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Reading:- • • "Passages Effects of the Depression

The economic collapse created by the GreatDepression tedjangajor impact on the lives ofmost Americans. Rising unemployment, lowwages, limited opportunities for those whodid have jobs, and the widespread suffering ofso many people during the 1930s madepeople reevaluate their lives as well as therole of the government.

Lost Savings

forced to withdraw their money in order topay off their debts, make the payments ontheir houses and cars, or simply to buy food.Many banks lost huge sums of money in thestock market crash and could not meet thedemands of their customers who wanted towithdraw their money from their accounts.About 9,000 banks failed in the three yearsafter the stock market crash, leaving millionsof customers without any of their savings.Businesses and individuals could not borrowmoney, which made it even harder forbusinesses to function. Within three years thetotal value of goods and services produced inthe United States fell from $104 billiondollars to about half of that amount.mm • • •' '-'' m • • - - . , , . . - . - .-.-

UnemploymentFor many families during the Depressionyears, the loss of the father's job was the startof a long descent into poverty, homelessness,starvation, and Hopelessness. In 1925 theunemployment rate had been a low threepercent. After the stock market crash of1929. the unemployment rate jumped to nine

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percent in 1930 and shot up to 25 percent by1933. In previous depressions, business hadbegun to pick up again in a year or two. Thistime the situation got worse instead of better.

At least 13 million American workers couldfind no jobs at all. Millions of men who stillhad jobs were forced to accept salary cutswhich reduced their income by 20% or more.Millions of others took any low-paying orJtemporary jobs they could find, even thoughthe future of these jobs was uncertain. Youngpeople entering the job market—even thosewith a good education—took any job theycould find, and often they could find nothing.

Thousands of men and children tried to makea living shining shoes or selling apples on citystreets. A few people who could find no jobsturned to theft or other crimes in order to feedtheir families. Some teenage boys and girlswent to live in the homes of families whoneeded farm help or help with housework ortending young children. They were paid onlywith food arid a place to sleep. Women whowanted to enter the job market were at adisadvantage because an effort was made tohire men who had families to support, ratherthan women. Immigrants and blacks wereespecially hurt by the economic disaster.

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ReadingPassages Effects of the Depression (cont.)

Riding the RailsTens of thousands of teenage boys and a fewgirls, some as young as 14, left home in orderto reduce the financial burden on theirparents. It meant fewer mouths to feed in thefamily. These youth walked or hopped ontofreight trains, heading to other communities tolook for work. Since almost every town inthe U.S. was affected by the economiccollapse, they usually had a hard time findingeven occasional odd jobs.

Those who regularly rode on freight trainswere called hoboes, and their mode of travelwas called "riding the rails." There were alsomany older men who rode the trains lookingfor work. In fact, sometimes there were morepenniless hoboes riding the train than payingcustomers in the passenger cars. There werenearly a quarter of a million of these peoplein 1932.

Gaycats and DingbatsBecause they could not afford to pay for aticket, hoboes learned how to jump on and offrailroad boxcars, often while the train wasmoving. They could be arrested and jai'ed bythe police or railroad cops who patrolled therailroad yards. Experienced hoboes werecalled dingbats. New hoboes were calledgaycats. Many of these desperate men werecrushed beneath steel train wheels when theymissed a jump. It was a dangerous way totravel.

In some cities, hoboes had makeshift campscalled jungles that were located near the

railroad tracks. They built shelters out ofcardboard boxes, broken furniture, discardedautomobitesrantilree branches? At thesev ^ •camps, hoboes shared rneals and slept.

Hoovervilles

Millions of people lost their homes in theGreat Depression. Some lost their jobs andcould no longer make the house payments tothe bank on their loans so their homes weresold at auction. Others lost their jobs andcould not afford rent for even the cheapest,most rundown house or apartment.

Families moved in with relatives when theycould, but many families had no one to helpthem. These people ended up living in shacksmade from cardboard, discarded wood, scrapmetal, and any other materials they couldfind. They sometimes lived in rusted-out,abatiaoKaiaTimrnobites: "'Manyttf -these"shacks were built at the edges of towns, oftennear a town dump where people could searchfor food, clothing, and trash which had beenthrown away. These neighborhoods of brokendown shacks were called Hoovervilles, areference to President Herbert Hoover. Manypeople felt that Hoover had not done enoughto help ordinary people deal with theeconomic difficulties they were facing.

PresidentHerbertHoover

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ReadingPassages Effects of the Depression (cont.)

The Necessities of LifeFood was cheap if you had the money, butmany people were so poor that starvation andmalnutrition were common. Mothers oftenmade soup with whatever they had available.A soup bone, some cabbage, and a few spoiledpotatoes had to feed whole families. Althoughfarmers were dumping miUc, burning crops,and killing hogs and cattle because priceswere so low, children in the United Stateswere regularly going to bed hungry.

Clothes were cheap, too, but not if you had nomoney. Mothers saved every scrap of clothand used it to make children's clothes. Manyused animal feed sacks and burlap bags tomake dresses, trousers, shirts, and underwear.Many children went barefoot, even in thewinter. Others shoved scraps of cardboardinto the soles of their worn-out shoes.Newspapers, called Hoover blankets, wereoften used to keep warm at night, especiallyby the very poor.

Trying to HelpIn the later years of the Depression, the federalgovernment bought farmers' goods and gavethem to distressed families, but at first theonly help people received was from churches,local charities, and the Red Cross. All ofthese organizations were soon overwhelmedby the needs of the local communities andsimply unable to help all the needy people.

Bread Lines

The winter of 1932-1933 was the lowestpoint of the Great Depression. The

Depression had been going on for more thanthree years, and many Americans werebeginning to lose hope. The bread lines,which characterised the Depression, were thelongest. Because so many people were out ofwork and had no money, the only way to avoidstarvation was a bread line. Churches, privatecharities, and some communities set up soupkitchens to feed these destitute men, women,and children. Even Al Capone, an infamousChicago gangster, financed a soup kitchen.

The food was simple and often consisted ofoatmeal or bread for breakfast and bread andsoup for dinner. Many bread lines and soupkitchens could only served a limited numberof people, and those who were late wereturned away.

The Shame of PovertyIn the 1920s and 1930s accepting charityfrom others was considered terribly shameful.Parents—especially fathers—felt that theirfailure to find work and provide a livingreflected badly on them. They blamedthemselves for the failure of the system. Thefact that millions of people around thecountry and the world were also suffering didnot lessen their sense of personal failure,

Many would not take charity from localgroups, the government, or churches despitetheir families' needs. Others accepted helpbut felt forever scarred by their need. Somefathers even committed suicide out of a deepsense of shame.

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