Grandamas Memories of the Great Depression Essay

The Great Depression began in October of 1929 when the stock values in the United States dropped rapidly. Thousands of stockholders lost large sums of money-or were even wiped out. Many people had to depend on the government or charity for food. Many of the stories about the Depression have been told about the large cities and their struggles to live a life of poverty after being used to the luxurious lifestyle. However, those accounts do not reflect the true damage caused by this economic plunge. The many country folk that inhabit the area around Tennessee had a somewhat different recollection of this time period. The stories told by the people who had lost all of their money in the stock market are stories of doom and despair, but†¦show more content†¦He died, the stuff crushed his insides. Before the death of her husband, Vergie had to do anything possible for money, because Jim was unable to work in his condition. She took up the job of washing and ironing for several of the CC boys. When asked how much she made from doing this laundry, she replied, I washed for nine of them (CC Boys) and uh, a dollar and a half a piece. That is a lot more money than most of the people could make during this hard time. The death of her husband brought a single check from the government for the amount of thirty seven dollars. The money that she earned was used to buy some food, mainly beans and potatoes and cornbread, milk and butter and eggs. Food was in the most part grown right there at the house. A small garden provided the necessary vegetables, a cow provided milk, and chickens provided eggs and Sunday dinner. The animals were primarily kept for the services that they provided, but when they needed food, the cows, chickens, and pigs were there for the eatin. Rita Van Amber, the au thor of Stories and Recipes of the Great Depression of the 1930s, quotes a women by the name of Audrey Samplowski as saying, We didnt have beef often at all. Unless the cow didnt get pregnant or broke a leg or something.(Amber 18) The feed sacks that held the food for these animals were printed with different designs and they doubled as material for clothing, They would be cut into a pattern and stitched together by hand