Memories Of The Great Depression

[Bulldog1948]

I found this site, the Ohio Dept. of Aging. They have put together 4 volumnes of short stories from senior citizens who lived through the Great Depression. It's really interesting. Most of them are in their 80s and into their 90s. It is truly inspiring to read what the "Greatest Generation" had to endure.

I, myself, am a Baby Boomer, so I was not in the picture back in the 1930s. But, I grew up hearing stories and learning very valuable survival lessons from my parents and grandma. We butchered every fall, raised cattle & hogs, raised our own food,canned everything,milked cows, put up 2,000 bales of hay in a summer,planted corn,wheat and all of that good stuff. And, to this day I remember what I learned from my elders and yes, I save all of my pennies,roll'em up and take them to the bank.

So, what did the rest of you Baby Boomers here on the board do back during the late 40s,50s and early 60s. I know there's some very good stories from your side. http://www.aging.ohio.gov/news/greatdepres...lume1.aspx#food

[Guest Jean Davis]

Sorry Mike wasn't even a twinkle in my fathers eye in those years.

LUV

Jean

[Guest Zabrak]

Sorry Mike wasn't even a twinkle in my fathers eye in those years.

LUV

Jean

Yeah, I'm only 21. I can't add much to this thread...hopefully some of the older users come along and tell their stories!

[Guest ChloëC]

Well, ok, here are a couple of stories.

My mother's parents in about 1927 or 1928 had been apartment living and decided to buy into the American dream and purchased a house (mortgage). By 1932, they had lost it and they never had a real house again (they had a summer cabin for about 10 years much much later, but that was a vacation place). My grandmother worked for a school district and was not paid at all (just IOU's) for about 2-3 years. My grandfather went through a series of small jobs and I have a diary of his, and he was constantly figuring out each daily expense to the penny. By 1934 or so my mother lied about her age (she was 14 or 15) and got a job after school. Her grandmother lived with them having no where else to go. I think things were getting just a little desparate.

My father's father was a lawyer and in about 1933 or 1934 he was once paid for services with chickens. They were a little better off and had owned their house outright.

The BIG difference between then and now is that today there is Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Unemployment insurance. A lot of people today are out of work, with little hope of finding anything soon, and many lost a lot of money with the stock market almost crash, but with more support services available today, I don't think it's quite as dire as it was 75 years ago. It's bad, yes, but there are not legions of unemployed scouring the countryside looking for anything. And the Midwest/Great Plains isn't a dust bowl...yet, anyway, so food is available.

Of course a much bigger difference is when a large business failed back then, it failed, out of business, gone. Today, if it's a bank or investment place, not only do you not fail, but you get free millions of dollars, and get bonus's of more then most people will make in 10 years to a lifetime. That didn't happen in 1929-1933. Not too many suicide jumps today, are there!

Chloë

[Guest amie]

For me they're always somethin' bitter/sweet.

I love to listen to my grandmother tell stories and she even does so with a strong sense of nostalgia n' all, almost as if she'd go back for a bit if given the chance despite the hardship, but some of the accounts are of such extreme poverty, yu know?

I mean, I've complained (and still do) about how I had it growin' up and to hear her talk, I had/have no idea what poor is.

[Guest Charlene_Leona]

My Great Grand Father on My Moms Moms side was very wealthy a large land owner in Southeast Missouri, he had leveraged everything on the stock market and lost everything. He committed suicide when my grandmother was only a year old. It affected her for most of her life I think that's why I feel suicide is so wrong because of what it does to those you leave behind.

Charlene Leona

[Bulldog1948]

Well, ok, here are a couple of stories.

My mother's parents in about 1927 or 1928 had been apartment living and decided to buy into the American dream and purchased a house (mortgage). By 1932, they had lost it and they never had a real house again (they had a summer cabin for about 10 years much much later, but that was a vacation place). My grandmother worked for a school district and was not paid at all (just IOU's) for about 2-3 years. My grandfather went through a series of small jobs and I have a diary of his, and he was constantly figuring out each daily expense to the penny. By 1934 or so my mother lied about her age (she was 14 or 15) and got a job after school. Her grandmother lived with them having no where else to go. I think things were getting just a little desparate.

My father's father was a lawyer and in about 1933 or 1934 he was once paid for services with chickens. They were a little better off and had owned their house outright.

The BIG difference between then and now is that today there is Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Unemployment insurance. A lot of people today are out of work, with little hope of finding anything soon, and many lost a lot of money with the stock market almost crash, but with more support services available today, I don't think it's quite as dire as it was 75 years ago. It's bad, yes, but there are not legions of unemployed scouring the countryside looking for anything. And the Midwest/Great Plains isn't a dust bowl...yet, anyway, so food is available.

Of course a much bigger difference is when a large business failed back then, it failed, out of business, gone. Today, if it's a bank or investment place, not only do you not fail, but you get free millions of dollars, and get bonus's of more then most people will make in 10 years to a lifetime. That didn't happen in 1929-1933. Not too many suicide jumps today, are there!

Chloë

Chloe,

Excellant comments my dear. You are a very insightful lady indeed. I bet it was fascinating to read your grandpa's diary. Since my parents went through the GD, they were very tight with their money. Dad kept a ledger book and all of his paid bills reciepts. In his ledger was how much he spent on gas a week [.50-1.00] how much for a pd of nails,feed costs,rent and on & on. I still have my parents bills from way back when they were married. It's a family treasure trove. I've even got ration stamps from WW@ that Mom had kept in one of her old purses.

But, you are soooo right. It's bad today, but nothing like it was the during the GD. When I tell our grandkids or great grandkids how things were back then, they just look at me and say, "really grandpa".

But, we can only bail out so many fat bankers and carmakers before the printing presses imploade. If there was no Social Security,Medicare & medicaid, this country would be in the crapper right now. Especially since we baby boomers are retired or are retairing. I don't know what lies ahead, it's hard to tell. But, I still enjoy reading the old folks memories, one can always learn from it-if they take the time.

Mike

[Guest ChloëC]

Thanks Mike!

One other little item I like to mention from time to time about all what's happening today compared to the GD.

Currently the 'official' unemployment rate in the USA is just under 10% (while in states like Michigan it's well over 15 and closing in on 20%). The problem here is that is not really a meaningful number.

That 10% is just the number of people out of work - and who are looking for work. That is, those currently on unemployment compensation and those who may be off, but are actively registered someplace. The real number is a whole lot more, because the government just stops counting those who have used up all their compensation weeks, and have stopped looking because there are no jobs. The government considers those people no longer any part of the workforce. Which makes everything always look a little less of a problem then it really is.

In the early 1930's I've read that the unemployment rate was around 20%. But I have no idea what went into making that number because there was no unemployment compensation to provide viable input. How many people then were looking for work anyplace, but no longer had a permanent address with which to register for work? I suspect the real unemployment then was much higher.

Chloë