Does anyone else have Depression-Era parents?

[Huckleman2000]

My Mom and Dad grew up during the Great Depression, both the oldest child in large families. It's been amazing how they have latched onto Barack Obama's candidacy as a sort of second-coming of FDR, and how relieved that makes them feel. It's easy for the media to draw parallels between Obama and FDR, or JFK, or Lincoln for Pete's sake; but to those whose history is living, this Inauguration Day will surely provoke strong recollections.

 

[rgraham666]

Mine are, but they're both Canadian. So they aren't quite as excited about it.

 

[freshface]

My parents were both children during the Great Depression. My father is too Republican to admit out loud how disappointed he is in GWB. He never liked FDR, so I doubt he shares your parents' excitement. I think Mom is happier about Obama, but Dad's very opinionated, so they don't talk much about it. They both have strong memories of segregation and life in the '50s South.

 

[cloudy]

*raises hand*

My dad was born in 1925 and my mom in 1928.

My father never got over having to have a pantry full of food. It was something he always insisted on the rest of his life. I'm not really sure why, because he was from a prosperous family - he and my mother, both.

 

[Huckleman2000]

My parents were both children during the Great Depression. My father is too Republican to admit out loud how disappointed he is in GWB. He never liked FDR, so I doubt he shares your parents' excitement. I think Mom is happier about Obama, but Dad's very opinionated, so they don't talk much about it. They both have strong memories of segregation and life in the '50s South.

Interesting. Mine are Catholics, and have long been supporters of Civil Rights in the Kennedy tradition. You're right, though. I'm sure I have aunts and uncles with very different views.

 

[midwestyankee]

Yes, both born a little before 1930. The delight at Obama's candidacy was only partial (i.e., they both voted for him but only one was really enthusiastic) and had much more to do with his general superiority over the skills and intellect of his general opponent than with any connection with The Depression.

 

[freshface]

Interesting. Mine are Catholics, and have long been supporters of Civil Rights in the Kennedy tradition. You're right, though. I'm sure I have aunts and uncles with very different views.

Actually, mine both supported Civil Rights too. One year in Mississippi convinced them that they were NOT going to raise their children in that sort of system.

Funny, but mine insist on full pantries too. They're both still alive and could easily live for months on their stockpile.

 

[midwestyankee]

Actually, mine both supported Civil Rights too. One year in Mississippi convinced them that they were NOT going to raise their children in that sort of system.

Funny, but mine insist on full pantries too. They're both still alive and could easily live for months on their stockpile.

Same here. My mother still makes a few dozen jars of jam and preserves every fall as well as putting up enough tomatoes to keep Dominos Pizza in business.

 

[trysail]

My mother was born in 1918 and my father in 1916. Both instilled the values of frugality, simplicity, thrift, self-reliance and an aversion to debt in their children. We were taught that one does not spend money one doesn't already have in hand. If you can't pay cash, you can't afford it.

FDR was a dirty word in my family and it was not considered polite to mention that man. He was considered a liar— the ultimate hypocrite, demagogue, phony and fraud— a man who would say and do anything for a vote.

 

[3113]

Same here. My mother still makes a few dozen jars of jam and preserves every fall as well as putting up enough tomatoes to keep Dominos Pizza in business.

LOL! My depression era father does it the urban way. Buys from Costco. Every time we come over he saids, "Ya want some X? I went to Costco and bought five pounds of X for a dollar! How could I not buy X? Other stores are charging two dollars a pound!"

And we moan and say, "Dad, you could not buy X because we don't use X and you can't go through five pounds of X yourself. You live alone!"

As for Obama, I think the only thing he feels is relief that GWB is leaving. Personally, I think he'd be happier with Eisenhower back in office.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

My mother was born in 1918 and my father in 1916. Both instilled the values of frugality, simplicity, thrift, self-reliance and an aversion to debt in their children. We were taught that one does not spend money one doesn't already have in hand. If you can't pay cash, you can't afford it.

FDR was a dirty word in my family and it was not considered polite to mention that man. He was considered a liar— the ultimate hypocrite, demagogue, phony and fraud— a man who would say and do anything for a vote.

My grandfather has similar feelings about FDR. He's a farmer and so was his father during the depression. I think a lot of farmers hated him for the AAA. Being told to plow your crops under and kill your livestock didn't sit well for them when people were literally starving to death.

Then again, I worked at a CCC built state park facility and I constantly met men who'd worked on it when they were young. The most common statement I heard from them was that it was the first time in their lives they could recall getting three square meals.

 

[midwestyankee]

LOL! My depression era father does it the urban way. Buys from Costco. Every time we come over he saids, "Ya want some X? I went to Costco and bought five pounds of X for a dollar! How could I not buy X? Other stores are charging two dollars a pound!"

And we moan and say, "Dad, you could not buy X because we don't use X and you can't go through five pounds of X yourself. You live alone!"

As for Obama, I think the only thing he feels is relief that GWB is leaving. Personally, I think he'd be happier with Eisenhower back in office.

Now imagine your father's Costco buying habits coupled with my mother's passion for canning fruits and vegetables. That's my parents in a nutshell. They buy wine in a 5-gallon box and Chex-Mix by the 55-gallon drum at Sam's Club!

 

[oggbashan]

My parents, born 1905 and 1907, had their first house repossessed in 1933 during the UK version of the depression.

They hadn't lost their jobs but their employer cut their pay by 10% overnight and banned all overtime. Their mortgage payments increased at the same time to a level they could no longer afford. Their siblings were also affected so couldn't help.

It took them until 1957 until they could start to buy a house again.

Og

 

[starrkers]

My father was born in 1922 in Australia, my mother in 1923 in England.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

My father was born in 1922 in Australia, my mother in 1923 in England.

Mine were born in '22. The Depression made a serious impression on my mother, much less so on my father because he lived in a block-sized extended family that took care of each other. Mom wasn't so lucky. However, she definitely voted for Obama, along with all the rest of the family, near as I can tell.

As for me, I'm another one who would rather see Eisenhower.

 

[fifty5]

My dad was born in 1903, my mum in 1913.

Dad believed in the old saw that: "a young man who isn't socialist has no heart, but an older man who isn't conservative has no brain."

I remember (and I was born 3 years after the end of WWII) a big can of wartime (maybe prewar) corned beef that sat at the head of the cellar steps. I don't actually remember it being opened - but we don't still have it, so it must have been. My parents' generation didn't chuck stuff due to Best Before dates, because they didn't exist back then.

They were also big believers in, "if you can't pay cash, you can't afford it." Largely, I've inherited that tendency: the interest cost makes the alternative too expensive for me to thoil (a Yorkshirism meaning that even though the cash may be there, the deal just isn't attractive enough to do. The best example I can give came about when a windsurfer crashed into my dinghy. The cost of a professional repair - for which I was insured - was over £25, but I could do it myself for less than a fiver. I couldn't thoil the former, so I did the latter. I simply couldn't thoil paying (even with someone else's money) over 5 times the cost for the repair.)

Mind you, being a Tyke (a Yorkshireman) may well be a bigger factor than having parents who lived through the Depression: you know the definition of a Tyke? A Scotsman, with the generosity removed!

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Mind you, being a Tyke (a Yorkshireman) may well be a bigger factor than having parents who lived through the Depression: you know the definition of a Tyke? A Scotsman, with the generosity removed!

I'll have to tell my grandma this. Her grandfather was a Yorkshireman and she often recounts how "thrifty" he was. The grandchildren, annoyed with great wealth, but lack of generosity, used to steal his chickens and sell them back to him.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I'll have to tell my grandma this. Her grandfather was a Yorkshireman and she often recounts how "thrifty" he was. The grandchildren, annoyed with great wealth, but lack of generosity, used to steal his chickens and sell them back to him.

I like that! Shows a true entrepeneurial spirit.

 

[Huckleman2000]

About the Yorkshiremen - isn't there a particularly unintelligible dialect which the locals revel in as well? What a disagreeable people!

 

[Vermilion]

About the Yorkshiremen - isn't there a particularly unintelligible dialect which the locals revel in as well? What a disagreeable people!

I think you may possibly be thinking of Geordies. They have the *most* unintelligible dialect.

And being half Yorkshire mysen, I take umbrage at your comment

 

[Chantilyvamp]

I think you may possibly be thinking of Geordies. They have the *most* unintelligible dialect.

And being half Yorkshire mysen, I take umbrage at your comment

crap i have to google geordies as well.... dammit milla you gotta teach me these things before you say them Heck I can't understand half the people in the UK yet. On the phone is worse sometimes but I keep trying

</threadjack>

 

[NoJo]

I like this Geordie
http://scans.sicknote.org.uk/pictures/fhm_calendar_2005/fhm_calendar_2005_01_cheryl_tweedy/fhm_calendar_2005_01_cheryl_tweedy.jpg

 

[DesertPirate]

Both my parents grew up on farms during the depression. Dad was born in 1923 and Mom in 1928.

My Mom is afraid of Obama. Her Dad made Reagan look moderate
My Dad was more moderate.
I reverted