Wow! eBook
Others Had It Worse: Sour Dock, Moonshine, and Hard Times in Davis County, Iowa
Author(s): Vetra Melrose Padget Covert (Author), Chris D. Baker (Author)
- Publisher: University of Iowa Press
- Publication Date: 30 Sept. 2013
- Edition: Illustrated
- Language: English
- Print length: 144 pages
- ISBN-10: 1609381823
- ISBN-13: 9781609381820
Book Description
Captivated by this glimpse of a woman very different from the more formidable grandmother of his memory, Chris Baker reframed Vetra’s journal to create a narrative of her childhood and a window into rural Iowa life in the 1920s. Transcribing her words into nine chapters that illuminate home, family, neighbors, school, and social life, he has composed a collection of candid, whimsical, sometimes ornery stories that will resonate with anyone who has ever tried to decipher the lives found in old letters and photos.
Vetra’s was not a romantic little-house-on-the-prairie childhood. She grew up with seven brothers and sisters (every new baby was “a supprise”) in a dilapidated log cabin near a small town now vanished from the Iowa map. Two rooms up, two rooms down, no plumbing, no electricity, holes in the roof and floor so big “you could of throwed a cat through them.” Her father was a bootlegger-farmer who measured his corn yield in gallons, not bushels, a moonshiner occasionally harassed by federal agents. Although family stories now present him as a quaint old-timer, the reality of living with him was much starker.
In his introduction to Vetra’s recollections, Chris Baker reveals the harsh truths underlying her authentic, uncomplaining account. By honoring her legacy, he discovered a newfound respect for her and for her family’s ability to survive despite the devastating forces of poverty, isolation, and the looming Great Depression. Together he and his grandmother have created an enduring chapter in family history.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“A rare, insightful, and intimate work of history. . . . Like the frames on a zoetrope, these brief snippets run together to create a rich, vivid view of a bygone era.”–Publishers Weekly
“Chris Baker has not only preserved the life of one woman but has also given us a way to read a text that follows its own path. By valuing what would typically be overlooked, he has broadened our understanding of life writing and illuminated the daily effects of poverty and isolation, as well as the small joys that arise amid both. It is a song one should not miss hearing.”–Jennifer Sinor, author,
The Extraordinary Work of Ordinary Writing: Annie Ray’s Diary“It is a pleasure to read Vetra Padget Covert’s memories of growing up poor and getting by in rural southern Iowa during the 1920s. In a matter-of-fact voice, she recalls the work, play, and school days of her youth. Readers will enjoy the tales of pet pigs, wild salad greens, dancing, and making molasses, moonshine, and mischief. These reminiscences, told in an authentic voice, conjure a long gone world that should be remembered by those who call the Midwest home.”–J. L. Anderson, author,
Industrializing the Corn Belt: Agriculture, Technology, and Environment, 1945-1972“Mom always used a poltice on sores that needed it. If bread and milk poltice didn’t work guess what cow manure poltice. I tell you it worked. When She greased us for a cold it was Kerosene and lard warmed together till warm and rub it on. It worked and put 3 drops on a tsp of sugar and swallow it to break a cold up.”–from
Others Had It WorseAbout the Author
Photographer, writer, and musician
Chris Baker is the author of In Retrospect: An Illustrated History of Wapello County, Iowa. He works in the fields of mediation and crime victim services.
