a free lunch. Laura does the math and swoons about making a little more than six dollars a month. All the money can be used to send Mary to college. When I was Laura's age, I spent all my money on clothes, from Village Fashions, and make-up, from Holt Drug. Laura's open heart and wallet are commendable.

DeSmet, South Dakota in 1881

The big day arrives.  Laura and Pa walk to town, after Laura finishes her chores of carrying water and milking Ellen. Pa drops Laura off at Mr. Clancy's dry goods store. Mrs. White "welcomes" Laura by saying, "I hope you're a fast, neat sewer. Can you baste bias facings and make good firm buttonholes?" Laura is overwhelmed by her new surroundings and responsibilities. "The racketing hum of the machine filled Laura's head like the buzzing of a gigantic bumblebee. The wheel was a blur and the needle was a streak of light."

Before lunch, Mr. Clancy and Mrs. White begin quarreling over a shirt order.  Laura, who leads an extremely sheltered life, listens to her bosses shout and swear at each other. Mrs. White shrieks, "I'll not be driven and hounded! Not by you nor any other shanty Irishman!" Laura is so upset she can't eat and returns to her work. After dinner Mr. Clancy and Mrs. White act as if the argument never even happened.  Laura remembers Ma saying, "It takes all kinds of people to make a world." (Ain't that the truth?)

Laura spends the remainder of her 11+ hour work day basting collars, setting cuffs, and hemming shirt bottoms. She frets over spacing the button holes the exact same distance. "It is not easy to space buttonholes exactly the same distance apart, and it is very difficult to cut them precisely the right size." 

I am in awe of people who can sew. I made a pair of stretchy green shorts in 8th grade Home Economics.  Part of the grade was modeling your shorts for the class. My stretchy shorts were obscenely tight. Modeling them in front of teenage peers was out of the question. I took the zero and threw the shorts away in the bathroom.

The chapter calmly ends with Pa and Laura walking home. Pa asks Laura how her day was. Laura answers, "Mrs. White spoke well of my buttonholes." 

What Would Laura Do?

• Refuse to embrace new technology
• Use her wages to help family
• Avoid conflict
• Do the job right

Carrie volunteered to do extra chores so Laura could work in town. I am pretty sure I have never volunteered to do extra chores - unless it was a photo opportunity. 

See you soon for Chapter 6 - "The Month of Roses."
Prairie Eydie