Community Chat

[Oznell]

Photos of the world turmoil during the Great Depression, are so poignant.  

After the Crash, many jumped freight trains, desperately looking for work.  These are Canadian men thronging these boxcars.

Families struggled to survive.   People and faces, all telling different stories:

After the collapse, the overwhelming desire to find work--

Relief workers, in Australia, I believe--

Job seekers resourcefully turned themselves into living billboards, hoping something would turn up as they walked the streets--

If you could play an instrument, you might be able to turn an honest penny..

Even wee children worked, if they could find anything...

Frustrations boil over, in Depression-era France--

Love the introspection of this one, by D. Lange.

Here's Dorothea Lange, below, brilliant photographer who was responsible for many of the most unforgettable photos of the era, including the one above of the man with clasped hands and holding a tin cup.

Lange depicted great hardship, and great inspiration in her famous Depression images.   And she was undeterred by the permanent limp she sustained from a bout with polio.  

[SaveTheTurtles]

@Oznell  Don't these pictures speak volumes? My parents were born using this time period and I have heard first hand how hard life was. Thank you for sharing these.

[Kitty Galore]

so very sad 😔 the faces in these people says it all ......grief, depressed, beyond sadness.   my dads family , grandparents lived through the Great Depression .  I can remember the stories they told about how life was during it My dads family more so then my moms ,  her family had it much better ,   they had money.   My dad told of having to put newspaper in his shoes as a child cause they had holes , they had no money for new ones with 4 children.   Many times they would have only one meal a day .  Work was very hard to find although my grandparents did find jobs here and there when there was any. 

eventually things got better and my grandfather got a very good job and the economy got better.   My father even was able to go to college ,  the first in his family.   My dad told me years ago he prayed our country would never go through that ever again it was so awful and it changes you forever.

[We rescue cats]

Lived with my mom's family so they all lived the depression, as was my mom, she was born in 1921. Nothing was ever taken for granted, everyone worked hard for anything we had. Thank you for the reminder.

[Daisy Sunflower]

I felt like crying as I looked at the pics.

I wondered what ever happened to them and their families. Hope things got better for them and they all lived a happy life.

[lovesallanimals]

These photos are so heartbreaking.  I also wonder what became of these people especially the children in the photos.  

[bmorechick]

@Oznell thank you for this difficult look into the past. My mom was born in 1924. She told stories of standing in bread, soup, meat lines in Baltimore City.  She never threw food away, rather "cleaned out the fridge" by eating a few day old leftovers that we spoiled kids wouldn't eat 🙄.

Sadly, these images of hunger and poverty are very real for many many families today. You would think we would have figured it all out by now...

[Susan Louise]

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@Daisy Sunflower wrote:

I felt like crying as I looked at the pics.

I wondered what ever happened to them and their families. Hope things got better for them and they all lived a happy life.

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@Daisy Sunflower   Same...

[CalminHeart]

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@lovesallanimals wrote:

These photos are so heartbreaking.  I also wonder what became of these people especially the children in the photos.  

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My dad was a child during the depression. He grew up to be a motivated, strong, highly educated, fantastic human being who did so much for his 7 kids and wife. He and Mom were happily married 66 years when Mom passed. I'm still grieving losing him at Christmas 2023. 

[781Florist]

My mother and father were both born in 1929.  My father never spoke much about the depression so I don't know how hard his family had it, but my Gram was frugal until the day she died and could make a meal out of whatever you handed her.

Mom's father (my beloved Papa) was a U.S. Mailman and had employment all through the depression.  He and Nana never bought a home (they probably could have bought several during the depression with their income security!) but they were happy renters.

Their landlord told them that their ability to pay the rent was the reason he never lost his property.

Some of these pictures made me appreciate just how authentically the movie "The Grapes Of Wrath" portrayed the time and the people.  Such incredible suffering on a global scale.  

Almost all of those who endured this terrible chapter have since gone to their just reward.

May they rest in eternal peace, comfort, and the loving arms of God.