It was a terrible time for the folks in the United States’ Great Plains when a seemingly endless drought followed excessive plowing of the soil and caused the earth to let loose it’s hold on it’s very skin. The stripped soil boiled up into the air, infiltrating every crevice it could find, inanimate or alive.

 

People were already hurting just about as badly as they could bear because of the devastating Great Depression brought on by a huge stock market crash in 1929. Now everything looked hopeless, and for many it was. The 1930s started out well enough for the Great Plains residents, but it wasn’t long until the decade was named “the Dirty Thirties” by Midwesterners crazed from extremes of blizzards and tornadoes, floods and droughts.

The Dust Bowl of the 1930’s was a devastating period of weather extremes and artificially eroded soils resulting in terrible dust storms coupled with alternating drought and heat with blizzards and floods.

“In 1930 R’s (Russell’s) oats made 60 bu. — so the bins were full. Oats was 10 cents per bushel and yearling and two year old Herefords of good quality sold for $21– the government offered $20, but a good neighbor borrowed money from a Nebraska relative and gave us $21.00″

***

“Dear Wenzel Bros: I saw the notes in the (Alpena) Journal regarding the “Bad old Days” and thought you might be interested in my poem. My father was a mail carrier in Wessington Springs in the early 1900’s and live 2 1/2 miles east of Alpena in the ‘30’s. — Sincerely Harold Webber (June 11, 1988)

You hear the rattle of the wagons in the bright and early morn,

But the men are hauling gravel when they should be picking corn.

The gravel on the roadways made a better road, I guess,

But when compared to growing crops it sure did pay lots less!

Now the weather’s down to zero, you can hear the North wind whistle.

The hay we feed our cattle, people call the Russian thistle.

But keep up all your courage and don’t give up just yet.

We’re bound to raise a bumper, when it gets good and wet!

–Written by H.L. Webber (circa 1930)

A first-hand account of

“South Dakota Life in the Dirty Thirties”

 

 

The early thirties brought drouth and dust storms. One of our family photographs is of my brother with one foot on top of a fence post and the other one on top of the ridge of dirt that had blown higher than the fence. On Armistice Day, 1930 or 1931, (I’m not sure which date), we ate noon dinner by the light of a kerosene lamp. Mother had set the table and we were ready to eat, but first I dusted the plates and dishes, so thick was the air filled with fine dust. It seemed to be everywhere. Years later in our part of the state, one could take a hammer, pound on house siding, and dust still filtered down.

One of the most heart-rending memories one can have is the pitiful sound of hungry cattle bellowing for food that wasn’t there, Often they could be heard during the night.

My parents, and other families, depended on gardens for vegetables and fruits, and it was sad when they could not raise good gardens or crops due to lack of rain. But neighbors encouraged one another, and “perhaps next year.,.” became an oft-spoken phrase. We were the most optimistic “next year” folks in the world. But all was not doom and gloom. Early in life our parents taught us to appreciate all the many blessings God bestowed upon us – our health; the ability to work efficiently and without complaining; the opportunities for a good education; our relatives, friends, and neighbors.

Even in adversity, and especially during the Depression, we never went hungry (even though Mother did not always have some of the things she would like to have provided for her little family of four). When lemons were expensive, or not available in our part of the country, she made us happy with Vinegar Pie, (Just in case you and your students may wish to try it, I am enclosing Mother’s recipe–happy eating). In later years when we could have Lemon Pie, remembering how wonderful her Vinegar Pie (recipe below-left on this page) was during the lean years, we sometimes asked for it.

And breakfasts were something to remember. Father ground our cornmeal, and during the winter we often had cornmeal mush with cream and sugar for supper, with enough left over to mold for breakfast. How good and crisp that was, with our own butter and home-made syrup Other breakfasts we enjoyed as much included the old- fashioned buckwheat pancakes – begun the night before.

My brother and I were happily growing up— at school, helping our parents, and with a pony, a dog, and cats for daily companions. The work, we did helped to mold and strengthen character. At school there was the annual basket social in the fall, preceded by a program. And a picnic on the last day of school in May’

There was little or no money for entertainment, but we did have a radio – an Atwater Kent with a big black horn. We enjoyed Fibber Magee and Molly, Amos and Andy, as well as musical and church programs. We had good books to read (there was a very good library in the town of Wessington Springs in Jerauld County, 14 miles north and west of us); the Bible; and Mother taught us to memorize many poems, such as Abou Ben Adhem, the Village Blacksmith, and others.

On quiet, cold winter evenings Father played mumbletypeg with us, and dominoes. And Mother avoided monotony by teaching us to learn all the United States in alphabetical order, with all the capitals. She also had us “match up” the names of places overseas that were the same in our country – for example, Stockholm, Sweden, and Stockholm, South Dakota; Bethlehem, Holy Land, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Rome, Italy, and Rome, Georgia, and Rome, New York, and so on – a fun game for young and eager minds.

For Christmas we enjoyed home—made candies; and one year Father made and painted a pair of stilts for both of us children.

So the Depression years were not always bad for all people. True, they were discouraging at times, but we lived through them, and are the better for the experience.

Time does not permit my rambling on, but perhaps this will give you and your students some idea of what our life was in our home during the Depression.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Benjamin J. (A. Ruth) Larson

Editor’s note: Mrs. Larson lived along SD Highway 34 near the Jerauld/Sanborn County lines. She died several years ago after happily living to be quite old. She was a regular weekly contributor to the True Dakotan and would cheerfully walk through the newspaper’s front door with a small news item, stating: “This is just to let everyone know I’m still here.”

     Marvin Larson and “Teddy” stand atop a “dust fence” during the Great Depression near (Crow Lake) Wessington Springs, SD. Marvin died in 1986 and his sister, A. Ruth (Mrs. Ben J.) Larson died at her home between Woonsocket and Wessington Springs in the 1990s.

According to the July 25, 1974 Mitchell Daily Republic, the average July-1936 daily temperature was 103.4 degrees. The Mitchell area had 27 consecutive days of temperatures exceeding 90 degrees and 18 straight days with the mercury climbing past 100 degrees.

It turns out the area was having troubles once again in 1974 when highs ranged between 92 degrees and 106 degrees for 18 straight days (Juoly 6-23).\”Hot temperatures and little precipitation have made July an uncomfortable month for most of the areas. ?And it appears that the only relief to be found is in front of an air conditioner,” the Daily Republic reported. “Lack of precipitation has been another charactgeristic of July, 1974. Only 1.05 inches of rain have fallen since the first of the month, with the last rainfall of any amount being .66 on July 3.

(1930’s recipe submitted in 1988 by Mrs. Chas. W. Green - mentioned in Ruth Larson’s story this page)

3 T corn starch 3 large egg yolks 1 1/2 c. sugar

3 T. vinegar 2 T. butter 1 1/2 c. boiling water

3 egg whites ¼ t. cream of tartar

6 T. sugar ¼ t. lemon extract

1 t. lemon extract 8″ or 9″ pie shell (baked)

Mix corn starch and sugar; add vinegar and boiling water; cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly until thick and it boils. Boil 1 mm. Beat a little of the hot mixture into the egg yolks which have been beaten slightly, Add remaining hot mixture to the yolks; return to heat and boil 1 mm. longer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add butter and lemon extract. Pour into pie shell and cover with meringue:

Beat whites with cream of tartar until frothy. Gradually beat in sugar, a little at a time. Continue beating until stiff and glossy. Add meringue on filling, sealing edges well. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes, or until a delicate brown, Serve when cool.

Some recipes I have seen for vinegar pie use ½ t. nutmeg and ½ t. allspice instead of the lemon extract, but we did not like it as well.

HAPPY EATING!