Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957) was an American pioneer and author who published eight novels between 1932 and 1943, inspired by events from her childhood. These eight novels are often referred to as the Little House on the Prairie series, and they were subsequently adapted into a popular television series of the same name, which ran from 1974 to 1983. Wilder was born in 1867 in an isolated log cabin in Wisconsin. Her childhood, including her family’s subsequent moves to Kansas, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Missouri, inspired many plots in the novels and TV series, both of which became extremely popular.

The title of Cobb’s novel alludes to the Little House on the Prairie franchise, and Nellie mentions that Charleigh named her after a character from the show (who also appears in the novels), Nellie Oleson. In On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937), the fourth novel in the Little House on the Prairie series, young protagonist Laura Ingalls moves with her family from Kansas to Minnesota. She is bullied by Nellie Oleson, whose father is an affluent shop-owner. Nellie is cruel and stuck-up, and she functions as an antagonist in the novel, tormenting the more virtuous Laura.

Nellie reappears in Little Town on the Prairie and These Happy Golden Years, where she continues to function as an antagonist and rival. As Laura grows up, Nellie even competes with her for the affections of the man Laura eventually marries. Although she is a relatively minor character in the novels, Nellie has greater prominence in the TV series, where she was portrayed by Alison Armgrim. On the TV show, Nellie remains spoiled and often cruel, although she experiences greater character depth and development.

In addition to the allusion via Nellie’s name, Cobb nods to the Little House on the Prairie series in several ways. Nellie Andersen and Nellie Oleson both share Scandinavian heritage via their fathers (the latter is the daughter of Nells Oleson). On the TV show, Nellie Oleson’s bad behavior is often aided and abetted by her doting mother, Harriet, who also sometimes runs afoul of Laura’s mother, Caroline Ingalls. The parallel rivalries between two sets of mothers and daughters are reflected in character dynamics between Nellie and Charleigh, and Abigail and Jane. Class is also a factor in the animosity, since the Olesons are wealthy and think they are better than the Ingalls family, which mirrors the social dynamics that unfold in Longview.