We grew up very similar to the way your mom did. Our motto was: Use it up,wear it out.Make it do or do without. Thanks for this video. We are so blessed.

Try starting a home based pie company now. You would need tons of permits, health inspectors (which a home kitchen would never pass), business liscense, tax identification number, saftey inspection, food production permit. She would never have been able to do this under our current system. It amazes me that the government can't see that it everything it does to "regulate saftey" destroyes small business in this country. (small business owner myself) :-{

I grew up in the Philippines and my family lived very similar ( i'm 47 now) . Not a lot of food but there was enough, not to go hungry. handsdown clothes, no toys but lots of games to play with neighborhood kids and we were HAPPY. There was a lot of sense of community back then. Which I really missed. Now, I feel bad for my son that he can't just go out the door and play with the kid next house. I have to set a playdate with a kid who live miles away. because we don't even know our neighbors.

Your Mother is a treasure and so lovely too! I lost my Mother last August and Oh how I miss her! She was my best friend. She grew up during the depression too but she said even though they were poor they had food to eat because they lived on a farm. They had cows and chickens and gardens so they didn't go hungry. I think that they ate a whole lot of biscuits! And cheap gravy. I miss my grandparents. I love them so much! Now I'm the oldest in my family. Where did the time go?

Your Mom is so precious! Great knowledge comes from this generation that EVERYONE should be listening to! ♥️

I love this interview. I am 41 now and since I was in my twenties I always loved to speak to the grandparent generation to extract anecdotes from them of the past.

Both of my parents were born in the boondocks before the depression. Neither ever read a book or went to school. When I started school, the teacher thought I was retarded. I grew up in the 50s. Clothes shoes, toys everything I owned was bought at yard sales or swap meet. Didnt know any kind of steak existed besides cube steak.

We grew up poor too, and had many lean and hungry days. Part of the reason why I like homesteading so much is that when the cost of living goes up and my income does not, I don't have to worry about food pantries or soup kitchens. I can go out to the yard eat.

O my goodness yes it was wonderful to hear her speak of her life during the depression. Rowena sounds like a wonderful person and raised a wonderful and beautiful family, look at you Janaia, you guys are so BEAUTIFUL!!! Thank you for this wonderful story with the both of you. May God Bless you both and wow at Rowena's age she is gorgeous!!!

I remember listening to my parents talk about the depression, so very sad, and people in 2020 are in for a rude awakening!

My stepdad who raised me was from Cuba his parents sent him and sister first and they had to live in a foster home until the parents came over about 3 years. He had to work in the day amd go to night high school to support his family and got yelled at for being 5 min late. He always saw us and the white American as spoiled . He lived so frugally and was happy with just having enough. His viewpoint made me see the world so differently . I saw the white guys i grew up with as entitled lazy stupid ruining chances over and over being offered the world. I guess that s why I respect anyone that wasn’t so lucky.

I loved when Rowena talked about her teacher getting fresh milk, raw milk, "Good milk". Exactly what we do in this day and age to be sustainable.

I adored this video. I worry that today's "adults" and children have lost so much self sufficient skills that they aren't going to make it through tough times.

These old folks have interesting stories about one of the worst periods in American history. Glad some are still kickin' to tell the story. Thanks peak moment :)

We lost our nice van and our home to foreclosure in 2010 during the "great recession ". I'm preparing and prepping for the next big washout when the SHTF.

I'm 63 and both my parents were young adults during the great depression. I've heard these very same stories from my parents (less the building houses part). Thanks for putting your mothers memories on video, I wish I had when both my parents were alive.

This is the last great generation. They knew how to save. Work hard. Do with out. Unspoiled.

A famous sci-fi author once made a quote about "Young Married couples should TRY to pay CASH or do without. Interest charges mess up a family budget and ALSO can DESTROY DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY!" ( Robert Heinlein)

Dad skipped 3grades n school at 12 he had to quit but with a horse n plow on side of knobly mtn kept 2adults n 6 kids alive for 2 yrs mostly by himself, his dad had heart dropsey n coodnt work, best man n honest I ever knew I'm proud to b his son I'm not good enuff to b his son

I love butter! I can’t eat margarine. I’d rather go without.

Thank you ! My grandma has told me some of the same. God bless you ! I LOVE stories ( history) like this !

Iam 86 and have stories that I recall told - my memory is really better than ever- Being living with less made us a better person- overall- We knew how to pinch for ALL things- I raised 10- so never worried- ( thought ahead) for all things--

Reliving some memories of the 30's and 40's.

Thanks for sharing your life living in the depression. Mother shared awesome words of wisdom.

Born in 1942. There was no medical insurance. The doctor came to the house and charged $2. I was born at home and the doctor came and I cost $30 or $35 to be brought into this world. When I went to work in 1960, a couple years after, the manager came and said we could pay $6.25 a month for medical insurance. They would not pay for a birth if you were not married and a single female. Once insurance came on the scene medicine became very expensive. My doctor told me that everyone was suing so we had to pay more because his liability insurance went sky high. Lots of things that this lady talked about I lived thru in the 40' & 50's. Was raised in frugality left over from the depression. Mom was born in 1910 and Dad in 1908. Lots of people don't know how to make do. .

Learned so much from this video thanks.

YOU ARE A VERY wise lady and i hate that you had such a difficult time growing up but i think it made a better person of you in the long run . i was born in 1962 and it seems we had alot of things givin to us that we as children didn't earn and it seems that in the last 15 years or so i now see how difficult it was on my grandparents and my parents even though they never let on. ido hope that this generation coming up now learns that they don't need every new thing that hits the stores takecare

And Thank you for sharin' your mom's insight and valuable experience,....and yet so simple,...."learn to live within your means",...thumbs up to ya mom Rowena and to you my dear buddy!!!! = )

2020...are we headed there again?

Thank you so much for sharing.

When we was growing up in the depression my mommer always said the same thing. Now we didn't have much during the depression but you know it was more than a lot of people had and we was thankful to the good lord for it. Now my daddy couldn't find a lot of work but he did the best he could and mommer would take in washing sometimes to make ends meet and her and daddy growed a garden and so we always had fresh vegetables, sometimes there werent' enough but we was always thankful, even when it was sad and depressing. That's what I remember about the depression, it was always sad and depressing. but we would invited family and friends over when we had enough and setting there at that table with all our friends around us we knowed everthang was gone be alright. We didn't want there to be no war because we loved everbody but then thangs got so bad that Franklin D. Roosevelt decided he was gone fight the depression for his people even though he was rich and the depression didn't hurt him he loved his people and everbody else enough he wanted everbody to overcome the depression and so he fought the depression and then he got together with Winston churchill and Joseph Stalin, two other great men and Winston Churchill had said that it weren't right for the Germans to be doing so well and not be in a depression because Hitler had put his people to work building and planting and so Winston Churchill decided he was gone kill the Notsies and Franklin D. Roosevelt decided he would kill the Notzies so they joined Joseph Stalin and started the war. Now that was bad but you know what. They was able to build a bomb plant and my daddy got him a job there making bombs for Winston Churchill to drop and burn up Notsy childern. And we was happy cause we was fightin evil people but not Joseph Stalin all them people he had killed deserved it. And all them Indians and Irish poeple Churchill had killed was evil. They was probably racists or something. And then Franklin D. Roosevelt finally defeated the Notsies and made the world safe for Jews and thats why America is such a happy place today. Thank you. I appreciate you letting me tell my stories on youtube/.

Janaia, that was lovely. Thank you!

Very nice..........thank you for sharing

I grew up after WW2, Black and dirt poor, the great depression destroyed poor Black families, My mom picked cotton, her parents were share cropers,... So we suffered the same as the People in the Great Depression....

waswestkan, thanks for this salute. We think it'd be great to have Peak Moment-type videos produced all over the world, locals celebrating their local people and wisdom. ~Janaia and Robin

excellent interview.

I remember my grampa Dan telling stories. Shoes was one of them!

very good since I grew up in torrance and hung out in hermosa, I'm trying to get many to prepare as we have another depression end of 2016

Wow. Thinking about what the health effects of radio waves. Good thinking.

We had venison for meat ,food from garden ,berries ,rabbit,goat milk,from neighbors.we were probably healthier than kids today ,on junk food & gmo,s.we got clothes from a rich family that had moved to Chicago or had rich relatives in Chicago.we probably had it better than some families.

My grandmother was a teacher in the 1940's. I've seen her class group pictures and at least half didn't have shoes

We lived in a cold water flat, which means nothing but a roof over our heads, kitchen sink, bathtub, toilet and nothing but cold water that she had to pay for.... We had a half of bologna sandwiche,, that it foe lunch, Someday Potted Meat sandwich mixed with Dukes mayonnaise when no money for bologna, Someday no lunch at all.... Oh I knew going to school poor....

Mom gave us cod liver oil everyday.we picked & ate rose hips on way to country school,walking.we never got sick.

I love this ❤️

My brother and I used to mix that pill in the plastic bag I remember the year 1949+. I was 6 my brother was 8 in 1949. I also remember the end of WWII and the big parade and all the soldiers marching past and people crying and cheering. I remember the President went by in a convertible car during that parade. Hartford Connecticut in front of the State Capital in Hartford.

Both my parents used the cardboard from macaroni boxes to cover up the holes in the soles of their shoes.

ChezKritta, that sure occurred to me, too. Regulations and complexifications enough to stop such an enterprise. We saw it happen locally with a wonderful shop that baked bread daily -- mostly for seniors who walked there from the retirement hotel. Environmental health required more than they could afford to do. And like my grandad going to a local corner for people to pick him up and take him to do day labor -- would we trust a bunch of guys with "worked wanted" signs on a street corner now?

I want the recipe for the chicken pie , pretty please ;)

So many people throw clothing and food into the garbage now. Clothes only a couple of months old too!

not to put down this show yet I've looked back and noticed something called panics which went back to the mid 1700's, just search the panic and a random year starting with 17... 18... and even 19...

I'm watching in 2023. This was posted 11 years ago, and they are already saying America is in a depression!

Oleo margarine ...the good ole days were not always so good.

BTW better yet Peak Moment is doing a foxfire like project real time as it's being lived via their interviews. Unfortunately only 2 of them & who knows how many good stories there are to chronicle.

Hi friends ~ If you want to listen to the audio, go to peakmoment (dot) tv/conversations/?p=479. Follow on Facebook "Janaia Donaldson" or "Peak Moment TV" and Twitter @peakmomenttv. Subscribe to the Peak Moment newsletter to be part of our personal network -- looking for projects to tape, places to safely park throughout North America. At peakmoment (dot) tv home page right side. ~Janaia

My daddy’s mom has Scott’s ancestry. 💕

Great interview, not so great title. The depression of the 1930s was not the first great depression. Many preceded it.

I hear you, and wish you good luck. Hell, and my generation Y.

We are in the the "peak of wealth and health"? Anyone who lived in the 1950's-60's would say different.

Our current time is nothing compared to the Great Depression

How great would have it had been if every region of the USA, and the world for that matter, conducted their own "foxfire" project? Although some things like faith healing are probably best left as a somewhat ancillary function to modern knowledge. methods. Thanks for posting.

That lady is clearly traumatized

Not just cash buy bigger stuff on layaway. I bought bedroom sets and alot of other stuff on layaway. If you pay with cash it's about 1/2 price no interest and you look for a better deal

Mom liked Oleo better than butter cause she read where butter wasnt good for u. Imagine how much worse the Oleo was for u. She got confused by things. She thought all drugs came from one tree.i was in law enforcement in college and reading a chapter on marihuana n she got terribly upset she said she read about it in Family Weekly quote thefirst one cig is always free then theyre hooked.unquote.

BTW? You can blame the Great Depression on the FEDERAL RESERVE! Get a USED COPY of "THE CREATURE FROM JEKYLL ISLAND"

I'm supportive of everyday people doing every work, but I don't place trust in them where my well being is of concern. Just like the "bad big boys" they are likely to cut corners if doing so puts 1 more cent in their pocket. Sorry I seen enough personally & read enough from sources I trust I march to the beat of different drummer in that matter

Our culture has gone from the austerity of the depression to over abundance of of obesity and hoarder homes and crammed storage units.

I concluded long ago that libertarians believe in their own sort of Utopia. Just a TEA Party supporters would, libertarians would be the first to complain if their "victories" affected them negatively. Along with blaming everyone , but those who are the blame.

Meanwhile Germany was out of the depression by 1933. But we don’t wanna hear about that

Watch these hoarders homes whereby piles of clothes are thrown onto the skip too!

Responding to a point your mother makes towards the end about 'not needing' those things you buy on credit; how does she feel about student loans for colleges? Would she approve of that? Personally, it seems that our society has evolved into many debt traps; not only for a house, but by making a car necessary therefore making a car loan necessary, making college unsupported by tax dollars, thereby making student loans necessary, etc.

That's some white privilege right there lol

So what did the climate change ad embeddedhave anything to do with? And by the way, you are completely wrong about climate change.