Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Life During the Great Depression

Hello readers! After last week's very exciting news, it's time to get back on track with our semi-kind of-but not really regularly scheduled history lesson (I promise that since I now have a Patreon account (https://patreon.cpm/thehalfpinthistorianblog) that I'll try to make regular post updates here on the blog as well as on my Patreon page. 

Since last post examined the various causes of the Great Depression, this post will examine what life was like for those who had to live through the economic crash.


The Great Depression, which continues to be the worst economic downturn in modern American history, deeply affected the daily life of average American families in various ways, both minute and significant.

What is important to note is that both the afflluent and the average American suffered hardships during this period of economic decline. By 1933, about one quarter of the U.S. workforce was unemployed, the highest it's ever been. Americans who were lucky enough to have had steady employment at the time often saw their wages cut ot saw their hours reduced to part-time. Upper middle class professionals such as doctors and lawyers would see their incomes drop by nearly half at this time. Those who once had enjoyed economic stability regardless of their echleon would face financial instabilty or even ruin.

The motto for the Great Depression era was "Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without". Some families and individuals would attempt to keep up appearances and carry on with the lifestyle they had enjoyed in the previous decade while they adapted to the new economic cicumstances. As a whole, though, households eembraced frugality in daily life with most families keeping kitchen gardens, patching worn-out clothes, and limiting entertainment such as trips to the movies as they struggled to retain ownership of their vehicles and homes. 

Magazines and radio shows of the Depression era taught homemakers how to stretch their food budget through meals that would last a while such as casseroles, chili, macaroni and cheese, rice and beans, soups, and chipped beef on toast. Church potlucks became a popular way for people to share food and as a form of social entertainment. The creation of community gardens in more urban areas provided food for entire neighborhoods.

Despite the Great Depression causing economic distraught for the majority of Americans, people found a way to entertain themselves in affordable ways. Miniature golf became popular during this era and more than 30,000 mini golf links sprang up around the country; people often stayed home and played card and board games with friends and neighbors, such as Scrabble and Monoply which were both introduced in the 1930s; and the radio provided a free form of entertainment as many Americans owned a home radio at the time, providing listeners with entertainment vis swing music, radio shows, sports broadcasts, soap operas, and more.

The Great Depression saw women entering the workforce in increasing numbers. In order to attempt tp make ends meet, many families added an extra wage earner via married women entering the workforce. Despite massive widespread unemployment during the Depression era, the number of married women entering the workforce increased, although they were very heavily criticized for taking jobs when so many men were out of work (although women often took clerical, secretary, or service industry jobs that were not socially acceptable for men to take on at the time). In many cases, because they could get away with doing so, employers paid women less than they paid their male counterparts.   

The economic stress that people were under led to the breakdown of many families and relationships; although divorce rates decreased for a time as people could not afford to separate and divorce, the number of spousal abandonments increased. Young men and young women, mostly teenagers, would ride the rails, illegally hopping from freight train to freight train traveling to various cities in search of work because they felt like they were burdens on their families. And the number of welfare recipients increased during this time, and despite the sharp economic downturn that affected the majority of Americans utilizing social welfare programs was still seen as a stigma.

A common belief during this era was that crime rates increased, which is not accurate. The two year long bank robbery spree undertaken by Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow as well as the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby were both highly broadcast in the media of the day, where overall violent crime rates decreased. 

Homelessness increased during the Depression years and the rise of Hoovevilles, makeshift shantytowns named after Herbert Hoover, the president during the early years of the Depression, sprang up in various areas across the country.

The Great Depression was a dark time in America's history as the majority of Americans suffered through economic hardships. However, through the creation and implementation of various social programs, the Great Depression would come to an end and lead to a new era of economic and social prosperity. Next time here on the blog, we'll examine how the Great Depression met its end.

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