Depression-era Seniors a Source of Wisdom in Tough Times

By Bob Moos, The Dallas Morning News 

October 31, 2008

As Americans worry about hard times, many are listening more closely to the stories of those who survived the Great Depression. 

"When the economy was booming, we never thought their struggles had much to do with our lives," said Helen Dennis, a consultant on aging. "But we're now realizing that the children of the Depression are the perfect people to tell us how to tighten our belts." 

Their memories of hobos and bread lines still seem from a distant past, she said, but the everyday lessons they learned while navigating through a decade of fear and want suddenly have new relevance. 

"This generation made the best of bad times," Dennis said. "No one's seriously predicting another calamity like the 1930s, but it's useful to remember that these people didn't stop living. They just lived differently." 

The habits they formed and values they embraced have stayed with them through life, she said. 

Barry Solomon of Dallas was too young to understand the stock market's crash in 1929, but even as a child he noticed his parents' worried looks every Saturday night when his father brought home his pay from the A. Harris Department Store. 

"Each week, my dad walked in the door with another 10 percent pay cut," Solomon said. "My mother wondered when the cuts would end. Finally, after five weeks, they did. From then on, we lived on about half of what my father once made." 

Solomon said his parents impressed on him the importance of frugality even before he memorized his ABC's. The lessons arrived as packages of hand-me-down clothes from older cousins who had outgrown them. 

"I'm not sure I knew what a new sweater looked like when I was a kid," he said. "I've never forgotten those early object lessons about thrift. I'm 82, and I still think long and hard before spending a lot of money." 

Orrin Harrison, a 92-year-old Dallas native, said he never threw away anything if all it needed was a fresh coat of paint. 

"I couldn't afford a new bike, so I gave my old one a few brush strokes," he said. "That's how we got by – we made things last." 

Many Depression families rallied around each other and pulled together to get through the tough times. 

Laura Watson recalls that her grandparents stepped in when her father couldn't find work. Both her grandfather and grandmother had jobs and shared their wages so her parents could pay the rent and keep the seven children fed and clothed. 

"They were our backbone," she said. 

Watson said her parents also depended on kinfolk who lived on a farm and shipped hams and beans by bus to Dallas. 

"Our family ties were our only safety net back then," she said. 

Friends also helped with the simple pleasures. 

Betty Davison and her childhood friends in McKinney, Texas, organized their own club and whiled away afternoons on each other's front porches. "We didn't have TV or video games, so we made our own fun," she said. 
Davison said the friendships she formed in the Depression have lasted a lifetime. Now in their 80s, she and her girlfriends return to McKinney for a long weekend every fall. 

"Living through hard times taught me to appreciate the simple things in life," she said. "They're the most meaningful anyway." 

Those who came of age in the 1930s said the Depression instilled a strong work ethic in them. Forced to grow up early, many went to work before their teens to help their parents pay the mortgage and put food on the table. 
Because jobs were scarce, most of those young people created their own livelihoods. 

Adolph Teitelbaum, who grew up in Camden, N.J., remembers hawking newspapers at age 10 for a profit of a penny per copy. From there, he graduated to selling ice cream bars for a dime from a push cart outside the RCA Victor factory. 

"I didn't have to look far for motivation," he said. Near his home was a settlement of shacks, built of empty packing boxes on a once empty lot, where homeless families squatted and begged for spare change. 

"We were poor, but there were people much poorer," said Teitelbaum, who's now 90 and lives in Plano. 

Teitelbaum said those early entrepreneurial pursuits taught him how to rely on himself. He went on to major in business in college, became an accountant and launched a number of companies during his career. 

Greg Regan, a Dallas financial adviser, said the generation that weathered the Depression has never assumed more debt than absolutely necessary. "They understand that good times can be fleeting," he said. 

Walter O'Connell, 89, of Plano recalls how half of the families in his childhood neighborhood in Brooklyn lost their homes after the stock market crash. For the boy, the foreclosures meant the loss of many buddies. 

"Those boarded-up homes got etched in my mind," he said. "I never take money for granted." 

O'Connell started saving right out of college, waited until he was married to buy his first car, and lived for 33 years in the same modest house he bought after World War II. When he moved out, he owned the home free and clear. 

Paul Bunnell, who milked 30 cows by hand while growing up on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania, said neither his family nor his neighbors had much cash so they often traded their farm produce among one another. 

His parents exchanged milk and eggs for other staples. They rarely saw currency. 

When Bunnell became an adult, no one had to explain to him the value of a dollar. "It was all cash and carry with me," he said. 

In fact, he always kept cash in a safe in his basement to give himself peace of mind. 

Bunnell, who's 88 and lives in Dallas, has had only one credit card in his life and didn't apply for it until he was 60. He has used it sparingly on out-of-town trips and pays off the balance every month. 

"I was taught not to spend more than you take in," he said. "Using credit demands discipline." 

Besides an aversion to debt, members of the Depression generation share a penchant for saving, Regan said. 

"My older clients don't spend every dime that comes in the door," he said. "Many could lead a much grander lifestyle, but they've resisted buying bigger houses and have instead saved or invested their money." 

Martha Brenner, an 83-year-old Plano resident, keeps her savings in bank certificates of deposit because she doesn't trust the stock market. "I don't put my principal at risk. To me, the market is little better than a horserace." 

Survivors of the 1930s say they can't predict where today's crisis on Wall Street will lead, but they wonder whether younger generations that have known only good times will have the fortitude to make big sacrifices. 

"If hard times ever came back, I'd do OK because I've been through them before," said 84-year-old Era Boyd of Dallas, who worked 12-hour days planting and harvesting crops on East Texas farms during the Depression. 

"I don't have to buy the best. I drive a 22-year-old car. But I'm not sure about the young folks who have had it easy all their lives. It could be rough for them. I just pray that things never get so bad that I find out whether my hunch is right." 

More Information on US Elder Rights Issues

Copyright © Global Action on Aging
Terms of Use  |  Privacy Policy  |  Contact Us