Depression Era

[rebecca]

Does anyone have any stories on any family members who lived through the depression and how they lived through this era? Love to hear these kind of stories. I feel that we can learn from them and use it in our life. Thanks!

[Shell]

Oh, I find those stories helpful as well. Good idea.

My Mom grew up during the depression on a farm. They had food as they lived on a farm but that was it. My Mom only had one toy and that was a doll. My Mom had to wear potato sacks to school and that really hurt her. Even the other poor children made fun of her. They called her Raggety-Ann. Her Mother, my Grandma only had two dresses in her closet and that was it. Oh, how spoiled we are now!

My step-Grandma came for Russian. They were well off but knew some "revolution" was coming soon and were told they should leave the country asap. Good thing they did, as they were the only ones in their whole family who lived. I guess they came to Canada and couldn't bring their money. My step-grandma's brother had to wear his sister's very feminine shoes to sschool. Oh how he was teased.

[homesteadmamma]

My mom grew up with the depression too, but refuses to talk about it. All she ever heard at home as she got older and the depression was over was "theres going to be a depression so you'd better watch out". Even my grandfather's grandkids (me), heard that until the day he died.

I do wish there were book books written on the depression era. I think we would have a lot to learn by those who went through it.

[QuilterMom]

No stories, but if anyone has some great book suggestions I'd love some titles to search for at the library.

[Michele Annette]

CJ, There are books on the Great Depressinon. Look through Amazon to find titles. I love reading books on the Great Depressinon and I have by
Studs Terkel, Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression. I have been seeking out other books as well.

[pip]

My mom grew up on a farm during the depression years. She is very frugal as a result of it. They had food, but did wear dresses made out of feed sacks.She said they made the sacks out of pretty prints because they knew people could use them for making clothing. They had an outhouse and used old Sears catalogs for toilet paper. They would frequently have popcorn and apples for dinner.(My dad talks of their family often eating many ears of corn on the cob for dinner, too). I think there were many people in their little community going through the same thing, so I don't think she felt like a outcast.

[dhmunoz]

I *love* to hear my grandma talk about what it was like when she was growing up. She was born during the depression and her family was very poor--they were migrant farmworkers in California, traveling all over the state to follow work, whatever needed to be harvested next. They made their clothes, and only got 1 pair of shoes a year, right before school started. During the summers they went barefoot because by the time summer rolled around, their shoes were either too destroyed to wear, outfgrown, or both. They ate a lot of potatoes and beans because that was cheap, very little meat because it was expensive. Her mother and father liked to go out and party when they weren't working, leaving my grandma and her oldest brother to care for all the younger kids, sometimes for days at a time. She got married at age 14 because she figured that if she had to raise a family it might as well be her own. After getting married, my grandparents were still dirt poor...my grandpa was working for the railroad and my grandma was still working in the fields and was usually the only english-speaking girl out there. She says she always swore to herself that SOMEDAY the day would come when she had PLENTY of money and would be able to buy whatever she wanted, WHENEVER she wanted. She wanted to keep the fridge and pantry FULL of everyone's favorites so that everyone could come over to her house and eat whatever they wanted. That was the dream she had way back then. Well, to make a long story short, anyone in our family can go over to her house now and find whatever they like to eat in the kitchen. She has plenty of money and buys everyone's favorites They worked hard and kept working hard, my grandpa started working for a fertilizer company and was eventually general manager. They finally got to the "place" that they wanted to be, where they could afford whatever they wanted.

On the downside though...I think what I struggle with is that my grandma says NOW that if there is something you want, or something you want to do, and you have the money--you should just DO it. They saved a ton of money. They wanted to buy a fancy RV and travel all over the US after retirement and see all the sights our country has to offer. Then my grandpa got sick and all the money went to pay for his medical bills. Over and over he used to say that he wished that they had just done a few things sooner and had fun with that money When he passed away he hadn't left the house in about 5 years So I guess you could say that I am caught between trying to be frugal and save all I can versus spending on fun things for the family to do.

[Shell]

Wow dhmunoz. They sounded like characters out of "Grapes of Wrath." Working from farm to farm in California. No money for meat or shoes.

[Lori Biever-Launder]

I can give you lots of info on the Great Depression! I have spent years researching it. If you want to read more about it on a regular basis, subscribe to Good Old Days magazne as well as Remininsce. Both are "reader written" and you learn sooo much from these stories.

Both companies that publish these mags also sell a series of books about the Great Depression and the like. Reminisce is published by Reiman Publications (reiman.com) and Good Old Days is published by House of white Birches (goodolddays.com). TIP: check eBay for back issues and used copies of the books. I have seen back issues go for about .50 each and the books average about 3.00 each (plus postage).

Here are some of the titles: (pardon me while I run to grab my pile!):

Good Old Days:

We Survived and Thrived
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Good Old Days Remembers Mother's Favorite Verses
Country Roads
The Old Time Art of Thrift
Hometown Memories
We Made This Country Great
Bringing in the Sheaves
Working on the Farm
Good Old Days on the Farm
" " " in the Kitchen
Christmas Memories
Old-Time Memories
Little Country Schoolhouse

Reiman Publications:
We Pulled Together...and Won! (a book on the Home Front during WWII)
The Christmases We Used to Know
Tough Times, Strong Women
From Flappers to Flivvers (on the 20s)
We Remember the Fabulous Fifties
We Had Everything But Money (the one is my FAVORITE on the Great Depression!)
We Made Our Own Fun!
When the Banks Closed, We Opened Our Hearts (sort of Vol II of We Had...)
Motorin' Along!
The Vicotry Era in Color!
When Families Made Memories Together

I re-read these on a regular basis. It makes me realize just how fortunate I am. Also, I learn something new each time I read a new issue of Reminisce or Good Old Days.

Studs Terkel's book is a very, very good starting point as well. You should be able to find his book in nearly any library.

[sunshine]

A book I enjoyed was "A Nickel's Worth of Milk" Sorry I don't remember the author.

My parents grew up during the depression. They had huge gardens, hunted, fished ,etc. so they didn't go hungry.

My grandfather kept (until the day he died) several cars with license on them- so that he'd get more rations of tires.

My grandmother saved everything (until she died). Bits of cloth, buttons, zippers, string. . . . . . . . she knew how to sew without patterns. . . . Forgaged for foods, made her own herbal medicines,

[Lori Biever-Launder]

"A Nickel's Worth of Skim Milk" and its sister volume, "A Penny's Worth of Minced Ham" are by Robert J. Hastings. They are both very good reads! I got my copies off of eBay.

[frugalmommie]

The book I would recommend is Hard Times: An oral history of the great depression. By Studs Terkel.

Very good read!!

[rebecca]

Thank you everyone for sharing your stories and what books would be good to read. Everytime I went to the library to look up on the depression era I would only find books on why the depression was started or how it can be avoided again. Again, thank you everyone!

[daddys3chicks]

My Mom and Daddy both lived during the depression. My mom grew up a farm in SE Kentucky, and although they felt it, I think it affected them less because they were already self sufficient for so many things - raising chicks, livestock, growing their own vegetables etc. They did not need to buy as much.

My Daddy lived in Louisville. He quit school in the 7th grade in order to help his family out. This always made him self conscious of his abilities. He could look at something and draw it, and he read voraciously all his life. He took a job on the golf course to help with the bills. He also helped his grandfather shine the harnesses on the horse bridles. His grandfather grew vegetables and took the wagon to town to sell them on Sat. Daddy got .25 for his work which bought him a ticket to the movies and popcorn - his treat.

The depression affected my Mom and Daddy very differently. To this day my mom is very frugal. She spend nothing she doesn't have to. On the other hand, my Daddy wanted us to have whatever we wanted growing up. He didn't want us to 'suffer' like he did.

[guest2]

My Dad was a child at the end of the depression and he remembers his father always having a huge garden in their yard. Grandpa had a rough life growing up and was actaully put in an orphanage when his own mother died because his father couldn't afford to feed him and take care of him and the rest of the children. He ran away from that orphanage time and time again following the train tracks to get home. One of his older siblings finally took him in and raised him. Grandpa decided then and there that his own children would never go hungry or have to be split up. Grandpa took odd jobs and designed, planted and worked people's gardens for them in exchange for part of the produce along with having his own garden at home. Grandma canned lots of lots of produce. Grandma also took in people's laundry and did it for them. During the summers, my Dad and his brothers would go and stay and work on their aunt and uncle's farm. They loved being there because hsi aunt was a great cook and she made huge meals. They could eat until they were stuffed! They worked hard during the day and would go swimming in the pond at the end of the day to get cleaned up and cool off. My dad's aunt and uncle needed the help on the farm and welcomed my dad and his brothers with open arms. Those memories are some of my Dad's fondest ones. While my dad and his brothers were gone for the summers, Grandpa put in as long hours as possible and saved money what little money he could to buy the things that his family needed. My Grandpa kept a huge garden up until he got too sick to work it and he shared his abundant produce with his family and friends.