Post here if your parents were alive during the 'Great Depression'

[Jara sang]

Mine were. My dad was born well before the stock market crash in 1929.

[WolverineDG]

1. mine were

they both were born in 1929, so grew up during the depression. made for some fun (not) shopping with my mom when i was a teenager. i'd always get "when i was your age, i was lucky. i had 2 sweaters, 2 dresses & 2 pairs of shoes. one for everyday & one for sunday. most of my friends only had one."

her favorite designers were "sale" and his brother "on." ;) to this day, i can't buy a damn thing without thinking "now how many other clothes do you have that will go with that?" :eyes:

dg

[azmouse]

2. My dad was born in 1933.

He was number 7 out of 8 children. Times were tough.

[SharonRB]

3. My dad was born in 1924.

[Rowdyboy]

4. Both were kids....Mom born 1934, dad 1936 in Depression era Mississippi

Thats a pretty tough start.

[Lars39]

5. Yes.

My dad. My mom was born a few years after.

[Richardo]

6. Both born in 1931. Mom's older than dad by 4 months...

...so I'll post in THAT thread too.

[JitterbugPerfume]

7. mine definately were

My dad was born in 1908 amd mom was born in 1918 .I remember seeing sugar stamps when I was a child . Daddy had some good depression stories; I would give all I own to hear them just one more time----,

[brook]

34. My Dad was a year older than yours.

In fact both my folks were born in '07. Like you,I'd give anything to hear the stories one more time.(You brought a lump to my throat).
I'll always miss them.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

8. My grandma! during the depression, her parents used to give her 10 cents

on saturdays to go see a double feature at the movies and get lunch. They were lucky and werent as affected as others by the depression.

[bertha katzenengel]

9. my dad remembers FDR's death - he was almost 5 yrs old

[nutsnberries]

10. mine were.

dad was born in 1923 (served in WWII), mom in 1924.

both are alive and relatively well.

[Oeditpus Rex]

11. Both were teens when the Depression started

Born in 1911 and 1913.

[GOPisEvil]

12. My folks were both born during the 1930s.

[rurallib]

13. Dad born 1917 and an only-child orphan at 5

Mother born 1916, also an orphan with atwin sister. Both brought up by relatives and went through high school (grad 1934). Never talked much about the depression. All they ever said much about was that 50 cents, six friends and a tavern were their entertainment. Both ended up dying from alcohol.
In-laws both lived on farms and were fairly self-sufficient but really poor. They talked more about the depression. FIL fought in WWII and you couldn't get him to talk about it except the months he spent in Iceland. He really liked that. Heard him mention once, just once, that he was part of D-Day. His widowed cousin wanted to see where her husband had landed on D-Day and it almost made my FIL sick to think of.

[philosophie_en_rose]

14. Not mine. My parents were born in the mid/late 1950s.

But my grandparents were alive in the Great Depression.

[RetroLounge]

15. Dad born in '31. Mom in '32

Depression babies, for sure...

RL

[Midlodemocrat]

16. Mine were, but gone now.

My mom born in 1926, used to talk about how she would come home from school to find hungry folks sitting on their back steps eating soup. She says it was almost every day.

My Nana used to make soup and then just through a little extra broth in to stretch it.

My dad's mom, used to say when the wolf came to the door, they were so hungry, they ate the wolf.

[alphafemale]

46. wup...posted wrong place

[alphafemale]

48. Ok I'm an idiot tonight

[calico1]

17. Mom 1924, dad 1930.

They both had it pretty rough.

[MissMillie]

18. My mom was born in 1934, and my dad in 1931.

yep.... right in the middle of the depression I'd say.

[Squeech]

19. Me too

Although they don't remember too much about it.

My father was born roughly a year before the crash, if I'm counting correctly. He remembers lean times in his childhood, but most of the stories he tells were about wartime privations (e.g. how he had to get a special permit to buy a bicycle because most of the steel in the country was being directed toward the war effort). My mother is three years younger.

They knew about the WPA, and to this day they like driving down the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut because of the diverse and beautiful bridges that were built by otherwise idle architects and engineers (all of which desperately need maintenance today, BTW).

[BikeWriter]

20. 1918 and 1919. Mom was born to migrant farm hands and...

share croppers. Dad's father worked at skilled crafts most of the time. Dad share cropped or whatever work he could find in Oklahoma and Arkansas, until they left there in the mid 1940s.

[WCGreen]

21. Yep, they were.....

[RevCheesehead]

22. Yes to both. Dad b. 1919, Mom 1928

And yes, we save EVERYTHING, because "you might need that some day".
Throwing away anything is difficult. Even if it doesn't work
Recycling was never a new concept.
You shop with coupons.
You eat leftovers.
Entertainment means "what's on TV." And anything above basic cable is a luxury. If you go to the movies, it's a matinee - and you bring you own snacks, or eat at home before you go.
Debt is bad - better to pay as you go.

Yup - I learned real good. :)

[The Flaming Red Head]

40. oh my gawd no shit

my dad was born in 1920 and I'm just like that and my kids think I'm really cheap.

I have cookbook that belonged to my great grandmother from the 1870s and I'm saving it not just because it's an antique and an interesting read, but it tells you how to make everything from scratch and I look around and think damn I might need that some day.

[Left Is Write]

23. Not really. They were both born in '39.

[xchrom]

24. my folks were all grown at that time.

[AngryAmish]

25. Pappy was, mommy no

[Tikki]

26. All of ours were.....

Three were teens...one was 10.




The Tikkis

[NoPasaran]

27. Mine were

My dad was born in 1918 and grew up in genuine New York City tenements. My mom was born in 1920. Her father worked on the boats in New Haven. Sometimes he would bring home a bucket full of clams, crabs, lobsters... which they HAD to eat... she hated it!

[donheld]

28. Father in 1906 mother in 1927

So yes.

[bikebloke]

29. Father born in 1931

About a year later, his father died as a result of gassing from the Great War. My grandmother was left with four children. But they survived, or I wouldn't be scribbling this.

[schmuls]

30. Mom born in 1924. Said things weren't too bad because they

lived on a farm.

[OneTwentyoNine]

77. Wow...same here

My dad born in 1923 lived on a farm in Oklahoma. They didn't have two nickles to rub together but they ALWAYS had food. He remembers reading about the horrors of people actually starving to death in the big cities and that always stuck with him.

[terrya]

31. Dad was born in 1927 - Mom was born in 1931

Mom used to tell us stories about how hard it was living during the Depression.

[u4ic]

32. Mom born in 1921; dad born in 1925

I was born in 1966. Everyone at school thought my grandparents were raising me...

Times were extremely tough for my father's family; he lost his dad in 1936 (at the age of 11) - my grandmother, with 7 kids, was widowed at 30. They were extremely poor to begin with. In rural Saskatchewan, there weren't a lot of options...

[djeseru]

33. I was raised by my grandmother...

...who was born in 1920. I still have her habits that she acquired during the Depression that she generously passed on to me, especially paper hoarding and laundry tips.

[BrotherBuzz]

35. Yep

and because of their experiences their credo was bestowed upon me:

Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without.

I learned well.

Oh, and Grandma was onto something good, too. She always said, "Watch your nickels and dimes, and the dollars take care of themselves"

[grace0418]

36. My dad was born in 1927 and my mom in 1929.

So, in other words, yes.

[oneighty]

37. Hahaha

I was born in 34. Dad 1906 Mom about 1910. We lived in an old farm house with outdoor plumbing. Dad had a 'Model A Ford' and tuna fish sandwiches was a staple. Older sisters attended a one room school house and often I went to school with them. A pot bellied coal fired stove warmed the school.

Those were the days kids. Yes they were. "When the moon shines over the cowshed" was a popular song along about 1937-38.

180

[JitterbugPerfume]

44. hey 180

i remember that song--kinda--- and k-k-k Katy beautiful Katy sigh

[Patiod]

38. Born in 1924 and 1925 respectively

and still alive and kicking.

Both frugal beyond belief! But the other kids they hung out with were poor, too, so it didn't seem so bad, although sometimes they'll play "can you top this": "we were so poor, my brothers went rabbit hunting for dinner (not odd elsewhere, but this was Philadelphia's Main Line, where my grandfather worked on one of the big estates) "we were so poor, I put cardboard in my shoes when they got holes in them".....

[skygazer]

39. Both were born in the 20's

Mom in '24, Dad in '27. Neither of them talked about it much - I know my dad's family lost their farm at some point in the Depression.

[Ellen Forradalom]

41. Here

I came along when dad was 40. And I'm older than that.

[texanwitch]

42. My Mother was born in 1922 and my Father in 1923.

My Mother lived on a farm so she wasn't super poor, but my Father's family lost everything and had go on the road.

[RJnAbbysNana]

43. Both of my parents were.

My dad was born in 1898, and my mother in 1907. I was born in 1941, just after the depression ended and about nine months before Pearl Harbor.

On top of that, my dad had been married before and had six kids from his previous marriages, and my mother was a widow with four living kids from her first marriage. Together they had another five kids, and at one time there were thirteen kids at home, all of us living in a two-bedroom house.

I think we wrote the book on poverty, but there was no sense in complaining. We made do with what we had and "plugged on," sewing our own clothes with Mom's old Singer treadle sewing machine, etc.

People would give us used clothing, and Mom was very adept at making new items out of old. When my little sister was a baby, she made a beautiful, blue bunting for her from a used coat someone had given us; and when I was five years old, she made me a beautiful, little dress for kindergarten "graduation" from a lady's dress given to us.

WWII seemed to be the worst time, because everything was rationed. When the butter rations ran out, we had to eat lard on bread; and when the sugar rations ran out, Mom had to use saccharin in canning and cooking. (Yuck!!!!!)

My dad bought our house for $200 during the depression, and when he passed away it sold for $7,000, which was pretty good, considering that the kitchen area was originally log cabin.

Regards,

RJnAbbysNana

[Lydia Leftcoast]

45. Yes, father born in 1911, mother born in 1921

My father came out of college during the Depression, and the only way he could get a job was to offer to work for free for the first two weeks. He eventually joined the CCCs, the Civilian Conservation Corps.

My mother was, of course, much younger, and she didn't have it too bad, because her father was a schoolteacher. But one year, the school system opened a month late in order to save money. This meant no paychecks for the teachers. In order to save money themselves, my grandparents shut down their house, packed up the car with camping equipment, and moved the household to a state park for the month of September. They stayed for free and lived off fish from the lake and produce, eggs, and milk from local farmers.

My grandmother's brother was a Lutheran pastor in a small town, and his congregation couldn't afford to pay him much. He and his wife came within a week of giving their three children to relatives, when he heard that the Army was looking for chaplains. He was underweight, so he bought loaves of day-old bread and stuffed himself with them so that he was able to just make the weight limit. This was before World War II, and his decision eventually took him to the jungles of New Guinea, but at least his family was taken care of.

[we can do it]

47. My Dad In 1932, Mom in 1933

My dad was quite a packrat when they had a bigger house. Now he's got a bunch of stuff out in a pole barn. Never know when you're gonna need that.....

[samplegirl]

49. Yes my mother was born 1914

and I remember every story. One right after the
other.

[ScreamingMeemie]

50. My parents were born in the waning months of WWII...1944.

My Dad's dad was a merchant marine/bar owner and my grandma was a flapper/dancer (paid) That's how they met. :hi:

[yvr girl]

51. My dad was born in '31 and my mom in '36

They were ancient by 60's standards when they had me.

[alphafemale]

52. My Mom never forgave her brother for killing and cooking her pet duck.

Can't say I blame her.

She was born in 1922.

My Dad was born in 1917.

They're both gone now.

btw, I was a very late baby.
Just barely a baby boomer.

[gollygee]

53. My parents were born during it

they remember WWII but they are too young to remember the depression

[GalleryGod]

54. My Mom was 15. Had to move out on her own at 16.

Told me Depression tales as a kid. That's where my love of history and the Democratic Party (FDR) came from.:patriot:

[AirmensMom]

55. Mine were.

1922 and 1925.

[DainBramaged]

56. Wow my Mom is still alive, 87 years old February 20th

Dad died in 1984 February 22, he was 64. My Mom remembers how hard the family struggled and how it became worse when her dad died in the mid-Thirties. She doesn't talk much about it, but she once said she worked at at bank during the depression only because she had a high school education. My Dad was a house painter, quit school when he was SEVEN years old. How, I am clueless, but I don't think the record keeping was very good back then. Went back and finished school and even got a degree in engineering after WWII. She also never owned a car until her and my Dad got married.


I have a distinct feeling it was a very unhappy time for her.

[greatauntoftriplets]

57. My father was born in 1910 and my mother in 1912.

They were on the old side when I was born.

My mother remembers being a high school student and passing by the bank where she had some money deposited one morning on her way to school. There was an enormous line out in front and she figured that a run on the bank was occurring...so ditched school to get her money out.

It was $5,000, left to her by her father who had died a few months earlier, and certainly a fortune to her back then....considering that the bulk of her father's money (and he was wealthy) was invested in real estate. He had dumped most of the real estate investment to put it in the stock market. Probably spun in his grave after that.

They married in 1934.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

58. Yes, my parents were alive during the "Great Depression."

Mom born in 1918, and Dad in 1920....still alive and living on their own.

:wow:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

59. Mine, born 1919 and 1920.

They were always frugal -- I guess you don't really get over something like that.

[Dervill Crow]

60. Both of mine were.

My dad was born in 1919 and my mom in 1922. If they had lived to see me in debt like I am now they would be horrified, because they raised me better than that.

:mad:

[maveric]

61. Dad, 1931, Ma 1933. But what was so fucking "Great" about the Depression?

Wouldnt that be considered an oxymoron?

[Maestro]

81. Not necessarily

The word great can refer to magnitude as well not excellence.

[Blue Diadem]

62. Dad born 1917, Mom born 1918 n/t

[kwassa]

63. 1924 and 1926

Both still alive, too.

[liberaltrucker]

64. Dad was born in 1927, Mom in '29

Both sets of grandparents caught hell in Depression-Era Alabama. That's why I'm a Liberal-hearing all the stories about how FDR's programs saved countless lives.

[Skittles]

65. I had the double whammy

my dad survived the Depression and my mum survived bombing by Germans as a child in England during WWII

[GoddessOfGuinness]

66. Mom was born in 1934

Her mom was not too pleased about being pregnant since they were barely scraping by.

Dad was born in 1933. He was their only child; and I gather it wasn't a thrilling childhood.

[marigold20]

67. Yes, 1916 and 1919

They didn't talk much about the Depression but my mom did reveal once that the reason her family of dad, mom and eight kids moved so much was because they were always skipping out on the rent! Her dad was a school janitor so he had a job during the Depression but I imagine he didn't make much.

She was sixty before we learned that she never graduated from high school. It was just so embarrassing to her - she quit in her senior year to take a really neat office job where her older sister worked.

[Bossy Monkey]

68. You bet. n/t

[CBHagman]

69. Yes, both of them.

Both were born in 1924, and my father served in World War II.

[rustydog]

70. My parents were born in 1026 and 1927.

[Maddy McCall]

71. Dad, 1930. Mom, 1935.

[Hardrada]

72. My dad, my mom and my aunt (my dad's sister)

All schoolkids in the Depression. All still alive, (Dad is is USAAF WWII vet) and still tell tales. But did not suffer too much since my grandfather was a dentist and accepted payment in food! Chickens, eggs, sides of beef etc.!!! The old barter system. My great uncle John through some clever maneuvering managed to keep the family farm too.

[ashling]

73. My parents were born in 1918

both were very much touched by the Depression.
Dad grew up on a farm in Bluff Dale Texas ... Mom on a farm in Neshoba County, Ms. The first president they voted for was FDR.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

74. I've been rather greatly depressed since 2000, does that

count??

[yellowdogintexas]

75. dad was born in 1923 and mom was born in 1925

so they were old enough to remember it all.

My mom lived in Kansas during the Dust Bowl years.

[OneTwentyoNine]

76. Yup,Dad born in 1923,mom in 1927. Dad's still alive....

Although my dad never did 100% verify it he believes fully that his dad lost all his money that was in a bank account when the banks closed up or had a run on them.

It was well into the late forties before his father EVER trusted a bank to once again hold his money. Just an unbelievable experience that most of us can't fully grasp even when its told to us by those who lived it.

[supernova]

78. Both parents were kids and teens through the Depression

Daddy was born in 1920 and Mom was born in 1927.

They did have that mentality that you can never prepare enough, save enough, or throw anything away.

[In_The_Wind]

79. My father was born in 1922, my mother in 1924.

[Maestro]

80. My mom and dad were born

just at the tail-end of the Great Depression.

[fudge stripe cookays]

82. Yep, both born in 1932.

Mom in Belleville,IL and dad in Chicago.

Dad came from a family of 9 children; he was #8. One had died before he was born. My grandfather was doing OK when they lived in Beloit. They had a house and a car, and the family moved to Chicago in the mid 1920s.

When the Depression hit, he lost his job, and they had to move into a tenement. My dad called it "Cockroach Boulevard." My aunt always insisted it wasn't that bad. They were always close though. In the city, there were enough free things to do to keep themselves occupied. A friend of my dad's told me at his funeral that when they were young they used to make "sugar sandwiches!"

I have a really great pic of dad and 2 of his sisters in the courtyard of the slum but I can't find it. Here's another that's pretty good. Check out the shoes.

[Wcross]

83. Yes- The pictures stopped from 1930-1943.

My grandmother took a lot of pictures of the kids but there are none from about 1930-1943. I guess spending money of photos was out of the question during the depression.

[peekaloo]

84. Mine were both born during the '20's.

Oddly enough they both lost their father(s) during the '30's. :-(

[sarge43]

85. Mine were born in 1908

They married the summer of 1929. They bought a small farm (Mom's father lent them the money) just so they have something to live on. Neither of them knew zip about farming; they learned on the jump. The house burned down; they rebuilt from whatever they could beg, borrow and scrounge. They lost a child; I'm sure in part because they couldn't afford med care. My father taught himself to be an electrician and work at the Chevy factory in town, along with running the farm. He was involved in the labor movement, got his head bashed more than once. Mom told me she use to wear Dad's underwear around the house so her one dress wouldn't get dirty or torn. She said in a way she hated getting any extra money, even a quarter, because she wouldn't know what to spend it on - extra food, something for the house, etc.

This went on for ten years. People who romanticize the Depression have no idea, no idea at all.

Rest in peace, Mom and Dad. You were two tough, courageous soldiers. Salute.

[Zen Democrat]

86. Mine were - and they wouldn't pay interest on anything but home and car.

All credit cards paid within 30 days. Furniture, etc., were bought on plans that offered interest free if paid in 90 days or 12 months.

My folks still coupon shop, buy gas at the cheapest stations, and horde sugar. My dad has driven every car he's ever had for over 10 years. He worked over 50 years as a member of a trade union, mother never worked, and they are doing well in retirement.

I remember shopping with my mother as a child and it was out of the question to buy a sandwich or hamburger -- we went home to eat. No picking up cokes at the 7-11 either.

Both parents are STRONG Democrats.

[argyl]

87. Yep. Both were born and raised on farms.Mom in Central Texas,Dad in

Kansas.Monday,Dec.8th,the day after Pearl Harbor,Dad,his brother(my uncle Kenneth),my Mom's brother(my uncle Homer),and my Mom's favorite cousin,John Porter,were all standing in line outside their local draft boards,as were millions of others around the country.

Uncle Homer flew fifty bombing missions over Germany,under protection by the Tuskegee Airmen, and won the Distinguished Flying Cross.Cousin John was shot down over Germany. His remains were never recovered.

[Orsino]

88. Both of mine. n/t

[begin_within]

89. Dad born 1917, died 1994. Mom born 1918, still very much alive.