Depression survival wisdom

Families traveled to wherever the work happened to be. They stuck together as much as possible.

Many Americans were too proud to accept charity or government help.

When the soles of shoes were worn through, pieces of rubber tires were used as replacements. There was little choice but to repair them in any way possible.

Thousands and thousands of entire families were displaced. Very often, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins ended up living in one house, or one vehicle, as the case may be.

Some families ended up living in tents or lean-to’s.

There was virtually no sense of entitlement. Everyone knew they would only survive if they worked hard to do so.

Many discovered strength through optimism and looked at their disadvantages as personal challenges that could be overcome with ingenuity and hard work.


I heard stories about the Depression from my grandmother. When she was a kid, my great-grandfather moved the family up to Newport News VA, because he couldn't find work here. He found work at the shipyard. It was him, my great-grandmother, my grandmother and her two sisters. They made their own clothes and made clothes for others. My grandmother was the best seamstress I ever saw. They lived in a canvas tent and used a wood stove for heat / cooking.

I never heard my grandmother complain about those times...not once. She was the toughest lady I've ever known and with an 8th grade education, one of the smartest.
 
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My post is TL/DR material.

My FIL grew up missing meals on the Albemarle Sound during the Depression. His mom died when he was a child. His dad was an itinerate carpenter, and worked on that bridge they built across the sound to Edenton. My FIL got out of there like many did when he came of age by joining the army in WWII.

His wife, my MIL, grew up poor on a little farm in northern Wake county. Outdoor plumbing. Her mom made all her clothes.

They got married in the early 50’s and were able to enjoy the postwar economic expansion. I have to say that as well as they did for themselves for their meager beginnings they were the two most contented people I ever met.

When my wife’s grandmother (who had made my MIL’s clothes growing up) got Alzheimers they moved grand mom in with them, and even though my wife was busy with a happy youth as a cheerleader in high school she shared her little steel double bed with her deaf grandmother for her high school years and was happy to do it.
 
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