Elsie Dinsmore

Elsie Dinsmore is a children's book series written by Martha Finley (1828-1909) between 1867 and 1905.

List of Books

The books, in order of publication, were:
#"Elsie Dinsmore" (1867) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/6440 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie's Holidays at Roselands" (1868) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14280 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie's Girlhood" (1872) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/9963 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie's Womanhood" (1875) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14874 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie's Motherhood" (1876) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14566 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie's Children" (1877) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14875 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie's Widowhood" (1880)
#"Grandmother Elsie" (1882) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14883 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie's New Relations" (1883) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14909 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie at Nantucket" (1884) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14379 Project Gutenberg]
#"The Two Elsie's" (1885) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13379 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie's Kith and Kin" (1886) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14488 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie's Friends at Woodburn" (1887)
#"Christmas with Grandma Elsie" (1888) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14534 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie and the Raymonds" (1889)
#"Elsie Yachting with the Raymonds" (1890)
#"Elsie's Vacation" (1891) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/18058 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie at Viamede" (1892)
#"Elsie at Ion" (1893)
#"Elsie at the World's Fair" (1894) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14910 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie's Journey on Inland Waters" (1895)
#"Elsie at Home" (1897) - online at [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/17496 Project Gutenberg]
#"Elsie on the Hudson" (1898)
#"Elsie in the South" (1899)
#"Elsie's Young Folks" (1900)
#"Elsie's Winter Trip" (1902)
#"Elsie and Her Loved Ones" (1903)
#"Elsie and Her Namesakes" (1905)

Companion Books

Books have been written that support the series, read widely by home school families:
#"The Character of Elsie Dinsmore" (2001) - online at: [http://www.amazon.com/Character-Elsie-Dinsmore-Michael-Aprile/dp/1581822014 Amazon] [http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&ISBN=9781581822014&ourl=The%2DCharacter%2Dof%2DElsie%2DDinsmore%2FMichael%2DDante%2DDante%2DAprile Barnes&Noble]

Elsie's Family

In the first book it is made known that Elsie does not live with her parents but with her paternal grandfather, his second wife (Elsie's step-grandmother), and their six children: Adelaide, Lora, Louise, Arthur, Walter, and Enna. Elsie's mother died after childbirth leaving her in the care of her mother's guardian. Her father was in Europe until she was eight years old in the first book. Her father later marries Rose Allison and has two more children: Horace and Rosebud.

Elsie later marries her father's good friend Edward Travilla. They have eight children: Elsie, Edward, Violet, Harold, Herbert, Lily (who dies very young), Rose, and Walter.

As Elsie grows older and has children and grandchildren, the story focuses more on her daughter Violet and Violet's stepdaughter, Lulu.

Places featured in the Books

#Roselands - A plantation owned by Elsie's grandfather. Elsie lives here during the first two books.
#The Oaks - A plantation owned by Elsie's father. Elsie later moves here with her father after he returns from Europe.
#Ion - A plantation owned by Edward Travilla and his mother. Elsie later moves here after she marries Edward Travilla. The majority of the books take place here.
#Woodburn - A plantation owned by Violet's husband, Captain Raymond.
#Viamede - A plantation inherited by Elsie when she came of age that once belonged to her mother.

Parody

O. Henry wrote a parody of the Elsie books called "Elsie in New York" [http://www.literaturecollection.com/a/o_henry/231/] . In this short story, Elsie (ostensibly a different Elsie, but the similarity to Finley's Elsie is overwhelming and obvious) is portrayed as a naive young woman who has gone to New York to seek employment with her father's former employer. Elsie is constantly presented with opportunities for honest work and relationships on her first day in the city, but always prevented by the minions of Society and Morality, such as the police or fictional activist groups, like the 'Association for the Prevention of Jobs Being Put Up on Working Girls Looking for Jobs'.

Eventually she finds her father's old employer who proves to be a lecherous rich playboy, and the story stops, allowing the reader to fill in the rest.

The story pokes fun at "Elsie Dinsmore's" very naive take on the world, where as long as one has faith, follows the lead of those in moral authority, and with enough personal suffering, one will be rewarded... mostly by one's parental connections.

Elsie Dinsmore in Popular Culture

The Elsie series is mentioned in Chapter Nineteen of 'Jo of the Chalet School', the second book of a school series by Elinor M. Brent Dyer. The main character and an avid reader in the series, Josephine Bettany, lies injured in bed after a skating accident. Dr Jem, another character, offers her the Elsie books to combat her boredom after a complaint from Jo that she has read everything that she has. Josephine eagerly reads the books, after first doubtfully accepting the offer and recommendation and proclaiming that they were about an 'awfully good little girl' and that there were 'dozens' of them. (The books featured in this book include "Elsie Dinsmore", "Elsie's Holidays", "Elsie's Girlhood", "Elsie's Womanhood", "Elsie's Motherhood", and "Elsie's Children".) Elsie is described as being pious and moral. Josephine then decides to carry on the series by writing about Elsie's children (Eddie, Harold, and Herbert). The Elsie series is also mentioned in Emily Climbs, the second book of a series by Lucy Maud Montgomery, when Emily is told in a derisive comment by Mr. Carpenter to "go read the Elsie books." Elsie is again mentioned in Maud Hart Lovelace's book Betsy in Spite of Herself. Betsy's friend Tib buys them tickets for the theater on a Sunday evening. Betsy remembers how Elsie Dinsmore would have handled what she considered a somewhat shocking proposal, then dismisses it, as " [she] had never thought much of Elsie Dinsmore".

Approximately 31 minutes into the 1956 movie The Bad Seed (film) (in a scene taking place one day after the mysterious drowning of her fellow classmate), the homicidal 8 year old character of Rhoda Penmark played by Patty McCormack proudly announces that she will be reading her new book, Elsie Dinsmore, which she has won at Sunday School.