The great depression started in 1929. I was born a year later in 1930. However the depression lasted until 1941. Even though I was a child during this time, I still have some vivid memories of this period. It was a terrible, discouraging time in our nation. It was especially trying for those families that lived in large cities. Many families went to bed hungry. The men didn't have a job; there was no food in the house and they lived on food that was given to them or went to a soup kitchen. Many times several families would move into the same house because of the shortage of rent money.
Since my family lived on a small farm, we never suffered from lack of food. I can never remember going to bed hungry. We raised most of our food and had plenty. What we didn't have was money. It was a real struggle for dad to save enough money to pay utilities and taxes. During all this time he remained a true Republican and blamed all his troubles on Franklin D. Roosevelt. The majority of the population blamed all the problems on Ex-President Hoover and thought that Franklin D. Roosevelt walked on water.
People actually picked up pennies in those days and felt they had found a treasure. Five cents was a treasure. You could buy an ice cream cone for five cents. Housewives could buy a spool of thread for five cents and made most of the clothing for the family. Many young women had the words, "Wild Turkey Flour" on the seat of their under pants. Empty flour sacks were never thrown away.
My parents could only afford to buy me one pair of shoes a year. Those shoes were worn to church, school and anywhere else shoes were required. Even though I went bare-footed during the summer, holes started to appear in the soles of my one pair of shoes by Christmas. I had my own system of solving this problem. First I would cut out the tongue of the shoe and place it in the bottom to cover the hole. This only lasted one or two days. The next step was to fold a sheet of the daily newspaper and stick it in the bottom of my shoes. I had the best read feet in the entire school. In the winter the paper would be completely wet by the time I reached school. I can remember how cold my feet would be during the rest of the day.
At some point during the winter Dad would accumulate enough money to have my shoes half-soled. This meant that a new sole was tacked over the original sole. The repairman would also put a new heel on the shoe. The new heel was a lot thicker than the half-sole so you you felt like you were always walking downhill. Such a process would also give you an immediate one-inch growth in height. This new half-sole would get me through the balance of the winter and spring until I could go bare-footed again.
Speaking of going bare-footed, this was shear torture during the first several weeks of Spring. Many roads and sidewalks were simply gravel. Have you ever walked on gravel without wearing shoes? It really smarts! However, after several weeks, tough calluses formed on the bottom of our feet and we could walk anywhere without discomfort.
Grandpa's wisdom - Some old-age and political advice.
Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of algebra.
Old age is when former classmates are so gray and wrinkled and bald, they don't recognize you.
I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -- Winston Churchill
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. -- P. J. O'Rouke
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