For some time we have had accounts written by men of the early years in a new state; then women\u27s diaries began to be discovered recording events from a woman\u27s perspective. With this book, we now have a sense of what it was like to be a teenager who had moved from New York or Iowa into a prairie land with little broken ground and  no fences.   A Funnie Place  adds an important dimension to both our historical and sociological understanding of daily life on the Kansas Plains

Petersen, Carol Miles

English

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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 1995 Review of "A Funnie Place, No Fences": Teenagers' Views of Kansas, 1867-1900 Edited by C. Robert Haywood and Sandra Jarvis Carol Miles Petersen Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly  Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Petersen, Carol Miles, "Review of "A Funnie Place, No Fences": Teenagers' Views of Kansas, 1867-1900 Edited by C. Robert Haywood and Sandra Jarvis" (1995). Great Plains Quarterly. 1065. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1065 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. "A Funnie Place, No Fences": Teenagers' Views of Kansas, 1867-1900. Edited by C. Robert Haywood and Sandra Jarvis. Lawrence: University of Kansas, Division of Continuing Education, 1992. Preface, introduction, illustrations, photographs, references. xvi + 349 pp. $19.00 paper. For some time we have had accounts writ-ten by men of the early years in a new state; then women's diaries began to be discovered recording events from a woman's perspective. With this book, we now have a sense of what it was like to be a teenager who had moved from New York or Iowa into a prairie land with little broken ground and "no fences." "A Funnie Place" adds an important dimension to both our historical and sociological under-standing of daily life on the Kansas Plains. These diaries of teenagers, the original spell-ings retained, record activities in the state's pioneering years. The youngsters tell of their chores before and after school, on weekends, during summers. They recount planting sod corn, "hurding" cattle, washing and hanging BOOK REVIEWS 59 out clothes that may freeze on the lines or be covered with the ubiquitous windborne Kan-sas dust before they can be taken in and ironed. They pull weeds, haul water, milk cows. In short, they do whatever their size and age per-mit, and that is a great deal. Most write about having company and go-ing visiting. The boys find time to hunt and fish and play baseball along with their chores. The girls, too, enjoy playing games, seeing each other and talking about their "jentlemen" friends, and going to dances from which they may not return until three or four in the morn-ing. Almost all go to school and Sunday school. One of the striking features in these diaries is their writers' total acceptance of the amount of work they accomplish, which makes most of them seem more mature than their years. While these writers may not have been aver-age teenagers, for the average probably did not keep a diary, the reader feels that the life the youngsters are recording is the norm. My mother, born and reared on the farm her grand-parents homesteaded near Winfield, Kansas, recounted to me stories her mother had told her that paralleled these entries. There are also a few childhood reminis-cences by adult Kansans, William Allen White for example, as well as a good number of pho-tographs that affirm visually the kinds of chores, landscapes, and dress of the time. San-dra Jarvis, the illustrator, provides some fine sketches. CAROL MILES PETERSEN Omaha, Nebraska 

Review of \u3ci\u3e A Funnie Place, No Fences : Teenagers\u27 Views of Kansas, 1867-1900\u3c/i\u3e Edited by C. Robert Haywood and Sandra Jarvis

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University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 
1995 
Review of "A Funnie Place, No Fences": Teenagers' Views of 
Kansas, 1867-1900 Edited by C. Robert Haywood and Sandra 
Jarvis 
Carol Miles Petersen 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly 
 Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons 
Petersen, Carol Miles, "Review of "A Funnie Place, No Fences": Teenagers' Views of Kansas, 1867-1900 
Edited by C. Robert Haywood and Sandra Jarvis" (1995). Great Plains Quarterly. 1065. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/1065 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an 
authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 
"A Funnie Place, No Fences": Teenagers' Views 
of Kansas, 1867-1900. Edited by C. Robert 
Haywood and Sandra Jarvis. Lawrence: 
University of Kansas, Division of Continuing 
Education, 1992. Preface, introduction, 
illustrations, photographs, references. xvi + 
349 pp. $19.00 paper. 
For some time we have had accounts writ-
ten by men of the early years in a new state; 
then women's diaries began to be discovered 
recording events from a woman's perspective. 
With this book, we now have a sense of what 
it was like to be a teenager who had moved 
from New York or Iowa into a prairie land 
with little broken ground and "no fences." "A 
Funnie Place" adds an important dimension to 
both our historical and sociological under-
standing of daily life on the Kansas Plains. 
These diaries of teenagers, the original spell-
ings retained, record activities in the state's 
pioneering years. The youngsters tell of their 
chores before and after school, on weekends, 
during summers. They recount planting sod 
corn, "hurding" cattle, washing and hanging 
BOOK REVIEWS 59 
out clothes that may freeze on the lines or be 
covered with the ubiquitous windborne Kan-
sas dust before they can be taken in and ironed. 
They pull weeds, haul water, milk cows. In 
short, they do whatever their size and age per-
mit, and that is a great deal. 
Most write about having company and go-
ing visiting. The boys find time to hunt and 
fish and play baseball along with their chores. 
The girls, too, enjoy playing games, seeing each 
other and talking about their "jentlemen" 
friends, and going to dances from which they 
may not return until three or four in the morn-
ing. Almost all go to school and Sunday school. 
One of the striking features in these diaries 
is their writers' total acceptance of the amount 
of work they accomplish, which makes most 
of them seem more mature than their years. 
While these writers may not have been aver-
age teenagers, for the average probably did 
not keep a diary, the reader feels that the life 
the youngsters are recording is the norm. My 
mother, born and reared on the farm her grand-
parents homesteaded near Winfield, Kansas, 
recounted to me stories her mother had told 
her that paralleled these entries. 
There are also a few childhood reminis-
cences by adult Kansans, William Allen White 
for example, as well as a good number of pho-
tographs that affirm visually the kinds of 
chores, landscapes, and dress of the time. San-
dra Jarvis, the illustrator, provides some fine 
sketches. 
CAROL MILES PETERSEN 
Omaha, Nebraska 


https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2064&amp;context=greatplainsquarterly

Review of \u3ci\u3e A Funnie Place, No Fences : Teenagers\u27 Views of Kansas, 1867-1900\u3c/i\u3e Edited by C. Robert Haywood and Sandra Jarvis

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