Hi Joan - from my readings it seems to me that during the 1920's and 1930's, most of the farmers who went bust were ones that bought land on credit during a land bubble caused by World War I. A lot of people who had no business buying land got into the bubble, people with desk jobs who thought they could get rich quick. In fact, I think one of the major causes of the depression was the land bust during the mid-1920's. It took a lot of banks down, made many others weak. Prior to 1921, there were hardly any bank failures, but after then, there were dozens, then hundreds, then thousands.
My family did just fine during the Depression, too. They were not rich people, and it did not seem any different to them. They did see a lot of hobos.
My mother's mother was born in St. John, North Dakota. Her mother was part Turtle Mountain Chippewa, and her parents came from Canada and Minnesota. My grandmother's family moved south during WWI because her mother had rheumatism, probably the same thing I have (rheumatoid arthritis), it feels a lot better in warm weather. They lived in a little sod hut on the prairie before they moved. When they went anywhere in the winter, it was on a sleigh, and they were tucked in with buffalo robes.
The world sure has changed. Far more in her lifetime than in mine. |
