Re: FACES OF THE.GREAT DEPRESSION

Carolina925 · ‎03-09-2010

Thank you so much for these, @Oznell . With our education system no longer teaching history, I feel it's so important to find a way to teach how hard our ancestors fought to merely survive.

PamfromCT · ‎05-22-2014

There might be some who don't realize the depression was not only in our country - it was worldwide. In a twist of fate, it was the horrible WWII that created jobs and lifted the Great Depression. We in CT contributed by manufacturing at Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, Hamilton Standard, Sikorsky. That was also the period when many women entered the workforce, working in factories, as so many men had gone off to war. Again, the doors began to open for many women through that time.

My mother was born in 1919, and lived close enough to work in one of these factories during the earlier days of WWII. Yes, my petite and sweet little mom. It was a time of desperation for the country, and she spoke of there being anti-aircraft guns on the roof of Pratt and Whitney, a major source of supplying aircraft engines for our country.

DrakesMomma · ‎06-02-2010

My Daddy was born in 1931. He never spoke of hardships growing up. My aunt did tell me some things. Papa was a farmer. As children they would have biscuits and coffee for breakfast. On Sundays they would have ham with their biscuits. They never had gifts for Christmas until the year Papa grew tobacco. That Christmas they had stockings with an orange and an apple. They lived in rural Tennessee. An orange in December was a big deal. The love and the joy of that morning were still with my aunt when she told me of it more than 70 years later.

Estellee · ‎07-12-2011

My parents also grew up during the Great Depression. I think that is what made them appreciate the value of a dollar. They talked about their lives in their large families and their brothers and sisters seemed happy and content.

Kitty Galore · ‎03-16-2010

@DrakesMomma wrote:
My Daddy was born in 1931. He never spoke of hardships growing up. My aunt did tell me some things. Papa was a farmer. As children they would have biscuits and coffee for breakfast. On Sundays they would have ham with their biscuits. They never had gifts for Christmas until the year Papa grew tobacco. That Christmas they had stockings with an orange and an apple. They lived in rural Tennessee. An orange in December was a big deal. The love and the joy of that morning were still with my aunt when she told me of it more than 70 years later.

@DrakesMomma Your orange in the stocking reminded me that my dad and his sisters would get an orange in a stocking , which of course was not like the fancy sticking we hang today , they were my grandfathers socks ! They were so thrilled to get that orange. It was considered a treat at the time . My dad always put an orange in my brothers and my stocking , it's not that we didn't have oranges anytime we wanted . It makes me tear up thinking of that now ...

Desert Lily · ‎06-24-2011

@Oznell I wrote a series of 4 novels that are set in the 1930's, & I've done extensive research of that era, including the Dust Bowl, the WPA, Hoover Dam, etc. One novel started in 1905 in San Francisco which included the SF earthquake, & the characters moved to NV during the Great Depression. The novel I'm writing now starts in NV during the Great Depression with a couple characters from the series & will move through to the 1960's.

I set many of my novels in the 1930's because I feel that Americans of that era had such perseverance & the American spirit to press on.

twinsister · ‎03-12-2010

These pictures are so sad and heartbreaking. They have such a look of despair and defeat on their faces.

Both of my parents lived through the depression. My mom was born in 1912 and was lucky to have a job then. She said every night when she left work there was a line up of men selling apples for 10 cents. My mom felt so bad for all of them, so every night she would pick two men and buy one apple from each of them. The next night she would pick two different men and did the same every night of the week.

My father was born in 1903 and his first wife died during the depression, leaving him with two very young children. He was a house painter by trade, but there was no work available during that time. He had to move back home with his mother so she could help him with the children and he got a job polishing caskets to support his family.

Reading these posts and remembering what my parents told me, really puts things in persepctive. I will try to think of this and not complain about trivial annoyances.

Zhills · ‎11-15-2011

@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.

Fortunately, the WPA and other Government programs were formed under Franklin D. Roosevelt and it provided many jobs.

A swimming pool was built in the neighborhood where I grew up. It sat unused for years...but, it provided work and fed people!

DrakesMomma · ‎06-02-2010

@Kitty Galore wrote:
@DrakesMomma wrote:
My Daddy was born in 1931. He never spoke of hardships growing up. My aunt did tell me some things. Papa was a farmer. As children they would have biscuits and coffee for breakfast. On Sundays they would have ham with their biscuits. They never had gifts for Christmas until the year Papa grew tobacco. That Christmas they had stockings with an orange and an apple. They lived in rural Tennessee. An orange in December was a big deal. The love and the joy of that morning were still with my aunt when she told me of it more than 70 years later.
@DrakesMomma Your orange in the stocking reminded me that my dad and his sisters would get an orange in a stocking , which of course was not like the fancy sticking we hang today , they were my grandfathers socks ! They were so thrilled to get that orange. It was considered a treat at the time . My dad always put an orange in my brothers and my stocking , it's not that we didn't have oranges anytime we wanted . It makes me tear up thinking of that now ...

@Kitty Galore - Growing up we also had oranges and apples in our stockings. Until we figured out our son was allergic to apples he had them also. After the apple allergy I began putting a pear and an orange in his. Papa had pears in his orchard. The tradition is still with us. Our son is 23.

Trailrun23 · ‎05-31-2022

The first thing I thought of was The Grapes of Wrath when I saw these pictures. My mother was born in 1922. She was old enough to be aware of how the country was suffering in so many ways. She told me about my granddaddy putting cardboard inside her shoes so the holes wouldn't allow her feet to get dirty from the gravel roads. She told me about all the ways he was ingenious in making things work when there was no more left of something. A childhood like that shaped her whole life. We always had slivers of soap saved; she saved foil, paper bags, almost everything if it could be used or re-used or repurposed. The children raised by depression-era children will always have a part of that mindset in them. i hate wasting food or anything else; I like repurposing things when I can...i am a saver, not spendthrift, even though I don't have to be. So thankful for what i have today and I am glad I was raised not to take anything for granted. A strong work ethic was instilled in almost everyone in my generation and sad to see it has withered considerably.