That Thrifty Depression Era Generation    

 

 

 I have written before about how thrifty my mother and my grandmothers were, being raised in the Great Depression.  I am reminded of a story my paternal grandmother told us when we complained about something. My grandfather had been fairly prosperous as a farmer/school teacher during the years before the Great Depression. They were not rich but used to having nice things and enough of what they needed. That all changed with the dark days of the depression. Farmers often had to barter their produce for whatever someone else had to offer. Grandpa had a tender heart and often came home with things that seemed useless to Grandma. Teachers in Arkansas were paid with much depreciated warrants that could only be traded for groceries and necessities. Times were pretty hard for families like my grandparents and their ten kids.
     Grandma said they only had one outfit of clothes. She told us she and her oldest daughter shared one good black dress for special occasions. When my grandmother wore it, she had to let the hem down. When my aunt wore it, she had to take the hem up. They shared that dress throughout the thirties. It's hard for me to imagine that with all the excess we all have in our closets. Even people in humble circumstances can go to the Community Outreach Clothes Closet and find multiple outfits of nice, clean clothing. The trauma of those years stayed with that generation making them thrifty to the nth degree. God bless them, We need their ingenuity now.