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American History

30 Eye-Opening Facts About Average Life During The Great Depression

Migrant Mother - Dorothea Lange

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.

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