“If only I had some grease I could fix some kind of a light,” Ma considered. “We didn’t lack for light when I was a girl, before this newfangled kerosene was ever heard of.” “That’s so,” said Pa. “These times are too progressive. Everything has changed too fast. Railroads and telegraph and kerosene and coal stoves – they’re good things to have, but trouble is, folks get to depend on ’em.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Long Winter [1] (Which describes the harsh winter of 1880-1881 in the Dakotas.)