Most people are familiar with this historical event — the Great Depression — which began in 1929 with the stock market crash, and lasted 10 years. Those years probably seemed excruciatingly long to those going through it and suffering its effects.
If you’ve ever read the book, The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, you’ve gotten a good look at what life was like for so many during that time. If you have never read it, I highly recommend it.
I’m sure you’ve also heard the phrase, “Depression-era mentality”, used to refer to the habit folks have of hanging on to things “just in case” they might need them after having lived through that time.
While I never heard my grandmother, Hazel’s mother, talk about the depression much, and she was NOT a hoarder at all, she did keep some things with that mentality, yet she was also very organized.
I believe that living where they lived, they were not as affected by the depression as other folks may have been. They already lived in a fairly poor area, so they were already accustomed to being frugal and doing without.
Hazel and her brother, Donald, were both born during the Great Depression. I can’t imagine how scary it would have been to be trying to raise a family when times were in such turmoil. If you’ve ever seen the movie, Seabiscuit, at the very beginning, Toby Maguire’s character is just dropped off at the stables by his parents because they couldn’t take care of all their children, and they knew he could work there, even at his young age. I can’t imagine just leaving one of my children somewhere like that, even if I knew it might mean a better life for him. Thankfully, that never happened in our family!
Here’s a couple of related links about Hazel’s early years:
I’m also reasonably sure that Mildred and Vern never let on to their children that times were hard, so they probably never knew how bad things were, and thought they had a pretty good life — plus they were so young they might not have remembered much about it. And in so many ways, they did have a good life — a much better life than a lot of other people had in that same time period. Truly blessed.
And immediately at the end of The Great Depression, World War II began . . .
The Life of Hazel Ilene 
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