4/14/73

The Depression

(Based on an interview of my grandmother, Mabel Bauerle)

My grandmother, Mabel Bauerle, was teaching school at the time when the
Depression struck, and her salary dropped from $110.00 to $90.00 per month.
She and those around her were not bitter because they realized that cuts were
essential everywhere.  She lived in a rural community and felt that since 
they were accustomed to simple food and living, and since their investments 
were in farmland and equipment, they were not hit as hard as most others.

The DeWitt bank did not close because the farm people were confident 
in the bank that had been operating since everyone could remember. 
Therefore, most people did not panic and draw out their money.  Nearby, 
the Bath bank closed and my grandmother's fiance lost money but got it back
later.  In 1932, Grandma and Grandpa began to make plans to get married. 
Grandma had a car and $2000 in savings and Grandpa had $500 and a farming job,
so they decided to go ahead with the marriage.

Grandma, her mother, and various aunts and friends made quilts and sheets 
and a few other necessities.  Ten yard of unbleached sheeting sold for $0.59
and Grandma made four sheets for a little over a dollar by putting seams down
the middle.  She stressed that times were simpler and newlyweds did not expect
as much in the beginning in those days.  Grandma was able to buy a new dress, 
hose and shoes and her friends gave her a kitchen shower.  However, showers 
were new then and her father did not approve.  Relatives supplied other 
necessary items such as home-canned fruits, vegetables, and meat.  In May, 
Grandma planted her garden so it would be well under way after their wedding 
on June 15, 1932.

Grandpa was given one of the family farms to live on and worked for a salary
of $20 per month plus milk and 1/4 pound of butter per week.  Grandma used 
her savings to buy everything else they needed, but she said it was no hardship
to young people in love.  She sold eggs for $0.08 per dozen and they ground
their own wheat into cereal.  They could also take a bushel of wheat to the mill
in exchange for 25 pounds of flour.  They raised and butchered their own meat 
and had enough to eat.  Every so often, Grandma would splurge on a box of Jello
and used only half at a time or she would buy some sugar to make a cake.

When their first child (my mother) was due in 1934, Grandma bought a used sewing
machine for $12 and made everything for the baby herself.  Grandpa built a baby
crib, which was eventually used by all four of their children as well as their 
grandchildren.  The total cost was under $100, including the doctor's fees.

Percale sold for $0.08 to $0.10 per yard, Grandpa's overalls cost $0.50 to $0.75,
and work shirts were $0.25.  Wheat brought about $1.00 per bushel, which was 
not much less than the 1973 price.  They did not receive the wheat and milk 
money, so they used savings to buy a threshing machine to allow Grandpa to work
for other people as well and make some extra money.

Grandma and Grandpa did not really hurt for money until their second baby 
was on the way in 1936.  The only sources of heat were a wood-burning cook stove
and a used heating stove.  This induced frequent colds for the babies, and there
was no money for medical help.  There were many nights when Grandma sat up 
all night by a sick baby's bed and prayed that by some miracle, the child would
still be alive in the morning.  She suffered above all due to the long lonely 
nights with sick babies because the father was not supposed to help with the 
mother's duty.  The gradual purchase of farm machinery had precedence over 
money for medical care.

Farm life was so simple then that most people were not pessimistic.  Grandma 
and Grandpa were young and had good health, food, and shelter.  They felt sorry
for the families whose men had jumped out of ten-story windows.  Life on the farm
did not differ enough to be noted before or after the Depression.  Grandma 
maintained that farmers were much better off than most people in towns and 
cities, and she praised Roosevelt's recovery programs.  She never believed 
that the Depression was entirely Hoover's fault, as the news media accused, 
because she was a firm Republican.  She could not, however, imagine anyone 
who could have done a better job of leading our country out of the Depression 
era than Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 

Written by Denise Fink (Missal) for a high school history class in 1973