Great Depression....how did your families manage

[BeardedChick]

My grandfather says they were very poor but they had enough to eat (lived on the farm). They raised a cellar full of extra potatoes to give to the starving people during winter.

At that time, deer were virutally extinct in the area, and he tells a story about finding a deer print and how everyone nearby came to see the deer print.

 

[kstaven]

My great grandparents and grand parents farmed during that time. They either had what they needed, bartered for it, or did without. They always said that family and local community helped them all survive and come through it better than many.

 

[mangled]

My grandparents were all in Europe during the Great Depression, and I don't really remember any stories of hard times. I understand they were fairly wealthy in those days, and came to the states in the 50's, so no stories from them.

My husband's grandmother used to talk about the Depression days all the time. Her husband died when her oldest was 9, and there were 5 kids. I believe it was 1934. My husband's Dad remembers becoming the man of the house at age 9.

She scrubbed laundry, cleaned houses, and even confessed to being an escort, but never a prostitute, LOL. She was a beautiful woman.

My father-in-law went to work in the coal mines when he was 9 years old. He worked for food and coal for the furnace.

And, he refuses to eat onions. I've always wondered why. I'll have to ask him if it's because of the Depression.

Em

 

[JennsPeeps]

Mom's grandparents: raised chickens in their back yard for the eggs, canned food, didn't buy things they couldn't afford

Dad's grandparents: ate the chicken given to my grandmother as a pet (just found out about that one last weekend)

 

[redhen]

When i asked my 94 year old me'me(born in 1914, and STILL alive...

..

..). she said simply, "we just lived on the farm"..they had chickens, pigs ,cows, AND most importantly A GOOD WORK ETHIC...they busted their rumps!, and owed no money to anyone....she has taught me so much.... and Dang!,,i sure can grow a good 'tater (thanks to her), so i think i'll be okay..

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

My father was born in 1925. His family was actually pretty well off at that point. His father worked for the railroad which (as some one else mentioned) was good money. But, his father had married against his family's wishes and they had disowned him. So, when he died of a sudden heart attack, he left behind a wife and 6 children, who had no one to help them.

He was sent to a boys home when he was ten. On my mother's side life was easier. Her father was a police officer and they never went out of style! LOL! Her mother worked in a bubblegum factory for a few years, but they had a nice twin in a small neighborhood and just got by.

My father told much worse stories about the war than the depression before it!

I think the image many of us have of the Depression may have been mostly a subset. The very wealthy and the very poor. Everybody else did what we'll all do. They tightened their belts and just got by.



My FIL said the other day "I was born in a depression and it looks like I'll die in one." It just made me sad he felt like his life had not made the world any better.....

 

[Featherland]

My family lived in Chicago. My grandpa was originally a blacksmith, then drove a beer wagon. He did any job he could find. In those days it was hard to pay your rent so there were always apartments for rent. Landlords would offer free rent for the first month so it was common for people to get the apartment then skip out after the first month. My family did this many times having to leave behind my grandma's piano somewhere along the way. She came from wealthier folks. Somehow he got a job placing machines in bars. I think they were like carnival machines, either the kind that push quarters or pick something up with a claw I'm not sure. One day a big black car pulled up to their home and some mobster got out and told my grandpa they were going for a ride. My grandma thought she would never see him again. But they brought him back. Needless to say he stopped placing those machines and once again they left their apartment in the middle of the night.

Over time my grandpa became successful in Real Estate opening up his own office. He worked till the age of 90 and passed away 2 years ago at the age of 97 self reliant to the end.

 

[DomiHentrix]

I remember my grandmother telling me that when my Grandfather was a young boy during the depression that he ran around soo much that everyone in their neighborhood gave up shoe rations just the keep him in shoes, that's community for you! I really hope that that people would still be soo kind.

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

My grandparents and my moms aunts and uncles all lived in the one house. They separated it into 3 "houses" and everyone lived there.
They also had chickens that they kept for eggs and meat. And they used what was left of the back yard and front yard(quite a decent lot for in the city of Boston) for a vegetable garden. My grandmother didnt get her roses back until things improved.
Their house is still on the market as well

If we could afford to do it, I would move in a heartbeat

 

[EweSheep]

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.