At Home During The Great Depression

 “Almost every house back in the thirties had a front porch. The porch served as a gathering place for family and friends in the neighborhood.”

 “I lived in a five story apartment. We had no elevator so ice had to be carried up five flights. The iceman had to be fast. He carried it up in big
potato sacks. A big block of ice would last about one week. If we wanted ice with our drinks we had to chip it away.”

 “We had no closets in our home. We put all of our clothes in wooden wardrobes. I found out later in life that this was typical in many European countries.”

 “There was no television back then but we had radio shows that provided entertaining and humorous stories about life. So if you were listening to the radio about a narrative story such as the Wizard of Oz, you had to use your creativity and fill-in the blanks, imagining what life would be like in the Land of Oz. We enjoyed our time gathering around the radio. It was special and we often talked about what we heard after the show was over.”

 “Plug-in circuitry was not commonly used until the mid 1930’s. Imagine what the typical house was like in the 1930’s when a plugged-in appliance was almost unheard of. Most appliances had to be wired directly to the homes electric wiring. If you were fortunate enough to have a radio it could not be plugged in. Once you picked a spot for your radio that was where it stayed unless you called a specialist. My dad knew how to wire houses. He was an electrical engineer and he was in high demand.”

 “The first time I heard about a TV was in the late 40’s when working on a neighbor’s truck. He told me his truck broke down on the way back from town where he bought a new T.V. I said, ‘A T.V.? What in the world is a TV?’ Then he showed me this wooden box with a big glass screen.”

There is so much more to share in the book....