This Is What People Ate When They Had No Money During The Depression

TBI ^ | 11-18-2011 | Vivian Giang

[calex59]

I never though of being frugal as cheap, that is sad..but those that lived their lives during the total depression appreciate things and use everything

Yep, my mother and step-father(real father also, I assume)grew up during the depression and one of their favorite sayings was, "Use it up, wear it out, make do or do with out". Most people have heard that one, but not many people alive today have actually had to live by that creed.

[bgill]

Armadillos were not called “Hoover Hogs” for nothing

Armadillos are easy to catch. Just run them down and bash their heads. Fry them up or boil them. They're just as good as any other meat. Boil squirrel. Fry frog legs and rattlesnakes. Fried sweetbreads and moutain oysters aren't bad either. Good eats!

[goat granny]

I grew up being told.....if you don’t have what you need, make do with what you got....good advise even today..we sure are spoiled............GG

[antceecee]

My Memere was born in 1910 in Connecticut. My Old Memere was born in Quebec... no one really knows the year because all they had was her baptism document. The government almost deported her during WWII... although she had lived here LEGALLY at that time for many years. I guess they thought there was a threat from French Canucks!

[DonnerT]

******Tomato sandwiches - especially if made with a warm homegrown tomato sliced thick, cheap white bread and mayonnaise - are the best!******

Put miracle whip on one slice and peanutbutter on the other with thick slice of big beef tomato between. Will give you lockjaw it tastes so good.

[bgill]

I have a new asparagus patch growing. Can’t wait until it produces. Served with homemade hollandaise sauce, yummmm. I’ve never understood why people claim the sauce is so hard to make and insist on a double boiler. I also don’t understand why people panic over Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.

[garandgal]

To this day, I occasionally enjoy a bowl of bread and milk

Ha! Me too...love the stuff! My husband asks me why I'm eating "prison food"...LOL!

[onona]

Shoot, I remember my gramma making me those :)

[mulebones]

My Dad called them “toe sacks”.

My parents, in their 80's, grin and call them "toad sacks". That's what I called them in my early years. :-)

[antceecee]

We ate sugar bread after school..... late 1950’s...early 60’s.

[onona]

True dat.......

When I was “between residences” for awhile, I learned the fine art of dumpster diving.

McDonalds used to throw out their food after 10 minutes on the shelf, but they would segregate it from the regular garbage to get a count on it for inventory control.

Then, when full, it could go into the dumpster. Once you found that bag, you were in like flint.

[goat granny]

If your patch started out with just the root stock, it takes a couple of years to get a good crop. The first shoots will only be the size of a pencil, still tasty but not too much for a large harvest.

I had a neighbor when I had the farm that drove down country roads looking for asparagus fern and dug up mature plants. He didn't have much patiences to wait for a new patch to produce. You can find it growing wild if you know what to look for...

[onona]

Damn, I remember that too !

[dancusa]

My Memere’s , Pepere’s were all both born in the USA. Aroostook County, Maine. Grandparents were born between 1890 till 1908 in border towns. All on the USA side of the St. John River. Parents too. Thank God I am an American. I saw the house where my father grew up. On a the last house on a street where the border river was behind his house. They moved there in 1938 after his dad lost his farm. His father went to work in the paper mill one block away.

[bgill]

I have some of my grandparents’ ration books, poll tax receipts, etc. Gas and foods were rationed. I'm thankful to have been half raised by them. Hunting, gardening, raising livestock, cooking from scratch, sewing and making do with what you have. They owned the newspaper and had a ranch so made it through the Depression better than most but it was still tough. They'd do a lot of bartering with local businesses as payment for advertising as cash money was scarce. I'm looking at granny's piano she got from bartering. The stool doesn't quite match but that helped with the deal.

[antceecee]

My Memere had a neighbor that grew asparagus ... it seemed to me it took a couple of years and then he and his wife had a good crop. They had a veritable farm in their backyard. Great people... Mr and Mrs Reader.... First time I have thought about them in since childhood thanks to this thread. Good reason to support FR!

[dancusa]

They moved there in 1938 after his dad lost his farm. His father went to work in the paper mill one block away.

He worked until his late 60's to pay off his debt on his farm, 20 years after he lost it.

[antceecee]

My Grandfather worked in paper mills and my Memere... his wife.. worked in the textile mills starting at the age of 10. My Grandfather was of Polish decent.
When I go through a family tree for my Grandmother there are links to Maine and other points north of Connecticut.

[bgill]

Scrambled calves brains and eggs are good breakfast food!

[bgill]

Pigs feet and pinto beans are more good eats.