My grandmother was 5 years old, when the great depression started. Even when I was little in the 90s, I never seen that woman throw any food out in my life. She would put any leftovers, in the freezer. She canned her own food. What she went through as a little girl, carried with her all the way into her 70s. She would tell me stories, how she couldn’t even afford a pencil for school. She found her father hanging in the barn. Her stepmother was abusive. She had to drop out of the eighth grade, to raise her two sisters and brother. She had it rough.

Is history repeating itself? My grandfather was born in 1901. He never gave up many of his "great depression" ways of doing things. I'm 74 and beginning to struggle financially, as many of us are. I am fortunate, however, that my grandparents taught me so many ways to be frugal. I was raised on beans and rice, still enjoy them, and at least 2 meals each week are meat-free. A hot water bottle filled with hot water will warm you during those winter nights but fill it with ice water for those summer nights. The biggest takeaway from grandpop...you really don't need nearly as much as you think you do.

I used to think everybody went broke during the Great Depression and other major crashes but they didn’t… Some made millions, I also thought everybody went out of business during these times but they didn’t, some went into business, there's always depression/recession for some people and there's always a good time for others, it's all about perspective.

My parents both lived through the Great Depression. My father's family were Sicilian immigrants with 15 children. They lived in a cold water flat with no heat other than from a small stove in the dining room that burned coal. The railroad men would throw out a shovel full of coal to the children when the train went by. The boys were up on the third floor---the attic---with newspapers on the windows to try to insulate the windows. My father said the thick layers of ice never melted until early May from the windows on the north side. The family got by with having a garden, bartering, and working---my grandfather worked 2 jobs during the week and one on the weekend. My grandmother was illiterate and took in laundry and sewing. For my mother, things were just as hard. She would walk with her father to the dump in another town about an hour's walk away to find "treasures" that my grandparents could repair or mend----and then sell. My mother used to scavenge clothing thrown out because of missing buttons, a torn hem, or torn lining in a coat. My grandmother would clean the clothes---washing and ironing---and then do the repairs. Twice a year she would open the basement to the neighborhood and anyone interested in "shopping" for men's, women's and children's clothing and shoes-----all clean and in good condition. My mother said people began lining up at 5 in the morning so they could be some of the early shoppers. My grandfather sold small appliances that he repaired---toasters, irons, etc. and tools. My grandparents were not too proud to go to the dump, and those dump finds kept the family in some money during the Depression. Let's say my mother and her sister were voted "best dressed" in high school. My mother used to wear a full length mink coat to school, and her sister had dresses and coats that were the envy of even the teachers for the clothing's style and workmanship. Families and friends stuck together to get by during this period, and no one was too proud to offer help or accept it. People were really a "neighborhood" then. And, on the street where my grandparents lived, there was a mixture of Poles, Italians, Swedes, Armenians, French Canadians, and Greeks------many didn't speak English that well, but their children all went to school, got an education, and were invested in the community. I can't imagine people today going through what my parents and grandparents did during those long years. People had backbone then----not the spineless wonders we see today who would never go picking through the discards at a dump or growing their own vegetables to put food on the table. Those stories of deprivation were engrained in me early on in life. I never forget the stories that my parents told me----my father sat with two of his younger brothers (ages 3 and 4) who died from tainted milk, and my mother was with her brother (age 4) when he died from a bowel obstruction. As long as I and my brothers live, we will never forget our parents' stories. Through their eyes we had a first-hand look at the Depression, and our parents make sure we learned our lessons well. That was their mission in life.

If the great depression has taught us anything it would be to band together to help each other.

My grandmother lived through the depression as a young married woman with children. She became a hoarder for the rest of her life, every magazine and item of Tupperware was a treasure. My grandfather, her husband, was a building contractor and a lot of that work dried up, too. It must have been incredibly hard during that time. The family began to recover when my grandfather got steady work buildings ships in the US Navy yards in Oakland, in the buildup and during WWII. My grandmother got a job in accounting at Sears, too. I remember the day when, finally retired, they paid off the mortgage on their last home in the late 60s, it was such a happy one.

My grandma was born in 1925. I always wish she had stories from the Great Depression but her father was fully employed the entire time, they were always debt free and their house was paid off. She wanted for nothing. Only thing she remembered somewhat different was that she got made fun of for only having one pair of shoes…that’s it….while many were in rags without any shoes. She was always crazy for bogo sales even if she didn’t need the second item and always clipped coupons. Never canned, never gardened, always had “help” cleaning her house and doing her laundry in old age. Never hung dried clothes or did dishes without a dishwasher. She died a multi millionaire and stayed in a super fancy apartment until she had to go to hospice for a couple months, then quietly passed away during Covid (not because of Covid) at the age of 94.

Great respect for those people who made a living how ever they could in that tough time. They were survivors, we can learn from that!

History repeats itself.

My parents survived the great depression in Mississippi. There was no jobs, no money. They survived on Wild game and a garden. People were eating horse meat and catfish. At the old home place the only thing they had was a wood cook stove one milk cow and some chickens.they made their butter Ground up the corn meal for bread. They had no electricity

My father told me that the day the market crash they was in town, everyone was running to the bank, he said that my grandfather to started laughing, He never kept money in the bank never trusted the banking system when he was a kid his father lost all his money in a bank robbery, My father said that my grandfather turn to my grandmother laughing really loud and said, well I think we are the richest family in the county now, my grandfather kept all the money in a mason jar buried in the barn, by the time the depression was over they still had money left

Right now it feels like the roaring 20s. Everyone driving cars which cost well over 40,000 and mortgages over 2,500 or even over 3,000 a month. Not sure if this is sustainable.

My grandpa said it wasn’t no big deal to him and his family cause they lived on a farm and was already poor didn’t matter what happened in the city to them they didn’t rely on money to survive!

Im a chronic pain sufferer, and have basically neglected my yard for 6 months. Well, I walked into my backyard yesterday, and noticed 3 weeds that have taken off...and I can eat each one of them in a salad. Get to know your plants.

during the depression my father went to work for the civilian conservation corps helped my grandma {widow} feed his family .He never abandoned them . My father was my hero .

My parents lived through it. Mama never threw away anything.

My grandma remembered it well as she was born in 1925. When she was a kid, she told her teacher of how she and her family didn't have enough money for food, so her teacher went to the store with her and bought a full paper bag worth of groceries for her to take home. ❤ As she got older and had kids in the 1940s and 1950s and then later becoming my grandma by 1992, she would always make great depression type meals like noodle dish, German potato salad, and lime jello with peas in it.

My Grandma survived all of it. She said meat was a luxury & referred to this period as "The Hard Times."

One of the best, and I think, most realistic movies chronicalling life during the "dirty thirties" was "The Grapes of Wrath". My father, who grew up in a farming family during that period, really identified with the farmers' plight in that movie. Henry Fonda deserved an Oscar for his performance in that movie.

I grew up during the end of this, a lot of people are going to get a big shock soon!

My FIL, over 90 now deceased, used to follow the WV track of the coal train, as a ten year old, for three miles to pick up some coal pieces to keep them warm and cook with!

I can't imagine today's young being able to deal with this level of suffering.

A few things no one mentions about the Great Depression is that the value of the dollar was worth about $18 today. While joblessness was high, those that did have work could still provide. Compare that to our ability to afford anything today. More jobs but less pay.

Now that the U.S. dollar will no longer be the world's reserve currency, we're about to find out.

My dad grew up in Ponca Neb.during the depression. He said nobody had any money but e eryone had food.Everyone took care of everyone

I love all the comments sharing their memories from the time - thank you all!

God says there’s nothing new up Under the sun, we just have to trust God he will get us through everything praise his name hallelujah God is good he will never leave no for sake us.

What I find crazy is our government was paying farmers not to grow food while China and the Soviet Union were starving there’s to build there infrastructure. 🤯🤷‍♂️

I was the next generation brought up like we were always in a depression

My Mother and Father lived through it. My real Grandfather lost all the land he owned, much of it was what is now downtown Seattle. My Father grew up on a farm, so it was winter that was very rough. We always knew how blessed we were.

And when those men abandoned who cared for and raised those children? Women. Who were paid less than men and had no one to care for their children while they worked. That situation still exists in America almost 109 years later.

My grandmother was born during the depression , her family was so poor they let someone pay 10 dollarsto name her , it was twins a boy and girl so they guy got a good deal naming 2 for the price of 1 ,and my grandma got stuck being named Raymuth , her brother was Raymond . named after a strangers father.

My mom used to take a lard sandwich to school for lunch , she said sometimes the younger children would gather outside the back of a bakery and would be given stale bread that couldn’t be sold

My parents married just months before the market crashed. They helped both sides of the family at different times throughout the Great Depression because Dad was the only one with a steady job.

My parents grew up on their parents’ farms during the depression. They said they never noticed the Depression.

I see many similarities to what is happening today in May of 2023, On the positive side I see helping eachother out and coming closer together as a good thing! Trusting in God needs to be 1st place!

We are teetering between hyperinflation and a Great Depression at this point.

My mother was born in 1921 in Germany. My mother had rickets too & her legs were slightly bowed. My grandmother was a nanny during that time. My grandfather was a musician. People were starving. Horrible times...

Let's not forget that during the depression, 12 million Americans died of starvation and another 13 million died of diseases caused by malnutrition related diseases.

We headed right into another one, only it will be worse.

We have kids & grandkids that won’t touch leftovers. I believe in the not so distant future, that will have to change along with several other “entitlement” habits

Anyone thinking Wow this looks similar in 2023 the people that you’re looking at that are homeless and jobless are not drug addicts as well that’s the big difference folks.

My parents grew up in this time and their families were lucky to be from upper state N.Y. and they had farm land to grow what was needed and fishing. My mothers father would make cheese from goats milk. WWII was another story. My father was on the US Block Island when it was torpedoed in the Atlantic. The ship sank and Dad never did talk much about it. All of the worlds events made my parents tough.

My parents grew up in this period and told me about it. It was terrible. People learned what was really important during this time. Maybe it is time for it to happen again. People today are so wasteful, greedy and selfish that it makes me think we as a species are a waste.

So many young folks who just do not even want to hear about those times. They will be frantic ! Those who want easy jobs and think being an influencer, an artist, a home based worker etc. will be hurting. $100. sneakers,expensive fancy nails and hair care, daily outings to eat ,constant fancy fashions, luxury upon luxury will end.

These stories in the comments are the real history that needs to be documented before we are gone. So here is my mothers experience. As a young girl, somewhat well off, her mom along with the neighbors, took turns making soup for distribution. They would go to the soup kitchen and serve. Mom said she noticed a man in line with nice shoes just like her daddy. She then realized that they too, could end up in a soup line and that frightened her. She would go to a church parking lot and search for money by car doors. She said that there were some men who would jump off buildings there, not a lot though. She lived in The Bronx, New York.

My Dad was a depression baby. He was born in 1929. He told a few stories of life back in those days.

Part of the reason that wages were cut had to do with the fact that the top people were buying stocks with their money because they knew the market would come back but only in certain sectors

hang on for 5 minutes we will find out exactly what it was like

Thank you for posting. My Mom told me countless stories of the horrible Depression.

Rich people suffered during the depression Poor people it was no problem they were Used to being poor just another day

Sounds a lot like what we are facing now or soon. Growing up we had big gardens and caned a lot of food as my parents went through that. They were very frugal and did not spend anymore than what was needed. I remember being taught to know the difference between needs and wants. I still do that to this day. People now try to keep up with Jones's so to speak. We or should I say the generations behind us are doing that and it will be the down fall for them. People really need to look at what they need and not what they are told they need. We finally bought our very first new car(in our 60's) 3 years ago because we could finally do that and paid it off quickly(2 years) so it was a treat to us both. Stay within your means is the best advice no matter how tough it may seem.

Great documentary. We are fortunate today......recession is nothing compared to the great depression 😮

My maternal grandparents were Ohio dairy farmers. times were tight but they were better off than many.

Roosevelt actually made a really bad move pushing up the price of food when Americans could hardly buy it already. Why did anyone think that was going to be a good idea? 💡

We are about to find out...

With the way things are going we all may be for a Great Depression Part 2.

Maybe people lived longer because they ate less, effectively fasting, which is one of the healthiest things you can do.

Sounds like today only with people not wanting to work these days. My daddy lived through the depression and he always said, we’d see it again because of big government, greedy politicians, and government, and power. We see it everyday now.

This is scary. If we continue to keep destroying our environment with buildings and monoculture… we are screwed if this happens again. We will have no land or resources. 😮‍💨

No one needs to remember the depression so many of us are living it now

They lived longer because they ate less! True fact.

Excellent video which should be shown in all schools.

My great aunt said when they would come to town there would be lines of people waiting to get food, all of my family lived in south east oregon so they grew all there own food so they was lucky they never felt the depression,

We are in the next great depression and they replaced the soup lines with EBT cards I saw people during the pandemic in lines at work at the grocery store stretched out now it's worse people back then like now if they had prepared for it wouldn't of been hit as hard but now this time around it's going to worse than the great depression the federal reserve is trying to hold on things we are in the starting of a inflationary depression it's bad and not getting better most don't see it

It's going to be much worse this time around. I don't think we even have a year left.

When I was young there were still a lot of old people who'd lived through the depression and it changed them for life

We are finding out today as history repeats itself.

My parents lived through the great depression in Louisiana.

We had an economic boom from 2019 to 2021. Seems very similar and like 100 year depression is about to happen again. Over 3/4 of 1 million people have been laid off in the past year, we are about to lose our world reserve currency position, and possibly going to war. Hyper inflation inbound. Banks collapsing. Buckle up it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

This was cool, but since you used the dust bowl family as your book cover, it would have been fun to see (I was looking forward to it!) the other images of this family in your bit about the dust bowl.

I remember my dad telling me how at the beginning of each week someone on their block would buy a soup bone to make bean soup. Then they would pass it on to another neighbor and so on to make bean soup. He said it was best when it was their turn to buy the soup bone because it still had some meat on it.

I feel like by 2030 America will be back to this.

Not worried!! Grandparents taught me well.. Never had money to blow, never bought what we could not pay for with cash.. Farmers we were.. Have our chickens, rabbits, gardens and such.. Canning our food is a lost art on the young ones for the most part.. What worries me more is there are Way to many people now to even compare to the Depression our forefathers went through.. They do not know how to survive without their modern world.. The only real threat Grandpa said he had was the city folk who tried to rob the farmers after they had emptied the stores.. Sometimes he had to Guard the livestock.. This time around, it will be Much, Much worse!!

My parents lived through the Great Depression; they were poor but could pay the bills and always had food on the table.

Great documentary! Thank you...🇺🇸 😎👍☕

Everything is orchestrated.

I hope people will learn that the reason the great depression lasted so long was because of all the government intervention. We have had depressions and recession prior to the Great Depression, and the government did nothing prior to the great depression.

The government is paying farmers in southern Oregon and Northern California to not grow food for human consumption like potatoes and grain.

Well, at least they had each other

It can be a new beginning for many, and opportunities. But for many others it's the end.

THE GREAT DEPRESSION STARTED ON THURSDAY 11 DEC 1930 WHEN THE FED REFUSED TO LEND MONEY TO THE "BANK OF UNITED STATES" AT 77 DELANCEY STREET IN MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY. IN OTHER WORDS, THE FEDERAL RESERVE CAUSED THE GREAT DEPRESSION ! ! ! 🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷 🇺🇸 Marc J. Metivier 🇺🇸

My mother said everyone she knew had cardboard in their shoes. It wasn’t embarrassing bc all of her friends wore the same shoes. My grandfather had a job throughout the Depression.

I just left the USA at 79 for Mexico. I always have 6 months preps, and I help non beggars. I moved to Queretaro in 2021 at 79, for it is safer, less expensive, and clean. The weather is cool. I was born in Chicago in 1942, and have been visiting Mexico, since age 20. The dollar has fell here, but my expenses are less, than the USA and I am safer.

Im going to stock up water,rice and beans and hopefully can grown my own small garden this world is looking scary r.n it’s too much going on I feel like we will have to experience this.

PS as for the shanty towns, they called blue tent towns now they’re everywhere! Remember, if you ignore history repeats itself!

My grandpa said there was plenty of food. No money!

My ancestors were already po folk in the 1920s living in rural Missouri and Oklahoma. They came to California during the great Depression and wound up in migrant labor camps making close to nothing because work was seasonal. My mom's parents had to go on California state aid with 5 children

My parents told me what it was like and also during WWII.

Pretty selfish being a man and running away cause your pride. I was directly hit in 08 . I Lost LITERALLY everything .i cried all the time in private. Needed meds cause of my depression. Went without food 3 days a week. for a about year, So my kid could eat everyday. My wife at the time had a job working for a culinary school so she was able to eat every day.i waited in food lines. We went on welfare. So I could eat. My child had food. And knew nothing about our dilemma at the time . Oh we were given a30 notice to move out and sued by my ex in-laws And we moved into the ghetto one bedroom . but I never had the thought of leaving my family because of my precious pride. That's a POS. just an excuse to run from your responsibilities. Those kinds of men don't deserve families.

My mom lived on a small farm and she said it didn't bother them too much, because of growing their own food and my grandpa always had work, living in a small town.

We will see soon .

I think we are about to find out how tough living through a depression actually will be. Thanks to obinden. 😢

I think it is absolutely hysterical that people with money now have to look at Banks and see what their credit score is LOL

Yes I do , many don't. They think I'm crazy when I tell them what could be coming.

We are about to find out.

Worry not, we'll all find out soon enough

"You will have nothing and you will be happy" Are you scared yet?

My husband’s grandmother had to drop out of school at 14, to help with work in a meat cutting business

My parents went east to Texas, Alabama, and Florida but found no work. USPS mail obtained telegraphed instruction on where a bank transfer awaited them. For ranch work in NM until war work recruiters got them ship building jobs on the West Coast