Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I keep on thinking that "The Great Depression" is shown as being worse than what it really was to make people think that before it, everything was the same as in the 40s and 50s.
That can't be possible because thanks to Roosevelt "The New Deal" lots of infrastructure (dams, highways, electrical power lines, etc) were built.
I keep on thinking that "The Great Depression" is shown as being worse than what it really was to make people think that before it, everything was the same as in the 40s and 50s.
That can't be possible because thanks to Roosevelt "The New Deal" lots of infrastructure (dams, highways, electrical power lines, etc) were built.
So how was life really like in the 1910s and 20s?
It was a fabulous time. The changes in society and technology were at least as great as the 1960s and 1970s. Women recieved the right to vote and dresses went from the ankles to the hips before settling to a little below the knee. You didn't need highways because most people traveled by rail--and the railroads were well-developed and it really wasn't till the 1950s that the automobile truely began replacing the railroad. Local travel was by horses and these did just fine on dirt roads. As cars became more common we began working on roads more suitable to them and businesses began locating along the roads leading into town rather than downtown where they might recieve people getting off the trains. As with computers, the boys often knew more about driving cars than their fathers did. I recall one old man telling me how his father pulled on the steering wheel saying, "Whoa! Whoa!" The radio brought instant news and created a whole new world of entertainment. It was amazing what kind of shows were created for radio. People could see and experience the whole show created using nothing but sound. I've heard a few of these. They're worth a listen. Electricity? Power lines were being built and my dad made some big bucks wiring homes, but until then people had batteries. These were used judiciously. It was not necessary to burn electricity hour after hour, merely those few minutes you actually needed it. Jazz was the first rock. The 1920s was one big party.
It was a fabulous time. The changes in society and technology were at least as great as the 1960s and 1970s. Women recieved the right to vote and dresses went from the ankles to the hips before settling to a little below the knee. You didn't need highways because most people traveled by rail--and the railroads were well-developed and it really wasn't till the 1950s that the automobile truely began replacing the railroad. Local travel was by horses and these did just fine on dirt roads. As cars became more common we began working on roads more suitable to them and businesses began locating along the roads leading into town rather than downtown where they might recieve people getting off the trains. As with computers, the boys often knew more about driving cars than their fathers did. I recall one old man telling me how his father pulled on the steering wheel saying, "Whoa! Whoa!" The radio brought instant news and created a whole new world of entertainment. It was amazing what kind of shows were created for radio. People could see and experience the whole show created using nothing but sound. I've heard a few of these. They're worth a listen. Electricity? Power lines were being built and my dad made some big bucks wiring homes, but until then people had batteries. These were used judiciously. It was not necessary to burn electricity hour after hour, merely those few minutes you actually needed it. Jazz was the first rock. The 1920s was one big party.
Mabye they were -- if you lived in one of the major cities and were one of a much smaller professional class.
But for those still on the farm -- and at least 25% of the nation was -- it was just back-breaking labor; without the benefits of electricity or indoor plumbing. And conditions were more backward in the rural areas of the south and west. The e mechanization of agriculture made life better for those who stayed, but many were driven into the cities in the manner of the "Okies" of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.
The Depression was bad. Many Americans were badly affected through job losses and the bank failures and housing prices collapse meant even those who held on to jobs saw life savings disappear. Farming/rural America was just as badly affected as industrial towns and cities due to the agricultural depression (which started long before the Great Depression). The unemployment rate peaked at 25%! And many of those who managed to hold on to employment lived at subsistence wages.
You are correct that some people seem to think all Americans suffered during the Great Depression. When you watch some of the documentaries it's not difficult to be left with that impression. But it was certainly not the case. Many if not most Americans lived just fine during the Depression. You could probably say that half of Americans were unaffected by the Depression other than perhaps a decline in their house values, which was a moot point for most homeowners given that Americans tended to stay in their house for decades, even for life, while the other half were affected to some degree. People who were comfortably positioned during the 1930s even benefitted from deflation and the decline in the cost of living.
Still, one should not underestimate how bad the decade was for a good minority of Americans.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dopo
I keep on thinking that "The Great Depression" is shown as being worse than what it really was to make people think that before it, everything was the same as in the 40s and 50s.
That can't be possible because thanks to Roosevelt "The New Deal" lots of infrastructure (dams, highways, electrical power lines, etc) were built.
I keep on thinking that "The Great Depression" is shown as being worse than what it really was to make people think that before it, everything was the same as in the 40s and 50s.
That can't be possible because thanks to Roosevelt "The New Deal" lots of infrastructure (dams, highways, electrical power lines, etc) were built.
So how was life really like in the 1910s and 20s?
Everything was the same in the 40s and 50s as during the depression? Just making sure I'm understanding your post. My parents were depression kids. They came from very different backgrounds. It wasn't so hard for my father. For my mother, born in 1932, it was devastating. She never really got over it.
Many if not most Americans lived just fine during the Depression.
Quote:
You could probably say that half of Americans were unaffected by the Depression
So true, coming off the recession of 1920-21 one could argue that by 1929 half (actually 60%) of your half never noticed the difference since they had been living and did live in poverty prior to the Depression.
Mabye they were -- if you lived in one of the major cities and were one of a much smaller professional class.
But for those still on the farm -- and at least 25% of the nation was -- it was just back-breaking labor; without the benefits of electricity or indoor plumbing. And conditions were more backward in the rural areas of the south and west. The e mechanization of agriculture made life better for those who stayed, but many were driven into the cities in the manner of the "Okies" of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.
And their lives were bad compared to what? Compared to the 1950s, yes. But before 1900 the labor was back-breaking, there was no electricity, and there was no indoor plumbing; and this is the way rural life had been for thousands of years. My Dad, Mother, aunts and uncles all grew up in the 1920s and 1930s and all lived in rural Nebraska--though my Dad had lived some in Colorado and Texas. They left me with not one sorry tale. Sure, life was hard--but no worse than they'd expected. They walked a mile and a quarter to school and when an airplane flew overhead students and teacher would all run outside to look up at it as if it were the Space Shuttle. There was precious little wood for the stove to burn, so they burned corn cobbs or cow chips (dried manure). They had party line phones with a different ring for each person but of course everyone else would listen in. One time the phone rang and without bothering to notice whose ring it was one of the boys answered the phone with: "Hello! Mommy's out picking up cow chips!"
I will confess I have not read "The Grapes of Wrath" but I did start to read it and it begins with Drought as the force that drove people from their land. This was correcting policy based on the erroneous theory of "Rain Follows the Plow" which held that as farmers plowed arid lands of the west the moisture released would cause rain to fall and that in turn promoted small, 160 acre farms where 1600 acre ranches would have been more appropriate. Since that time children have left the family farm of about 500 acres for carreers in the cities--almost always with their parents' blessing--and now there is no one left to inherit the farm. Farming is a business run much like any other business and except for the distance to the neighbors there is nothing to distinguish a farm house from a house in town.
Mabye they were -- if you lived in one of the major cities and were one of a much smaller professional class.
But for those still on the farm -- and at least 25% of the nation was -- it was just back-breaking labor; without the benefits of electricity or indoor plumbing. And conditions were more backward in the rural areas of the south and west. The e mechanization of agriculture made life better for those who stayed, but many were driven into the cities in the manner of the "Okies" of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.
My g grandfather worked for the Union Pacific. I don't know the job, but he and family had a free rail pass any time they wanted to travel. My g grandmother who was quite 'impulsive' would decide to go to California and take the kids and he'd come home to a note. Or when she had them, she would end up without planning it back in Iowa. The train was the airlines of the time, and vastly expanded people's perception of how big the world was.
A generation before, or so before, there are family tales of the farm barn being a 'safehouse' for Jessie James and other outlaws who drew support because they opposed the rail roads. But the farm would have been within the area where Demoines is now, and I'm guessing they sold it off as the town turned into a city. But the Iowa tie was strong even with my mom's generation. They visited regularly, and it is apparently an old farm custom which didn't die in Iowa that you didn't have to say you were coming. They'd come home to find cousin so and so and family waiting for them to get home on the front porch.
But its true that while the developed part of life, or chose to move on as my family apparently did, farm life was dismal and hard. Dad was raised on a farm and joined the navy at sixteen (with his mother's signature) to escape it and never liked anything which reminded him. He and my uncle who grew up as a migrant harvesting the potato crop never went camping with us when our mom's and the kids took off for a minivacation. Dirt wasn't fun for them.
My grandmother was raised in the atmosphere if the early century, and her mother ran a bording house, so she had a step up for being independent. But she was fiercely independent and after my grandfather 'left' she moved on and took care of herself. I don't know if its from the beginnings on the farm or being a part of the sea change which came before the twenties, but I've inherited some of that ability to bend which socially changed the world back then.
Everything was the same in the 40s and 50s as during the depression? Just making sure I'm understanding your post. My parents were depression kids. They came from very different backgrounds. It wasn't so hard for my father. For my mother, born in 1932, it was devastating. She never really got over it.
For those of us raised during the fifties and sixties, our parents lives had a direct effect. My Dad lived on a large family farm and joined the navy to escape, and my mom's dad 'moved on' and never got around paying my grandmother a cent. They were both effected by the economic world around them and of course wanted their kid to not have that challenge. They were also the generation who fought the WAR. The big one. The wanted their kids raised in safety and secuity since they had not always been.
We can only guess today where their grandchildren end up, but thanks to the huge cycles in the 20th century, the ways of life called 'normal' were shaken and challenged and got us to us.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
