“Life is Good”
by Jodi Hallsten

The stories that history textbooks tell of the time of the Great Depression conjure up images of men and women standing in half-mile lines on dingy sidewalks waiting for a bowl of soup, and of dirty children wearing tattered clothing and playing in alleyways off of busy streets.  All of this is set against a backdrop of streetcars, tall buildings, and steam rising from the manholes in locations like Brooklyn or Chicago.

Is this a realistic picture of the depression?  It probably is for individuals who lived in major cities.  But what about the folks who lived in Duluth?  What about the Lilyquists?  Aside from textbook scenarios, what was it really like?   This is what I sought to discover as I spoke with Dorothy, Bill and Phyllis about their experiences living through the era. What I learned was fascinating to me; living through the depression was nothing like my textbooks had described.

The three Lilyquist siblings with whom I spoke didn’t really know about the depression, or that they were even living through any special time period in history.  As we chatted, Dorothy, Bill and Phyllis each recounted different stories, but through them ran a common theme:  they didn’t know there was a depression and they didn’t know they were poor because everyone was poor; they simply didn’t know any differently.

Life, at the time, was good.  While Earnest was often out of work through the depression, and they often had to charge their groceries to put food on the table, the family still ate well.  “We had hamburger in our hot dish once in a while,” Bill explained, “otherwise we had lots of macaroni and cheese, pot roast, roast beef.”  Dorothy remembered being told that she had to cut back on baking treats for the family because they couldn’t afford as much sugar. Other than that, she too remembers “cooking and eating very well.”  Phyllis recalled that when the family was able to purchase oranges, which at the time was rare and special, Bill and Phyllis got them first.  Bill remembered fondly that the family always managed to eat at least one meal together daily, and 8 of them sat comfortably around the kitchen table.

Every day the children walked to school and walked home for lunch; Bill admitted that he didn’t even know where the Lincoln school cafeteria was!  Phyllis remembered that at recess the school sold milk to the students – for 3¢ a pint (chocolate milk was 5¢ a pint).  When they weren’t in school the kids played outside all day.  They had few toys – Bill remembered having a scooter for a while, “an old, rusty piece of junk,” he admitted, but the children always found themselves easily entertained.  Phyllis recalled, “for Saturday fun our parents would say ‘go out and rake the leaves’ and we’d make houses out of the leaves --  the rooms, and then the wind would come and blow the leaves into someone’s room…”.  They lived quite near a playground and a park, so the children often spent time there with neighborhood friends.  

At night the family would often gather around the radio to hear their favorite shows.  Bill remembered that “you didn’t interrupt them” during their favorite radio programs!  Together they enjoyed shows like “Ma Perkins,” “Sunday Night Barn Dance,” and “One Man’s family.”  Phyllis said that she remembered that the volume on the radio was a problem, so as a youngster “Bill would sit with his ear to the radio and listen to ‘Jack Armstrong’ and ‘The Lone Ranger.’”

Holidays were also comfortable and simple.  The children would find fruit, nuts, and candy in their stockings.  Phyllis remembers that they would receive a toy from the dime store and something their mother made – a sweater or a scarf or mittens, “something to wear,” she explained.  Dorothy remembered that Santa Claus would come to the house and visit the kids, but she figured out that “Santa” was really Uncle Otto when she was 6 or 7 years old because she cleverly “saw his ring.” Of course, there was always a wonderful holiday dinner that the family enjoyed around the big table, too.

Dorothy, Phyllis, and Bill all admitted that during the depression, “life was good.”  This certainly wasn’t the textbook scenario that I had come to know.   Going into our conversations I expected to hear tragic, woe-is-me stories of having to walk uphill to school in blinding blizzards, of being perpetually hungry and wishing there was food to eat, and of aimlessly kicking around an old tin can for fun, because there simply nothing better to do. Instead what I heard was the story of a family that was full of love for one another, who happily enjoyed what they had, and that even today, is still grateful for what they were given.

As I hung up the phone after my last conversation I looked around my apartment – at the big television and surround sound system in my living room, at the bowl overflowing with fruit in my kitchen, and at the computer with high-speed internet in my office, and I felt a bit guilty for having recently complained about some petty inconvenience in my life.  I realized that our textbooks fail to teach us two very important lessons that we all should take from The Great Depression:  to be grateful for what we have, and to realize that it’s not our possessions that makes us happy, it’s our families and friends.  Grandma Dorothy, Uncle Bill, and Aunt Phyllis – you’re all right:   life is so good.  Thank you for reminding me of that. J

Random Non-Depression Era Memories
That Are Too Good Not To Share:

Phyllis earned 50¢ a day babysitting for her cousins.  She saved her money, and after a long time was able to purchase some wool from which she sewed herself a new suit for high school.  (Segrid helped her sew the suit.)

Helen used to darn socks for people for 10¢ a pair (unless you were family – she didn’t charge family members for darning).

Dorothy used to fix people’s hair – she’d put them in pin curls for 10¢ a head.

Bill and his sister once walked to the Garrick Theater to see Heidi.  The lobby was packed, and he really wanted to see the movie – they spent 2 hours waiting to get in!  There were 4 doors into the theater and while they waited he was very worried that he’d go through the wrong doors and miss the movie.  Although the two were eventually able to find a seat and see the movie, they had to leave early because they had to give themselves enough time to walk home and make it in by curfew.  Bill said he never did see the end of Heidi until he had children of his own.

1929 - Great Depression begins in the United States.
The depression begins in Minnesota with the bankruptcy of key
employers in Minneapolis and quickly spreads to the rest of the state.