But like many such young couples they gradually worked their way into the middle class and provided a comfortable and secure life for their kids and themselves.
Gay State Conservative wrote: “My parents,both children of the Depression (both grew up in slums),talked about their early years of marriage and how difficult they were. My Dad used to say “we didn’t have a pot to pi$$ in or a window to throw it out of”.”
My parents too. Mom started housekeeping with a single cast iron skillet. I used it to make cornbread last night.
My parents planned to run off and get married on a friday night. That afternoon, my Dad’s boss called him in along with another man and told them he was letting them go, not because of their work. He had to cut two men and they were the only two in the work gang that weren’t married. My Dad’s boss was his father.
Dad hadn’t told him of their wedding plans. I asked him if he told his Dad he was getting married that night and he said he didn’t want to tell his Dad because of how that would sound. And, he said, I knew I’d find work. Which he did a couple of days later.
My Dad was born in 1937, so he was a ‘Depression Toddler.’ I remember Grandma telling me that the only time she ever punished him was when he got into the fridge and tossed a few eggs under it! (Food was sacred!)
They were well prepared for what was ahead, though. Grandpa had his Wife, HER Father and a new Son to support...at age NINETEEN! (He was born in 1918.) Yikes! That young man worked any and ALL jobs that came his way. I learned a LOT from my beloved Grandpa. *HEART*
Grandma came ‘from money’ and how her parents didn’t lose it is still a mystery. They had enough cash on hand to buy up homes with all contents included...
...and that is why I have a home full of ‘antique’ furniture, today. Well, more so because NO ONE in my lineage parts with ANYTHING. ;)