Section 11.2: Life During the Depression (Appleby 406-409)

The Great Depression

Welcome to

Lower Moreland

Begin at 19:50-28:00

Today’s Agenda

• 11.2 Slide Show

• Presentations

• Homework

• Quiz on Chapter 11 Thursday (40-50 points)

Review Great Depression• Black Tuesday

• Buying on Margin

• “Run on the Banks”

• Hawley Smoot Tariff

• Hooverville

• Reconstruction Finance Corporation

• Bonus Army

• So the Depression really only affected cities, right?

ObjectivesAt the end of this lesson you should

be able to:• Define and describe the Dust Bowl• Define foreclosure and Penny auction• Define Okie and list 3 characteristics of their life• Compare the effects of the Depression on tenant

farmers with urban workers• Describe a Hooverville in a short paragraph• Describe how the role of fathers and mothers

were affected by the Depression• Describe the impact of the Depression socially,

physiologically and nutritionally

What was the Dust Bowl?• Ecological disaster

in the Great Plains region (Oklahoma/Texas) 1933-1934

• Enormous dust storms caused by drought, overuse of land

• Millions of acres of farmland became useless

• hundreds of thousands migrated to California

What happened to farms? • Banks foreclosed

(repossessed) thousands of small farms and auctioned them off– Dust Bowl + Overproduction =

falling prices + inability for farmers to pay their mortgages

• Penny Auction- collective effort of farmers to ‘buy’ foreclosed farms/equipment at low prices and return it to original owner

Foreclosure

Who were the Okies?• Okie = migrating homeless

Midwestern farmers (some from Oklahoma) of 1930s– Derogatory term– Implies homeless, poverty,

hickishness• Migrated mainly to

California along Route 66• 15% of the Oklahoma

population left• Lived outside of towns in

Hoovervilles• Paid starvation wages for

laborious farm labor

Dust Bowl RefugeesThe Okies

The Dust Bowl & its Impact

Woody Guthrie Presentation

Who is Woody Guthrie? • Folk singer/songwriter• Learned traditional folk songs

while traveling with migrant farm workers

• Known as “Dust Bowl Troubadour”

• Songs tell stories of common man’s struggles during Depression

• “This Land is Your Land”– Song really about class

inequality

How was the role of the father affected?• Traditionally the provider• Unemployment = lost

status, self-esteem• No longer the

breadwinner (provider)• Some sank into

depression• Abandonment• Others sought work daily• Kept busy

– Painted house for 2 years

How was the role of mother affected?• Traditional role as

homemaker resurrected • Controlled family budget and

rationing– Mae Braddock & the milk

• Supplemented family income with sewing/ cleaning– Hannah McIntyre

• Took jobs men didn’t want (secretary, cleaning, laundress)– 25% increase in female

employment

Families Fall Apart

What was the “Invisible Scar”?• Psychological fear

caused by uncertainties of Depression

– Feelings of shame, insecurity

– Tore some families apart

– Less social

– Lacked hope

– Marriage, children put off

– Malnourishment common

A View of the Great Depression by Caroline BirdFrom Caroline Bird, Invisible Scar: You could feel the Depression deepen, but you could not look out of the window and see it. Men who lost their jobs dropped out of sight. They were quiet, and you had to know just when and where to find them: at night, for instance, on the edge of town huddling for warmth around a bonfire, or even the municipal incinerator; at dawn, picking over the garbage dump for scraps of food or salvageable clothing.

Invisible Scar

Lindbergh Kidnapping

Presentation

Describe the Lindberg Kidnapping.• Charles Lindberg Jr. kidnapped from bed 1932

– Son of famous aviator Charles Lindberg• Kidnappers left ransom note, homemade

ladder• Lindberg relied on intermediaries, not police• Bruno Hauptmann

– German immigrant arrested – Used “marked” money at gas station– Had $14 thousand hidden in wall– Floor in attic & handwriting matched

evidence– Found guilty & sentenced to death

• Reflected how desperate some had become during the Depression

Today’s Agenda

• Finish 11.2

• Wizard of Oz presentation

• Homework

• Read Section 11.2 and answer questions 2,3 on page 409

ObjectivesAt the end of this lesson you

should be able to:• Define Escapism and why it came about

during the depression

• Identify examples in which people escaped from the depression through cars, vacations, the Silver Screen, radio

What is Escapism?• an inclination to

retreat from unpleasant realities through diversion or fantasy

• How?

– entertainment

– romantic novels

– Alcohol or drug abuse

How did the Silver Screen help people escape the Depression?

• Talkies- movies with sound more common in the 30s

• 10 cents for double feature matinee

• Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

• Gone with the Wind (almost 4 hours)

• One of the 1st color films• 60-90 million went to

movies weekly

Ginger and Fred

Busby Berkeley

Presentations

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers• Greatest dance team in movie history• Movies exemplify idea of escapism • Simple stories, happy people who achieve

American dream, fall in love, etc.• Top Hat

– Most famous dance number "Cheek to Cheek"

– "Heaven, I'm in heaven, and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak..."

• Astaire dance routine known for elegance, grace, originality and precision

• Dances based on tap and other black rhythms, classical dance

• Looks simple & unstructured yet each steps is “written”

Top Hat

Fred & Ginger

Busby Berkley

The Wizard of Oz Presentation

The Wizard of Oz• 1939 Color film Based on the 1900

children's novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum

• Tells story of Kansas farm girl (Dorothy) who is swept away in a tornado to the land of Oz

• She embarks of a journey to meet the Wizard of Oz so that she can return home (Somewhere over the Rainbow)

• Aided by a Scarecrow, Tin-man, & Cowardly Lion she finds the Wizard

• Tells Dorothy she could return home anytime she wanted

• Story is a metaphor for the Great Depression

Why is the 1930s considered the “Golden Age” of Radio?

• Large featured piece of furniture and focal point of living room

• 10 million owned in 1929

• 30 million by 1939

• Featured soap operas in afternoon, horse races, quiz shows, Children’s shows (Lone Ranger, Superman, Little Orphan Annie), comedies

Entertainment

Seabiscuit Presentation

Who was Seabiscuit?• Unlikely champion Thoroughbred

racehorse who became symbol of hope during the Great Depression

• Viewed as lazy, too small, and obstinate at 1st

• New owner paired horse with jockey Red Pollard (blind in right eye) & another horse to play with

• Had stunning success

• Beat “invincible” horse named War Admiral