Articles On The Great Depression

[lsg]

I just got through reading the latest issue of Backwoods Home magazine. It has several fine articles on the Great Depression and how people survived. Good reading for anyone who is interested.

[bassntrout]

We can learn much from people who went through truly hard times . . .

[flatwater]

I just finished the same article and one of the things I liked were to statements that I have heard many a times from me folks and aunts and uncles " you didn't know you were poor because every one was in the same boat", and " the one thing the great depression did do that was good is it brought people together" It's to bad we can't accomplish that tast without going through a hardship.
flatwater

[Buck]

I just finished the same article and one of the things I liked were to statements that I have heard many a times from me folks and aunts and uncles " you didn't know you were poor because every one was in the same boat", and " the one thing the great depression did do that was good is it brought people together" It's to bad we can't accomplish that tast without going through a hardship.
flatwater

Yes, I fully agree, flat. I can remember my older aunts etc. all playing cards
in the 50's telling stories of the Depression ,that while sad seemed to draw
them all closer together, in remembrance of hard times and victories won.

[alma]

We went hungry many a time.
Once my dad whoo rarely came home, once he came trudging up the stairs singing in his drunken voice, and we were delighted to know our dad was coming home agin for a spell.
--but, we we greatly blessed when he dumped his hugh bag on the floor and shared with us all the stuff our neighbors and friends had given him a he had gone begging from dor to door.
My mom almost died when she found out that he had told everyone we were starving, even thugh we were close to it at times.
--and, lo and behold, at christas tie, all kinds of boxes were left at our door. My dad had gone again for a year or two we presumed, but his begging earlier meant we ate for many a day that year.
We were on the welfare a lot, mom and her five kids, even though she worked for the w.p.a., a govt. program, They made clothes for needy children and we all looked alike wearing clothes with the same designs, even thught there were many patterns, it was obvious in due time where they had come from.
I had severe malnutrition and lost most of my teeth by the time i was 19 years old, and was skinny as a bean pole.
Someone gave us some bread once and i put lard on it and toasted it on our old black wood stove. It ure tasted yo ummy to my i was so hungry so much.
We wore shoes that had the soles flopping much of the time until we took some rubber from an old inner tube to use as elastic to hold them up.
The welfare paid our rent so we had to uve many many times
We seldom got to know our neighbnors well before we were gone again.
Many people charged their food at a local grocery store, including us and the guy had a hard time collecting. We were all gettting so much food "on the bill".
Many a time our lights were turned off because we couldn't pay our bill, .
Our kitchens were all that was warm in the winters and we all huddled around that great big black, cast iron stove, often with our tootsies propped on a lid just outside the oven, and our water came from a tank in the back of the stove.
I could go on all day telling you all how cold and hungry we were, but somehow we didn't know we were poor, honestly.
So many people were in the same boat.
--but, still, all around us were people who seemed to be weathering the storm and looked down on on us, primarily because my dad was a drunk and in jail off and on so much.
When we were about 8-9 my sister and i visited him in jail on sundays and brought him dinner one t ime when he was around just long enough to do some dumb thing to get arrested again and again.
We used to go right into the jail wher lots of men were sitting at picnic tables playing cads.
My dad was a genius at early radio and worked on some foreign broadcast stuff even while in jail.
Men were desperate in those day and dis allkinds of illegal things to eat another day, and give heir kids something to eat also.
A man in jail with my dad had lit a fire in the post office, hoping to get a job rebuilding it, but it burned down and i think that is the fire that finally set ablaze the whole town of ellsworth, maine in those days. i forget.
--but it happened the very night that mom and us kids were leaving town to go to mass. to be near relatives. love, alma

[RocketMan]

Bless you Alma for sharing that story, and for being here sharing your wisdom.

Chris

[jebrown]

I am 57 years old and way too young for the depression. I do remember as a kid listening to my parents and maternal grand parents talking about the depression. My Grandfather wrapping gunny sacks (burlap) around his feet while he walked to work. Couldn’t afford new shoes and was not allowed to wear his work shoes home. My grandparents lived in Oklahoma and I remember they had and I used a pump at the kitchen sink to pump water. No piped water to the house. Using the quartermoon palace in the back yard (outhouse) even used a retail catalog instead of tp on occasion. I do remember there was a gas range in the kitchen but there was still the old wooden stove but it was only used for big family meals. The tank on the back held water. Alma has probably dipped thousands of gallons of water from there as that is where you got hot water in the day. You replaced the water you took immediately to ensure having hot water in the future. Maybe Alma can tell you what the average number of gallons for those tanks were.
I remember my grandparents always had a vegetable garden of various sizes up into the mid’70’s. This came from necessity during the depression. I have also talked with people who stood in soup lines for their daily meal.
People were quick to help one another without finger pointing or criticism.
My mother’s favorite sandwich was mayonnaise. She like so many others thought that this was the normal for life. My dad sold pies door to door on the street after school and on Saturday. Sunday was the Sabbath. Most homes back then did really use a wood stove for both heating and cooking. For many it was not an option, due to finances.
Back then churches were there for the people as much as they could for assistance as well as for worship. Some people would bring their firewood or go out and get fire wood and the church floor was where they would sleep in the winter all in an effort to stay warm. Some donated firewood like they donate money today.
People on this forum a mostly a cut above, they are willing to help out someone in need. So many people today will not tear themselves away from video games or the TV. So many times people would ask me how much I got paid from the Red Cross… When I said nothing I am a volunteer a lot would never believe me. Some called me a liar. Others told me flat out that I was stupid for working for free. It was never work in my opinion.
So may people have so many excuses not to help. A reason is one thing, poor health, family members needing them, lack of transportation and several others. I am talking about the lame excuses by people who feel no need to help but could if they wanted to. Like I have heard so many times before, ”What’s in it for me? They never learned that it is better to give than receive.
There are thousands of stories out there about the depression. From those who were there to those who have talked with people that were there. I believe we could all learn from them if people would post their stories here. May be some could seek out people who were their and share their stories with us.

[Archangel]

First Alma it is good to hear from you, I have missed your post. Your story is wonderful with information.

JEBrown my mother and aunt also shared stories over coffee and they are wonderful to remember. They were a bit better off than most my grandfather worked at a lumber mill which supplied ties for the Rail Road and he made Moon Shine. My Grandmother Teston would tell you that people would talk down about his whiskey, but their husbands came aroulnd and he bought the new roof for the church.

My aunt always keep stores of things she bought on sale, paper towels and can foods. she was proud no one ever left her house hungery and no had left her mother's eather. She came home many a time to see a man weeding the flower bed knowing he was earning his meal. Grandmother Teston thaught us all, NO work is above you if you are hunger and No man working is beneith you.
Thinking about has brought back some good times.
Granny Purdy had me crack shells of hickery nuts for the animals around and was proud her husband never let them go hungery. He was in the Army and brewed beer. She keep a garden all her life. She could grow anything, I wish I could.
GrandMa Saucer live on a farm and things were a bit harder my Dad went in the Army to pay the taxes on the land, She also had a garden as long as she was alive. I weeded it a many a time.

I have read the Foxfire books and suggest everyone to do so. I think BWH is selling these days.

Michael