Saturday, March 21, 2009

Depression Snapshot. How we ate well 1933-1939

We beat the thirties. My folks pulled us through. In those days there were bread lines, soup kitchens, and many bums roaming the streets begging for handouts at back doors.

Pa did odd jobs when unemployed, Ma cleaned houses, and helped out at parties. I sold newspapers, caddied, and shoveled snow for spending money. Welfare was unthinkable. In the worst of times they bought a two family house, paying the mortgage with income from one flat while we lived in the other. They never owed money for anything, always paying cash. There was a savings account, but no checks.

We survived through peasant frugality, brought from Europe, along with knowing how to work the earth. One of my jobs was to shovel up horse-balls deposited by nags that pulled the iceman or the baker’s wagon down our street. That’s free fertilizer for the gardens that filled our pantry with home-canned fruits, produce and preserves. Our organic rhubarb and tomatoes were the biggest and tastiest around. Italian neighbors had large gardens and also knew how to put food on the table.

Convenience foods were unknown. Supermarkets hadn't yet appeared. Ma made everything from scratch, mouth-watering German dishes and pastries. Noodles were rolled out on the dining room table, cut and hung over a broomstick to dry. What we had to buy came from small corner stores. Every meal was a treat, and I didn’t have my first American hamburger until I was 15.

Flour came in 25 pound bags. Bulk items and freshly slaughtered chickens were lugged home from the outdoor Polish market. On Saturday Ma baked, and our oven was busy from morning till night, baking for the entire week. Eggs were bought in quantity when the prices were low, and stored for the winter in crocks of fluid to prevent spoilage. We smoked our own pork, which was bought on the hoof and slaughtered in our cellar. The stink would fill the house and last for weeks.

Poor kids from down the street came to our house for "Samitches", or asked for "dibs" when they saw another kid with a snack. They were skinny and malnourished. Their diet was Wonder Bread and candy, and all 5 had rotten teeth. Their father spent their welfare money at the saloon. The boys all were in special education.

In addition to meat, our beer, wine, and “moonshine” were home-made. By end October we had stored a full winter's supply of food and drink. We had no problems with wartime food rationing. But those are other stories.