Well, I can give you some personal examples from my Grandpa who was a man of 25 during The Great Depression. these things didn't immediately make him rich (that came later) BUT his ATTITUDE to do whatever needed to be done was what got him through and set him up for success in later life.
He had a wife, a 2 year old son (my Dad) his younger brother and his wife's father to support. Some of the things he did, and they did as a family:
Grandpa took ANY job, no matter how menial. I remember him telling me he had a large paper route that he delivered via bike or walked and pulled a wagon. He drove cab. He drove a bus. He had a car, so he rented out his car for others to use and for gas money, or he drove them places. He worked at a butcher shop doing some pretty gross things, but he was given the meat scraps to feed the family. He worked for a grocer, so same perks as at the butcher. He repaired roofs, windows, anything to do with your house. He pored cement. He kept a few chickens for eggs. He was a fishing guide. He refinished & repaired furniture that he found at the curb. I also remember him saying his deceased MIL ran a boarding house so they had a stockpile of furniture to sell for cash, too. He planted trees in the Conservation Corps.
So, until he was about 30, he did whatever needed to be done, which set him up as a great employee for businesses when there were jobs again. And no one starved or really lacked for anything. One of his sources of pride during that time was the fact that they never went "on the dole" and that he could provide for his family.
Probably being poor to begin with is easier for people in a Depression because you're already used to "making do." I can't see the clueless consumers of today faring half as well if things really go into the dumper.
But we'll be able to easily spot them; they'll be the ones jumping out of windows, LOL!
Thank you for that story. It goes to show that there is no substitute to responsibility and a strong work ethic (unless of course your grandfather made millions off of bootlegging and insider trading).
You "ankle biter" you, my father was a teenager during the depression. ; )