Download or read book Was this Heaven? written by Lyell D. Henry and published by University of Iowa Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Was This Heaven? provides detailed depictions of homes and clothing and hairstyles, of celebrations and ceremonies, of church, school, and social activities, of farm animals and city streets, of the multitudinous ways of living full and satisfying lives. Lyell Henry wisely gives priority to people over place, shortchanging public buildings in favor of cards that cast a more direct light on early Iowans' lives and minds. Last spring's flood, the Christmas tree in the parlor, high school graduation, the annual family picnic, the whistle-stop visit of President Taft, and true-life encounters with gigantic hogs and outsize ears of corn all combine to form a pleasantly rich visual record of the mental and physical worlds of the many Iowans featured. These postcards convey images of people who found great joy in their daily lives. With the publication of Was This Heaven? Iowans at the end of the twentieth century can look back across the decades and recapture that same joy in these fresh and effervescent images.