Great Depression....how did your families manage

[vermontgal]

My dad, who now lives with me, was born in 1930. He didn't have me (the eldest) until he was nearly 40. So as I was growing up, most of my peers' parents were born after the war. (Most had kids at 22-25 then.)

As a result, I was raised to be frugal, whereas many of my peers seemed to live in a world of indulgence.

There is a world of difference in the attitude of someone who grew up during the Depression or WWII, vs. someone who grew up after the war.

My dad, never throws things away - you might need it some day. The amount of clutter and junk drives me crazy. Yet, I also understand that he got by partly by being resourceful and making do with what he had vs. going out and buying something new (or even materials for the repairs!). My dad is incredibly good at fixing things.

Overall, I don't think a Depression would completely be a bad thing for this country. We are spoiled, and compared to the rest of the world, every single one of us lives a life of luxury and excess.

 

[skeeter9]

I remember my grandmother telling me about how poor her family was during the Depression. One story that really put things into perspective was how, when she was young, she and her mom would make sandwiches in the morning, and my grandma would take them to the docks (Bay Area of CA) to sell to the workers for lunch. Her family didn't get to eat any of them, though. They were lucky to have a potato or an onion to boil and split among the 4 of them for dinner. I can't even imagine. . . .

 

[MissChessy]

You could tell that my grandmother went through the depression, she had I bet 15 bags of sugar, cake mixes, canned goods etc.... Her freezer would be full up to the brim and to the point you couldn't close the door. She and my grandfather had 2 huge gardens up until my grandfather's death. They canned everything, kept everything. They had chickens for sure, the white leghorns. Some of those bags of sugar turned brown and hard as rocks. Bless Mom she was just trying to be sure they had food in case another depression hit during her time on earth. She has been deceased for 14 years now, oh how I miss her so very much.

 

[OPIE]

My father talked a little bit about the depression. He was one of 7 boys. Pop (as everyone called him) worked in the dental field, after WWI. My father was born in 1921. He told stories about how all there clotheres where handed down from the oldest to the youngest. They realy didnt have it so bad through as everyone was fed, but he didnt talk about what they ate. My grandmother cooked on a wood fired cook stove until she was put in a home in 1997. My dad did tell me how he made a tractorfor Pop out of a model T ford so he could work the farm easier.
I do think they where self sufficient though as they always had land.
my Dad bought his first car on payments. It was a Model a ford. The dealer kept it in a large freight barn with all the other cars and my dad and his brothrs snuck into the barn on regular basis and stole parts off of the other cars to make his better. They drove the other cars around in the barn, and one of th brothers wrecked the car into another one. They where never caought caought, but dad said he paid $650 for the car and when he got it paid for and out it had new tires and ran like a champ.

He later served in the Phillipenes during WWII with 5 other brothers, but thats a different story for a different time.

My mom was alot younger than my father, her family was VERY poor, all the time. Maybe thats where I getr my survival instinctd, she got me interested in hunting, fishing, gardening and raising animals. I am now self reliant and love my history as all of you do.


Its what makes us Americans!

Tough times or not we will survive. Our grandparents/parents did, we will to. Because we dont forget where our family has been, we listened to there stories and learned there skills.

Ok, thats enough of my 2 cents worth. I got riled up.

( there for a minute, I felt the spotlight and could here the anthem playing in the background with the flag as a back drop!)

 

[MamaDragon]

My Mom was born just a few months before Black Monday, 1929. Living in Los Angeles, was a major help for them in some respects. Her father was a carpenter, and would do work for the Hollywood Crowd. So mom had playmates like Alan Ladd, and the Our Gang kids.

But they also ate Horsemeat (it was cheaper than anything else), and liver, yuk! They also made "bathtub gin" during Prohibition. One time the "revenueer's came knocking.... My grandma grabbed up my mom and uncle, tossed them in the bathtub, into all that gin, and that was enough to convince the coppers that it HAD to be just bathwater, not booze.

My dad's family were sharecroppers in Oklahoma, and Papa was also a blacksmith and auto-mechanic. Papa would work at the shop in town all day, while Granny and my dad would plow the fields, etc. Imagine, plowing a field with a mule at the age of nine or ten. Don't think too many kids would be able to do the same today. Shoes were for Sunday go-to-meeting, and winter. You got one pair, and had best make em last! My dad had two pairs of overalls, one to wear, one to wash; and one "sunday set" of clothes.

They, along with a gazillion others, moved to California in the 50's.

Once the rationing of WWII started, and some before, both sides would talk about using honey (not rationed) instead of sugar (rationed); making flour out of acorns (free for the gathering), to make bread and such.

My dad started hunting at 10 years old, and could at least keep squirrel in the stew-pot.

Backyard gardens were standard fare, no matter where you lived, as well as chickens and sometimes goats or pigs. It was a special day indeed, when you'd butcher out that extra rooster, and have Fried Chicken, potatoes and biscuits.

Most who kept pigs would raise up the piglets, and sell em off to the butcher, or trade for flour, salt, etc. You didn't DARE eat that sow out in the backyard.... she earned her keep, staying pregnant and birthing more babies. Goats were "rented out" to mow peoples yards, cheese from the does, and the kids were butchered out, with the hide going to Kid-skin gloves. Remember those anyone?

Slop jars were tossed to the animals. You yard stank, but at least you had meat once a month (one of those piglets) to go with the potatoes, beans &/or noodles that were everyday meals.

WWII was the ONLY THING that pulled our country out of The Depression. Many people accussed Roosevelt of engineering Pearl Harbor to force our country into the war, and therefore out of the depression. Nothing else was working.

Hunting season is about to start here, so I can trade eggs for meat if it gets to that point.

Am I scared about what's going on? No. Blue-collar working-poor is still poor. We haven't got anything left to loose. Our car is 12 years old, paid for. Our mobile home is paid for. At least we'll have a roof over our heads no matter what happens. Kids will have to learn to adjust, as will the adults. There are ways to tighten our belt that we haven't had to resort to yet.

"Sit down, shut up, strap in, and HANG ON..... It's gonna be a Bumpy Ride!"