First-Hand Accounts Of The Great Depression In America

Comments · 169

• HA

  @happycook6737 · 1 year ago

  An older lady I knew years ago talked to me about the Great Depression. She had calendars going all the way back to the Depression. Each night she wrote 1 good thing that happened that day.  She said the Depression was absolutely horrendous. I think it deeply affected her as she was very frugal, had a fully stocked pantry, and lived a spartan lifestyle. She slept in layers of old clothes that looked like rags to save on heating. She never wasted. She could pinch a penny so tight it squealed. Her big luxury was inviting a few friends to enjoy beanie weenie Saturday. She made a pitcher of iced tea, baked beans, boiled hotdogs, and slices of white bread to wrap the hotdog in. She turned the radio on to make it festive and always said dancing and singing were free fun. I learned so many lessons from her. To this day on Saturdays I wish she were still alive for one more Beenie Weenie lunch party.

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• LY

  @lynnwilliams8295 · 1 year ago (edited)

  My parents grew up in the depression. Until she passed my mom would only eat half of something. Even a small thing like a cookie. She would always save it for later even though she had plenty of money for food. It was ingrained in her that you might not have enough to eat the next day. She never threw anything away. Those times were hard but it made strong men and women. I look at the youth of today and how they act and it scares me.

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• JM

  @jmo2104 · 1 year ago

  Wow, but my mom was a little girl into depression, and she told it to us. I'm glad I thought of it one more time. She is gone and i'm an old lady, and after this, no one will know. How odd. Live your best life people❤

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• AL

  @Alisha-ym6iv · 1 year ago

  My grandmother always bought so much food to store &nbsp;just in case. As &nbsp;a teen girl not having enough to eat it really did affect her through her life. &nbsp;She knew hard times and could definitely make anything out of just a little. &nbsp;We will miss this generation of folk if things go down because as survivors they had a lot of experience in how to get by. <br> She had 7 kids of her own and took in 4 from her sister later on and still made it work always willing to feed someone hungry.

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• PA

  @patriciafeehan7732 · 2 years ago (edited)

  My mother told me listening to the Radio was big time family entertainment. “Lights Out” “The Shadow” - neighbors would get together to listen. I think this should be added, during The Depression many family members lived together in generational settings. Your grandparents lived with you, and possibly cousins, aunts etc.

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• FR

  @freedomspromise8519 · 1 year ago

  I love hearing these stories.<br>Even though they were hard times, they are our collective history.<br>Our recent ancestors were some tough people.<br>The majority of us have it easy now because they had it hard.<br>Major respect.

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• TE

  @Teaally1913 · 2 years ago

  My Grandmother has told is stories about living through the Depression. She was one of 12 children and 2 were the neighbors children that lost their mother and the father ran off. &nbsp;They gardened, sweet potatoes always in the fireplace cooking, &nbsp;vegetables of the season. Lots of beans and biscuits.

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• AN

  @annarowden9457 · 1 year ago

  My one set of grandparents had no problems during the depression. My grandpa worked at the post office. whereas the other set was hit hard. My mom stole corn from farmers&apos; fields. The corn was meant &nbsp;for cattle. &nbsp;She remembers being so hungry one time. Her mom got some money for peanut butter and crackers. She remember eating them on the steps of the grocery store. When the war came, she still was hungry until she married my dad. My dad&apos;s parents were not happy with the marriage, because of my mom&apos;s background. My parents had a very marriage and we had a very happy childhood. My mom became a Girl Scout leader, as one of scouts members said your mom did a lot for us. Yes, my mom was living her childhood though us.

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• TX

  @TXplowgirl · 2 years ago (edited)

  My father was number 7 of 12 children and grew up during &nbsp;the Great Depression. His father was a real cowboy working for ranches during that time and they lived in a railroad caboose that had been turned into a house if you could call it that. My dad had a 2nd grade education. At that time he had to quit school to go work in the cotton fields to work beside his mother and older siblings. I can remember whe I was about 7 and 8 he would take me hunting and catch all kinds of things and cook it over a campfire and then eat it. I didn&apos;t have to eat it all if I didn&apos;t want to but as he told me. You never know what&apos;s going to happen in this world after you&apos;re grown but I want you to know for a fact that you can eat just about anything if you need to. My granny loved squirrel stew so we&apos;d always bring home some squirrels for her or venison but out on those hunting trips I had everything you can just about name. armadillo, skunk. possum, snake, birds of every kind, beaver, bear, &nbsp;etc. 1 time we went to visitt relatives in Arizona and visited an indian reservation during a pow wow and an uncle had a couple of indian friends and we went out to their place and ate 1 of their horses. Wasnt a happy camper about that 1 but as dad said you need to know you can eat it if you have to. Not half bad. I&apos;m 60 years old now, I know how to can, I know how to hunt, grow a garden, I&apos;ve got enough food to last a couple of years without electricity. Time is coming to where we&apos;ll be going through another depression again looks like.

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• BE

  @BessieMann · 1 year ago

  My Mother told me of the depression. What she told me was so heartbreaking Mom is gone now an I am an old woman but I learned to make a meal out of very little

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• BR

  @brandynash1409 · 1 year ago

  My great grandmother had a horrible childhood during the depression. Her mother died when she was 8 from TB. She had to raise her brother and sister. Her father was an alcoholic. All they had to eat was poke salad and rabbit. She said they were starving to death eating it. Her father was going to sell her and her sister to men a few times each week to earn money. My great grandfather heard of this and married my mamaw to save her at 16. He didn’t love her like a wife, but he couldn’t let that happen to someone. They were married until my papaw passed away in 2010. He grew to love her and she grew to love him. Unfortunately they couldn’t save her sister or her brother. They were both sold to random men. When her sister could leave, she was mentally unstable because the abuse. And her brother became a child molester. I think she felt a lot of guilt on how things turned out. She didnt like talking about her childhood. Everyone was in survival mode. She passed in 2015 and I miss her so much.

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• SH

  @shadrach6299 · 1 year ago

  My grandparents lived through the Depression but he had a job. They weren’t making kids shoes then so my mother had to wear cardboard in her shoes. She said it was ok bc everyone had cardboard in their shoes.

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