The Great Depression

During the 1920s, America became the wealthiest country in the world.  Poverty was almost nonexistent, everyone seemed to be successful. Many believed that the “boom times” would never come to an end. However, after the Stock Market Crash of 1929, this success ended instantaneously for most.  Most Americans lost all of their money and were forced into penury; some lost everything.

This book will include personal accounts of what it was like during this time of struggle in America.  The Great Depression was a redefining period for America, for both its citizens and the economy.  This book will tell how some overcame the struggles and others succumbed to them.

I had just been promoted to manager of the factory, my new position was now getting me three times what I did before.  A whole new life had just opened up for me, my family could have nice things, and I didn’t have to worry about being cautious with my money.  I invested my profits to make them increase even more; the bank would keep my money safe, no need to worry, right?

Just 2 months later, I went to withdraw some of my (now rather large) wealth, and they told me that my account was empty.  Not a single penny to my name; the bank had spent all of it to invest in stocks, but the Stock Market collapsed, and my life along with it.  The next week when I went to work, I was fired from my top-dollar position and left unemployed.  That wasn’t the worst part though, the worst of all of it was having to go home and tell my family.  I had to tell them that their new, easy, and worry-free lives were now over; no longer would they be able to enjoy the finer things in life.  That truly was the hardest part of it all…

The next week, I had to sell the car to pay for food; it was humiliating.  One day, I’m on the top of the world; the next, I no longer want to live in it.  Once that money ran out, I had to stop paying the house payment to afford food for my family.  Within a month, I received a foreclosure notice in the mail.  This couldn’t actually be happening to me; I’m a success, a hard worker, but now I’m just existing…and I don’t want to be.  I made my way to the top of the tallest building I could find in the city; life like this isn’t worth living.  I looked down to the streets below and saw all of the poverty around me, I’d fit right in with the rest of these poor people, so I’m about to join them.  I’m going to jump now. Goodbye world; I would say it’s been a good ride, but I wouldn’t want to write a lie…

The Great Depression didn’t hit us as hard as it had hit some, we were used to growing our own food and being careful with our money so not much changed for us.  However, we didn’t realize that this drought would become such a big issue.  We couldn’t keep our crops alive no matter how hard we tried!  It hadn’t rained in 9 months, and even then it was only a little bit when it did rain!  The ground was so dry that it had all become like sand instead of dirt.  Without crops being grown, we couldn’t have food for our livestock either, so we couldn’t sell them to make some money.  Then there came the dust storms…

It would be just as bright a day as there could be, and then the sun would disappear, and we all knew what that meant.  We knew a black blizzard was coming our way.  Winds would sometimes pick up to 70 mph, bringing an innumerable amount of dust with it.  The dust would fill up homes, barns, and any type of structure it came into contact with.  Women tried their best to keep their homes clean, but couldn’t do it because of all the dust.  The worst part though was the dust pneumonia.  Children would begin to develop dangerously high fevers and their lungs would fill up with dust, which caused constant coughing and wheezing.  There wasn’t much of a treatment for this, so many young children died from this dust pneumonia.  You could see everyone walking around with a piece of cloth tied over their face to try to prevent the dust from entering their body.  People looked pretty silly, but once this continued for months upon months, it became normal around these parts.  It seemed as if this “Dust Bowl” would be the end of all of us, and for some it was.  The city folk may have been hit hard by the Depression, but this, this was our Depression.

After the Stock Market crash, I lost everything (and I do mean everything).  Once I lost my job, I was unable to afford my house payments and lost it shortly afterwards.  I then decided to hit the road in search of a new life.  I headed out west to try to find work and shelter.  Along the way, I stumbled upon an area that looked like a landfill.  All around me, all I could see was junk and broken wood.  I then noticed that they appeared to be in the shape of structures and that people were actually living in them.  These “homes” were made out of old doors, cabinets, picture frames, anything sturdy enough to not collapse.  This was an entire neighborhood of these roughly made “homes”, the people called this place “Hooverville”.  I found this name to be very accurate because after all, it’s all because of ol’ President Henry Hoover that were in the mess we’re in.  He would continually tell us not to worry and that the economy would fix itself, well it never did.  While he’s in the White House being pampered, we’re out here struggling to even survive!  I’m now a part of this Hooverville, I built myself a nice shack out of old boards from a porch.  I’m not doing as well as I was before the Stock Market crashed, but at least I’m managing to survive.  I’m not as bad off as some, so I’m grateful for that; Hooverville just might become my new home.

I was a working man, and when I worked, I worked hard and long.  Which I didn’t mind, I enjoy working a lot, it gives me a sense of purpose in life.  However, I lost my job once the employers couldn’t afford to keep me on the payroll anymore.  Some of them guys lost everything after the Stock Market crashed, and I did feel sorry for them, but I was still out of a job.  I loved to work, I felt that if I couldn’t work, I couldn’t live.  I needed to find another job.

I began to hear things around town about these “hoboes” that would hop onto trains and look for work all across the country.  It sounded like a great opportunity for me, so I began to do the same thing.  Whenever the train came the next day to pick up its shipment of steel, I waited until it was fully loaded and began to take off.  After the train is loaded, they don’t pay much attention to anything possibly getting on board.  I ran to the last cart of the train, jumped onto the side of the cart and held on to the ladder attached to the side.  It was then that I noticed someone else was with me, another young man who had decided to ride the rails.  I helped him get into the carrying area of the cart, which was a much larger space than on the side, so he helped me get up there as well.  We both smiled at one another and shook hands, his name is Bill.  Bill and I are now on our way to Texas to find work.  Maybe life on the rails won’t be so bad, I’m actually very excited.  With a companion by my side, and a desire for work, this life may be just what I need.