Need great depression stories, recipes, etc.

[coruscate]

http://www.healthyinsanity.com/ruby/

^_^

I'm setting up a webpage for a 75 year old client of mine who eventually wants to publish a cook book or her own recipes, but wants to put together a website sharing some of her recipes, photos and experiences.

She's looking for contributions from anyone who has lived through that age, or even if you just happen to have some family photos from that era available, please share!

[SRV Ron]

Too much available to print here. Grandma passed away before she could finished writing about the great move to Michigan during the end of the depression.

However, here is a recipe for school lunches for people too poor to buy lunch meat or peanut butter. Syrup sandwiches.

Grandma developed her own film and made contact prints. You could buy the supplies at the drug store. It was too expensive to have film developed and printed. As usual, quality suffered from overusing the chemicals to save cost.

Jenny also plowed garden plots to earn a few bucks.

Gardening to grow vegetables for use and barter was quite common

Taken during the depression. The freighter behind the sailboat is looking for a shipping job

This house, now part of several remodeling, still stand today

Note the lunch pails for the syrup sandwiches

[coruscate]

Awesome, that was fast! Ruby will definitely appreciate the help. So tell me more about these syrup sandwhiches! Whereabouts in the country was this? And do you want your family name or some kind of credit on these?

[SRV Ron]

Syrup sandwiches were just two slices of bread with pancake syrup. While I live in Michigan in the same house, now highly remodeled, a lot of people used syrup when the home made jelly ran out in place of the much more expensive lunch meats, peanut butter, etc.

Nothing was thrown away then. If the milk went sour because you wrapped the ice in newspaper to make it last longer in the ice box, you drank it anyways or used it for cooking. The bacon grease was saved for baking. If you were able to, you raised your own chickens for eggs, a cow for milk, and a pig or two for butcher. They did most of the cooking and baking including bread, rolls, pies, cookies, and other goods.

Water came from a shallow well, rain barrel, or cistern. You used the outhouse. You heated with coal in a pot belly stove or similar cast iron core space heater. Houses were not insulated and very drafty. The House I am in had a flat uninsulated roof until I put a truss roof over it to stop the leaking and rotting. (It cost too much money to build a truss roof. Foundations were wood fence posts that quickly rotted out causing the house to sag until the floor joist also started to rot. I'm still repairing the damage on the last addition made in 1935 even after the house was jacked up for a proper foundation 50 years ago. Interesting that the first addition fared much better having been constructed from salvaged lumber which was a lot more resistant to rot and insect damage. Water was heated on the stove. Wet clothes hung on a clothe rack or clothesline. You took a bath once a week or less with the bath water shared. Wash water was reused with the dirtiest clothes washed last. You did not change clothes every day. Kids clothing were often hand me down. When they wore out beyond patching, they were cut up to make rag rugs or quilts.

The pictures were taken by Eleanor Roberts and are part of her extensive photo album. The one called Spring 1930 was published by Arcadian in the "Images of America, Thomas Township."

[Stoker]

Thomas Township? This is a small world moment here, I spent most of my childhood there (on Miller road just south of Gratiot), until we moved to my fathers hometown 15 miles south in St. Charles. My mother grew up on Dutch road with 8 brothers and sisters in a house not much different than the one pictured, and some of her siblings are still living near there.

Edit to add: Taking a closer look at the pictures I see "Junior Ordways Garden" . I actually went to school with some Ordways.

[SRV Ron]

Certainly a small world. Only a local would know Junior Ordways place which still stands on Swanson Rd.

I'll let you guess where the two photos were taken. Unlike the ones printed in the book, these were scanned from the original negatives which brought out a lot of missing detail.

BTY, That is Junior in the photo.

[Stoker]

I didn't recognize the house or garden- just the Ordway name. I do know Swanson road though.

[coruscate]

http://www.healthyinsanity.com/ruby/gallery/srvron.html

Okay dude, let me know if that's all good with you

If you know of anyone anywhere that might like to contribute please feel free to give the link out.

These 22 photos I salvaged from being thrown away (LITERALLY!) from a different older lady whom I helped move out of her house the other day.

http://www.healthyinsanity.com/ruby/gal ... lhorn.html

[SRV Ron]

Actually, Grandpa was returning with a Christmas tree he has purchased from the Kluck's farm. The picture was taken at the driveway on Bacon Rd. The empty field is now a condo.

Until I scanned the negative, I had no idea where that picture was taken as all of the snow details were washed out on the print.

As published.

Same location 1999

Phenexville Depression Era Slums. Or, how to avoid property taxes.