Life on the Prairie

 

Grace

Though times were hard, young Grace was not sad,

Each day she found reasons to be glad.

 

Families and friends would closer be

If they survived dust and no money.

 

Scarred from losses, humanity would mend,

When the Great Depression came to an end.

 

 

Blog changes on the first and third weeks.

Prairie Girls

Grace

My name is Grace. My father lost his job at the bank in the small town where we live. America is in a depression, and many banks are closing. When Daddy worked at the bank he could do all the jobs, from sweeping the floor to locking and unlocking the vault where the money was kept. I plan to help Daddy find another job, one that is even better than his job at the bank. Momma says I am an optimist because I always look for good in any situation. 

 

Helping One Another

                                              by Collette

People living in our area of the state did not experience the horrible dust storms of the other regions. It was possible to grow gardens and even crops here. What communities endured was different, but people all shared a special quality found throughout the country: compassion for those struggling with day-to-day trials of surviving without much. Churches all over the country opened their doors to provide food for hungry people in the community or the many transients on their way to find a better place to live.

My dad’s neighbors shared food. If a cow or hog was butchered, everyone turned out to help and shared in the bounty of meat. Women continued to can vegetables and fruit. My dad doesn’t like pears to this day because of how many he had to eat from the tree in the yard. (He also wasn’t fond of Jell-O because it was inexpensive, and a new food Grandma fixed too often.) He doesn’t remember being hungry, unlike so many other people in other areas of the country.

When money became scarce for families, they bartered for food or services. Doctors might be paid with a chicken or eggs. If a woman’s husband left to look for work, a box of groceries might appear on her doorstep to help feed her family until he returned. Clothing could be found for those passing through who needed something for winter. Families and neighbors took care of each other and shared the burdens.

That is the really positive thing from the Great Depression: people caring for other people. What a shame we don’t see more of that today. They remain a proud generation who did what was right because it was the right thing to do.  

Bank Holiday

The Bank Holiday

                                           by Collette
  

U.S. banks had been closing by the hundreds since 1929.  Banks sometimes closed if bad investments had been made, and that triggered “a run” on the banks. If someone heard a bank might be closing its doors, customers immediately wanted to remove their deposits and savings. All it took was a rumor a bank might not be solvent to create panic and start a run.

One of the first acts of the newly elected President Franklin Delano Roosevelt after entering office was the Bank Holiday of 1933. All banks in the United States were officially closed for four days to allow bank examiners to determine if each bank carried enough assets. They could not reopen until they proved they met the needs of their customers and the criteria of the federal government. Very few banks closed after the Emergency Banking Act was passed. Later the FDIC would protect funds even more by guaranteeing $2,500 of a person’s saving was insured against the failure of the bank. The amount increased over the years and provided Americans with a sound banking system.

The following sites might be helpful for further research:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Banking_Act
http://www.ushistory.org/us/49a.asp
http://ncpedia.org/bank-holiday-1933
http://depts.washington.edu/depress/bank_crisis_1933.shtml

 

 

 

Depression Recipes

Depression Recipes

              by Collette

Grace might have eaten the following dishes at her home or at the hotel.

Swiss Steak with Dumplings

2 pounds round steak                                 2 cups cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup flour                                               1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons oil                                        ½ teaspoon salt and pepper

Dredge steak in flour, salt and pepper. Brown in oil. Add soup and water. Prepare dumplings.

Dumplings:
½ cup bread crumbs                                   2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons butter, divided                     salt
1 1/3 cups flour                                          2/3 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients. Add milk and butter. Drop by tablespoons into crumb and then put on steak. Bake 20-30 minutes at 425 degrees.

Macaroni Loaf

½ cup macaroni                                          1 cup milk
1 cup bread crumbs                                    1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon green pepper                         1 tablespoon chopped onion
1 tablespoon parsley                                  3 eggs
½ cup grated cheese.

Cook macaroni in salted water, rinse in cold water. Cook parsley, onion and pepper in water with butter. Allow to boil nearly dry. Divide eggs from whites and beat separately. Mix all ingredients; fold in whites of eggs last. Bake in buttered pan placed in pan of hot water. Bake in a moderate oven ½ to ¾ of an hour. Serve with creamed peas.

 

The Storyteller's Corner

 

The Bank Holiday

                                           by Collette

My parents grew up during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Grandfathers on both sides were able to keep jobs during the worst financial years, but my dad’s side fared better than my mother’s. His dad, my grandpa Bill, worked for the most successful banker in our town managing his farming and cattle interests.

Whenever Grandpa went to town, if my dad wasn’t in school, he usually accompanied him on his errands. He visited his boss and friend at the bank each time he went to keep him abreast of how his operations were doing. The banker often gave my dad candy or money when he went. At Christmas the friend gave oranges to the children of his customers, a rare treat in those days. If my dad got a nickel that meant a trip to the picture show when Grandpa and Grandma came to town on Saturdays. Tom Mix and westerns were his favorites.

The banker friend had a kind heart and allowed businesses as much time as possible to repay their loans. Because farmers felt the depression even before the Stock Market Crash of 1929, he carried them longer than most banks did. There were three banks in town at the time of the Bank Holiday. When the bank examiners came to investigate whether the banks were solvent, Grandpa’s friend loaned the other two banks money from his, as well as some of his own personal monies so they would have enough available cash to pass the examination.

That evening on the day of the inspection, the money was to be returned to Grandpa’s friend’s bank. Somehow this did not happen, and the bank examiners shut his bank down. His customers lost everything. Customers blamed him personally for losing their funds. His bank was just one of thousands closed following the Bank Holiday. His generosity caused the demise of his bank, and the ruination of a kind man forever blamed for his actions.     

Up the Family Tree

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morning Person

                                           By Judy

Like Grace, I am a morning person. I wasn’t always one, but I became one after the birth of my first child. When my children were babies, they were early risers, and I had a rocking chair positioned so I had a view to the east. It helped, too, that I lived on a hill in a house with a lot of east windows. Sunrises in Kansas are beautiful, no matter the season. There are just fewer visible ones during the gray, cloudy days of winter.

My early-rising children converted to late risers during their teen years. There were contributing factors to their conversions, of course. One son had a job that required him to work some week nights, and he didn’t get home until after 10:00 p.m.  His grades did not suffer, but I wouldn’t want to know the number of times he was tardy for his first class at school. We made sure we sent him to college with a couple of loud alarm clocks.

One day my younger son, who was old enough to drive, and I made tentative plans to meet for lunch. He was to pick me up at my office. Lunch came, but no son, and I assumed he had made other plans. Because our lunch date was “iffy”, I was not alarmed he had not called. When I arrived home shortly after 5:00 P.M., he greeted me.

“What are you doing home this time of day? I thought we were going to lunch today,” he said. His hair was still wet from his recent shower.

“I always come home right after 5:00 P.M.,” I answered. “I thought we were going to lunch today, too. When you didn’t come by at noon, I assumed you had made other plans with your friends.”  

“So, it’s not lunch time?” my son asked as he looked up toward the kitchen clock.

“No, it’s pretty much dinner time,” I said and pulled leftovers out of the fridge. “Did you have a good day’s sleep?” I asked.

“Uh, well, yes I did,” he answered. “Say, what are you doing for lunch tomorrow, and could you call me around 11:30 A.M?”