The Great Depression and The Dirty 30s occurred concurrently, and the events of those years are forever intertwined.
The Roaring 20s
The decade after WWI was a time of celebration. The roaring twenties led to rapid growth in wealth; society had never experienced a time of such prosperity. There was a misconception that you could quickly and easily make a fortune investing in the stock market. Naturally, when some started making money, others of lesser means wanted to get on the bandwagon. Individuals and businesses who didn’t have the funds to purchase property or invest borrowed from banks.
The Stock Market Crash
It seemed too good to be true, and it was. The New York Stock Market crashed on October 29, 1929. This event propelled the United States into a massive financial downturn. Investors panicked and sold their shares at a loss, often for next to nothing. Millions were wiped out and went bankrupt. Fewer new investors were willing to take a chance after the crash, so spending slowed, industries closed, and unemployment soared. When everything fell apart, many were left with the nightmare of trying to pay off debt with no savings or income.
New York, October 29, 1929
The Great Depression
The stock market crash, the failure of banks, a decline in spending and drought all contributed to the Great Depression, which lasted twelve long years, from 1929 - 1941. It was a time of severe economic distress with global ramifications. It did not last as long in Canada, but citizens here also suffered personal and financial hardships.
Many areas of Canada depended on raw materials for domestic use and export income. Saskatchewan saw the lowest wheat prices in recorded history. A bushel of number one went from $1.03 in 1928, to $.47 in 1930, and $.29 in 1932. Lower than any time in the preceding 400 years. Farm income was cut in half in Saskatchewan.
- Banks
The fallout from the depression put banks in a challenging position; they got stuck with farmland, homes, vehicles and equipment as borrowers defaulted on loans. People who had money withdrew it because they were scared the bank would fail and they wouldn't have access to their money, which is what happened to many. People stood in shock outside closed bank doors. Banks had used depositors' funds to invest in the stock market.
The lucky customers who managed to withdraw their savings in time had to find an alternate place to stash their loot. Mattresses, tin containers they buried, under the floorboards, and, of course, the cookie jar were used as hiding spots.
A lineup of anxious customers hoping to withdraw their savings
- Soup Kitchens
Food security is something many of us take for granted. We get annoyed if something is out of stock at the grocery store.
People drank milk if they still had a cow and ate potatoes, wild game and whatever canned food they could get their hands on. In place of bought breakfast cereal, popped corn was substituted. A second helping was something they only dreamt about. A treat for the kids was a piece of bread slathered with lard and sprinkled with sugar. At times they resorted to eating dandelions and young tumbleweeds; taste was sacrificed for nutrition.
Charities and individuals who had survived the crash stepped up to help people by setting up soup kitchens and bread lines. Once proud people dejectedly waited in long lines to get free soup and bread. Areas of Canada not affected by the drought sent food to the prairies. There wasn’t an organized distribution system set up, so it wasn't easy to get the food to the people who needed it the most before it spoiled.
A soup kitchen for unemployed men
A Decade of Drought
Rising equipment costs, crops lost to insect infestations, early frosts, and hailstorms in the 1920s meant American and Canadian farmers were already struggling. A drought that lasted almost a decade started in 1930. It wasn’t something anyone saw coming, and there was no way to discern how long it would last.
The scorched central plains of Canada and the United States became known as the dust bowl. The summer of 1936 was the hottest on record in the US, with temperatures reaching 43 degrees Celsius. The blistering heat and lack of moisture lead to thistles, gophers, and grasshoppers plaguing these areas. The air was thick with swarms of grasshoppers who even ate the clothing drying on the line.
Farmers had little to no crops (some got 2.5 bushels of wheat per acre), no gardens and no water in their wells. Livestock had to be sold off at bargain basement prices. Anything saved or stockpiled was gone.
They couldn’t sell their land. There was no one to sell it to; who would buy a plot of dust? The 1930s and after WWII were times when many people stopped farming. In the thirties, they had no choice, and after the war, many moved to the city in search of less risky and backbreaking opportunities. Farmyards stood abandoned across the plains, bleak reminders of the years of exodus from rural areas.
Saskatchewan 1930s
- Black Blizzards
Lives were lost, and those who survived recounted the terror of darkness in the middle of the day, barely being able to breathe and unable to see their hand in front of their face. Just like they did during winter snowstorms, a rope was tied from the house to the barn so they could find their way back. After a dust storm, trying to clean the house with a broom was at times futile, so a shovel was used to remove the dirt. The landscape was rearranged with dunes of sand covering yards, gardens and fields.
A dust storm about to
envelop a community
- Wildfires
My mother-in-law remembers her mom taking her and her little brother up on a hill during a prairie fire with wet towels to cover their mouths to protect them against the smoke. Luckily the fire veered off and missed their home. Fires occurred as there were dry trees, underbrush and grass in abundance. These were the perfect conditions for a fire to sweep through, assisted by the winds.
A lightning strike or an abandoned campfire quickly set off a wildfire. The only way to try and hold back these rapidly moving fires was with buckets if there was a water source, blankets to beat down the flames, pickaxes and shovels. All many could do was go down into the dirt floor root cellar under the house, lay in a ditch or wade into a slough until the fire passed over. Inevitably lives and property were lost.
- Farming Practices
This was a lesson in the need to take care of the fragile topsoil. Farmers didn't use practices that helped minimize erosion. There wasn’t chemical spray to control weeds; they were ploughing them under. At one time, producers took pride in having the blackest summer fallow; today, that is a weed control practice mainly used by organic farmers who don’t use chemicals. Zero tillage eventually became the preferred practice where the soil is held in place by leaving the previous year's plant roots in the ground and planting the new crop in the stubble.
Population Growth
Tens of thousands of immigrants who had travelled to Canada and the US found themselves in dire straits. They had come to find a better life, never imagining that drought and financial ruin were just around the corner.
Population growth in the 1930s was the lowest since the 1880s. Immigration into Canada slowed; in 1929, 169,000 immigrants had entered the country; by 1935, that number was only 12,000.
Politics
It wasn’t that different than it is now; the problems facing citizens were laid at the feet of political leaders. William McKenzie and R. B. Bennett served as Canadian prime ministers, and Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt were US presidents during this decade.
In Canada, a Bennett buggy referred to someone pulling their car with a horse because they couldn’t afford gasoline. President Hoover was popular with the people, but as conditions worsened in the early 1930s, he, too, received much criticism. Someone sleeping outside covered with newspaper for warmth was referred to as having a Hoover or Bennett blanket, or an individual with empty pockets turned inside out had Hoover flags. People who lost their homes often ended up in shanty towns known as Hoovervilles.
A Canadian Bennett buggy
A Hooverville
A Resourceful Generation
There’s always a way to make a buck if you’re willing to look for opportunities. People rented out rooms, took in sewing and laundry, did cleaning, provided childcare and sold produce, fish, game meat and fruit for income. Kids sold newspapers, cut grass, shovelled snow and shined shoes.
Not everyone was broke. Some sectors continued to grow—actors in motion pictures with sound, musicians, board game makers, sports figures, and savvy investors made money during the depression.
COMING SOON - The 1930s | Black Blizzards And Bankruptcy | PART 2
Includes:
◆ A Way of Life Lost
- Unemployment
- Crime
- Poverty
- Entertainment
- Health
◆ Takeaways - Changes and Safeguards
Thank you for taking the time to read my stories and listen to the podcast. Please share these with your family and friends to help me grow my readership. Norma
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