Whether times were good or bad, people learned to live on the amount of income they made.
By NATALIE HESS
Whether times were good or bad,
people learned to live on the amount of income they made.
The generation that lived through the Great Depression learned
first-hand the value of saving money and the value of having it
accessible, according to Kendallville residents Joe and Millie
Schemerhorn.
Oct. 24, 1929, will forever remain American history's "Black Thursday." On that day the stock market crashed, triggering the Great Depression of the 1930s. America's Great Depression occupied nearly a decade, left 12 million people unemployed, and caused more than 37,000 banks, corporations and other businesses to fail by 1931.
The stock market crashed because of a combination of extensive
stock market speculation and the unequal distribution of wealth
during the 1920s. Money during the 1920s was distributed unequally
between the rich and middle class, industry and agriculture and
the United States and Europe.
LeRoy Schultess, a lawyer in LaGrange, practiced law during the
Great Depression. From his experience, business during the Depression
did not change. Sometimes payment was delayed, but people always
paid. If someone did not have the money up front, they got it
to him later.
"During the tough times I was paid just as well as I am now,"
says Schultess.
Herbert Hoover was elected president in 1928. In Hoover's acceptance
speech for the Republican Party, he said, "We in America
today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before
in the history of any land. The poorhouse is vanishing from among
us."
Less than a year after his inauguration, the "Roaring Twenties"
ended in a stock market crash.
"The Depression made us better able to roll with the punches,"
says Millie Schemerhorn. She and her husband, Joe, were married
at the end of the Great Depression.
When the stock market crashed, Millie was 10. Joe was a year older.
Millie's father had been advised by Abe Mier, a Ligonier banker,
to withdraw his money from the bank. Though their savings were
not outstanding, Millie says the advice saved her family from
extreme monetary loss.
Joe's family farmed when the Great Depression hit.
"Since farmers produce their own food, we always had food
to eat," he says. "But we were selling our hogs very
cheap."
Hogs cost $6 a head or 3 cents a pound. Eggs sold for as little
as 8 cents per dozen.
Farmers had the advantage of growing their own food. Hunger was
not a concern for them. Farming communities also had neighborhood
unity. Barn dances, potluck dinners and neighbor gathering together
helped to keep spirits high.
Millie and Joe's families learned to live on the amount they had.
Millie says she never felt poor or deprived. She had just as much
as her friends did. She wore quality stockings and felt fortunate
because of it.
"People compare their wealth to the wealth of their friends.
Someone who has the same that their friends have does not feel
poor," she says.
The Great Depression taught the Schemerhorns the value of money
and the scare of losing it. Their financial outlook differs from
their children's, who are now grown. Millie says her children
are more prone to spend money lavishly.
"It's just a different value system," she says.
Joe and Millie agree that the differences in the generations are
positive. Changes have been for the better, they believe.
Grapefruit or oranges for dinner was a novelty when the Schemerhorns
grew up. Fruit was more likely to show up in a Christmas stocking
than a packed lunch.
The food people ate during the Great Depression relied on farming
fields. Food was home-grown, home-produced and canned. People
baked their own meals.
"We were just more self-sufficient," explains Millie.
"There were not as much boxed foods, and there were no frozen
foods."
Millie recently received a phone questioning her about frozen
foods and boxed brands of food.
"I had never even heard of most of the brands," she
says. "I guess cakes are about the only thing I'll buy a
mix for."
At the mills, people without money would bring in their wheat
and trade it for flour. Vern Steckley's father owned Steckley
Mill and Hatchery during the Great Depression. Steckley recalls
three employees at the mill who took turns working during the
week so they could each keep their job.
What amazes the Schemerhorns is the increase of money's value
over the years. In 1940 the couple married. Millie made all of
the dresses for her bridesmaids. The investment cost roughly $100.
Present-day weddings that cost $10,000 or $20,000 are very up-scale
versions of weddings from the past.
Millie says she and Joe's wedding was lavish for the times. They
were wed in a church rather than a minister's house or the justice
of peace.
A $10,000 or $20,000 affair differs greatly than the environment
the Schemerhorns lived through.
"I think it's great that people can gather in big numbers
and celebrate now," says Joe. Now that times are good, the
Schemerhorns celebrate whenever they can. Millie's daughter once
asked her if she'd rather have a 40th or 50th anniversary celebration.
"What do you mean either/or, I want them both," she
told her daughter. "I'm planning our 60th one now. As long
as I'm around to celebrate, I'm going to do it."
Though times are good, the Schemerhorns are grateful for the lessons
learned from rough times.
"I can't help but to think it makes you more practical," Millie says.