The Great Depression of the 30s

Apparently there are few on here who know no more about the subject than what they read or from films they see.

I suppose the definition of a "depression" probably means we aren't there yet and most of the pundits say we won't get there---that we will buy our way out of it before it happens.
Maybe we will have a further devalued dollar from that or a session of terrible inflation, but maybe not a depression.

I was very young during the start of the depression, and I still am, but I do remember some things that I saw with my own eyes. At the time I assumed that those things were pretty normal.
We didn't have TV to tell us what was happening, just some radio and mostly newspapers. A few books were written about it a little later ("Grapes Of Wrath," etc.) but most just though it may not get any better.

Without many details a few things I remember were interesting. "Tramps," as they were called were pretty numerous. Almost all of them pretty harmless--just wanted some food and a place to get in out of the rain or cold. I'm talking country now, not city. There were no soup kitchens in the country!

Many set themselves up as "tenant" farmers. That is, they would raise, or help raise crops on a large farm and in return receive one-third, plus, of the crop, and a house in which to live. Most houses were four small cheaply built rooms with no bath, no electricity, and no running water usually. Depending upon the number of helpers in the family determined what and how much crop was raised.

Then there were the CCC camps. The Civilian Conservation Corps was made up of young men 16-21 usually who were housed in barracks type buildings, were fed well with common food and were paid for their work--some of which they had to send home.
Many of the parks, mountain roads, small dams for flood control and fishing, and cheap housing were built by this group. They raised most of their own food,
I saw them working as a kid.

It was a time of one bath a week in a wash tub usually, and two sets of rough clothes, and one better set, maybe. In the summers the baths were in the streams.

Kerosene lamps provided most of the light until FDR started the REA, Rural Electrical program, and then many had one dim light per room. Heat was by fireplaces using wood or coal, and chopping wood and hauling coal was a full time job for someone. Hauling out ashes was also no fun.

Vehicles, most didn't have one were difficult to keep running, especially in the winter. Batteries were poor quality and gasoline was also. If you drove 50 miles without having a flat tire--which you fixed yourself, you were lucky. There were no tires or spare parts later during WW2--you patched everything and drove 20-35MPH.

Since everyone tried to raise food, most didn't starve but had little else. You kept and killed your own pigs for meat and raised all of your vegetables--canning and salting everything for the winter.
A typical meal might be of corn bread, soup beans, pickles, ham or shoulder, canned vegetables, potatoes, apples, milk, butter, and jam or jelly and biscuits. Plenty of cheap coffee and milk to drink.
2% went to college, and 5% made more than minimum wage--if any wage. If the job wasn't nearby (timbering, mining) you couldn't get to work. Horses helped.

I doubt we will get to this extreme this time but prices can not stay as high as they are or most will not be able to pay for what we now have.
Phone bills of $200, power $300, food $3-400 per week, lots of $400 dollar outfits, and taxes simply won't get paid and the banks will begin to own property as they did in the 30s.

Let us stop the crooks next time before they ruin us a third or fourth time in our history.

Fast "progress" at the expense of people isn't worth the effort!

I suppose we will still go to Mars and the Moon again, and probably even fight another stupid war or two during this mess!

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Submitted by Nitpickers on Tue, 01/13/2009 - 8:35pm.

Let us just hope so! Or should we demand action?

Submitted by Bonkers on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 11:24am.

Don't mention that word yet!
Most are in denial yet about recession, much less depression.
Anyway that is a disease treated with Prozac and other such drugs.

It also doesn't effect dudes with lots of property and money very much. Mostly those who work for a living and a weekly check--maybe a bi-monthly check.

It will be time soon however for "white lightning" and "home-brew" to be available out of car trunks.
I have my tubs and sugar already.
During the last downturn a pint was $2.00 for bonded whiskey=after mmixing it with homebrew, and home brew beer was a dollar a gallon including the jug!
Good "white" stuff was worth considerably more--maybe up to $4 a quart, in a Mason jar.

It was so prevalent that one could wander the areas along a main road and slightly into the pastures and fields and come up with several jugs of it hidden and waiting for a pickup.

Might be more like coke (not cola) and other stuff this time.

Submitted by mysteryman on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 10:43pm.

We as a society the general public must put are differnces aside, in this time of crisis, and demand that our leaders stop this madness called, bailout, there is no such thing, due process in this nation was established by the constitution, and its ammendments over the years to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. It is not the responsibility of the tax paying public to bailout corporate america and wall street. because of theyre poor management and unadulterated greed plain and simple.. Its good to know that people are starting to open their eyes and see things for what they are.. if me or you commited these acts of betrayal to the american people i think it would fall under the term of Robbery and LARCNEY and we would be in jail for a very long time...GOD BLESS..

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Submitted by Cyclist on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 9:38pm.

Did that other old guy "Bonker$" put you up to this?
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Caution - The Surgeon General has determined that constant blogging is an addiction that can cause a sedentary life style.


Submitted by dollaradayandno... on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 5:11am.

Don't much like "old guys" do you? You may never get there!

Is Bonkers an old guy, also? I kinda like what he writes.
Did that fellow Stealoff, or Takoff, Makoff--or whatever, get any of your money? 50 Billion wasn't it? Prince of a guy!

Submitted by beyondgreen on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 8:31pm.

Of the money we have seen thrown around thus far let me ask you this, that 168 billion that our country borrowed to give away to us in the form of an "economic stimulus package" ...did it do a darn thing to create jobs or stimulate our economy? NO, nothing. And we borrowed the money from China.

This past year the high cost of gas nearly destroyed our economy and society. More people lost jobs and homes as a direct result of that than any other factor in our history.

Fannie and Freddie continue to get all the blame. Of all the homes I have seen lost in my area SW FL and believe me I have seen many, none were due to an adjustable mortgage. They were due to lack of work.

Families went broke at the pump alone. Then added to that most saw record rate hikes at their utility companies. The high cost of fuel resulted in higher production and shipping costs that were passed on to the consumer, in most cases higher prices for smaller packaging.

Consumers tightened their belts, cut back, went out to eat less or stopped totally. Drove around on tires that needed replacing longer, some even quit buying medicines they really need.Unfortunately cutting back and spending less results in even more layoffs. A real economical catch-22.

And, as we are doing the happy dance around the lower prices at the pumps OPEC is planning to cut production to raise prices. They are even getting Russia in on the cutbacks. Oil is finite. We have used up the easy to get to reserves already. It will run out one day.

We have so much available to us. Solar and Wind are free sources of energy. Of course to get the harnessing process set up is somewhat costly it is still free energy.

It would cost the equivalent of 60 cents per gallon to charge and drive an electric car. The electricity to charge the car could be generated by solar or wind at least in part and in most cases totally.

If all gasoline cars, trucks, and suv’s instead had plug-in electric drive trains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota. What a powerful resources we have neglected.

Jeff Wilson has a profound new book out called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence Now. http://www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com Powerful, powerful book!

Submitted by jimsells on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 10:04pm.

Certainly some folks lost their homes because of job loss. But the real blame goes to Fannie and Freddie and the idiots that allowed them to operate like drunken sailors. We watched numerous people we refused to rent homes to buy better homes with no money down. These people would not pay rent and didn't pay their mortgage either. Buildingboom is an understatement. Easy money, why not? Mortgage brokers called daily offering to refinance loans, cash out finance and no documentation required. This flood of easy money caused priced to escalate and people to assume appreciate would be great and never end. Cause and effect, plain and simple. What the government is doing now will just delay an even greater pain. It will come.

Submitted by dollaradayandno... on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 5:15am.

But it was their fault for buying homes they couldn't pay for, according to republicans!
Heck, I wpuld never take a home offered to me for nothing when I didn't have a home----especially if I didn;t have a job or only made minimum wage!
We have got to get rid of such people--I mean them what can't pay---not them who sign them up--they is makin muney!

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Submitted by Cyclist on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 9:43pm.

splattered about in the web world.

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Caution - The Surgeon General has determined that constant blogging is an addiction that can cause a sedentary life style.


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