50 Tips From the Great Depression
Wednesday, September 7, 2016 7:18

50 Tips From the Great Depression

The Great Depression was one of the most traumatic events in American history.

Following the stock market crash of October 1929, industrial production crashed, construction shrank to a fraction of what it had been and millions of people found themselves on short hours or without work. Until the economy picked up again in 1935 life was a real struggle for the average American.

To get through the economic collapse and the grinding poverty that followed it, people had to adapt and learn new skills – or re-learn old ones. For that reason, many people who lived through it looked back with a sense of, maybe not exactly nostalgia, but pride in how they managed to cope.

A lot of the things people did during the Great Depression still make a lot of sense today. With our own economy looking vulnerable, and the risk of a new collapse always lurking just around the corner, would we cope as well as our grandparents and great-grandparents did? Here are some of the ways they took care of themselves and those around them through some of the hardest times the USA has ever seen.

Work

Entire families moved in search of work. By staying together, they could support each other while not missing employment opportunities.
 
Migrant farm work was a life-saver for many. Different crops needed harvesting at different times, so it was – and still is – possible to find several months’ work.
 
People were willing to try any job. They didn’t ask “Do you have any work for a…?” But, “Do you have any work?” They were flexible because they had to be.
 
Everyone in a family was prepared to earn money. Kids could make a valuable contribution too. Families worked for a common goal – earning enough to survive.
 
great depression1Almost anything had some value. Driftwood collected from the beach could be split and sold as firewood. Most any kind of metal can be collected and sold as scrap.
 
Government “New Deal” employment programs provided jobs and taught skills. They also created a lot of new infrastructure, including many roads – and the Hoover Dam.
 
There was no such thing as retirement age. Anyone who could work did When money is tight, everyone needs to contribute whatever they can earn.
 
A lot of jobs became part-time as employers tried to save money. Many people worked several part-time jobs, often putting in very long days.
 
Many of the jobless spent all day going round employers, looking for any work they could find. Even an hour or two’s labor would make a difference.
 
People created jobs for themselves. Some women would wake early to cook dozens of meals, then sell them outside factories and construction sites.
 
Flexibility helped. Someone who knew a little about several trades had a better chance of finding work than someone who was an expert at one.
 
Farmers would take on workers they didn’t have the money to hire, and pay them in produce instead.
Housing
Many people lost their homes. Often, extended families – grandparents, aunts, uncles – ended up living in one house.
 
Others were forced to live in their car or truck, buying cheap meals and washing at public gyms or swimming pools.
 
homseThe homeless often lived in tents – or shack or lean-tos they’d built themselves. Having a place to live, even a basic one, was better than sleeping rough.
 
To save energy, walls were insulated with anything that would help keep heat in through the winter – mud, newspapers or tar paper. It all helped cut fuel costs.
 
Homes were kept cooler than normal. Wearing more clothes indoors reduced the need to burn fuel, and that left more money for food.
 
In summer people hung wet sheets over doorways and windows. As the water evaporated it drew in heat from the air, cooling the home slightly.
 
Refinancing a home was one way to keep up the payments – and it could also free up cash for living expenses.
 

Money
moneyLife insurance policies were a safety net for those who had them. If money ran out the policy could be cashed in, helping keep the family afloat for a few more months.
 
Many people rarely saw cash; barter economies quickly grew up. Small jobs might be paid with milk, fresh vegetables or fruit, especially in rural areas.
 
With millions out of work, begging was common – and seen as desperation, not antisocial behavior. Outside restaurant was a favorite spot; only the rich could afford to eat there.
 
People respected banks back then, but when banks started closing the trust soon faded. Nobody knew when their own might shut, so the wise kept cash at home.
 
Many stores gave credit and let regular payments slide. They just kept track of what was owed and hoped it would be paid someday. Many stores went bankrupt because of this.
Food
Having a vegetable plot made a huge difference. In 1929, 20% of Americans still lived on farms; most of the rest had big gardens, and the skills to grow their own food.
 
Hunting and fishing were major sources of protein. Meat was expensive, but if you could harvest your own you had a better diet. Surplus was great for barter, too.
 
Foraging was also popular. Nuts, berries, and wild greens helped put meals on the table, and kids and older people could forage as well as anyone.
 
In the country, canning was an essential skill. A well-stocked pantry was both a source of pride and a life-saving reserve for the winter.
 
foodPeople learned that you can eat almost anything if you’re hungry enough. Tumbleweed was used as fodder for cattle; then people found it could be eaten. Young plants are best.
 
No part of an animal was wasted. Offal was fried, boiled or turned into ground meat. Even chicken feet could be boiled to add some taste to a broth.
 
A little bit of bacon would add flavor to almost anything. The hard rinds or dry ends of a piece of bacon could be boiled – and butchers sold them for pennies.
 
Communities divided vacant lots and parks into family vegetable plots. Housewives and kids spent much of their time growing extra food.
 
To keep some variety in their diets, people traded the produce they grew with friends and neighbors.
 
Meals were cooked from scratch – there were hardly any prepared foods in the shops. Recipes were usually simpler than today’s. That mean they were cheaper to make.
 
Stores closed on Sundays, so fresh produce that would go bad by Monday would be sold off cheap late on Saturday. Shopping at that time was great for bargains.
 
Livestock was a great asset. If you had a cow or even a few chickens, you were sitting on a wealth creator. Milk and eggs helped your own diet, and could be bartered.
 
Meat and dairy products were expensive; bread, potatoes, and noodles were cheap and filling. People bulked out meals with carbohydrates. Lard or bacon fat added flavor.
 
Soup was a popular meal. It filled you up, and the main ingredient was water. Almost anything could be made into soup – beans, potatoes, even stale bread.
 

Clothes
Shoes were mended over and over. Holes in the sole were patched with leather from scrap belts or purses. Complete soles were cut from old tires.
 
Dustbowl MasksPeople learned to make and repair clothes. Any fabric could be used. Rural families made clothes from feed sacks. One woman turned a casket’s fabric lining into kids’ dresses.
 
Fashion was canceled. People preferred to get more use out their old clothes and spend their money on food.
When kids outgrew their clothes they were handed down to younger siblings or given to people who could use them.
 
Really old clothes were cut up for rags to get some more use out of them. Why spend money on dusters and cleaning cloths when rags worked just as well?
 
Society and Attitudes
Nobody felt entitled to be supported. People knew that they had to work as hard as they could to survive; if they didn’t, they could expect nothing.
 
On the other hand, people were willing to help those who were trying but struggling. They knew they could be the ones needing help next, so most gave all they could spare.
 
kids for sellCommunities became closer, giving mutual support and organizing donations of food or cash to those who needed them the most.
 
Many towns set up welfare loan schemes. Money could be loaned to people who needed it, but it was expected to be paid back. Detailed records were kept of what was owed.
 
Willingness to work hard, and to do what you could to support the community, was more highly valued than individualism and independence.
 
People learned to keep a positive outlook on life. They learned that they could lose a surprising amount – almost everything – and keep going.
 
Positivity was essential. There was no point complaining how bad things were – they were just as bad for almost everyone. What mattered was trying to make them better.

According to Jesse Ventura in his new book, the backbone industry of the American Colonies before the Revolution and for some decades after it was the raising and harvesting of hemp and its various products.  He said the United States Constitution is written on paper made from hemp fiber, and Betsy Ross' flag was cloth woven from hemp.  Hemp was the material of choice for the British Royal Navy, which used hemp rope in all its rigging, and sail cloth with hemp fiber is the most durable, which is why they fostered the growing of hemp in the Colonies - to supply what would not grow in the cold English isles.

Before Eli Whitney's cotton gin, cotton was at best a second place crop in the South.  Guess what was number one.

Hemp:  the stuff that built the great Southern plantations.

He says it was William Randolf Hearst who profited on the demonization of hemp with articles in his newspapers, and ever since then Americans have forgotten what hemp used to be in our early history:  a very profitable industry.

He believes that opening up its legal growing and use as an industry in America could turn our economy around in a very short time.  

Entire families moved in search of work. By staying together, they could support each other while not missing employment opportunities.

I understand that in California the unwelcome immigrant was a person from Oklahoma.

The Percentage Of Working Age Men That Do Not Have A Job Is Similar To The Great Depression

theeconomiccollapseblog.com

Why are so many men in their prime working years unemployed?  The Obama administration would have us believe that unemployment is low in this country, but that is not true at all.  In fact, one author quoted by NPR says that “it’s kind of worse than it was in the depression in 1940?.  Most Americans don’t realize this, but more men from ages 25 to 54 are “inactive” right now than was the case during the last recession.  We have millions upon millions of strong young men just sitting around doing nothing.  They aren’t employed and they aren’t considered to be looking for employment either, and so they don’t show up in the official unemployment numbers.  But they don’t have jobs, and nothing the Obama administration does can eliminate that fact.

According to NPR, “nearly 100 percent of men between the ages of 25 and 54 worked” in the 1960s.

In those days, just about any dependable, hard working American man could get hired almost immediately.  The economy was growing and the demand for labor was seemingly insatiable.

But today, one out of every six men in their prime working years does not have a job…

In a recent report, President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers said 83 percent of men in the prime working ages of 25-54 who were not in the labor force had not worked in the previous year. So, essentially, 10 million men are missing from the workforce.

“One in six prime-age guys has no job; it’s kind of worse than it was in the depression in 1940,” says Nicholas Eberstadt, an economic and demographic researcher at American Enterprise Institute who wrote the book Men Without Work: America’s Invisible Crisis. He says these men aren’t even counted among the jobless, because they aren’t seeking work.


09/17/2016

Quote from: RomanCatholic1953

The Percentage Of Working Age Men That Do Not Have A Job Is Similar To The Great Depression

theeconomiccollapseblog.com

Why are so many men in their prime working years unemployed?  The Obama administration would have us believe that unemployment is low in this country, but that is not true at all.  In fact, one author quoted by NPR says that “it’s kind of worse than it was in the depression in 1940?.  Most Americans don’t realize this, but more men from ages 25 to 54 are “inactive” right now than was the case during the last recession.  We have millions upon millions of strong young men just sitting around doing nothing.  They aren’t employed and they aren’t considered to be looking for employment either, and so they don’t show up in the official unemployment numbers.  But they don’t have jobs, and nothing the Obama administration does can eliminate that fact.

According to NPR, “nearly 100 percent of men between the ages of 25 and 54 worked” in the 1960s.

In those days, just about any dependable, hard working American man could get hired almost immediately.  The economy was growing and the demand for labor was seemingly insatiable.

But today, one out of every six men in their prime working years does not have a job…

In a recent report, President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers said 83 percent of men in the prime working ages of 25-54 who were not in the labor force had not worked in the previous year. So, essentially, 10 million men are missing from the workforce.

“One in six prime-age guys has no job; it’s kind of worse than it was in the depression in 1940,” says Nicholas Eberstadt, an economic and demographic researcher at American Enterprise Institute who wrote the book Men Without Work: America’s Invisible Crisis. He says these men aren’t even counted among the jobless, because they aren’t seeking work.


09/17/2016

That is not true. During the 70s there was a recession and jobs were sometimes hard to come by.

Even in the 1970's I was employed between two employers throughout
the decade.  
The article mentioned the 1960's and the same is true in the post war
period starting after VJ Day.
How do you explain the tent cities, people and families living under bridges.
I live in a rural area and you can still see them.

This is no lie. About 92 million Americans willing and able to work cannot
find jobs.
Once they use up their unemployment and no loner qualify for more,
they drop out looking for work and therefore no longer counted as
unemployed.
The truth is most new jobs are service jobs such as bartenders, waitresses,
cashiers. Many of those jobs are going to the immigrants.
Most of our manufacturing jobs have been outsourced overseas because
of free trade, NAFTA because of the cheap labor, and no work safety
standards.
Poche, you live in a Liberal created illusions.   That is why you are so
Liberal and a leftist. You just respond to a Pavlovian conditioning.