A NEW HISTORICIST ANALYSIS OF EDUCATION AND
FEMALE-LIFE FACTORS IN THE 1926 INDIANA PRAIRIE
FARMER MAGAZINE COLUMN “JOHN TURNIPSEED”
Jessica Mills
11/19/15
Master’s Defense
 To describe the John Turnipseed column in the Indiana Prairie
Farmer in terms of content, major themes, and style.
 To use New Historicism as a literary criticism tool to analyze the
John Turnipseed content in the context of its culture.
 To understand how the historical factors of education and the
lives of females are reflected in the content of the John
Turnipseed column.
 To gain a historical perspective on the role and importance of
farm magazine content in the early 1900s as well as the
evolution of state farm magazine content into the 21st century.
 English background
 Studying agricultural communication now
 Passion for history
 Talked to various ag publication editors
 Indiana Prairie Farmer
 John Turnipseed columns
 Indiana’s state farm magazine.
 The Prairie Farmer was started in Chicago in 1859 following a
series of other names.
 Became its own entity from the Prairie Farmer in 1923.
 Fictional column that was published weekly in the Indiana
Prairie Farmer.
 Although penned as if Turnipseed himself was writing, the
column was originally composed and started by Editor Clifford
Gregory.
 Columns were humorous but also discussed issues of the time.
 A very popular column with readers
 Published from 1922-1937 and 1947-2000
Date of Publication for 1926 John Turnipseed
columns
January 2
January 9
January 16
January 23
January 30
February 13
February 20
February 27
March 6
March 13
March 20
March 27
April 3
April 10
April 17
May 1
May 8
May 15
May 23
May 29
June 5
June 12
June 19
June 26
Titles of 1926 John Turnipseed Columns
About New Year’s Resolutions
John Loses His Appendix
Too Many Guessers
John’s Lawsuit
All About the Surplus Problem
A Hard Times Story
Help From Congress
Following a Good Example
Getting Along with Folks
Expert Advice Not So Good
Advice is No Good
Aunt Em’s Spring Fever Cure
John Gets More Advice
John Tries Chicken Stealing
John Got His Chickens Back
John Is Off the School Board
John Gets Stuck In the Mud
Farming By Radio
John Is No Bookkeeper
John Discusses the North Pole
Summer Style Hints for Men
John Talks About Advice
John Discusses Bulletins
John Gases His Rats
July 3
July 10
July 17
July 24
July 31
August 7
August 14
August 21
August 28
September 4
September 11
September 18
September 25
October 2
October 9
October 16
October 23
October 30
November 6
November 13
November 20
November 27
December 4
December 11
December 18
December 25
John Has Farm Relief Plan
John Discusses Perpetual Motion
When You Fall In Love
John’s Experience In Court
Its Never Too Hot to Argue
Facts about Daylight Saving
The Cost of Getting Elected
All About the French Debt
Sleeping in Church
Extra! -- All About the Tariff!
John Makes a Speech
John Is All Wet
John Tries Town Life
The Story of A ‘Possum Hunt
John Almost Goes to Jail
Advice to Milkmen
Advance Dope on the Election
A Lesson In Antiques
Johnny Loses The Debate
Doctors Are Out of Date
All the Comforts of Home
John Gets His Pipe Back
Company for Dinner
Do Farmers Work Hard Enough?
Marrying Off The Bachelors
John Writes to Santa Claus
 Oldest year in Purdue’s archive.
 Turnipseed was started in 1922, so it was already an
established column.
 Was a few years before agricultural publications made major
changes.
 The 1920s was also a period of change for the country.
 Period between WWI and the Great Depression
 Economic troubles for farmers
 First time more people lived in the cities than rural areas
 New inventions
 Consumer mentality
 Increased freedom for women
 Harlem Renaissance and Jazz Age
 Prohibition
 KKK
 Anti-communist & anti-immigration sentiments
 Scopes Trial
COURTESY OF THE INDIANA STATE LIBRARY. Farm
equipment from the early part of the Twentieth Century.
John Dicks from Lebanon, Indiana.
[Purdue University Archives photograph collection, 1880-2010],
Courtesy of Purdue University Libraries, Karnes Archives & Special
Collections. Purdue University auditorium class from the early
Twentieth Century.
 Education
 Lives of Females
 Important factors of the 1920s.
 Females had just been granted the right to vote in 1920.
 Still pivotal today  We have come a long way, but there are
still important discussions surrounding these subjects.
 Important values within YDAE.
 A literary theory
 Started by Steven Greenblatt in the 1980s at the University of
California Berkeley.
 “New Historicism assumes that every work is a product of the
historic moment that created it... New historicists do not believe
that we can look at history objectively, but rather that we
interpret events as products of our time and culture” (Brizee,
Tompkins, Chernouski, & Boyle, 2012).
 “…define New Historicism with the formula: ‘The historicity of
the texts and the textuality of history” (Berghahn, 1992, p. 144).
 All texts created equal
 Focuses on how the culture creates the text rather than the
author of the text
 No singular methodology
 2 Parts:
 Analyzing text to understand the culture of that time
 Remembering the critic is influenced by his/her own time
 Analyzed 51 Turnipseed columns from 1926.
 Like looking through a lens  Reading the text specifically to
find how it reflects the culture of 1926 in terms of education and
the lives of females.
 Look for Turnipseed articles which discuss these subjects.
 Read to find themes that can be made into claims.
 In order to have claims, there must be evidence to support them.
The evidence comes directly from the Turnipseed articles.
 Analyze how today’s culture influences the analysis of 1926
culture.
Contextual
Evidence
Make Claims
through Lens
of New
Historicism
Analyze for
Generalizations
& Themes
Education
Lives of Females
 Education
 Female
 School
 College
 Women
 Academic Subjects
 Wife
 Books
 Aunt
 Bulletins
 Girlfriend
 Almanac
 Radio
 Newspaper
 Editor
 Her
 She
 In the 1920s, education was perceived as unnecessary
compared to common sense.
 Evidence Examples:
 “If I was runnin’ a college I’d educate their heart first and then if I
had time I’d put a few facts into their head, not that it matters so
much at that” (“Getting Along With Folks”).
 “I ain’t no bookkeeper, I’m a farmer, and I’d rather quit the farm
bureau than to have to put everything I do down in a book” (“John Is
No Bookkeeper”).
 “If there’s anything that’s against the rules of the scientist’s union, it’s
gettin’ out information while it’s fresh” (“John Discusses Bulletins”).
 Difference of educational level.
 Today, the majority of people over age 25 have at least a high school
diploma.
 In the 1920s, the educational attainment level was 8th grade.
 Education as a gateway to careers.
 More distant from agricultural roots.
 Too much education was perceived negatively.
 Evidence Examples:
 “The trouble with us farmers now… is that we know too many things
that ain’t so, like what the weather is goin’ to be day after tomorrow
and how big the corn crop is. George Washington didn’t have no
weather bureau to tell him what the weather was goin’ to be like at
Valley Forge…He just depended on the almanac and that’s why
we’ve got a Fourth of July now” (“Too Many Guessers”).
 “…we’ve got too blamed much education and that’s why the young
folks don’t want to work no more” (“John is Off the School Board”).
 “I sit up so late listenin’ to opera stars and jazz bands that I can’t do
no work the next day” (“Farming By Radio”).
 Too much education
 Hard to imagine with today’s access and diffusion information.
 Education produces change
 Conservative America in the 1920s was resistant to change.
 Today we’ve become more accustom to change.
 Technology
 Females were portrayed as stock characters commonly
represented as nagging wives.
 Evidence Examples:
 In 1926, the name of Turnipseed’s wife is never mentioned
 Turnipseed does not mention a daughter. He only mentions Johnny.
 “I didn’t say nothin’ on account of not wantin’ to start no argument
which is easy to do with a woman even if you’re only talkin’ about
the weather” (“John Is No Bookkeeper”).
 “A slice of ham that’s cooked to a turn will look better to you than
that cute little curl over your wife’s left ear” (“When You Fall In
Love”).
 “…tell them women that the best way for them to improve
themselves is to let their hair grow and cover up their knees…”
(“All About the French Debt”).
 Women have more freedoms today.
 Not confined to the roles of wife and mother
 Wider job opportunities
 Females have progressed since the 1920s but still have some
struggles.
 Gender roles
 Wage gap
 Uniqueness of Turnipseed column
 Insights news stories could not provide
 Provides a different view of the culture
 The longevity, popularity, and relatability of Turnipseed
 Gregory valued education, but this is beyond the scope of New
Historicism.
 Different type of humor for a different culture.
 Subculture of 1920s rural America influenced by events of 1920s.
 Lack of change
 The older generation
 “More of the consumer’s dollar for farmers”
 What are the benefits?
 Understanding the impact and importance of history, so we can
learn and improve from it
 Lost art
 Who will the findings benefit?
 General public
 Education & women’s advocates
 Historians
 Agricultural communication journalists