Let me see! There are plenty of stories bits and pieces and I will do my best to put them all down! I love to read other people's family stories about the Depression!
My paternal grandparents and great grandparents were all tenant farmers and delivery milkman for Kembrook Dairy until their deaths and business ended. They were very poor, had very few clothes but overalls and holey shirts were the norm of their everyday wear. Even Grandpa was so frugal in his clothes, had holes in them and said they have some "life" left in them before he would toss them out as rags. They raised chickens for meat and eggs along with corn and beans they would plow by horses and sell extras for profits. They made sure that they paid their tenant landlord first before themselves. My maternal grandmother's father was a Civil War veteran and was a farmer too, plowed by horses but drinks excessively. They were not too poor but frugal living.
My maturnal grandparents were city folks.....grandpa was a city worker and occasional laborer when city jobs were slow at times lik ein the winter and he was better living than my grandmother did. My granmother said her mother died when she was very young, didnt get along with her aunts and uncles and her father really didnt have a strong hold on his brood, drank alot and gambled alot. She had to care for her siblings, which there were eight of them along with her three step siblings until she was roughly around sixteen when she hit rock bottom, no food to feed her family, she resorted to prostitution....mind you, she was not proud of what she had done but it paid good money. She was lucky that she didnt get fatal diseases at that time but she sure did stock up plenty on old fashioned protections such as animal made condoms, creams, etc. Then she did more work at a chinese resturaunt which she can cook very well. She had a hard life but her marrying my grandfather bought her security and she didnt have to worry about feeding her siblings and her own family of eight kids of her own. She did some male orientated work during WWII. Grandpa never went to war because he had alot of kids at that time. They never had chickens but they had the kids steal or barter or trade for food they want to get. Not a good thing to do with kids but Mom get into trouble for being a goody two shoes for not doing what she knows it is very wrong to steal food and often she would go without supper. Glad my own mother enforced in us to do good and the reward is greater in return.
Yep, all of them did talk about onion sandwiches (ugh). They did have peanut butter, tomato or ketchup sandwiches or cooked bean sandwiches (leftover ham and beans with slices of bread. Dad used to go to a egg factory farm and buy a hen that isnt laying anymore for Sunday's dinner and his grandmother would butcher the bird and feed the six to seven people. ( I dont know how you can feed fried chicken with six to seven people). They did produce alot of things for their garden on both sides and sure they did, canned the produce as well. Even beets! Ever heard of beet sandwich too???? When things were tight, they even go as low as lard and bread or toast for breakfast! UGH!
Both sides of the family live near lakes and creeks so they had opporunity to gather berries and fishes to bring home. Pies were a treat for them! Mock apple pies were common dessert when the rations were enforced.
No one had to go to soup kitchens except for my maternal grandmother with her growing siblings. Standing in long lines in the cold were harsh and sometimes adults would push the kids out of the way or cut in front of them so the soups dont run out befor ethey get there. Donations were very little and fights in soup kitchens were common. Didnt matter who started the fight, both parties would be kicked out and no supper for them.
Potatoes were common in their meals as well as oatmeal or gruel in tighter times. Both paternal grandpa and great grandpa, milk was plentiful....boht of them worked at the dairy so it is not unusal for them to bring home six to seven bottles a day for his families. I remember my father said that besides onion sandwiches, a bowl of milk and bread for breakfast is just as good as regular cereal. Bread puddings were famous in our family as the recipe was passed down to us.
As for hubby's side of the story, I will have to talk with his father and see what the story is on his side if he is willing to talk about it. FIL didnt want to talk about it when hubby asked him about the Depression. Not sure why but I would not be surprised if they had to work harder.....they were farmers and well known in their area.
