Compare MRS WIGGS OF CABBAGE PATCH with the poor today.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025523/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
I still remember people who lived really poor. One woman invited her neighbors in to see her new wallpaper made of flattened cardboard boxes!
And a man who sided his tar paper shack with feed sacks dipped in concrete to keep the wind out and his family warm.
My mother grew up during the Depression. When their shoes wore out, they put cardboard in them.