Terry Ryan (1) (1946–2007)

This book is an amazing and true story. It is a very quick read and I highly recommend to all. The book (written by one of 10 children) is steeped in Midwest 1950's atmosphere and tells the story of how a woman, Evelyn Ryan, used her intellect, initiative, and common sense to turn lemons into lemonade and provide for her children while burdened with a worse than useless (my opinion), violent and abusive husband, Kelly Ryan. Many women did not work in the period and if they did it was menial show more and for puny wages. The husband who worked (for the period that he was able) would get his wages at the end of the month, paid all the family’s bills (sometimes), and stashed the rest of the cash in his wallet - doling out the bare minimum (sometimes) for absolute essentials only - and drank away the rest. He was a mean drunk and although I am perhaps insensitive to the father's/husband's own personal internal demons he was, quite frankly, a totally unlikable character who terrorized his family, smashed dishes and furniture, flung pots and shouted abuse at his wife, children, and neighbors – among his numerous other less than charming characteristics . I suppose his one redeeming character trait is that when he was sober, he was somewhat able to demonstrate love for his children. The heroine of this novel (and she truly fits the bill) is Evelyn, wife and mother, who holds the family together and succeeds in filling the deep financial void by entering nearly every contest appearing on labels and box tops (a popular 1950’s advertising gimmick) - writing poems, jingles, stories, and entering every contest she could that provided prizes of cash, appliances, food, bicycles encyclopedias, accordion lessons...you name it and she entered a contest to win it. She was very, very good at winning contests and she is to be credited for keeping food on the table and a roof over their heads. Since the wolf was always at the door, this was a fulltime occupation for her which she handled with aplomb and great skill; her mind was ever-churning on how to turn a product into potential income, sustenance, or welfare for her family.

PWDO was made into an excellent movie in 2005 with the brilliant Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson, as Evelyn and Kelly Ryan. show less

I listened to the audio version of this book. Being a product of the 1950s and 1960s myself, I recognized many of the contests that the author talks about. I never entered any of them, but I often wondered how legitimate they were. Were there actual entrants? Were the prizes really awarded? These and many other questions are answered in The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio. Evelyn Ryan entered and won scores of such contests. In fact, she pretty much supported her large family on the winnings show more since her husband was basically a worthless drunk who brought little home beyond a hangover from a night of drinking. The story is told by her daughter Terry who resurrected several volumes of notebooks listing all of the contrests, the prizes, her actual entries (always a poem that the contest begins and entrants finish) which promote a product. Usually, box tops or other “proof of purchase” items are required, which turns the contest into a marketing scheme of sorts. The number of prizes Terry’s mother won is nothing short of astounding and ranged from worthless baubles to automobiles and trips to exotic places. Terry almost always sold the valuable prizes since she needed money for the mortgage payment and utilities more than she needed a sports car. The story is entertaining and in places touching. Most readers will find Evelyn an amazing mother dedicated to the survival of her family while remaining strangely loyal to her worthless husband. show less

This was a delightful and heartbreaking read. Ryan's mother was an inveterate contest enterer, and it was the winnings from these contests than kept the family's head above water, due to dad's inveterate drinking. Ryan's portrait of her mother and her family is touching and hilarious.

(Transplanted from my old booklog... I didn't give a star rating there, but I'm pretty sure it was in the 4-5 range.)

Oh, this was good.

The subtitle concisely summarizes the entire book. It's the true story of how the author's mother, during the contest craze of the 1950s and 1960s, entered every contest in sight, winning often enough to keep the family afloat.

I liked this for several reasons. For one thing, I confess I give bonus points to any book chronicling a family whose size is in the show more ballpark of mine. (Ten is close enough to be in the ballpark, I figure.) This is one reason why I've long been a fan of Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on their Toes. (Of course, small families can be nice, too: that's one reason why I've liked watching The Brady Bunch over the years.)

Anyway. Aside from that, the story is engaging, and it's pretty well written. I particularly liked the fact that the author didn't fall into the trap of foreshadowing contest entries that were going to win. As the narrative progresses, some contests disappear into the mists after the entries are sent out, never to be heard of again, while others pay off. You have to read on to discover which is which, though.

Finally, the book includes many of the actual contest entries, and while some of them are almost incomprehensible (but right up the alley of the contest judges), others are a delight to read. In one case, I'd actually read it before, in a collection of Burma-Shave signs, just without attribution to the author. (It's a real beaut, having relevance both to the actual product, and to the fact that it's being read from a car speeding along a highway: "Hairpin turn, / Hotrod ditched. / Lost control, / His whiskers / Itched. / Burma-Shave.") show less