Egg cups & oil wells

the long version

In Egg Cups & Oil Wells, a mother and daughter weave a small and personal story into the wide tapestry of rural women's lives in the Twentieth Century. Euna Hiersche Martin's warmly funny tales about life in Oklahoma begin only thirteen years after statehood on a ranch her father is about to lose to a crooked banker. She recreates a world where families are still quarantined with smallpox, hobos eat on the back porch, smart girls head to the city to master the squiggles of shorthand, ration stamps bewilder new brides, and tonight's chicken dinner struts in the yard. Now in her nineties, Euna brings a wry but wise perspective to her seventy years in the Sooner State. Understanding that her mother's "gumption and persistence" reflect an entire generation's legacy, Marla Martin Hanley adds background rarely found in personal memoirs. Her chapters connect Euna's stories to their historical context: Oklahoma's settlement, the Great Depression, the World War II home front, and the women's movement that dramatically changed the corporate office. Together, the mother-daughter team have created a rich and engaging blend of personal and social history