by James L. Ulvog (Author)
Daniel and Lydia (Ven) Ulvog raised eight children on farms around the southeast corner of South Dakota in the 1930s and 1940s. In the first section of the book, six of the siblings share their recollections of growing up on the farm: making toys out of whatever was handy, working on unending chores, along with funny, odd, or dangerous recollections that gather in memory. Carl, a wonderful storyteller, shares of his four year long, all expense paid journey around the South Pacific courtesy of Uncle Sam. His family received a telegram reporting his unfortunate demise at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Fortunately, that was a disinformation campaign of the U.S. Army to protect a (mostly) defenseless troop convoy. Louise shares more of her recollections growing up and the early days of her marriage. Final section describes what we can learn about life on a family farm in the mid-1940s by studying Daniel's probate filing.