"I Want to Join Your Club": Letters from Rural Children, 1900-1920

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Newspapers targeted to the rural market were a significant part of the
information and communications resources available to Canada’s farm
families during the first half of the century. Nearly every farm family
subscribed to either the Family Herald, the Grain Growers’ Guide, the
Free Press Prairie Farmer, or the Farmer’s Advocate. These papers
offered something for every member of the household, including the
children. Kids from six to 16 were encouraged to write to the
newspapers’ “clubs,” sharing adventures and the details of their
everyday lives, and soliciting penpals.

This book comprises nearly 200 of those letters. Written by children
from every part of rural Canada, they collectively paint a portrait of a
lifestyle characterized by lots of chores and sporadic schooling.

The letters dispel any lingering myths about carefree childhood. These
children wrote about their work, the animals they cared for, the war,
and their ambitions. Games and play receive very little time or
attention.

The letters range from a few lines to a bit over a page. They’re
reserved, polite, and effacing. Many conclude with a hesitant plea for
others to write. Loneliness and isolation are dominant themes.

The book is low-key, as delicate and wistful as a watercolor. Yet it is
a tremendously important addition to our collective social history,
because it gives voice to a previously ignored segment of Canadian
society.