Power farming displaces tenants from the land in the western dry cotton area. Childress County, Texas, 1938. Dorothea Lange/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.
19. Your Farm Might Have Been Sold at a Penny Auction
When a farmer was in distress, neighbors often stepped in by auctioning the farm off at a meager rate, usually buying it themselves for a penny or just a few cents. That way, the farmer could quickly obtain the farm back. At least, that was the plan.
A grandmother from Oklahoma whom worked in the California pea fields, 1939. Dorothea Lange/History In Photos.
18. Maybe You Received a Chain Letter
Chain letters first began during the Great Depression among people who were hoping to get rich quickly; the schemes were what we would today call a pyramid scheme. You can probably thank your grandparents for the annoying spam mail that you get today that promises the same thing.
Bonnie and Clyde in March 1933 in a photo found by police at an abandoned hideout. Photo by one of the Barrow gang. US Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.
17. Perhaps You Tried to Crime
The big gangs that had dominated cities during the Roaring Twenties had no trouble recruiting new people who were disaffected by the woes of the Great Depression. Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Ma Barker and her Boys all turned to crime during this period. They were often seen as Robin Hood-type figures.
Roosevelt Signs The Social Security Act: President Roosevelt signs Social Security Act, at approximately 3:30 pm EST on 14 August 1935. Standing with Roosevelt are Rep. Robert Doughton (D-NC); unknown person in shadow; Sen. Robert Wagner (D-NY); Rep. John Dingell (D-MI); Rep. Joshua Twing Brooks (D-PA); the Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins; Sen. Pat Harrison (D-MS); and Rep. David Lewis (D-MD). Social Security Online/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.
16. You Probably Voted for Franklin D. Roosevelt
FDR ran against the despised Herbert Hoover in the 1932 election, promising a “New Deal” for the American people. He won by a landslide, and his New Deal programs helped bring the country out of the Depression by providing jobs, incentives, and other government programs.
Notorious gangster Al Capone attempts to help unemployed men with his soup kitchen “Big Al’s Kitchen for the Needy.” The kitchen provides three meals a day consisting of soup with meat, bread, coffee, and doughnuts, feeding about 3,500 people daily at a cost of $300 per day. November 16, 1930, Chicago, Illinois. Bettmann/CORBIS/The Sleuth Journal.
15. You Might Have Gotten a Government Job
As part of the New Deal, people who had reached a certain age could claim social security benefits so that they could retire and a younger person take their jobs. New government jobs involved things like building roads and helping to develop the country’s infrastructure.
Civilian Conservation Corps workers constructing road in 1933. Over 3 million unemployed young men were taken out of the cities and placed into over 2,600 work camps managed by the CCC. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.
14. Alternatively, You May Have Moved to Alaska
Many, many families lost their farms during the Great Depression. Recognizing the importance of agriculture and seeing how much fertile land was available in the territory of Alaska, part of FDR’s New Deal allowed hundreds of families to relocate to Alaska, where they could begin new farms.
A young boy holding a sign during the Great Depression. Thing Link.
13. Your Kids Probably Didn’t Go To School
Millions of children had to leave school during the 1930s, either because the schools themselves closed or because their families needed them to earn an income. Thousands of schools began operating with reduced hours. As many as 200,000 children were jumping railroad cars.
A family in Arkansas during the Great Depression in 1935. The Great Depression Photos.
12. Maybe You Sold Apples
Instead of begging, which was seen as shameful and degrading, many people in urban areas resorted to selling apples on the street corners to try to earn a few pennies each day. In New York City alone, there were as many as 6,000 apple sellers.
A family walking down the street during the Great Depression. Depressing Blog.
11. You Might Have Traveled Route 66
In John Steinbeck’s classic novel about life during the Great Depression, The Grapes of Wrath, the family lost the farm and then headed to California, looking for work. The story was based on real-life Okies, migrants who had lost their farms – notably due to the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma and the economic pressures of the Depression – and traveled to California.
Buried machinery in barn lot in Dallas, South Dakota, United States during the Dust Bowl, an agricultural, ecological, and economic disaster in the Great Plains region of North America in 1936. United States Department of Agriculture/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.
10. Some People Remained Dirt Poor
A special “Indian New Deal” was enacted to try to help Native Americans living on reservations, but for the most part, they remained desperately poor. One long-lasting benefit of the reforms, though, was that they were granted greater tribal autonomy through a reversal of the 1887 Dawes Severality Act.
The Single Men’s Unemployed Association parading to Bathurst Street United Church. Toronto, Canada. Library and Archives of Canada/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.
9. You Probably Blamed Your Problems on Others
Women who had entered the workforce faced discrimination, as they were often seen as taking jobs away from able-bodied men. Mexicans, who had long been working in the United States as farmers, were blamed for taking jobs away from Americans. Not much has changed.
A female factory worker in 1942, Fort Worth, Texas. Women entered the workforce as men were drafted into the armed forces. Howard R. Hollem/US Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.
8. You Most Likely Married Later
As a result of the Great Depression, many couples chose to marry later than their parents had because they could not support themselves. The birth rate also dropped, as families could no longer provide for their children. In the poorest parts of Appalachia, children were so hungry that they would chew on their hands.
John D. Rockefeller and his son John Jr. in 1915. American Press Association/Library of Congress/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain.
7. However, Perhaps You Were Not Affected
As much as 40% of the country was not affected by the Great Depression, and some businesses benefited. Oil tycoons in particular, such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, and their offspring were able to capitalize on the economic woes of others and thereby expand their businesses.
Stalled on the desert, facing a future in California. No money, ten children. From Chickasaw, Oklahoma, 1937. Dorothea Lange/History In Photos.
6. Your Hopes Were Most Likely Crushed in 1936
By 1936, the economic reforms implemented by FDR’s New Deal had turned the country around so much that the economic indicators, such as employment, were at the same level as they were before the Depression. He scaled back government spending, and the country fell back into decline.
Crowds outside the Bank of United States in New York after its failure in 1931. World Telegram staff photographer/Library of Congress/New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection/Wikimedia Commons.
5. Maybe You Went on Strike
There were challenges working people faced during the Great Depression, to say the least; those years were some of the essential reasons for the development of workers’ rights. Workers successfully managed to organize strikes and gain power through unions. Many laws were changed as Americans came to realize that workers were the strength of a democratic government.
Shacks on the Anacostia flats, Washington, D.C. put up by the Bonus Army (World War I veterans) burning after the battle with the 1,000 soldiers accompanied by tanks and machine guns, 1932. Signal Corps Photographer/National Archives and Records Administration/Wikimedia Commons.
4. You Might Have Radicalized
Economic woes are one of the biggest reasons people turn to radical political ideologies. In 1929, Josef Stalin predicted that the communist party in the USA would lead a revolt to overturn the government. He was almost right – many people turned to communist ideology, thinking that it would reverse the Great Depression.
3. You Probably Pulled All Your Money Out of the Bank
In the weeks following the 1929 crash, people who were desperate to retain whatever money they had left withdrew all of their funds out of their banks. Economic analysts suggest that rather than the crash causing the depression, it was actually the runs on the banks that created it.
Women dressed up during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Vintage Handbook.
2. You Probably Accessorized
During the Roaring Twenties, women frequently wore expensive, glitzy dresses that showed off their wealth. During the Depression, though, fashions changed to accommodate those who no longer had any money. Accessories became important in the fashion industry during this time because people could dress up otherwise plain clothes for less money.
A photograph of country superstar Johnny Cash as a child. Country Music Video Directory.
1. Maybe You Picked Cotton Like Johnny Cash and Others
Johnny Cash grew up in Arkansas during the Great Depression and recalled picking cotton from the time he was only five years old. Music was his favorite escape from the hardships of life during the time; he and his siblings often sang while they were working out in the fields.
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