The Depression years

The Great Depression was the worst economic slump ever in United States history, and one, which spread to virtually the entire industrialized world. The depression began in late 1929 and lasted for nearly ten years.

Clermont was affected, as were other parts of the country. But when we read about the bread lines and soup kitchens in the cities, we felt we were lucky. Practically everyone had a garden, an apple orchard, and harvested wild berries. Women canned fruit and vegetables during the summer and fall to be used during the winter as seen in this photo.

Cooking and canning was done on old gas stoves like this one:

A great many of the houses did not have any running water and depended on outside wells or pumps like these:

Indoor plumbing was not found in many houses so outhouses similar to this one were used.

In the wintertime, when it was extremely cold and snow covered the ground, pots like this one were used if needed at night.

None of the houses had electricity so lighting was provided by gas lights like this one.

Mothers during these days had a sort of schedule for the entire week. 

MONDAY was washday when all clothes were washed. Then certain items were sprinkled with water and rolled up and left over night.

TUESDAY was the day to iron all the things that needed ironed.

WEDNESDAY was the day when bread, cookies, cakes, and pies were baked. Even some puddings might be made.

THURSDAY was devoted to house cleaning.

FRIDAY was time to finish up cleaning and get clothes ready for the kids for the next week of school.

SATURDAY called for more baking and plucking a rooster for Sunday dinner.

SUNDAY was the day to go to church in the morning. A big Sunday dinner was served to the whole family with the afternoon being used to visit friends or welcome guests.

 Without electricity clothes were washed by hand in washtubs using a washboard. 

Some people had washing machines using a gasoline motor like these.

The clothes were hung out to dry or dried on racks in the house. Clothes that need ironed were ironed by women using a sad iron. These iron were heated on a gas or coal stove. Here are some of these irons.

Practically all families had a cow, chickens, and a pig or two. Another source of meat was from deer like this one:

 Hunting season was an opportunity to get more venison for food. Deer were plentiful as shown in the following pictures:

Everyone had a small garden for growing vegetables. Venison, rabbits, and even groundhogs were a source of meat and it was common for people to kill deer even during the summer months. In fact some men killed deer and took some of the meat to Olean , N. Y. and sold it to get some much needed money. Money was very scarce so many things were done to save money. One of the things my dad did was to repair our shoes or add steel toe and heel plates to our shoes. This was done using shoe lasts like these:

Most of the news came to Clermont through the newspapers that arrived by mail. There were several papers including the Bradford Era, Olean Times Herald, and The Buffalo News. On the weekends The Grit, Pittsburgh Post Gazette and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Usually there were paperboys to deliver them. I myself delivered the Olean Times Herald, The Grit, and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.  The other state and national news was obtained by listening to the radio. Since there was no electricity in Clermont until 1946, radios were of the battery type. Here are three models. One is a table radio and the other two are floor models.

The local residents looked forward to getting news from nearby towns like Crosby, Eldred, Farmers Valley , Colegrove, Marvindale, Hazlehurst, and Betula. A good source of this news was " Sam the Peddler" who was a Lebanese peddler who traveled from town to town to sell dry goods. His real name was Massaud Nahara Riskalla and he lived in Olean , N.Y. He originally came from Wisee, which is a suburb of Beirut , Lebanon .