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Reading Room:  Your Family Stories of the Great Depression  |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 09:40:28 AM
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I just read a post on another topic about a series of books that have stories and recipes of the Great Depression.
That made me think of the stories my mom always told me about her days of living through the depression. She relayed me a lot of how it was to live through that struggle in time.
She told me that she and her sister had two outfits to wear, and each day they washed them out at night and swapped for the next day. They were close in age. She said her black leggings were so full of holes, but she tried to cover them with long skirts. One day, her skirt came up a little, and all the kids made fun of the holes in her tights. So, when my sister and I were growing up she would NEVER let us have even a tiny little hole in our socks or underwear. She was fanantic about it. That always made my heart ache.
Then she would recount the family picnics, and the church get togethers that were so much fun, but did not cost anything. She said being poor could still be fun if you have family.
Do you remember your mom or relative talking about the Great Depression?
Farmgirl Sister # 31
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
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Luzy
True Blue Farmgirl
922 Posts
Luanne
Pueblo
Colorado
USA
922 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 10:02:02 AM
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My Dad's stories used to remind me of Walton's Mountain, only they were well off compared to my Dad's family living in Arkansas. Life must have been so hard, but in a family of 9, they made it through it all with love for each other and the Lord! They had no toys, so Dad used a snuff box and played in the dirt like it was a car. They made sled tracks with scrap lumber from the sawmill where Grandpa worked. They'd put down a sort of rail system and would ride a wooden box down them like a sled. My Grandma was an excellent cook, and they never went hungry. I was always happy to know that! They all got new shoes once a year, the rest of their clothes, Grandma made from feed sacks. I have a quilt made from their clothes and I love it. Dad said the kids never knew how poor they were till they came to California! Hugs, Lu
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May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.
http://luzy.etsy.com- My etsy store! |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 10:27:07 AM
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My father's depression era story was pretty sad, actually...I'm sure there were many more just like him. Daddy was born in 1924 in Tioga, Louisiana--his daddy was Cherokee and his mother white (some cajun blend, too)...My grandfather was employed as a wildcatter, scouting for oil all over Louisiana and Arkansas. When Daddy was 3, the derrick that his father was working on exploded, killing all the men working. My nanny had already found life pretty daunting already, living in makeshift campsites here and there in all kinds of weather with a little one, so after my grandfather's death, she went back to her people in Hot Springs, Arkansas. They welcomed her with open arms but they weren't too happy about a half breed baby, so she gave him to her dead husband's mother and grandmother to raise. He lived with them until he was 12 years old, basically playing "man of the farm" and doing hard labor for them. To the day he died, he wouldn't eat chicken because he'd killed so many of them. Around his 12th birthday, my Nanny showed back up with a new husband, and a new baby girl on her hip, a fur coat and a Model T Ford, wanting to be a "family" again, that she'd never forgotten about her only boy. Well, you can imagine that daddy wasn't too keen on going with her, but it was better than the alternative, working the farm. So, he left with them and learned from his stepfather how to make a living in the horseracing industry, where he made his career riding and later as a racing official. Hardscrabble to say the least. Nanny divorced "Jock" at some point and then went through a period of religion seeking, where she took daddy and his little sister to snake handling tent meetings and the like. She just seemed sortof aimless... I never knew about his sad childhood until I was older...I remembered asking why he wasn't very sad when Nanny died, and why there was such a rift between he and his relatives, including his sister. It was only then that I found out about it.
Whenever we watch Carnivale (the HBO series?) I think of my Nanny and what an awful time that must have been to live in.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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one_dog_per_acre
True Blue Farmgirl
1572 Posts
Trish
Sandpoint
ID
USA
1572 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 10:37:39 AM
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Jonni,
When I was reading your post, I was thinking...Carnivale. You should make sure to write this story down.
Farmgirl Sister #91
Make cupcakes not war! |
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Nancy Gartenman
True Blue Farmgirl
9093 Posts
Nancy
West Seneca
New York
USA
9093 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 11:15:55 AM
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Jeannie,
What are the books you were talking about, they sound interesting.
NANCY JO
www.Nancy-Jo.blogspot.com |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 12:32:37 PM
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Nancy Jo - They are called "Stories and Recipes of the Great Depression" by Rita Van Amber. Babysmama talks about them in this same category, a couple of topics before this one. Sounds like good books! I want to find copies of I can.
Farmgirl Sister # 31
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 1:17:06 PM
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| My grandfather has a more light hearted story from the Depression. His aunt (who raised him after his mother died) would give him some money on Saturdays to go to the movies. There weren't any movie theaters in our part of the city, so he would walk all the way across town to save his money for the show. One Saturday, he won a raffle at the movie theater. The prize was a big bag of groceries! He carried it all the way home, and he was terrified the whole time that someone was going to mug him to steal the food. When he got home, his aunt was so pleased that she gave him an extra week's allowance, and he walked all the way back to the theater to catch another movie. She must have been an awfully nice aunt to be giving him pocket money when food was considered a big prize! But I think movies were a lot cheaper back then, relative to groceries, than they are now. |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 7:56:50 PM
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What great stories - proof that the spirit can rise above hardships.
Interestingly, my mom told me of deep poverty and struggle but with a big dose of fun mixed in, and my dad told me of less hardship (he lived in a more isolated area on an Iowa farm and they never lacked for food or clothes) but there was less family fun! What do you think of that?
Farmgirl Sister # 31
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
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La Patite Ferme
True Blue Farmgirl
623 Posts
Jenn
CA
USA
623 Posts |
Posted - Feb 19 2008 : 10:03:28 PM
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Both of my parents grew up in St. Joe, MO
Dad dosen't talk about his childhood much. He did talk about his gma's great cooking and all about the wonderful Sunday meals she would fix. They lived in a better part of town - his dad was a salesman for a pharmecutical company. Dad's gma planted a garden and raised chickens - in the city.
Mom's family was from the "wrong side of the tracts" as she says. She laughs about it now, saying no one knew they were poor because everyone around was in the same boat. Mom and aunt would pick strawberries to earn extra money and gma was a fantastic seamstress and made all their clothes. Some out of flour sacks too. On gpa's day off, they would all go to the lake for a picnic and fishing so they could have meat for the coming week.
Mom told me that every day gma would fix gpa's lunch and wrap it in an old newspaper. On day gma had to leave the house early so mom fixed his lunch, put it in a bag and set it on the kitchen counter. Gpa never took it. That night mom asked why he hadn't taken the lunch she made. He said he didn't know it was lunch because it wasn't wrapped in the newspaper.
They never wasted anything. Everything had a potential use. I think that's why my mom is such a pack rat and hardly ever throws anything away. I sometimes wonder how they would feel seeing all this excess everyone seems to think is normal. |
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babysmama
True Blue Farmgirl
931 Posts
Elizabeth
Iowa
931 Posts |
Posted - Feb 21 2008 : 2:09:04 PM
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Some of the stories in the book "Stories and Recipes of the Great Depression" are so heartbreaking. One talks about the mothers canning weeds because they had nothing else to can and at least they would have something to eat. Another talks about the prices on hogs being so low that it would cost more to ship them to market than they would sell for. Many people say that most of their meals consisted of potatoes and sometimes that is all they had.
-Elizabeth |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Feb 21 2008 : 8:26:11 PM
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I'm wondering if during this time is when my father picked up the saying, "hard times will make a monkey eat red pepper!"...he used that phrase often when I'd waste something foodwise or leave my clothing on the floor or whatever.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2008 : 07:07:11 AM
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My mom's stories were pretty sad, too, though they did have good family times on her mother's side. They had a farm and chickens, and canned a lot. Mom would never can again after she married daddy and he got a good job. She preferred canned goods from the grocery store, and I know she was remembering all those years of canning everything in sight.
Many people lived together because they lost their houses. My mom said one day my grandpa came walking up the road to their farmhouse carrying his tool box, and they knew right then that he had lost his paying job in town as a mechanic. They moved in with her paternal grandparents, who were sometimes very stern. My grandmother had to sew to earn money. She was a wonderful seamstress. She is the one who tried to sew up my mom's leggings but lost the battle.
Both my hubby's and my parents saved EVERYTHING! They always said they could find a good use for it. I find myself doing the same thing sometimes from seeing my parents do it. I have to save every plastic container that lunch meat comes in - how can you throw that away? I can never get rid of a blanket or sheets because I think someday, I may not be able to buy bedding. When I was learning to make a rag rug, I could hardly bring myself to rip perfectly good sheets. I bought some at the thrift store and they are now clean and neatly folded in the linen closet! They were too good in quality to rip! I would almost feel better buying a cheap new sheet, as they are not as good quality cotton.
Anyway, I know mom and dad were always afraid the depression would happen again. They saved every penny they could, except my mom bought canned goods at the store!!! :)
Farmgirl Sister # 31
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2008 : 8:57:03 PM
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The only depression story I remember is the one my granny used to tell me. My grandpa was as honest as the day is long. But his family had nothing to eat. So he and my uncle "borrowed" a couple of chickens from a neighbor to cook for meat. It's sad that a time like that would make someone do desperate that they would steal for food.
Handmade Olive Oil Soap, Lotion Bars, and Prim Treasures http://therusticcottage.etsy.com
The Rustic Cottage Blog http://therusticcottage.blogspot.com
I'm A Rusty Chick!!!
PROUD FARMGIRL SISTER #100 |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2008 : 9:14:39 PM
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| My husband's family stories are all pretty sad. My mil is always talking about having lived through the Depression. Funny thing is, his parents were born at the very end of the 1930s. So the time period of the hardships they remember is the mid to late 40s. The Depression seems to have lasted a lot longer in some areas. |
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Reading Room: Your Family Stories of the Great Depression |
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Your Family Stories of the Great Depression
