Yes! That’s where it sprang from. In Bakersfield at that time a lot of the people were migrants from Oklahoma and Arkansas. They came here without a dime and lived in labor camps. The one Steinbeck wrote about was right here outside Bakersfield. I have family that lived in it.
This was mainly an agricultural town but boy did everyone hustle the fields for free food. I remember. And they shared and they canned stuff and prepared for the harder times.
I was young but remember a lot of it. You have to actually experience that lifestyle to know it.