What Farmers Read and Liked": Scenes of Reading in the Rural Midwest

The publishers and editors of Midwestern farm newspapers reached out to all rural Midwesterners in their areas of coverage. They claimed that all types of farmers read their publications. The accuracy of these claims needs to be established. The identities of the readers of farm newspapers, however, are best understood in the context of what rural Midwesterners read at the turn of the twentieth century. This chapter will provide this background. Chapter four will directly address the characteristics of those who read farm newspapers.