Their only source of food wasn't a grocery store. In the countryside many people still had horses and buggies. Most had their own water supply.
Trade was an acceptable form of commerce because many folks had no money. And speaking of commerce, it did not depend upon the availability of the Internet, or even the electrical grid. America manufactured what it needed back then, unlike today. And the dollar was backed by gold.
If something happens to destroy the value of the dollar, the electrical grid, the Internet, or the just-in-time supply chain, can you imagine the chaos which would ensue if something happens to any one of those?!
I don't think many want to imagine such. Most today are comfortable with their head in the sand and become upset at any suggestion to examine their surroundings.
If what we have in place today, was in place then, America would have been destroyed. The independent nature of the people of that time is what saved America then and allowed it to win a world war only a short decade later.
We are now far removed from that kind of independence.
Good book and reference.
In 1928 and 1929 the Federal Reserve raised interest rates 4 times from 3.5 to 6 percent.
When the bank panic started the Federal Reserve did nothing to increase liquidity.
I’ve never seen any logical explanation of what they thought they were doing.