The Wisconsin website Milwaukee Record is currently running a contest for the most popular public figure born in the state. The contestants include athletes, actors, and writers—including Laura Ingalls Wilder. However, the Little House on the Prairie author didn’t even make it to the second round!
Wisconsin Celebs Compete Against Each Other
As the year winds down, the Milwaukee Record is running their Wisconsin-Born Celebrity Bracket, a contest pitting celebrities and famous figures against each other to see who is the favorite star from the state.
Some of the big names included on the bracket-style voting list include Colin Kaepernick, Liberace, Gene Wilder, Chris Farley, Georgia O’Keeffe, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Rachel Brosnahan.
Wilder’s Mega-Popular ‘Little House On The Prairie’ Books
Wilder was also included on the list, competing in the “Other” category against fellow authors, comedians, performers, and content creators. She is world-famous for her Little House on the Prairie children’s book series. For generations, the books have been on school reading lists, and we can’t imagine any Gen Xer not being familiar with the author and her series.
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The books are based on Wilder’s own childhood and adolescent experiences growing up in the West in the late 1800s. Little House on the Prairie books are still read widely today—they even spawned the mega-popular TV show of the same name that dominated screens and imaginations for a time.
Some Voters Didn’t Know Who Wilder Was
However, the iconic author didn’t even make it through the first round of votes in the Wisconsin-Born Celebrity Bracket! Wilder was put up against the video game YouTuber Videogamedunkey, more popularly known as dunkey.
The competition (and Wilder’s loss to dunkey) went viral after someone tweeted a screenshot of her losing to the YouTuber. Many younger people shocked Gen Xers by admitting they had never heard of Wilder herself—her books seem to have a larger profile than Wilder herself.
Of course, Wilder did die nearly 70 years ago, and Little House on the Prairie the show ended in 1982 and has been effectively relegated to the oldies channel for decades now. It’s not exactly the most surprising turn of events, but it probably would have stung a little less if the author could have made it out the very first round.
Some have pointed out that the Milwaukee Record’s bracket matchups were a little unfair, especially in the “Others” category. Though t be fair to the Record, brackets are essentially impossible to make even. Even though Wilder lost out to dunkey, her books will no doubt still remain as a important part of young people’s reading lists.
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