To survive after the stock market crash of 1929, families had to be creatively thrifty when it came to necessities like clothing. One of the ways women outfitted their children and themselves was to use the cotton from large flour and grain sacks to sew shirts, pants, and dresses.
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What did they wear during the Great Depression?
Suits of the 1930s typically had high waists and slightly tapered, creased trousers with turned-up cuffs. Younger men preferred baggier trousers and longer jackets. Suits were darker blue, brown, or gray for cooler weather, with lighter tones for warm weather. Bold patterns included stripes, checks, and plaids.
How did people get clothes during the Great Depression?
Flour Sacks were Material for Clothing in the Depression. “Repair, reuse, make do, and don’t throw anything away” was a motto during the Great Depression. Very few farm families had enough money to buy new clothes at a store. Mothers mended socks and sewed patches over holes in clothes.
How did the Great Depression affect fashion?
The Great Depression caused woman to want to save money and not spend much on clothing. All over people were struggling to keep money in their pockets, so no one would spend big bucks on designer outfits. Women tended to make their own new clothes from other clothes they already had.
What was it like to live during the Great Depression?
More important was the impact that it had on people’s lives: the Depression brought hardship, homelessness, and hunger to millions. THE DEPRESSION IN THE CITIES In cities across the country, people lost their jobs, were evicted from their homes and ended up in the streets.
How much did clothes cost in the 1930s?
Woman’s Clothing Budget in the 1930’s
Total clothing budget for the year: $76.55, about one month’s salary. Budget for living on $20 per week.
Did people wear potato sacks?
They became an iconic part of rural life from the 1920s through the Great Depression, World War II, and post-World War II years.
What are 1920 dresses called?
the flapper
Also known as the flapper, the look typified 1920s dress with a dropped waist and creeping hemlines that could be created in economical fabrics. Coco Chanel helped popularize this style (Fig. 1) and was a prominent designer during the period.
What were the homeless called during the Great Depression?
Click here to see more photographs of Hoovervilles and homeless encampments in Seattle and Tacoma. “Hooverville” became a common term for shacktowns and homeless encampments during the Great Depression.
Who did well during the Great Depression?
Business titans such as William Boeing and Walter Chrysler actually grew their fortunes during the Great Depression.
Who was the hardest hit during the Great Depression?
The country’s most vulnerable populations, such as children, the elderly, and those subject to discrimination, like African Americans, were the hardest hit. Most white Americans felt entitled to what few jobs were available, leaving African Americans unable to find work, even in the jobs once considered their domain.
How much did a cup of coffee cost in 1930?
A TIME WHEN COFFEE COST 5 CENTS, MOVIES WERE 10 CENTS AND PEOPLE. People complain these days about the high cost of living. When I was growing up in Hartford in the 1930s, for 3 cents, we could buy The Courant, The Hartford Times or a postage stamp.
How much did a loaf of bread cost in the 1930s?
$0.09
The Price of Bread
| YEAR | Cost of 1 lb. of Bread |
|---|---|
| 1930 | $0.09 |
| 1940 | $0.10 |
| 1950 | $0.12 |
| 1960 | $0.23 |
How much did a gallon of milk cost in 1930?
26¢ per gallon
1930: 26¢ per gallon
But when the Great Depression hit in 1929, fewer people could afford milk and dairy farmers still had a lot of milk to sell. The price dropped from 35¢ per gallon to 26¢ per gallon. It doesn’t sound like much, but 9¢ in 1930 is about $1.09 in today’s dollars.
Why did Marilyn Monroe wear a potato sack?
According to Monroe, the photos were so successful that an Idaho potato farmer actually sent her a whole sack of potatoes as a thank you for the generous publicity, but Monroe apparently never got to enjoy them, saying: “There was a potato shortage on then, and the boys in publicity stole them all. I never saw one.”
Why was the sack dress named so?
The sack-back gown or robe à la française was a women’s fashion of 18th century Europe. At the beginning of the century, the sack-back gown was a very informal style of dress. At its most informal, it was unfitted both front and back and called a sacque, contouche, or robe battante.
When did they stop using flour sacks?
On April 28, 1922, The Washington Post announced, “Farewell to the Old Flour Sack.” Millers thought replacing the cotton sacks with paper cartons would be more convenient, both for distribution handling and storage for the average housewife.
Did flappers wear hose?
Even though women were showing off more of their legs than ever before, going bare-legged in public was still a fashion faux pas. To remain covered while wearing on-trend outfits, Flappers turned to 1920s stockings to keep their legs covered.
What did they eat in Hoovervilles?
There were several terms for commonly eaten food. One was a “Hoover Hog”, a jackrabbit, a source of food used, when no other was available. There was also Mulligan Stew, where homeless people gathered together any food they could find, and made soup out of it for everyone.
Where did the homeless go during the Great Depression?
Hoovervilles
“Hoovervilles” were hundreds of makeshift homeless encampments built near large cities across the United States during the Great Depression (1929-1933). Dwellings in the Hoovervilles were little more than shacks built of discarded bricks, wood, tin, and cardboard.
Who ran bread lines during the Depression?
Breadlines were thus a necessity during the 1930s. They were run by private charities, such as the Red Cross; private individuals—the gangster Al Capone opened a breadline in Chicago; and government agencies.