During the long decade of the Great Depression, individuals and families demonstrated remarkable creativity in finding new ways to survive, thrive, and overcome their challenges. There was no end to their ingenious solutions for earning money, saving money, and maintaining a spirit of courage and positive thinking.
I first became fascinated with this era when, one day, my mother casually mentioned, “When I was a little girl and wanted a snack, my mom would give me a piece of lettuce with a sprinkling of sugar.”
It wasn’t just the frugal snacks and meals; it was the lifelong attitudes and habits of these resilient Americans that fascinated me. I asked my readers to share their own experiences and memories. Emails began pouring in from across the country, with recurring themes of resilience, creativity, and determination.
Creative Ways to Make Ends Meet
It was typical for individuals to hold more than one job or to juggle multiple side businesses to support their families. Some earned extra money working as handymen alongside gardening and cooking for wealthier families.Skill swapping and bartering were common, and learning new skills helped bring in more income. One ingenious solution was learning to refurbish old and broken-down things, like a sewing machine, to either resell or keep for the family. Since few people could afford to replace a broken car or appliance, skilled mechanics and repairmen were in demand.
Women working outside the home was still considered unseemly in those days, but as millions of men found themselves out of work and standing in desperately long soup lines, women found creative ways to help provide for their families. Some took in laundry and ironing; some rented out rooms and sold homemade baked goods door to door.
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One reader described how her great-grandmother grew broom corn and made brooms to sell. Another saved up enough money to buy a peddle-pumping printing machine so she could print posters for businesses and churches.
And women weren’t the only ones launching creative ventures to support their families. Kids sold newspapers on street corners. Often, it would be kids who foraged for edibles such as wild-grown asparagus, rhubarb, dandelion, chickweed, and berries. They learned at an early age which plants were edible and which might even have medicinal properties for homemade tinctures and salves.
Today, foraging and making homemade remedies is trendy, but during the Great Depression, this was often a necessity. In “We Had Everything But Money,” Deb Mulvey’s compilation of personal accounts and anecdotes from the Great Depression published in 1995, Saxon Morris told how his family spent time at the beach, not to splash in the water or sunbathe, but to collect clams and crabs to sell.
Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make Do, or Do Without
It wasn’t enough to earn a few extra dollars. Most families also needed to find ways to avoid spending money on anything at all, from Christmas gifts to new clothes.When the holidays came around, an apple or an orange might be the only gift. Still, hard times couldn’t entirely dampen festive spirits. Toys and dolls were refurbished with new, handmade clothing, but most gifts were items of necessity, like socks or a new pair of shoes. Decorations around the house or on a Christmas tree would be handmade and homemade—strings of popcorn, cranberries, and paper ornaments. Tinsel would be smoothed out and used again next year.
Women found used wool sweaters and blankets in thrift stores, unraveled them, and reused the wool yarn in new projects. A new dress might be made from a cloth flour bag, but just as often, hems were shortened, lengthened, and side seams let in and out depending on the girth of its wearer!
Not only was cash carefully hoarded and often hidden, but people saved virtually everything possible “just in case.” I remember my grandmother, Nana, with her margarine bowls filled with rubber bands and thumbtacks, and she always had a stack of washed and smoothed-out aluminum foil.
Looking for anything useful in one way or another became a hobby for many. R.E. Quinn, another contributor to “We Had Everything But Money,” tells how her entire family walked along railroad tracks to pick up pieces of coal falling off train cars.
Pinching Pennies in the Kitchen
Once again, it was ingenuity to the rescue! Mock apple pie was invented to provide the flavor and texture of a real apple pie using saltine crackers, sugar, spices, and butter.A simple tomato soup made from ketchup, a little salt and pepper, and water was served and eaten by more than one hungry family. Soups were easy to stretch, so more people could be served by adding more water and lots of macaroni. Tomato gravy over rice, fried cornmeal mush, and milk toast filled thousands of bellies while costing mere pennies.
Homemade bread was cheap to make, so sandwiches became more of a meal staple than ever. Fillings became extremely frugal, such as tomatoes, cucumber and mustard, lard, fried potato peelings, and American cheese—which became popular during the Depression era because it was cheap to produce and didn’t require refrigeration.
Many families who still lived in small towns and on homesteads report barely noticing the rest of the country was in dire financial straits. They grew their own food, expanded their gardens, and preserved what they produced. Raising livestock provided meat and dairy, and these families had a wealth of knowledge and skills that city dwellers had either forgotten or had never learned. People in town often had the roughest experiences because they didn’t know how to be self-sufficient.
Thriving in Difficult Times
Despite an unemployment rate of nearly 25 percent at the height of the Great Depression, not every household was affected similarly. Some families and businesses actually thrived.Successful start-up businesses began as humble door-to-door sales ventures, produce sellers, or appliance repair services. Publix Super Markets got its start during the decade of the Great Depression and experienced great success. The entertainment industry boomed by providing a low-cost escape for millions.
America’s Great Depression was a life-defining experience. Hardship and scarcity were met with fortitude, ingenuity, and a determination to adapt and thrive. Those examples inspire us to do the same when faced with our own generation’s toughest challenges.
