Post 13:
“Town Party, Country Party”

From 12-Year-Old Anne’s Journal —

November 17, 1982  – EXCELLENT                                                 

“Nellie has a town party and Laura accidentally touched Nellie’s doll, and Laura hurt her ankle, so she is friends with this girl name Olga who can’t run. Then Laura and Mary have a country party and they play 3 cat’s eyes including Olga because Pa made a special shoe for her. Laura pushed Nellie in the water at her party.”

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From Anne —

If you’re blind, deaf, disabled, or illiterate, the Ingalls Family Wants You!
Uplifting the forsaken is a mainstay theme of LHOP. This time, it’s little Olga Nordstrom (love that Minnesotan-Scandanavian thang), born with a short leg.

With her shiny flaxen braids and slightly smoky voice, Olga’s played by Kim Richards, star of Escape to Witch Mountain and, more recently, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She’s also a rehab veteran.

Back in 1974, though, she guest starred in this feel-good episode with plenty to offer for anyone who loves to hate Nellie. Once pushed into the creek, I love the way Nellie’s rotund curls melt into a flat mess. Re-watching this episode, I swear I see Alison Arngrim fighting off a laugh at the end of that scene.

My journal synopsis has a nice nonsequitor quality to it. “Laura hurts her ankle, so she is friends with a girl named Olga who can’t run.” That makes a ton of sense. Anyway, it’s nice to see an episode grounded in history, as told in the town party/country party anecdote in The Banks of Plum Creek.

And hey, I’ll take any episode in which Charles gets into fisticuffs. And, ya gotta love Charles’ killer cobbler skills.

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From Tracy —

Mmmmm. Cobbler. Especially apple. Hey! Remember when McDonald’s used to deep fry their apple pies? And how freakin’ delicious they were? When I was little I always thought those must be like Ma’s apple fritters, cooked in lard of some sort. Anyway hate to go on a tangent here but has anyone else noticed how delicious Ma’s food always looks on this show?

Or maybe I just shouldn’t write my entry before dinner.

I remember this episode vividly because we finally get to see Nellie’s lair. It was a bit like when Spock goes back to Vulcan for the first time (“Amok Time” for the Trek nerds out there) and you’re just mesmerized because you want to see what kind of world made this character what they are. Love both Laura and Mary’s reactions upon first walking into the parlor. The country mice visiting the town mice.