'Depression Lessons' can apply to today

CEDAR RAPIDS - As tough economic times linger, the unemployment rate rises and making ends meet becomes more of a challenge, folks who survived the Great Depression of the 1930s think they can help.

At least that's what a group of seasoned survivors at Cottage Grove Place in Cedar Rapids hope. Led by Dot Hinman, 78, they compiled an extensive list of ideas in “Saving Ways from the Depression.”

You could call them Depressions Lessons.

I sat down with Dot and two of the dozen or so people who helped compile the tips - Bev Goughnour, 89, who grew up on a farm near Cedar Falls, and Patti Jacobi, 87, a survivor of the Dust Bowl days in Kansas.

Even Dot, who was born in 1931 and grew up in Chicago, recalls those tough days: “I remember pretty vividly as a little kid people coming to the door selling pencils and shoelaces.”

Dot's father, a salesman for American Felt Company who managed to keep his job, often brought home remnants. “We had felt everything in the house,” Dot chuckles. “My mother made felt aprons, felt skirts ...”

Bev recalls mixing salt and soda together - “I didn't know what toothpaste was” - and listening to the radio hooked up to a pair of car batteries because the farm didn't have electricity.

Patti wore plenty of hand-me-down clothes, many from cousins.

“I was a sophomore in college before I had a coat that was bought for me,” she says.

Bev's family lost the farm when she was 13 and moved to Washington state to be with relatives.

Patti's mother divorced her father, a spendthrift, after the gas was shut off. Her mother went to work in a library for $100 a month, then took a 20 percent reduction in pay. She even made some money by renting a three-bedroom bungalow, leasing out each bedroom to a boarder and living in the basement with her three children.

When times are tough, the tough become pretty inventive. So, consider these other ideas:

-Reuse. Bread wrappers doubled as sandwich wrap for school lunches. Orange crates became bookcases, dressing tables and toy storage. One man cut the tops off high-top shoes to make oxfords. Clothes were altered, socks darned. Feed sacks could be made into dresses and dish towels.

-Stay toasty warm. After baking, open the oven door to heat the house. Heat an iron on the stove and wrap it in a blanket for warmth. Use quilts and blankets. Dress warmly. Line curtains and close them.

-Share living quarters. Many kids moved back in with parents or relatives. It also helped with the support system.

-Cheap entertainment. Potlucks, singalongs, chess and checkers. Gather around the piano. Walk instead of driving. Make taffy and have a taffy pull. Burn candles.

-Hunt. Men and boys often fished or shot rabbits and squirrels (“four-footed chickens”) for food.

-Leftovers. Become inventive with a ham, then sandwiches, then soup. Look for clever, cheap recipes like hot dog casseroles. Grease cookie sheets with butter wrappers. Reuse coffee grounds and tea bags.

-Make presents. Christmas toys could be carved out of wood, made from socks or corn husks. Older kids often gave siblings a prized possession. Even an orange, given from the heart, could be a wonderful holiday treat.