I saw more smiles than frowns in these photos. I also noticed that the photos were almost all of families, together. Most of the photos were of people working. I wonder if these people considered themselves “poor?”
You are right. Most families had a father and a mother. Plus as my Mom has told me many times they never felt that bad about themselves because everybody was in the same boat. Families doubled up and the men went out looking for work and the women did the housework and cooked and washed clothes while minding the children. My mom has said that many nights all they had was cornbread with milk over it and my Dad said they never starved but a lot of nights it was just potatoes and nothing else. There was no food stamps or welfare and people were too proud to take it anyway.
They seemed more blank to me. Considering that they knew the pics were being taken it was probably the best they could muster.
As to your 'Did they consider themselves poor'. From my experience probably not. I had just started school when the depression started. My father cut grass for NYC. Our place did not have any heat or own toilet. Our heat was the kitchen stove. We gathered in two rooms sleeping on the floor for the winter. I went with my father to gather wooden boxes to burn from the grocery stores on Broadway. Egg box cardboard was also good. We went to the 96st Street freight train stop where my father bought eggs from the incoming freight men. I believe it was 25 cents per dozen. There was no money for health care. My mother was taken to Harlem Hospital as a charity case. I lost all my upper teeth. We didn't know what poor was. It was life. Regards.
Hard times for sure, but there WAS something called 'relief,' and when nobody had any money, you didn't feel poor by comparison.
Do any liberals ever wonder why "The People" didn't rise up in rebellion and insurrection against the fat cats and "malefactors of great wealth?"
They should.