Depression-era food...

[Old Arkansawyer]

Depression – Era food

PALADIN85020;

You have started a very interesting thread. The foods that folks ate, and survived on, during the depression era. I lived in the Depression era, and had the opportunity to see two completely different types of depression- era food types consumed, by my own family.

On my Dad’s side of the family, they tended to eat the basic, home produced food found on their farms, with little regard to the healthy aspect of their foods. I saw my paternal aunts fry bacon, and Fresh Side, to render the grease, and then throw the bacon, and fresh side in the garbage, and keep the grease. The grease when cooled, and hardened was used as a spread for their toast etc. My Dad loved, and craved potatoes fried, floating in melted lard, and sometimes would fix a batch of potatoes fried that way, himself, as Mom refused to fix ‘m that way. Most of their meat was nearly cooked to a crisp, while their fruit, and vegetables were hardly cooked at all. My Dad always raised tame rabbits, that were a regular family meat supply, also to sell to supplement our monetary income. Dad also, tanned, and sold those rabbit furs also supplementing our income.

On my Mom’s side of the family her cooking style was a different style entirely. Mom was way ahead of her time, and was a ‘Health Food’ advocate, long before there was such a thing as ‘Health Foods’. Mom wouldn’t prepare fatty meats, use Hominy, as lye was used in it’s making, she sun dried all manner of fruit, called ‘Snittla’ in German, to be used in pies, and pastry. She made her own, Grape juice, tomato juice, Sauerkraut, and bean soup. Mom & Dad had a large vegetable garden, that my Dad, and I spaded, and worked the soil up by hand. Mom canned & froze all manner of their home-grown vegetables, and fruit. Our families also shared our produce, and various skills. We were pretty much self-sufficient, back then. I wonder how members of today’s society would cope with the depression era’s foods, and methods of survival?

Chubbo

Maybe I misjudge, but, I think a large percentage of today's
generation could not cope at all with depression era conditions.
More of the U.S. was rural in 1930 and knew how to grow, at
least some if not most, of their own food.
Today's urban population not so self sufficient. Turning off the
central heat and air would do a bunch of them in.

 

[SteveA]

My folks are both children of the Depression, Dad born in '26 and Mom in '33. My Dad's father died in 1933 so the family relied on his mother, a very tough, smart woman. She ran for Register of Deeds here and held the position through the '50s. I love doing Abstract Examinations and seeing her signature. She threw away nothing and to this day, I still feel guilt throwing away broken soap shards as she would save them and recycle once she had enough. My Mom is from west Tennessee and grew up on a farm. Not sure they really knew about the Depression as life was pretty tough as it was. I was brought up on grits, cornbread, country ham and we always had a big garden with black eyed peas and greens. My wife was raised by grandparents that were married during the Depression. Though we might have been kids of the '70s and '80s, that era still impacts how we live to this day.

 

[TheHobbyist]

My humble addition to this:

Grew up in the 1980s with family from the depression era and just from the perspective, I guess, of being poor.

-Grandpa had six kids prior to WW2, hunted, fished, farmed, and gardened for all of them and the missus.

-He would pick wild mushrooms and vegetables as a hobby along with trapping, hunting, and fishing.

-My great, great unlce, his wife's brother, would put cash money inside food boxes in the kitchen. I remember being a toddler, honestly, in my crib and watching ' grandpa Joe', who lived through the Depression putting money in food boxes. He would look at me, and tell me, shush, you didn't see nothing. Wonder how much was thrown out, know that I think about it. He passed life as a good man first; and as I understand it, fairly well to do.

-Recall conversations with my Mother's grandparents about how times were tough and lard and bread sandwiches were common. They all hunted. So whatever meat they had during these times was 'organic'....

-They used to make country hams on the farm and people were so desperate for food that they would try to steal them. But, they were under 24 hours watch. Someone tried, then they would offer them eggs or whatever they got that day to help them out. They were poor, but some were even poorer.

My Dad's side didn't have much either, no one did back then from they were. But they always had a lot of fruit and veggies. They would can everything meat, potatoes, anything to preserve it. I have heard many stories about how this helped the folks who lived in the city (still a very small town) because they didnt have the ability at the time nor the place to provide for themselves.

-Fishing. Where my family was from, this mandated you had to catch and store for a long time. Being from Norway, they knew how to. I seriously think that even I would have to be truly hungry for some of these dishes but they made it work.

 

[italiansport]

From what my family has told me both lard sandwiches and potatoes were a staple along with garden vegetables during the depression. Once in awhile th4ey could afford to buy a chicken.
When I was a kid in the 50s my parents still had a vegetable garden every year plus a large concord grapevine. I still remember my mother canning grape jelly which is still one of the best jellies I ever had.
Jim

 

[pmosley]

As a child of the 60's of a poor but extremely hard working family - i remember, fondly actually, fried potato sandwiches, homemade chocolate milkshakes and ritz crackers as a meal, Libby's Vienna sausages, and Spam as meals - they were never presented as dire circumstances so therefore I really didn't have a feel for my family's financial position until later in life......even though, wouldn't trade those experiences for anyrhing.....

Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

 

[ericrlarson]

My dad still makes SOS. I love that stuff. My dad was Vietnam era.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[arjay]

Potatoes,beef tongue,rabbit... I remember my father,well into middle age,eating food I considered spoiled.To him,all food was good.