Teach
07-11-2008, 09:19 PM
"Those were terrible times," my mother said. "The worst I’ve experienced," she added. "We were frightened. Yes, frightened."
Several years ago, before I had to place my mother in a nursing home, I would drop by her apartment every Saturday for a visit. On those occasions — over coffee and pastries — we’d talk. On one occasion, we talked about those early days when my mother was a teenager. Those days were the early-to-mid 1930s — the era of the Great Depression.
As we began to talk, my mother said, "Son, those were very bad times. Terrible suffering," she continued "In our household there was barely enough food to feed a family of six," she added. She went on, "My father -- your grandfather -- lost his job at the steel mill. He had to work for the one of the New Deal agencies. He was working for the government building roads and bridges in the middle of the winter. You know how cold Syracuse, New York can be in January.
"Well, my father got frostbite. He almost lost his ears. My mother knitted him a special hat that kept his ears warm. He was back out on the job a day later.
"There were soup kitchens and bread lines. Many people were desperate. You could see it in their faces.
"You know how I don’t trust banks," she continued. "It stems from my experiences during the Great Depression. There were lines and lines of people waiting to get their deposits out. Some people panicked. People started becoming agitated. Angry. The police had to be called in. There were people I knew who were wiped out. They lost all their savings! Their bank went under.
"I told you before there was scarcely enough food. We had an ice chest out in the foyer area just outside our kitchen. On two or three occasions, thieves stole what little food we had from our ice chest. We ended up getting a dog. The dog’s keen hearing let us know if someone were trying to break in.
"Yes, those were terrible times, son. I hope we never experience anything like that, again."
Well, my mother died a little over a year ago. I doubt she would have known or understood the difficult economic times we now find ourselves in. Yet, the parallels to my mother’s youth during the early-to-mid 1930s and our current economic predicament bear many similarities.
As a student and teacher of history, I’ve studied the era of the Great Depression. I do know that the decade of the 1920s that preceded the Great Depression was a devil-may-care, live-it-up era.
As I recall, it was one huge binge, especially as our country moved toward the late 1920s.
In those days it was "The Installment Plan, "A dollar down and a dollar forever." There were also people who were speculating in the stock market; they were "buying on margin". For as little as 10% down (and you could borrow that from a broker), you could be heavily invested in several stocks. That position was OK if the stock market keeps going up, but if it doesn’t...."it’s cover, cover, cover!"
Today, it’s real estate. Easy-to-get mortgages neatly packaged. But what if your house loses value? What if you can’t afford to make the payments. Ever hear of a "balloon" mortgage. The rates are very manageable for a while, but then, all of the sudden — "The bomb!"
Now, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be in jeopardy. If necessary, it’ll be the taxpayers who bail out those agencies. "Too big to fail," they say.
Yes Mom, I’m very concerned. I don’t want my family to go through the hard times that marked your adolescent years. But I’m worried...just like you were.
As I recall, it wasn’t till we entered World War II that we fully came out of the Depression-era of 1930s. They say that history has a way of repeating itself. I pray that it doesn’t happen, again.
Several years ago, before I had to place my mother in a nursing home, I would drop by her apartment every Saturday for a visit. On those occasions — over coffee and pastries — we’d talk. On one occasion, we talked about those early days when my mother was a teenager. Those days were the early-to-mid 1930s — the era of the Great Depression.
As we began to talk, my mother said, "Son, those were very bad times. Terrible suffering," she continued "In our household there was barely enough food to feed a family of six," she added. She went on, "My father -- your grandfather -- lost his job at the steel mill. He had to work for the one of the New Deal agencies. He was working for the government building roads and bridges in the middle of the winter. You know how cold Syracuse, New York can be in January.
"Well, my father got frostbite. He almost lost his ears. My mother knitted him a special hat that kept his ears warm. He was back out on the job a day later.
"There were soup kitchens and bread lines. Many people were desperate. You could see it in their faces.
"You know how I don’t trust banks," she continued. "It stems from my experiences during the Great Depression. There were lines and lines of people waiting to get their deposits out. Some people panicked. People started becoming agitated. Angry. The police had to be called in. There were people I knew who were wiped out. They lost all their savings! Their bank went under.
"I told you before there was scarcely enough food. We had an ice chest out in the foyer area just outside our kitchen. On two or three occasions, thieves stole what little food we had from our ice chest. We ended up getting a dog. The dog’s keen hearing let us know if someone were trying to break in.
"Yes, those were terrible times, son. I hope we never experience anything like that, again."
Well, my mother died a little over a year ago. I doubt she would have known or understood the difficult economic times we now find ourselves in. Yet, the parallels to my mother’s youth during the early-to-mid 1930s and our current economic predicament bear many similarities.
As a student and teacher of history, I’ve studied the era of the Great Depression. I do know that the decade of the 1920s that preceded the Great Depression was a devil-may-care, live-it-up era.
As I recall, it was one huge binge, especially as our country moved toward the late 1920s.
In those days it was "The Installment Plan, "A dollar down and a dollar forever." There were also people who were speculating in the stock market; they were "buying on margin". For as little as 10% down (and you could borrow that from a broker), you could be heavily invested in several stocks. That position was OK if the stock market keeps going up, but if it doesn’t...."it’s cover, cover, cover!"
Today, it’s real estate. Easy-to-get mortgages neatly packaged. But what if your house loses value? What if you can’t afford to make the payments. Ever hear of a "balloon" mortgage. The rates are very manageable for a while, but then, all of the sudden — "The bomb!"
Now, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be in jeopardy. If necessary, it’ll be the taxpayers who bail out those agencies. "Too big to fail," they say.
Yes Mom, I’m very concerned. I don’t want my family to go through the hard times that marked your adolescent years. But I’m worried...just like you were.
As I recall, it wasn’t till we entered World War II that we fully came out of the Depression-era of 1930s. They say that history has a way of repeating itself. I pray that it doesn’t happen, again.