1931: THE GREAT DEPRESSION

This family photo was taken during the depths of the "Great Depression." In our opulent contemporary society, it is somewhat difficult to imagine the hardships certain portions of the population experienced. The Glover family was among that portion. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Glover had 3 children at the time. Tom and Don were in the future. My aunt Ruth passed away, leaving my Uncle John and his 3 children. My father lost everything in the 1929 stock market crash when his business, "Gill's Express" went bankrupt. Both unemployed, my father and my Uncle John took "relief" employment with the WPA (Works Progress Administration) , a government sponsored work program for the destitute unemployed. I would guess that there aren't too many visitors to this website who were around during those dark and dreary pre-World War II years. The photo identifies the children who lived in that little house on the corner of Sylvan Avenue and Beal Street. With three bedrooms and three adults, utilizing two of them, the remaining bedroom and the unheated and uninsulated attic became the quarters for the six children. My brothers and cousin tell of sleeping in that attic in the winter and water actually froze in the glass on the window sill.
Even though I was yet to enter into this family until the year 1933, the stories I hear and heard from my mother, father and brothers tell of a pitiful story of survival.

RALPH LUCARELLA said...

HI TOM....THE GREAT DEPRESSION WAS A PERIOD I'LL NEVER FORGET. I WAS BROUGHT UP DURING THAT TIME AND ALL THROUGH THE 30'S WAS A CONSTANT STRUGGLE. AMONG OTHER THINGS WE LOST OUR HOUSE ON BERT AVE. AND I WASN'T ABLE TO GRADUATE IN ORDER TO LOOK FOR WAYS TO HELP OUT. MY FATHER WAS WORKING FOR ONLY A FOOD ORDER WHILE WORKING TO BUILD JUNIOR 2. THE ONLY GOOD THING THAT HAPPENED WAS PLAYING WITH THE SCHROTHS IN 1936. BUT LIKE YOUR FAMILY AND MANY OTHERS WE SURVIVED.

Monday, March 19, 2012