Season 1 Episode 7 “Town Party- Country Party”- Little House on the Prairie

Laura is playing a relay game at school and is one of the team captains choosing team mates. She doesn’t want to choose a girl named Olga because she can’t run or walk well. Olga doesn’t get chosen by the other team captain either and can only watch the other children play. After school, Laura goes to the pond near her home to look at a big red crab near some rocks. She is trying to get it to snap onto a stick when her sister Mary comes to bring her home. .

Mrs. Ingalls tell the girls that they have been invited to attend Nellie Olsen’s birthday party. Mary is excited to see the Olsen’s house and their fancy furnishings, but Laura would rather not attend the party at all. Olga gets invited too and is excited to go to the party. Her grandmother helps her get ready to go, but her father would like her to stay home because he knows she doesn’t have any friends and the kids at school don’t play with her. He’s afraid she will be teased.

The kids arrive at Nellie’s party and admire her beautiful home. Nellie and her brother are not very polite and fight over toys and brag about what they have. Nellie shows the girls a new doll she got, which Laura can’t resist touching the lace on the doll’s dress. Nellie snatches the doll back so fast that the lace rips from the dress a bit. Nellie pushes Laura down and she sprains her ankle. Mrs. Olsen sends the kids outside to play so they don’t ruin anything else.

Laura can’t run and play with the other kids, so Olga comes over to her and talks to her and tries to make Laura feel better. They soon become good friends. After the party, Olga’s father asks her if she played with the kids and she tells him she didn’t, but she did make one friend. Her father is not satisfied that she only made one friend. He wants to protect her but doesn’t know how to do it in a positive way.

Mrs. Ingalls decides she will have a party for the girls at their home and they can invite anyone they want. They have to invite Nellie Olsen to be polite. Olga is invited too and she is very excited about another party.

Laura has become good friends with Olga now. Laura talks to her father about why some people are crippled and feels that it isn’t fair that Olga has a leg that is shorter than the other. During their conversation, Charles gets an idea about how he can help Olga walk more normally. He goes to Olga’s house to ask her father if he can make a special shoe for Olga. Olga’s father is very stubborn and tells Charles to mind his own business. Later that day, Olga and her grandmother come to the Ingalls’ home for a visit. Olga’s grandmother wants Charles to make a special shoe for Olga and brings him a pair of Olga’s shoes to work on. He measures her and works hard to make a shoe for her. He gets it finished in time for the party at their home.

Olga arrives early to the party and tries on her new shoe. It fits so well, that she can walk without limping and even run! The Laura has all the girls play a game and chooses Olga to be on her team. The girls are surprised and excited to see that Olga can walk and run with them. Nellie gets jealous that Olga is getting so much attention and says she thinks they should all go to the pond and go wading. Olga says she will wait at the house until they are done (because she doesn’t want to take her new shoe off). Laura is upset that Nellie is so mean and decides to play a trick on her. She gets Nellie to look at the rocks where the big crab lives. It comes out and scares Nellie so bad that she runs and falls in the pond getting drenched.

Back at the home, Olga’s father has come to confront Charles about fixing Olga’s shoe. He is angry that his mother lied to him and angry that Charles didn’t listen to him. He begins fighting with Charles and soon they are wrestling on the barn floor. Suddenly, he notices all the girls outside playing tag and sees his own Olga running with them all and enjoying herself. He soon realizes that he has been very stubborn. He and Charles make up and everyone goes home happy!