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Ma Ingalls did "stay at home," but so did Pa--they lived on and worked on a farm. Was she home with the children? So was he--children quickly learned to do field work, and were as likely to be out helping Pa as Ma. And when Laura Ingalls grew up, she worked, as a teacher. The richest family in town, the shopkeepers, had two working parents--the mother and father both worked in the store.
In my recollection of "Little Women," while Mr. March (a minister) was off as a chaplain in the Civil War, Mrs. March was busy doing something--not earning much money, but they did have Hannah to do the housework, and Mrs. March was always gone until suppertime.
So I don't think Louisa May Alcott or Laura Ingalls Wilder's experiences are a compelling counter to the claim that before the 1950s, few women were "stay at home" mothers.
