Talking about those who survived the depression reminds me of my grandmother, who lived through that era, including the Holocaust in Germany / England.
She used a white quart-sized bag as her trashcan. She didn’t throw away much. When we cleaned out her apartment after she needed assisted living, we found hundreds of twisties, bread bag closers, wooden (used and washed) ice cream spoons, rubber bands, and of course birthday candles, used and cleaned of previous cakes, ready for the next grand child’s big day.
rubber bands here too!
Same thing with the candles. In fact - I retained that one myself ;)