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When My Grandparents were Children

The era my grandparents were children ranged from 1920 -1940.� They had lived through the roaring twenties through prohibition, gangsters, flappers, mass- production, buying on time, Hoover, the Stock Market Crash, the Great Depression, Roosevelt, unemployment, and many government changes. Electricity was not everywhere and the entertainment industry was changing rapidly.

Al Capone

The roaring twenties was a wild decade.� In 1920 the United States passed a law prohibiting the sale of alcohol.� This led to secret bars called speakeasies led by mob bosses who could get illegal alcohol into these establishments to sell.� Al Capone, one of the most notorious mob bosses in Chicago was twenty-two when his mentor Torrio brought him into the mob organization.

� According to Marilyn Bardsley, Torrio retired in 1925. Torrio turned over total control of his power to Capone.� Capone ruled his area with very little violence until the death of his brother Frank.� After the police had gunned down Frank Capone on the street, revenge seemed to be the only thing on Capone's mind.

Other mob bosses also started fighting for the power Capone had.� Try as they might, the police could never gather any evidence linking Capone with murder. Capone was eventually arrested. He was sentenced to prison for tax evasion.

Flappers

Flappers were different than the traditional woman of the twenties.� They were young, smoked, drank, wore makeup and had short hair.� The young women according to Jennifer Rosenberg, "was breaking away from the old set of values."� The flapper's image was a drastic change.

They donned the boy look while still keeping their femininity.� They would bind their breasts to make them appear flat and cut their hair in a "bob" style.� Their dresses became shapeless while the hem got shorter.� Flappers started wearing make-up, which was considered something only loose women did.

� Car dating grew among the flappers. Many Flappers insisted on driving.�� Flappers were the beginning of the modern woman movement.� Dancing was the Flappers favorite past time. Favorite dances included the Charleston, the Black Bottom, and the Shimmy (Rosenberg).

The Stock Market Crash

Mass production of products started a buying craze. Consumers discovered buying on time.� According to Robert McElvaine, "By the end of the 20?s fifteen percent of all retail sales in the United States were made on the basis of installment purchases."� Eventually the buying craze slowed down.� Production did not slow down however and caused many products to be stored.� Eventually the warehouses filled and layoffs at the factories began.�

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The Stock Market Crashed in 1929, which lead to the Great Depression.� Many people did not know what to do.� They lost their jobs.� They lost their homes. They lost their money in bank closures.� Men looked to President Hoover for help through protesting which became violent at times.� President Hoover refused to give federal relief, but he did establish committees to give hope.

�One such organization was the President's Organization on Unemployment Relief.� People never did see any relief.� Homeless people set up shantytowns named Hoovervilles made of tents, cardboard or lean-tos.�� McElvaine quotes a poem by E.J. Sullivan that sums up the way America at the time felt about President Hoover.

The 1932nd Psalm��

Hoover is my shepherd, I am in want,

He maketh me to lie down on park benches,��

He leadeth me by still factories,��

He restoreth my doubt in the

Republican Party.

He guided me in the path of the

Unemployed for his party's sake,

Yea, though I walk through the alley

Of soup kitchens,

I am hungry.

I do not fear evil, for thou art against me;

Thy Cabinet and thy Senate, they do discomfort me;

Thou didst prepare a reduction in my wages'

In the presence of my creditors thou anointed

My income with taxes,

So my expense overruneth my income.

Surely poverty and hard times will follow me

All the days of the Republican administration.

and I shall dwell in a rented house forever.

Amen.

President Roosevelt

During this time a new candidate came into the picture. �Franklin D. Roosevelt promising to turn America around.� Roosevelt won the presidential election in 1932.� He took office in 1933.� His first one hundred days were the most beneficial.� McElvaine states that by 1935 President Roosevelt had incorporated the Social Security Act, which was to help the elderly.�

He started the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which was to put unemployed men to work building highways, construction, and clearing slums.� Ann Hewitt, my grandmother, stated, "My father was a farmer in Illinois and had gone to work for the WPA digging ditches for very little money."

Roosevelt was making many changes to better America.� Modern conveniences were becoming a part of everyday life. The kids of the 1930's believed that, "Despite the pessimistic outlook of their Depression-shake parents, they knew their futures would be brighter than those faced by their moms and dads"(Sheehy).

Fun Facts

Electricity was in most homes except the rural areas.� Hewitt says she had no electricity or indoor plumbing until the early forties when they had moved into town.� The only luxury they had was a gas-powered washing machine.� The people who did have electricity were able to have the luxuries of electric appliances.

Radio became very popular in the1930's.� People were able to get up-to-date news reports. Families would gather around the radio to listen to the News, The Lone Ranger and other very popular shows (McElvaine).

Movies were the other form of entertainment. They cost very little to see.� Hollywood progressed in the thirties.� The Jazz Singer was the first movie filmed with sound.� By the end of the 30's they were making movies in color (McElvaine).

Sports were another past time for Americans looking for heroes.� A baseball hero was Lou Gehrig.� Joe Louis was a hero in boxing.�� Jesse Owens was a gold medallist in track (McElvaine).

Conclusion

We take all our luxuries for granted. The children of the 20's and 30's have seen many changes. They have watched the women's movement that the Flappers began, grow to equal rights for women. The people of this era have watched organized crime grow with Al Capone when they were children. As adults they watched the law take organized crime out of our society.� Now in their retirement years watching gangs take over.� The people of this era had learned to live modestly. They were afraid they would suffer the same Great Depression as their parents had.

�They have seen many presidents' come and go. No president has done as much for him or her as Roosevelt had.� He put into affect the (WPA) program that gave their parents jobs to help feed them as children.� He also put into affect the Social Security Act that most are living on today.�� Most people from that era still remember what it was like to have nothing.� My grandmother told me "II did not have much for toys because we could not afford them but unlike the kids today we could always keep ourselves entertained"(Hewitt).

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