George C. Brian was 10 years old when the stock market crashed in 1929. He was too young at the time to understand what was happening, but he noticed that things were becoming increasingly difficult to get.
The Brian family moved many times during the Great Depression, seeking lower house rent. Their average monthly rent was between fifteen and twenty dollars.
At the worst point of the depression, Dr. Brian and his family moved twenty five miles north of Baton Rouge to live in his cousin's home. They stayed there, in the plains region, for two years and didn't have to pay rent.
Dr Brian remembers his reluctance to leave the city he grew up in. However, once in the plains, he became friends with other children there and enjoyed the country life.
For fun, the children rode horses near Fort Hudson and swam in a nearby river. They played baseball and basketball, as well as other ball games. One in particular involved two groups who would stand on either side of a house and toss a ball back and forth over the roof.
George Brian's father was an electrician who made a decent salary of $2,000 a year. The family always had enough to eat.
Dr. Brian would cut the grass of his and his neighbors' yards for fifty cents on weekends. At age thirteen, he worked in the school cafeteria during study hour to get free meals.
By 1941, the Depression in Baton Rouge was over. The city recovered sooner than others because the Standard Oil Refinery (now Exxon) was located there. Baton Rouge was also an important seaport.
Dr. Brian's mother decided the family should move back to the city so her sons could have a better education. Dr. Brian had once dreaded leaving the city for the plains, but now they would be greatly missed.
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