Does anyone have information on how people survived during these times?
How thrifty were the meals?/
What did people do whe clothing and shoes wore out or became too small?
What about usage of power and were lots of people evicted that couldn't pay rent?? Where did they live then??
Thank you

I think back to what my grandparents said, and this is what I came up with:

1. They made their own clothes. Often, they would use fabric from something else to do it. Good clothes were for going to town, and work clothes were what you wore at home. You didn't have to be dressed up at home! I still have all of their buttons that were saved after being cut off of a dress or a coat! There was also LESS clothing per person. One set of good clothes, and one or maybe two sets of work clothes. I remember learning how to put newspaper in the bottom of my boots to keep my feet warm from one of my grandmas! They often did this to cover a hole. They also wore shoes that were too big and stuffed paper in the toes to make up the difference!

2. Home improvement projects meant home maintenance. Remodelling and updating styles weren't in most people's vocabulary! Also, living closely together in a small house was OK. Rarely, was there a kid with his/her own room. The family room and the living room were the same thing. Master suite? Are you kidding me? Most houses had one bathroom . . . . Femces and houses weren't always painted to perfection. We have family pictures that show a lot of wear before new paint was applied!

3. If they had a car, there was only one. I lived in the same town as my grandparents. When they would tell me that they walked downtown, I couldn't believe it! They walked a lot more than we do! During the depression, I think walking was just a necessity!

4. For entertainment, they would picnic at the beach or in the yard with family. Kids went outside to play -- there weren't scheduled playgroups to attend. Baseball games in the neighborhood were played with kids of all ages and abilities -- and no adults around to manage them.

5. They all had huge gardens and canned their produce.

6. Heat was limited to certain areas of the house. You slept in a cold room with many blankets, and you ran out in the morning to get dressed by the stove -- no central heat and air back then! If you were hot in the summer, you opened a window or went outside. My relatives were lucky to live by the lake -- so they could go cool off on REALLY hot days. I have heard of people who would scavenge the "clunkers" from coal piles to take home to their stoves for heat during the Depression.

7. You didn't waste food. Leftovers were made into something else for the next meal. Snacks were homemade, and everyone drank water if they were thirsty. I think there was a lot of stretching when it came to meat. It seems that people ate a lot of bread -- probably to feel full! It was probably one of the more inexpensive things to prepare!

8. Weddings -- people were married in their parents' home or in church and maybe took an overnight honeymoon. There were no receptions with bands, buffets, and open bars. There were no trips to the Bahamas or Hawaii!

9. They were the first recyclers! My DH, who also lived close to his grandparents, remembers having to pull nails out of boards and straighten them so that they could be used again . . . . Nothing much was thrown away! Groceries were packaged in paper and string -- no plastic bags! Jars were reused for pickles and canning. Appliances and farm equipment was repaired -- not thrown out.

To really answer your question --

I know that if you couldn't pay your rent or keep your house, you went to relatives. Kids were sent to live with relatives on farms where food was more plentiful. My grandma and grandfather lost all of their savings in the 1930's and had to scrap the plans they had made to build a large house. They lived in his parent's house for many years. I think most people were in the same boat -- no one had money -- and maybe, they were more empathetic toward their neighbors. My DH lived in the country, and there is a family story about a widow with children who would often find produce on her porch from neighbors who would think to help her out.

I imagine that there were many people evicted and in dire straights. I would imagine that it was worse in cities then where my family was -- close to farms and relatives.

I'll be interested to hear answers to this too!

Marlene

This is a great question with some great responses so far.

The stories coming out of one side of our family include...

1) Using and washing wash cloths for pads (feminine products)
2) Using catalogues for toilet paper
3) Eating a pile of boiled potatoes with 1/2 ounce of ground beef each
4) Having meat only once a week
5) On birthdays getting a "penny" balloon. (That was it)
6) At Christmas their doll that they already owned would get washed and have her hair done, and someone would hand sew one new outfit for the doll from a piece of clothing that wore out that year.
7) They family brought in a lot of boarders who paid something toward the rent.
8) The Mom and Dad would sometimes go without food so the kids could eat.
9) No car .. they would walk the 3 miles to church and back, and the 5 miles to school and back every day even as really little kids.
10) No family vacation ever

Yet when these stories are told, they are never told in a sad way, it was just how everyone did it then. There wasn't a sense of entitlement that they wished they had more; just an acceptance that that is how things were. They have many very good family memories of singing together, and laughing, and telling stories. All in all it was a happy childhood. The only results I see from it is that my Mom is a hoarder (she can not stand it if her cupboards are not FULL of toilet paper, paper towels, toothpaste, soap, etc) and she can not stand for my kids not to have something that she didn't have as a kid. She buys them their bikes and all their clothes because she wants them dressed a certain way.

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I hear there are some great cookbooks from this time period that have a lot of economical tips on cooking - of course I've never ran across one but I keep an eye opened at used bookstores.

They Really did live a different life style. Our home was built in 1955 we bought from the original owner who had raised 4 kids here. In a home with only 1050sqft and 1 bathroom! They threw out nothing I can attest to finding tire, laundry baskets and old rugs at landscape material. Very little in the home had been up dated. Simpler life, less stuff, women sewed and baked and didn't shop and go out for dinner. There wasn't all the electronics and you made due. Many families were different in there approach to getting by. I had an uncle who in the 50s-60s saw a great new venture (cable TV) Lets put it that he is very well off, yet when it comes to pinching pennies he is as frugal as they come to the point that he would rent a room for extra income. Times were simpler, expectations were lower and prices more reasonable.

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006

My grandmother lived on a farm and was the youngest of 13. She told me stories of eating lard and sugar sandwiches as a treat!! They were far better off than the people in the cities, because they had animals and a huge field to plant food. They would sell the veggies, fruit, meat and dairy to the towns people and that is how they got enough money for other necessities. She had to move to town when she was 12, so that she could stay with a family and babysit their kids just to get enough money to pay for high school. She got a quarter extra a week, saved 10 cents, spent 5 cents on one soda a week and I can't remember where the other 10 cents went to. When I was a kid, I remember her making everything from scratch, saving every scrap and practically hoarding toiletries and canned food.

Let's not fool ourselves. It could easily happen again. We really should learn from our past.

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Frugal is being wise with your money and resources and cheap is forcing everyone else to.

Check out my blog, I'm starting to add more to it, as I can...vioburn.blogspot.com

Vioburn--and other ladies.. Such a wealth of information.
Yes Vioburn--I truly believe that people are so complacent today and I truly believe also that the world is in for 1 huge shake-up and the days of The Great Depression will once again be upon us all.
One tries to speak to the younger ones ( 1 am 47) about not being wasteful and not "needing" half the things they have but they choose 99.9% of the time not to listen.
We live on a farm and I grow a big vegetable garden and can etc. Our 15 year old daughter has seen all this and does the same as her Mama and I am pleased because I know she will be able to take care of herself and others if the need arises.
Every year we try and simplify our lives more and more and look at life a lot differently. I do hope and pray that other folk will heed the warnings in society today before it is too late for them to learn.

Stories from my parents:

My father was born in 1932 and grew up the youngest of 7 during The Great Depression. His family was lucky -- they lived out in the country on a farm. With exception of flour, sugar (which they rarely got), and coffee, they raised or grew their own food. The family had an enormous vegetable garden and my grandmother did a lot of canning. Their cellar was full of canned food that the family would live off of during the winter. They hunted animals for meat. Every piece of that animal was eaten or used for something. My father talks about eating eggs and brains for breakfast. :hurl: Flour was sold in patterned sacks that women would use to sew clothes and other things for the home. Old and outgrown clothing was never thrown away. It was remade into something else like clothes for other family members, quilts, or cloth items for the home. Treats were few and far between. It was a huge deal if my grandfather went to town and came back with peppermint sticks for the kids. Christmases and birthdays were lean. Children received either hand-made items or a sack with some apples, oranges, nuts, and candy.

The government kept a tight leash on jobs for women. Certain jobs were set aside for women to do. Married women were prohibited from working because their husbands were expected to bring in the income for the family. Single women were the only ones allowed to work since they didn't have a man to depend on. Many couples lied about their marital status so the women could work.

My mother was an only child born in 1941 in England. Things were a lot tougher over there than they were in the U.S. during that time. Food was strictly rationed and hard to come by. My mother remembers eating toast and beans for dinner many nights. When my grandmother was lucky enough to get a bag of sugar, she would completely disassemble the bag to get out every last granule of sugar. Meat was very scarce. They lived in the city, so they didn't have the opportunity to hunt. One time the only meat available was horse meat. :hurl: My mother suspected that her mother even stole some things for survival purposes. Fortunately, my grandfather was promoted to manager at the Rover Car Company and the family got to move out to the country and live in a company house. My grandmother was then able to raise a garden and can food. There was no air conditioning, so my mother had to sleep at night wrapped in a wet towel to keep cool.

An interesting use for a throwaway item -- both of my parents talk about saving candy wrappers. In my dad's case, they would use them to fix items on his father's truck (I'm assuming they would be used to connect broken wires). My dad said his father's engine was quite colorful! My mom saved candy wrappers to make ornaments for their Christmas tree.

This is how the hard times have effected them:

My father takes care of everything he owns. He's not a hoarder, but he's owned a lot of his tools for many years and they are in top condition. His cars are immaculate. His truck engine is so clean that you could grill meat on it. My mother is a bit of a hoarder. Because of the lean times with food (especially meat), she has a tendancy to hoard meat.

We still do. They're called Oreo cookies.

Times were more progressive by the 1950's, but it was very common to have only one bathroom. Both of my parents used outhouses when they were kids.

ITA.

In reply to the 1050 square foot home and only 1 bathroom---
Many people in New Zealand live in houses much smaller than 1000 sq feet and only have 1 bathroom.
We lived in a home that was 850 sq feet and had 1 bathroom-- 3 children and foster children
Many of our friends have had 10 and 11 children and still only 1 bathroom in the house.
I guess us here in NZ are still quite pioneering in that even though times are a changin'
when one looks at the new subdivisions and the sizes of those house--- and for what??? They have less children so why would anyone need a bigger home??? Oh- take us back to the Little House on the Prairie days when folk were content with what they could afford to live in and what the good Lord provided--amen??
Recently a friend lent me her Gentle Spirit magazines that she once subscribed to (they are no longer published) and many folk contributing to that magazine lived in trailer homes or one room cabins-- they were content with their lot. Being debt free helped too. Something we are working on big time now.