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    Gadsden: Stories of the Great Depression
    Gadsden: Stories of the Great Depression
    Gadsden: Stories of the Great Depression
    Ebook163 pages1 hour

    Gadsden: Stories of the Great Depression

    By Robert Wilbanks

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    About this ebook

    The 1930s were an unparalleled period in American history. Never before or since and probably never again has the gamut of human emotions swung so far, and so fast. On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed and soon after, the nation of plenty was in turmoil and fast becoming a wasteland. No sacred institution was left untouched; banks failed, factories shut down, stores closed, and almost every business seemed paralyzed with economic stagnation. A generation raised in these conditions could not help but be changed by such foreboding circumstances. It was a period in which new trends of thought emerged in economic matters, social activity, and moral conduct all leaving the pockmark of progress upon the nation s young. This book presents a revealing portrait of one man s life during the Depression. His particular story is derived from a specific location in the state of Alabama; however, it is an intimately familiar tale to anyone who survived that horrible economic period, and to younger generations who have allowed the stories to endure in their family lore.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateDec 30, 1999
    ISBN9781439610442
    Gadsden: Stories of the Great Depression
    Author

    Robert Wilbanks

    Author Robert Wilbanks brings to life has father�s vivid recollections through both words and images, and in doing so sheds light on America�s darkest hour. A free-lance writer and photographer, his work has been published in The Birmingham News and the Gadsden Times. With Gadsden: Stories of the Great Depression, Wilbanks has contributed to this country�s collective memory of an era that forever changed the course of history.

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      Book preview

      Gadsden - Robert Wilbanks

      manuscript.

      During the 1930s, the outside of a country store was usually decorated with advertisements for products available inside.

      THE GOOD OLD DAYS

      Today, with the uncertainty that exists in our modern world, Americans are longingly looking back at a period in rural America which was lived at a slower pace.

      Simple taste. Simple pleasure. Life in the good old days of the 1930s was a time of extreme hardship, but it was also a time when a person could experience real personal satisfaction in the simple chores of life.

      During this era, the economy of the South was basically one of agriculture and the majority of people lived on a family farm, known as the old homeplace.

      The rural family was almost a self-sufficient unit. each farm had a garden, provided its own milk and eggs, raised meat, and grew feed for the stock.

      During the season, the vegetables for the winter were canned; Old Bossie daily provided the milk needs while ham, sausage, and lard came from the fattened hog.

      All the necessities could not be provided on the farm. A cash crop, usually cotton, was raised, which enabled the farmer to make purchases that were absolutely necessary.

      For most families, these purchases were made at a general store. In early rural America, with its scattered farmhouses, it was the country store that brought together a community. The store at the dusty crossroads made a neighborhood out of these houses and gave the area a personality of its own.

      A hay rake sits idle until harvest.

      The boots represent the end of a hard day’s work on the farm.

      A visit to a country store was looked upon as a cherished treat. The trips were made sparingly and then only out of necessity. The store sold everything from candy to clothes and from medicine to farm implements. The most basic items sold were sugar, salt, coffee, and flour; the youngsters favored candy jawbreakers, orange slices, peppermint sticks, and peanut brittle.

      In the fall, the cotton was sold and the farmer received his pay for a year’s work. This money was used to buy clothes for his family, kerosene for the lamps, and groceries such as flour and salt.

      Work on the farm changed with each season. Spring was the time when borrowing money was usually necessary to make a new crop; time was spent in preparing the land and, finally, planting the crop. early summer meant hot, continuous field work until the crop was laid by. After this, the family was given more free hours—chances to attend protracted meetings (all day singing with dinner on the ground), the big Fourth of July picnics with tubs of pink lemonade, and time to loaf at their favorite swimming hole.

      Then, before organized swimming in concrete pools was known, young boys would either skinny-dip in a nearby creek or swim wearing a pair of cut-off overalls. After their swim, they would change back into dry street clothes and leave the wet overalls on the bank for someone else to use; or until next time, when they were able to sneak away for a quick dip.

      With the arrival of fall, the tempo again picked up. Cotton had to be picked, corn gathered, and sorghum made—all in preparation for the coming winter months. The winter brought more activities into the house.

      For the women, this was a time of social gatherings and quilting; the men spent their free time with Old Blue, hunting rabbits and squirrels.

      A horse collar hangs on the barn wall.

      A light in the window of an old farmhouse was always a welcomed sight to friends and family.

      The farm wagon was used to transport farm produce to market and to attend social functions.

      With the Great Depression and, in close succession, World War II, that known world changed rapidly. New lifestyles, new ideas, and new types of machinery all helped pave the road to financial success and an easier life of which so many had always dreamed.

      But these same benefits, sadly, opened the doors of uncertainty that are still swinging freely. Although no one in the South would trade the modern conveniences of today for the hardships of this earlier era, there is much to be said for the day when people were content with the simple things of life.

      Empty pots and pans reflect the hopeless conditions of the 1930s for the many families who struggled to survive.

      THE WINTER OF DESPAIR: AN OVERVIEW OF THE DEPRESSION YEARS

      The 1930s were an unparalleled period in American history. Never before or since—and probably never again—has the gamut of human emotions swung so far, so fast.

      Herbert Hoover ushered in the new decade as the president of a prosperous nation. A nation whose mood was set—it wanted to enjoy in peace the multitude of goods and gadgets it had discovered its modern, efficient industrial plants could produce in ever greater quantities.¹

      Big business was being crowned King. Automobiles were providing for a mobile society. extensive radio broadcasting was taking place. There was a rebirth in the arts and literature. Providing a backdrop for all this activity was prohibition, taking both the time and effort of everyone on both sides of the issue. Such was the atmosphere and conditions prevailing in America before The Great Crash.

      On October 29, 1929, the stock market crashed and soon after, the nation of plenty was in turmoil and fast becoming a wasteland. No sacred institution was left untouched; banks failed, factories shut down, stores closed, and almost every business seemed paralyzed.

      A deserted farmhouse

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