Misery Index

EDIT:  This one single post is getting more hits than any other page on my blog.  As a result I will be starting an additional blog.  My father was born in 1924 and thus lived through the depression, with many strong memories.  He was born in West Virginia and lived the life that many have heard about, especially in the coal mine mountains of West Virginia.  He additionally was in World War II drafted as a MP in the Army stationed in Hawaii, although after 1941, from 1943 to 1945.  These two items significantly affected the way he lived for the rest of his life.   After the war, he went on to college, getting a double major in Chemical Engineering and Psychology, and lived most his life as an Industrial Engineer in Time and Motion Study and eventually a MSIE.  (And no, that does not mean a janitor.)

My mother, who was born in 1935 in Tennessee did not live through the depression persay however, she did experience a life somewhat similar during certain times in her early life.  This also affected the way she lived. 

One thing they did while I was growing up was to teach me the "old" ways, although at the time, I hated it, and wondered why we lived the way we did when we had so much money in the bank.   Canning, storing, stockpiling, planning for things that I though was crazy and never came, gardening, lowering the heat to 50F at night in the winters, and never living with AC in the summers....so many things.  They never had credit cards yet always paid for new cars every five years in cash, paid for their house in cash, and wrapped the rest of their money up in CDs.  Today, those things are unheard of, except for the super rich.

And today, because of the way they lived and raised me, I know many of their ways, which now, is a blessing.  I have decided to start an additional blog sharing that information, their stories that I remember, and other information I have found about the great depression, how people lived,  and the mentality of survival during depressed times.  That blog is located at http://depressioneratimes.blogspot.com/  Additionally, they both are still alive today.

Now on to Clara.

Clara is now a 92-year-old great-grandmother who shares her depression era stories while also cooking simple, inexpensive, and delicious depression era meals that anyone on just about any budget can make in three 2007 videos.   What is sad, is that there are only three videos that can be found.