My father was one of 9 kids, raised on a farm during the depression. My grandmother had been a music teacher before she married, so she insisted that each child learn a different insturment so that they could have their own band. My dad got the cornet. I don’t know what happened to the instrument; I never saw it. But my aunts became music teachers on flute, cello, & piano. One of my uncles played the violin, and he passed it on to his son and granddaughter. They’ve all passed on now.
But, it is amazing to think that a depression era farmer could afford all those instruments for the kids. Not only that, grandma put away enough money so that each child could have one year of college paid for when they graduated high school. After that the older ones helped the younger ones, and they all graduated and earned advanced degrees.
Cool. College was more affordable then (and even so when I attended a multiplicity ~35 yr ago.)