Saw the movie tonight with DH. We couldn't help but do a double take whenever Kitt objected to keeping hens and selling eggs. I had no idea that this was such a social stigma during the great depression. We really enjoyed the movie as did the elderly couple in the seats in front of us. They compared notes throughout the film. We took notes on what people did to survive. What did you think?
I read about the "egg sellers" as an insult & had to chuckle to myself. If I had more land I'd sure be raising eggs to sell!!
I know a man who lived through the Depression. He said everybody raised chickens and sold eggs. The folk in the Colony mansions didnt do it, and Im sure, looked down on the more common folk. But since everyone else but those sort of folks were poor, it turns out that everyone in town had chickens in their yard! Or a pig and most certainly a big garden. He told me, "We didnt have much, but we had grits and eggs." You could walk down the main street of this town and buy live chickens to take home, he told me. One time when his family flock was stolen they only had to go one block to the main street to find them - hanging on the mercantile stores door in a tow sack, $2 for the lot of them. Today, this too-full-of-itself town wouldnt admit to such things, certainly. But back then it was common. I can see the stigma attached to it, too. Interesting....
