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Wednesday, June 7, 2017

The Great Depression & WW II

                THE GREAT DEPRESSION
                                 AND
                     WORLD WAR II

 
I was musing with an acquaintance a few days ago about some of the serious problems of OUR day. The comment was made that right now was probably the most devastating time for decades. The great depression began in 1929 and was still a serious problem in 1930, when I was born. At that minute it was like a light came on. Neither of us had thought, and certainly did not know anything about the first few years of the Great Depression as we were infants when the bad days started. However we were both born into that time frame and perhaps that was the most serious time in our lives.

It was probably strange, but as we talked about it a little, one of the first thoughts I had was, “wasn’t that a daunting time to get married and start a family?” I suppose my Mom & Dad and a lot of other people did not realize just how bad it was, and how much worse it would be before the turmoil was over.

They were married in June of 1930 and they brought me into the world in 1931 and my Sister was born in 1937. It was not a good time to begin a family. But when I listen to young kids today getting married and starting families, I wonder, when is a good time? Today is a different type of turmoil, but perhaps the same old problems just wrapped up in a different package?

The Great Depression started to recover in the mid to late 1930’s. Of course I was only 10 years old in 1941 so I do not recall a lot of things that happened in those early years. However it is interesting to recall what I can, and then recall what I can remember. Then of course there are the things that the older people talked about around the dinner table, or when friends came to visit. However I think we, as kids, either did not think them important or else we just did not recall them.

My parents lived in a small mining town when they got married. My Dad was a school teacher. They quickly found out they could not support a family on his income, so he got a job working for the mining company. In 1937/38 the company closed the mine and moved the town and the people about 10 miles away. It was just around the mountain from Mohrland.

In the years from 1938 to 1941 the depression slowly got better, until 1941 which was the beginning of WW II, and that is another subject.

Some things I recall either from memory or from hearing them from other people were:
FOOD SHORTAGES—I do not recall ever being really hungry, but we did eat a lot of home grown “veggies” and fruit. We always seemed to get some meat from one of the farmers in the Valley.
WORK SIGN--   The Company would post a sign on the mine office door if there was going to be any work that week. (No work—Mon ,Tue, Wed-- Check back on Thursday) The men would walk to town each week to see if there was going to be any work., always hoping they would get at least three days or so.. I think almost all of them were happy just to have a job.
FARMING & FOOD-- There were several small farm towns below (in the Valley) the mines and quite a few of the men worked in the mine and also took care of the family farm in the valley. Then when there was no work in the mines some of the miners would go to the valley and work for the farmers. The miners were paid with food a lot of the time. I recall my Dad coming home from a day’s work on the farm with, a sack of potatoes, a chicken, eggs, or a leg of lamb. Sometimes he also had fresh peaches or apples. It was always enjoyable to have a change of food on the table.

The refrigerator we used to keep milk, eggs & meat cold consisted of an old powder box nailed to the side of the house by a window, It was made so you could open the window in the kitchen and reach out and get food from the box. A powder box could be used for many things, but for a refrigerator we just nailed it up, covered it with burlap and a attached a hose so a little water could constantly drip on the box---and Wallah, we had a very serviceable  “swamp cooler.” Mom kept bugging Dad that they needed a real refrigerator now that they had a baby. My sister was born in Mar 1937. To make a long story a little shorter, they finally went to the Company Store and bought one. They only kept it for a short time. The work slowed down more than they thought it would so my Dad went to the Store Manager and told him to come and get it, as they could not make the payments. Perhaps that is where the saying in my family came from—Use it up, make it do-wear it out ,or do without?

Some people could not pay the rent during the depression. If I recall correctly the rent was only $25 per month and that included, your water, power and all the coal you could haul to your house. Still some people moved their families back to the farm, and they stayed at the boarding house during the week, if there was work. Then they would go back to the farm for the weekend.

Clothing was not fashionable during those hard times. It was made to cover you up and keep you warm. I suppose I was like most others. My everyday cloths were expected to last me a year. We usually had one “nice” pair of shoes and a pair of boots. Of course the ever present bib overalls were the everyday dress. Sox were usually “darned” several times before they were thrown away. I don’t know about others but I could not wait to get my first pair if “Levi’s .

I think that during the depression we were fairly well off compared to many people in the big cities. The newsreels made everything look bleak, and it probably was. I do not recall many News Reels  in the 1930’s, but there was one every week when I started going to a movie every week after our move to Hiawatha.
                                                       WW II
And then on December 7 1941 (While I was having a B-Day Party) the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and it turned our country upside-down.

I was still quite young and did not realize how serious of a thing this was? Yes, I had friends who had family members there and yes, they were very concerned. One guy at my B-Day party was my age and when our neighbor ran over to our house to tell us of the attack, this guy run out the door and across the street as fast as he could go, because he thought his brother was at Pearl Harbor.

I was so young that I really had no idea as to what the consequences of this act would bring. It truly was the beginning of a WORLD WAR. Almost every country in the world was somehow involved before it was over. The war really started in 1929. The USA entered it, after Pearl Harbor, in 1941 and it did not end until 1945.

I recall a lot more about WW II than I do about the Great Depression. Of course I was older at the time the war started and  I also was enamored with all things connected to Flying and Airplanes. I also could not believe how quickly America turned its manufacturing toward War Equipment. I have been told several times that the War broke the hold that the Depression had on the country. Right or wrong! We were also fed the propaganda via newspapers, Radio and Newsreels at the movies—that this all be over in a short time. The USA is invincible and nothing could match our manufacturing machine.

BUT AT WHAT A PRICE?

One thing I recall very vividly was when a notification of a death was passed around town. It could have been a son, a daughter, father, cousin or friend. And yes our little town seemed to have more than our share or Gold Star Mothers, with their flags flying in their windows.
A few of the things I recall about the war were easy to see as we saw them constantly.
            Rationing and shortages—Silk, sugar, gas, tires, cigarettes, butter coffee.
            Things to help the War effort---War Bonds, used tin foil rolled into balls,
            Reusable glass pop bottles,
            Walked More.—To save gas.
A lot of times I had a hard time talking to my friends and others about their siblings or parents. Some were killed, some were wounded quite bad. Many just did not want to talk about any of it when they got home. All were older than I was and I guess I looked up to them as heroes.

There were a lot of things that changed when the young guys started leaving for the Service. One was that they went from hardly any work during the depression, to working two or three shifts a day to keep the coal flowing 24 hours a day during the war.

The other thing was when the guys left some of the women in town went to work in the mine and on the Tipple. I had never heard of women working in the mine or on the Tipple until then.


The other thing the ladies did when the guys left for the service was to form a ladies  Ball Team. I really do not know how long it lasted after the war ended?
Life went on during the war but I think it changed a lot of things, at least in the small towns of America. One noticeable thing of course was the younger people who left home to serve in the armed services, or to get a job, or to marry someone from a completely different part of the country. This trend continued even after the war was over.

People found things to do at home during the war. Some to help the war effort and some just to keep moral up. A lot of the men started gathering each day at some spot in town and they each changed opinions on how the war was going and when it was likely to end. They also talked a lot about the mistakes “our leaders” were making.

The women seemed to always be getting together, either as a sewing club, a coffee club or a quilting club. I recall them also talking about doing things for the war effort, but I will be darned if I can remember what they were.

One thing that is hard to imagine in our day and age was buying a car. You could not take your check-book or money and go to the dealer and buy a car. You had to get your name on a waiting list, and when the car came to the dealer, you could go and pick it up, or not? Sometimes the car was not exactly what you wanted and you could take it or put your name back on the list until the one you wanted came in.

Here is a list of common items and their costs during the depression and up until WW II ended”
Milk-------------------$.10 a quart
Bread                           .05 a loaf
Bananas                      .05 a pound (most people made their own)
Silk stockings             .69 a pair     (later only nylons were available)
Gas                              .25 gallon
Men/Boys shoes        3.98 pair
Coats                          5.25
1950 Chev. Bel Aire $1750.00 (my first brand new car.)











We ordered most of our clothing from a mail order house. Usually Sears or Montgomery Ward. Typically we would measure ourselves as they told us to in the catalog , and then send off  the order. If it had not come in about 10 days we would become anxious and go to the Post Office every day to see if it was there.

We did not usually go to the store for clothing or shoes during the War or the Depression, but we did start going to a town about 20 miles away after the war, for most everything except for food products.  
One other thing I recall was the first V-Mail I ever saw. When my friend showed it to me there were several parts that had been cut out of the letter and I thought he was just kidding me. Nope. (Loose lips sink ships.)


W.R. Baldwin 7 June 2017




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