Community Chat

[GrettaGarbled]

My family was better off than most. My grandfather was killed in a car crash and my grandmother received $19,000 (in 1930, that was a huge amount) from the driver of the car that caused the crash. She was left with 11 children to raise alone. They were the first on their street to get indoor plumbing as a result of the settlement.

They never let go of the lean times though- my aunt dried and reused coffee grounds until the day she died.

[qualitygal]

On 10/7/2014 MJ 12 said:

Hi Qualitygal -

My parents were born after the Depression, and my grandparents didn't talk about it (that I can remember). What is the title of the book? I'd like to read it. thanks!

It's called "We had Everything but money". It's a Reminisce Book.

[Puzzle Piece]

Both my folks were depression children. But actually, the families were poor to begin with so the depression was something they weathered well.

[beckyb1012]

A couple of weeks ago I came across the bio. of the woman in the ""Migrant Mother"" photo that is iconic to the depression. She was and her family were extremely embarrassed that Dorethea Lange used this photo the way she did. Very interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Owens_Thompson

[Mominohio]

On 10/7/2014 qualitygal said:

On 10/7/2014 MJ 12 said:

Hi Qualitygal -

My parents were born after the Depression, and my grandparents didn't talk about it (that I can remember). What is the title of the book? I'd like to read it. thanks!

It's called "We had Everything but money". It's a Reminisce Book.

I have this book, and it was published back when Reiman (sp?) Publications did excellent work. Now their magazines are full of ads, and the content just isn't the same either (I think they were bought out by Reader's Digest).

My folks were born during the great depression. My dad's side of the family had a 40 acre farm and that made them better off than most, because they could grow food and raise animals. The folks that had it the worst were the ones in the big cities, as there were no jobs, and no place to raise food.

As many as 4 generations were living on the farm at one time. I have a picture of my dad and he was probably not even 5 years old, sawing firewood with his great grandfather. Everyone did what they could, no matter how young or old. Oftentimes, when they had run up a bill at the grocery in town that they couldn't pay, they'd have to take a cow in to the store, to be butchered and sold to pay for their bill. My great grandma would always shed a tear, as she loved the cows. My dad was born in July 1934, at home, with no air conditioning, no fans, and temps in the 100 degree range. No money for a hospital then.

When I listen to my great aunts and uncles talk of that time, and the time during WWII, they remember most things fondly, even though they had little, most were healthy and they stuck together as a family.

[Mominohio]

The full saying that I've heard is "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without". Pretty much just early "green" living, and could be today's mantra for the environmentalist movement!

[Mj12]

On 10/7/2014 mominohio said:

On 10/7/2014 qualitygal said:

On 10/7/2014 MJ 12 said:

Hi Qualitygal -

My parents were born after the Depression, and my grandparents didn't talk about it (that I can remember). What is the title of the book? I'd like to read it. thanks!

It's called "We had Everything but money". It's a Reminisce Book.

I have this book, and it was published back when Reiman (sp?) Publications did excellent work. Now their magazines are full of ads, and the content just isn't the same either (I think they were bought out by Reader's Digest).

My folks were born during the great depression. My dad's side of the family had a 40 acre farm and that made them better off than most, because they could grow food and raise animals. The folks that had it the worst were the ones in the big cities, as there were no jobs, and no place to raise food.

As many as 4 generations were living on the farm at one time. I have a picture of my dad and he was probably not even 5 years old, sawing firewood with his great grandfather. Everyone did what they could, no matter how young or old. Oftentimes, when they had run up a bill at the grocery in town that they couldn't pay, they'd have to take a cow in to the store, to be butchered and sold to pay for their bill. My great grandma would always shed a tear, as she loved the cows. My dad was born in July 1934, at home, with no air conditioning, no fans, and temps in the 100 degree range. No money for a hospital then.

When I listen to my great aunts and uncles talk of that time, and the time during WWII, they remember most things fondly, even though they had little, most were healthy and they stuck together as a family.

thanks Mominohio!

[Cakers1]

On 10/7/2014 beckyb1012 said:

A couple of weeks ago I came across the bio. of the woman in the ""Migrant Mother"" photo that is iconic to the depression. She was and her family were extremely embarrassed that Dorethea Lange used this photo the way she did. Very interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Owens_Thompson

Dorothy Lange took quite a hit by Florence and her family. Great PBS documentary about Dorothy Lange called ""Catch a Bolt of Lightening"" that includes a segment about this photo.

[Cakers1]

Sorry it's "Grab a Hunk of Lightening".

btw: I have letters missing in some of my posts and it's my keyboard, so just an fyi.

[Marienkaefer2]

My grandparents told me all about their lives during the Depression. My grandfather was 14 when it started. He had to leave school and get a job to help.support the family. A family friend got him a job in a hotel in NYC washing dishes. He and his family lived in Fort Lee, NJ. He described waking up at 4am every day to get to work, working a 12 shift in the basement kitchen of the hotel,then returning home late at night. He got a half day off during the week. And if you didn't like it, too bad. There were plenty others waiting for that job. His parents had told him.he could return to school when things got better. But my grandfather stayed at the job, eventually working his way up.to sous chef and then he learned to be a pastry baker. He worked there until WW II started. Then he took a course in shipbuilding and worked in the Brooklyn Shipyards repairing ships damaged in the war. He couldn't be drafted because he had lost part of two fingers on his left hand playing with abandoned bombs from WW I in his village in Italy. With the shipbuilding job, my grandfather started to make better pay. My grandmother wanted to buy a house. My grandfather wanted to save it to open a business, and after the war, that's what they did. So even though my grandfather never graduated high school, he became a very successful business owner and was able to make life better for his descendants. He and my grandmother worked side by side all those years.