Firing, Not Hiring: A Life During The Great Depression
The Great Depression started in 1929 and lasted for almost ten years. It was a very long, and tough ten years for everyone around in America. From the rich people to the poor people, everybody had it hard, but some had it harder than others. Even though it was over 80 years ago, people never forgot about the hard times they went through. There may have been lots of other economic depressions in the past that America has overcome, but this time, Americans’ lives changed forever. The Great Depression was the worst thing that happened to people but in the end, most people survived even with the lines of struggles behind them. Many people lost lots of their life savings, some even lost it all. In the article “Firing, Not Hiring,” Nancy Hayes
states, “[m]any people who had invested heavily in the stock market lost large fortunes” (Hayes 3). She also writes, “[a]s stock prices dropped lower and lower on the day of October 24, 1929, also known as Black Thursday, speculators desperately cashed in their stocks for whatever they were worth. Stocks were selling for a small fraction of what people had paid for them (Hayes 3). This caused “everybody to not be able to pay their rent or get a job, and some people were forced to live in abandoned lots, or construct makeshift “homes” of scrap wood” (Hayes 10). When people thought things couldn’t get any worse than what it already was, the economy crashed five days later; “Black Thursday then became known as Black Tuesday, when even more shares was traded at a fraction of their worth” (Hayes 5). This made “[o]wners and managers lose confidence in the economy, so they started postponing plans to expand; they reduced production levels, laid off employees, and some just closed their stores and offices altogether” (Hayes 6). Some people had to start cutting down expenses to save as much money as they possibly could. In his story “Digging In,” Robert Hastings tells “[h]ow they had stop the evening paper, turned off they city water and cleaned out their well, sold their four-door Model T touring car, put a stop to the ice and milk deliveries, and disconnected their gas range for all but the three hot summer months” (Hastings 4). He also explains “we tried keeping house payments to the Marion Building And Loan made for as long as we could, but a day came when we had to let those go too” (Hastings 5). Even though these people was unemployed, they still needed to survive. In the beginning, “Hoover tried to come up with different ways to help the unemployed by encouraging people to share their food. Unfortunately, the number of people who needed help was so great, the program had little effect” (Hayes 8). Living was such a struggle and “[f]or the next few years, men, women, and children who were selling five-cent apples on the street corners became a familiar sight across the land” (Hayes 9). It got to a point where “[p]eople who had put their cash away under their mattresses and in their coffee cans lived off their savings, while others tried to borrow money from relatives or friends, or were forced to go to private charities for help” (Hayes 11). Because all of this was going on, “[s]ome schools closed, and despite child labor laws, children could be found working in factories to help support their families when ever jobs were available” (Hayes 12). People may have gone through the struggle as the Great Depression was going on, but once it ended everyone slowly but surely got back on their feet. Certain people to this day have not giving up on the struggles they been through, and some people are sadly still trying to recover from this tragedy.
states, “[m]any people who had invested heavily in the stock market lost large fortunes” (Hayes 3). She also writes, “[a]s stock prices dropped lower and lower on the day of October 24, 1929, also known as Black Thursday, speculators desperately cashed in their stocks for whatever they were worth. Stocks were selling for a small fraction of what people had paid for them (Hayes 3). This caused “everybody to not be able to pay their rent or get a job, and some people were forced to live in abandoned lots, or construct makeshift “homes” of scrap wood” (Hayes 10). When people thought things couldn’t get any worse than what it already was, the economy crashed five days later; “Black Thursday then became known as Black Tuesday, when even more shares was traded at a fraction of their worth” (Hayes 5). This made “[o]wners and managers lose confidence in the economy, so they started postponing plans to expand; they reduced production levels, laid off employees, and some just closed their stores and offices altogether” (Hayes 6). Some people had to start cutting down expenses to save as much money as they possibly could. In his story “Digging In,” Robert Hastings tells “[h]ow they had stop the evening paper, turned off they city water and cleaned out their well, sold their four-door Model T touring car, put a stop to the ice and milk deliveries, and disconnected their gas range for all but the three hot summer months” (Hastings 4). He also explains “we tried keeping house payments to the Marion Building And Loan made for as long as we could, but a day came when we had to let those go too” (Hastings 5). Even though these people was unemployed, they still needed to survive. In the beginning, “Hoover tried to come up with different ways to help the unemployed by encouraging people to share their food. Unfortunately, the number of people who needed help was so great, the program had little effect” (Hayes 8). Living was such a struggle and “[f]or the next few years, men, women, and children who were selling five-cent apples on the street corners became a familiar sight across the land” (Hayes 9). It got to a point where “[p]eople who had put their cash away under their mattresses and in their coffee cans lived off their savings, while others tried to borrow money from relatives or friends, or were forced to go to private charities for help” (Hayes 11). Because all of this was going on, “[s]ome schools closed, and despite child labor laws, children could be found working in factories to help support their families when ever jobs were available” (Hayes 12). People may have gone through the struggle as the Great Depression was going on, but once it ended everyone slowly but surely got back on their feet. Certain people to this day have not giving up on the struggles they been through, and some people are sadly still trying to recover from this tragedy.