I was a child during the depression era. One of the things I remember my mother considered a bargain was when the grocery store she traded at would have six cans of Van Camp’s pork and beans for a quarter. One time she was able to get a yellow glass plate for a penny by buying some food items. This was a pretty plate with a design in the glass and she always used it for placing a home baked cake on it. It was depression glass. I still have it in my possession some sixty years later. Handling things carefully and taking care of everything is still what I do all these many years later.
One time our local J.C. Penny store had girl’s ready-made cotton dresses piled up on a counter at four for $1.00. Mother decided she couldn’t make them that cheap so she bought them for me. I wore them until I outgrew them. I never had four new dresses before so I thought it was wonderful. Merchandise was priced so low during the depression era, but wages were extremely low if one was fortunate enough to have a job.
Mary Scott
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.