My parents grew up during the first Great Depression. They grew up knowing how to use things up and avoid waste, and the difference between a want and a need.
“Use it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do
Or do without.”
That was the motto of my parent’s day, and they never forgot. Here are some of the things they did when I was a kid.
Credit was a no-no, unless they were purchasing a house. If they didn’t have the money for it, they didn’t buy it. It did NOT matter if the TV died and it was x amount of time before they would get the money – we just didn’t have a television. The same went for washers, refrigerators – everything.
Once when our washing machine died I recall my father locating a used one from somewhere, knowing that it leaked – just to get us by. He set it out on the back porch (the porch was concrete) and ran a water hose to the cold water inlet and an extension cord to power it. As soon as he got the money to replace our washer however, that leaky monstrosity disappeared!
When money decreased, bills were cut back. Period. Nothing was sacred. As a result, for many years we did not have “essentials” like cable television or telephone service unless money was coming in good. To conserve on other bills, air conditioning and the electric furnace were forbidden, instead we used fans and wood heat. I remember many a morning waking up to frost climbing my bedroom walls, rushing to cozy up to the stove my dad was nursing to life!
In the summer my father would get permission from various friends to harvest wood from their land. We would go together, taking a frozen gallon jug of water, and he would saw up the trees and I would pile up the branches. By the time we were thirsty the jug would be thawed just enough to give us a drink. During the years we did not have a truck, we used the trunk of the car, piled full with the lid strapped down to haul our firewood home.
We were on well water so conservation was a necessity, especially in the summer. As other country folks can tell you, in the bathroom toilet paper was placed in a trash can, and that commode was NOT flushed after a single urination. Instead, the lid was kept down and it was flushed either when a bowel movement was made or the smell got bad. If you think that strange, consider that we were actually much more advanced then most of the neighbors – they still had outhouses!
Showers and baths were taken maybe once a week, and hair was washed then. Instead of daily showers, you took a daily sponge bath in the sink to wash off the grime. If it was really hot, sometimes you took two “whore baths” a day as they were called back then. When you did shower, the water was used to get wet with, then shut off while you lathered up. It was then turned back on to rinse, and you were done. When you took a bath, it was forbidden to use more than a couple of inches of water, and in summer that water was saved to water the garden.
Commercial flowerpots were unheard-of unless you were considered “rich.” If you wanted to raise potted plants, you used what containers you had available. Most often those were coffee cans, gallon milk jugs, bleach jugs – just whatever you could find. Bottoms for drainage were the lid of an even bigger container, and dirt was just that – dirt from a rich place in the yard, perhaps mixed with the remains of a rotting tree or some manure. Plants were cuttings and gifts from family and friends.
If you needed it, you made it. My father lost a leg in an accident, and still managed to drive a stick-shift truck. His secret? He took a hacksaw to an “ape hanger” bicycle handlebar (we called them “sissy bars”), took one half and clamped it to the clutch to shift that sucker by hand! Once he copied a automatic tarp spreader on a dump truck after seeing it once! When the transmission went out on our old car, Father acquired a junked car identical to it, grabbed the Chilton manual, and sat on the shed porch calmly rebuilding that transmission with pieces from both cars!
When I wanted a desk, I converted a shelf with duct-tape using sticks for legs. When the gas pedal on a go-cart my father acquired refused to work, we rigged up a pull-cord to regulate the speed, and I learned to trap and observe the local wildlife using an old rusted birdcage, a board, a stick, and some string!
Can lids were the Frisbees of the day. We would cut varying holes out of the center to see if they flew better, and test them out by letting the dog chase them! When we went fishing, bait was dug up, not bought from a store. Instead of a store-bought whistle, we learned how to whistle with a blade of grass. For Christmas most of my aunties would make their gifts of dolls, scarves, hats and toys, and if Grandmother gifted you with a quilt or an afghan, you were special indeed!
New clothes were a treat one did not see very often. Right before start of school every fall, my parents would take me out and give me a budget for all my clothing and school supplies, and if I went over I had to put something back. I would try to buy five shirts, a couple pairs of pants, shoes, socks, underwear, and school supplies. Very rarely did I get more new clothes before the start of the next year, so I got in the habit of buying things oversized – which I still catch myself doing to this day, especially with my own daughter. In fact, the only time I recall getting clothes before a school year was over was after a growth spurt in the first grade. My father picked me up from school and realized that my pants had turned into capris, so he actually took me shopping that spring afternoon!
Occasionally there were handmedowns, and those were treasured, for they were the only real source for things like sweaters and other expensive items until I became older and could earn some money of my own! I once recall growing too large for a pair of tennis shoes, only to have my father cut the toes out and call them sandals. I was delighted at the gift!
As for my parents, I remember my mother once buying a cute little summer short set. My father would buy her new nightgowns and stuff as gifts, and other than that I do not recall her buying another piece of clothing until after my father died. I can look through the photographs and see her through the years wearing the exact same clothing! As for my father – I think once I recall him buying new underwear cause he had to go to the hospital for surgery. Other than that he made do with what he had and what he was given. He wore the same old pair of Army boots he had gotten from who-knows-where long before I was old enough to remember. When the soles became thin and he could not find a repair shop in the area, he cut cardboard and lined the sole. He did buy a pair of florsheim shoes after a doctor insisted (something about his injury) – but they cost so much he very rarely wore them!
Laundry may have been done once a week, and only when there was a full load of clothes, so we tried to make our wardrobes last as long as possible. That meant rotating our two or three pairs of pants, letting them air out between wearings, and trying to squeeze as many wearings as possible out of them and the shirts. If you were out of something to wear and it wasn’t laundry day, you washed it out in the sink and hung it up to dry!
Eating out was virtually unheard-of. Instead, when I wanted something special I would beg my father to fix some homemade biscuits and gravy, or plead until my mother fixed some peanut-butter fudge! Once in a while my father would surprise us with a pizza or a milkshake from a restaurant, but those times were very rare! When we had to stay in a hotel once, we packed a large cooler with lunch meat, pickles, drinks and stuff – that was our breakfast, lunch, and dinner for almost a week! I still recall how delicious the grape Nehi tasted that my dad allowed me to run across the street to purchase that week! The bottle deposit was a dime, so I sat on the stool and savored every drop, because I wanted to return that dime to my father and thank him again for the treat!
We felt as if we were rich! In fact, at one time we even had three full-time security guards: Max, Tippy, and Candy. A german shepherd, a cocker spaniel mix, and a poodle! If anyone tried to sneak up on us they got a really rude awakening! As backup, my father kept a 38 caliber snubnose around the place! We may not have had alarm bells or direct lines to the police department, but we were never robbed!
We kept some money in the bank, and Father always kept a hundred-dollar bill stashed in his wallet. One of his first lessons to me was to always have money in my pocket, no matter what. He said it may be hard to build up, but a small stash was invaluable, cause it would be there if you were lost or broke down and needed a little cash to get home or food to fill your belly. Another lesson was to keep my school lunch money stuffed in my sock so no one could see it and take it away! The best way, he told me, was to fold the bills as flat as possible and put them under the sole of your foot. That way even if your sock rolls down you are safe! I learned the hard way not to try that with change!
If a gate or door needed a latch, it was made using a piece of wood and a nail for a pivot. Hinges were made out of old strips of leather. Ladders were constructed out of lumber, and lasted forever! Funnels were made out of the tops of plastic jugs, and wood ash was used instead of insect powder in the garden. To spread the ash, holes were punched in the bottom of a coffee can, and that can was attached to a stick at a height above the plants. One firm tap on the ground and the plants were covered! Calendars were collected from every business offering them, and the pictures used to decorate the home.
Instead of band-aids, we used a piece of cotton ball and some tape. Grandfather had some ancient strips of cloth (they reminded me of mummy bandages) he would wash and re-use on his sores. Antibacterial soap was unheard-of, as was liquid soap in the home. If you wanted something sanitized, you dipped it in alcohol or peroxide. Skins and scrapes were treated the same way. Once I recall my father having to practically drench me in rubbing alcohol after an especially bad bicycle accident – boy, that hurt worse than the wreck! It happened to be just my luck that we were out of peroxide during that particular time! Instead of coating sores with antibacterial ointment you used things like Bag Balm – if you used anything at all.
Instead of cigarettes, Grandfather had Prince Albert in a can, and would sit on the front porch and roll a cigarette whenever he wanted to smoke. It was almost a meditative exercise for him, I believe. He would take pieces of wood and weave small baskets as he sat on the front porch to give to us grandkids. When I graduated high school, he presented me with a gag gift – a lightning bug! I still recall the heh-heh-heh of his laugh that evening!
My grandparents saved even more than my parents did. I honestly do not believe they ever threw away a single jar or bleach jug – instead these were rinsed out and saved in the garage. They were used as containers, funnels, scoops – you name it. If a jar had a mouth on it that would accept a canning lid, it would be used the next time my grandparents would can. Otherwise, it was used to hold whatever needed corralling around the house, be it nails, screws, bobby pins, or paperclips!
Leftovers were not thrown away. They were reheated at the next meal. Leftover mashed potatoes were always a treat – they were transformed into potato pancakes! Stale bread? Yippee – we could have french toast or bread pudding! Bones were sometimes used to season stews, but as my parents considered themselves quite well off they mainly got fed to the dogs!
Over the years we raised various farm animals for food. Chickens, pigs – even a bull one year – all raised to go in our freezer. When we had a productive sow, we bred her and sold the piglets for extra money. Father received a good offer on the sow one day so he ended up selling her as well, but we kept a couple pigs regardless!
Gardens were raised when we had the land, and that was where I learned that real food does not have to come from a grocery store – it can be eaten straight from a field! A favored springtime treat was cheeseburgers fried with home-grown green onions, and my father loved wilted lettuce. Carrots rarely made it to the dinner table – I was too impatient!
Today I think I will hang my laundry out to dry, make a loaf of homemade bread, and be thankful for the simple life my parents gave me. They showed me beyond a doubt that one can live on a whole lot less than what the Joneses make.
