Tag Archives: great depression

The farm my dad was raised on during the years of the Great Depression didn’t have indoor plumbing, but it did have two beautiful apple trees in the front yard that gave the best yellow delicious apples ever. So enticing was the fall bounty that Dad would climb the trees ...

Musikalisch means musical in German, and my German grandfather truly was musically gifted. He never took a music lesson but played piano, drums, banjo, and ukulele very well. In 1930, when swing music played by the big bands was all the rage, he started his own 10-piece band in our ...

The wedding preparations were a ray of light during the dark days of the Great Depression. Most Americans spent their time trying to keep food on their tables and heat in their homes. The young bride-to-be had worked as a maid after high school graduation, earning enough money to help ...

Jigsaw puzzles had their beginnings in 18th century Europe as pieces of wooden maps made by mapmakers of the time. But by 1900, American adults were big fans of the puzzle as a relaxing pastime, although the cost of about $5 per puzzle was steep at a time when the ...

In the television drama The Waltons, grandparents Zeb and Esther lived with their son, daughter-in-law, and seven grandchildren as the family struggled in the grips of the Great Depression.  The family had little in the way of worldly goods, but they had a bond of love and support for one ...