My dad was born in 1930, his dad died in 1933. His mother was pregnant with his brother and suddenly found herself single, pregnant and how was she going to support two children in that era. My father told me the things they had to eat to survive. He saved everything. Even as an adult with a decent job I saw him look in the trash for what he perceived as wasted food. I feel blessed he gave me a good life and at the same time spoiled for not having experienced it. He told me he never wanted us to have to live like that. RIP Dad.
Depression-era food...
- Thread starter PALADIN85020
- Start date
As some of you know, my mom was born in 1933 in Liverpool. Not long into her childhood she and her family were bombed out of their home. They were forced to make meals out of what was available while the war raged. Empty stomachs outweighed taste buds.
Enter the Yanks.
To this day she bristles when people make fun of Spam. To the Brits it was the "fatted calf".
Enter the Yanks.
To this day she bristles when people make fun of Spam. To the Brits it was the "fatted calf".
My parents and my wife's parents lived through the Great Depression as well.
The Mrs. and I still enjoy some of that food today :
• Chipped beef on toast
• Hot dogs and baked beans
• One eyed Sam – piece of bread with an easy over egg in the center
• Fried potatoes and hot dogs
• Toast with mashed potatoes on top with gravy
• Beans
• Boiled cabbage
• American cheese sandwich: 'American' cheese was invented because it was cheap to make, and didn't require refrigeration that many people who lived during this era didn't have.
• Fried bologna - Had this for breakfast this morning, with a big slice of onion and some pepper!
• Bean soup
• Runny eggs with grits
• Baked apples
• Sliced boiled pork liver on buttered toast (slice liver with potato peeler)
• Corn meal mush
• Whatever fish or game you could catch/hunt
• Tomato sandwiches
The Mrs. and I still enjoy some of that food today :
• Chipped beef on toast
• Hot dogs and baked beans
• One eyed Sam – piece of bread with an easy over egg in the center
• Fried potatoes and hot dogs
• Toast with mashed potatoes on top with gravy
• Beans
• Boiled cabbage
• American cheese sandwich: 'American' cheese was invented because it was cheap to make, and didn't require refrigeration that many people who lived during this era didn't have.
• Fried bologna - Had this for breakfast this morning, with a big slice of onion and some pepper!
• Bean soup
• Runny eggs with grits
• Baked apples
• Sliced boiled pork liver on buttered toast (slice liver with potato peeler)
• Corn meal mush
• Whatever fish or game you could catch/hunt
• Tomato sandwiches
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My parents were married in 1930, my sisters were born in '31 and '32 (I was an after thought!)
They were fortunate to live on a family owned farm so had pretty much the necessities except for staples like flour, sugar, salt. Eggs & cream were traded for those things. The one thing my mother felt she couldn't afford was peanut butter!
There is a series of Depression cookbooks that are very interesting to read.
They were fortunate to live on a family owned farm so had pretty much the necessities except for staples like flour, sugar, salt. Eggs & cream were traded for those things. The one thing my mother felt she couldn't afford was peanut butter!
There is a series of Depression cookbooks that are very interesting to read.
Dad was born in '12, his Dad had a good job at a coal mine so Dad was working there also during that time. He said they heard about the depression but had noticed no big change. they had a cow and a garden to supplement grocery's from the company store.
Glad we have had it so good.
TB
Glad we have had it so good.
TB
My Grandmother was a depression era cook. Every recipe started with "take one pound of lard". We ate a lot of that stuff and I miss some of it. Didn't have any money, but never felt underprivileged. All the folks we knew were in the same boat and everybody helped everybody out. My father used to buy surplus Spam by the case and most weeks it was the only meat we had. And beans, oh the beans. All left over from the depression I guess.
Both of my grandmothers were wizards with rubarb and could make venison and antelope into most anything. They picked a lot of chokecherries and everyone had their own garden.
A favored treat that my Dad really liked was candied orange peels....His dad had a stock dam that was teeming with Bullhead fish. When we went fishing Grandpa told to make sure that we had a least 100 of them.
Guess what Grandpa served that evening????
Randy
I did not live through any of this but heard about it around then dinner table............born in 1956
A favored treat that my Dad really liked was candied orange peels....His dad had a stock dam that was teeming with Bullhead fish. When we went fishing Grandpa told to make sure that we had a least 100 of them.
Guess what Grandpa served that evening????
Randy
I did not live through any of this but heard about it around then dinner table............born in 1956
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Depression Era Swallows
My dad, born in 1920 and 9 years old who the depression struck, helped to feed five younger siblings. He would take his slingshot to Cross Bay Blvd, on the western border of what is now JFK International Airport, in Queens, NY, where he would shoot swallows from the high tension lines running parallel with the roadway. These plump swallows provided a free source of meat which, his mother then cooked and served to her family.
Today, the area where my father "hunted" is now a bird sanctuary.
My dad, born in 1920 and 9 years old who the depression struck, helped to feed five younger siblings. He would take his slingshot to Cross Bay Blvd, on the western border of what is now JFK International Airport, in Queens, NY, where he would shoot swallows from the high tension lines running parallel with the roadway. These plump swallows provided a free source of meat which, his mother then cooked and served to her family.
Today, the area where my father "hunted" is now a bird sanctuary.
John,
Thanks for allowing us to ponder how our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents used their innovation and creativity to make it through one of the worst economic times in our Nation's history. A "tip of the hat" to jimmyj for remembering grits! Even today, there's not one darn thing bad about SOS over biscuits! SOS also goes well over anything, eggs, biscuits, sausage, toast, ?? I've even had a few 'mater or onion sandwiches too.
On a related note, I have met many people who lived through the "Depression Era", and they were changed forever. They never waste anything, even today! My MIL and FIL were excellent examples. When they passed, we could not believe all of the items that they had squirreled away. I can still remember back in the 60s listening to my barber, who had lived through those times. He would not use a mortgage to pay for his home for his family. He saved his money for years and paid cash for that home. He didn't believe in borrowing money or credit cards.
Bill
Thanks for allowing us to ponder how our parents, grandparents, and great grandparents used their innovation and creativity to make it through one of the worst economic times in our Nation's history. A "tip of the hat" to jimmyj for remembering grits! Even today, there's not one darn thing bad about SOS over biscuits! SOS also goes well over anything, eggs, biscuits, sausage, toast, ?? I've even had a few 'mater or onion sandwiches too.
On a related note, I have met many people who lived through the "Depression Era", and they were changed forever. They never waste anything, even today! My MIL and FIL were excellent examples. When they passed, we could not believe all of the items that they had squirreled away. I can still remember back in the 60s listening to my barber, who had lived through those times. He would not use a mortgage to pay for his home for his family. He saved his money for years and paid cash for that home. He didn't believe in borrowing money or credit cards.
Bill
vonn
US Veteran
Was raised on most everything listed so far ,was raised by depression era family and nothing was wasted even the scraps were fed to the chickens or turned into the garden. Even as a kid my mom and grandmother made a lot of our clothes.
DWalt
Member
I didn't come along until after the Depression, so I have no first-hand tales. But I heard my parents talk about it a lot. My father was fortunate to have a steady job at a steel mill all through the depression. He didn't make very much money but more than enough to avoid the soup lines. It was also fortunate that the area they lived in remained modestly prosperous despite the Depression. The old homestead sat on about a half-acre, enough for my parents to have a good sized vegetable garden and raise chickens for meat and eggs. My mother was an expert food canner, she and my Grandmother did a lot of canning of the products from that garden plot. We also had a grape arbor, two apple trees and two cherry trees, so a lot of pies and jelly got made by them. I do know that beans and cornbread was a staple in their Depression-era diet, I heard about that a lot. I don't believe they ate any lard sandwiches. They could afford to buy some types of cheaper meat, and I know that fried liver and onions showed up on their table frequently.
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Wasn't always a good thing. One night we had sandwiches on paper plates for dinner. My mom didn't soil hers at all, threw it in the trash. My dad saw this and the argument that ensued caused a 3 week "silent treatment." My sister and I were walking on eggshells, something she did well and I didn't, the whole time. When it was over I could kinda experience what folks felt when the war ended. Joe
charlie sherrill
Member
I've eaten most of the stuff on the list and still eat some of it...except chicken feet. I know where they've been.
I can relate to this. My wife and I had been married a couple of years and we had no kids. Her grandparents were depression era and had come to the house for dinner. My wife got into the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator and pulled out a half a bag of apples that had been in there awhile. Not really bad, but definitely aged and older than she would eat. She tossed them in the garbage and her grandmother had a fit. She pulled them out and told my wife to make apple sauce, apple bread, a pie etc. etc. Her response was visceral and my wife was taken back. But she put those apples back in the fridge till grandma was gone. Charlie and Mary grew up in SE Ohio. Charlie was a coal miner and Mary stayed home. When they passed away they had saved everything they ever got their hands on. It took her mom and dad weeks to go through the house and clear it out.
and Flour Sack shirts and dresses.
Flour came in colored cloth sacks. When the sack was empty the cloth was used to make shirts and dresses
Flour came in colored cloth sacks. When the sack was empty the cloth was used to make shirts and dresses
Same here, but my parents were both Depression babies. I grew up on a lot of the things listed here. I especially liked tomato sandwiches when I was growing up. I never knew they had their origin in the Depression.
They sure are.
One thing though, wouldn't any food from the Depression era be a little stale by now?
A little past the Depression but I had numerous dresses made from the sacks that chicken feed came in. My older sisters got the flour sack ones back in the 30's. Quilts were made with the scraps.
The mention of the paper plate crisis, my mother did reuse them.
And plastic bags of any kind were washed and reused until her dying day.
Darned socks, mended underwear, turned and mended sheets were the norm.
Even tho I wasn't born until after WW2 in many ways I had a depression era upbringing.
My great uncle 1880-1977 told me that the 1930s were easy compared to the 1890s.
One of the things that carried over from the 1890s for him was never biting a piece of bread. He would always break a piece off with his hand and put it in his mouth. He told me that during the Cleveland panic they would get Bran in tow (burlap) sacks to make bread and the Bran would have strings from the sacks in it. His Mom would try to get the strings out before baking but would always miss some and they were easier too find after baking. Too keep from eating a string he would break the bread in small pieces and pick out the strings that were missed before baking. Larry
One of the things that carried over from the 1890s for him was never biting a piece of bread. He would always break a piece off with his hand and put it in his mouth. He told me that during the Cleveland panic they would get Bran in tow (burlap) sacks to make bread and the Bran would have strings from the sacks in it. His Mom would try to get the strings out before baking but would always miss some and they were easier too find after baking. Too keep from eating a string he would break the bread in small pieces and pick out the strings that were missed before baking. Larry
