Indexes
February 8th, 2010
February 6th, 2010
February 5th, 2010
February 4th, 2010
February 3rd, 2010
February 2nd, 2010
February 1st, 2010
The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.
- Will terrorists be given Miranda warnings? (75)
- President Obama's first year (67)
- Lodi Unified School District president issues warning to speakers over cuts (64)
- Local business leaders say tourism, Costco, Home Depot may play roles in city's future (60)
- Islamic symbol in mosaic — what is all the fuss? (49)
- Many reject the politics of 'no' (45)
- Writer comments on Neely column (42)
- The Home Depot hopes to join Costco at Reynolds Ranch (41)
- Time to shed the convenient sham of 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy (34)
- Police: Train victim was a Lodi teen (31)
ADVERTISEMENT
Alberta Feist, left, and Elaine Campbell talk about what they remember of the Great Depression on Tuesday at Chancellor Place senior living center on West Kettleman Lane. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)
Think economic times are tough? Local seniors talk about the Great Depression
Friday, May 23, 2008 9:25 PM PDT
The headlines paint a bleak picture: Ballooning gas and food prices, the shrinking U.S. dollar and an uneasy job market. Most people are worried about their financial future, and rightfully so.
But for those who've lived through the nation's toughest economic time — the Great Depression — today isn't so bad.
By the early 1930s, during what is considered the Western world's worst economic collapse, unemployment soared above 30 percent. Stocks plummeted to 20 percent of their previous values.
Thousands of U.S. banks failed, and millions of Americans' savings vanished.
To put today's financial times into perspective, News-Sentinel reporter Chris Nichols sat down with three Lodi seniors who lived through the troubled era.
Below is a summary of their responses, as recorded at the Chancellor Place senior living center on West Kettleman Lane.
Q: How do today's tough economic times compare to the Great Depression?
A: Simply put, they do not. Credit was a foreign word. You bought only what you had saved money for. You searched for bargains, or you simply did without.
"We had nothing, except ourselves," said Alex Alexander, 90, who was raised on a tenant farm with his eight siblings outside the town of Parker, Kan. "Everybody around you was poor. And we just accepted that was probably the way it was intended to be."
Q: How did you save money?
A: You cut your own hair, did your own repairs. You made casseroles until you couldn't stand them. You baked your own bread, grew vegetables in your garden and passed hand-me downs to your siblings.
"My older sisters, they would take and remake dresses for us. And shoes, a lot of times, we had to put paper in our shoes. If you had a hole in them, you had to do something about it. Otherwise the water would get in," said Alberta Feist, 91, who grew up in Sonora with four sisters and one brother. "We had to really pinch and save."
Q: What did you do for fun?
A: Simple but imaginative games ruled the Great Depression. Hide and seek, Kick the can and card games filled the hours. Going shopping or to the movies was a special treat.
Elaine Campbell, 82, was just a child growing up in Jamestown, N.D., during the era. But she remembers some bright moments:
"I can remember on Saturday nights, we'd get a quarter a piece and go out and go shopping. We had a choice of going to the movie or taking your 25 cents worth of cherries and going up to your room (to) stay there by yourself."
That was Saturday night."
Q: What about vacations?
A: Those grand vacations Americans take today, to Europe, Mexico and beyond — they just didn't happen in the 1930s.
With her parents divorced, Feist and her younger sisters moved in with her older sister, who had five children of her own.
There wasn't much thought given to the word "vacation."
"What's that," Feist quipped. "Heaven forbid, no. You had to put food on the table. And clothes."
Q: What advice do you have for younger people facing today's difficult economy?
A: Cut down on spending, put away — or tear up — your credit cards.
Watch the sales. Save. And plan, plan ahead.
Share with, and help, your neighbors.
And, importantly, don't despair — things will get better.
"To me, having nothing is no ticket for failure," noted Alexander, who still cuts his own thick gray hair. "If it was, I wouldn't be here."
Search for Ads 
Today’s Print Ads 
RSS Feeds
Reader Feedback
giovanina wrote on May 27, 2008 9:20 PM:
I have Hoover flags after going to the gas station =( "
Brian wrote on May 27, 2008 6:55 AM:
Gator wrote on May 26, 2008 8:32 PM:
you know when times are hard when a
Hambuger and a cup of coffee cost a dime
and you went hungry. "
Lodian wrote on May 26, 2008 12:00 PM:
Lodian wrote on May 26, 2008 12:00 PM:
Whoa Nellie! wrote on May 24, 2008 6:03 PM:
I was raised to value hard work, save for that rainy day, and to give back to the community. I think I'n doing a good job.
Today's under 30 crowd especially think that everything is entitled to them. Cable tv, cell phones, the internet, etc etc etc. Yes, we all love them, but we can certainly live without.
"
OTH wrote on May 24, 2008 12:13 PM:
Many people in the housing mess were living way beyond their means.
There is a wealth of knowledge in these people who have gone through the depression many years ago. Talking to them can be a real education. "
Cogito wrote on May 24, 2008 8:33 AM:
Comments on this story are now closed.