JohnPalmieri.com

The Great Depression

by on Nov.13, 2009, under People

My father, Joe Palmieri, remembers the Great Depression. You can actually hear him talk about his memory of the Depression – just click the following link Everyone was Happy. I think it is so cool to be able to tap into the memory of our senior citizens….especially a parent. We have much to learn from them.

“I remember the depression as a tough time for my family. My dad was making two dollars a day when I started to realize how poor we were. But everyone was pretty much the same in the neighborhood. My mom was making a dollar a day working 10 hours a day — a dime an hour. Three dollars a day was all that was coming into the house.

We got by pretty good. You could buy pork chops for about 10 cents a pound. I can remember buying bread . . . for 10 cents. Milk was about eight cents a quart, and we got it delivered right to our house. Gas money at that time was 12-and-a-half cents a gallon. We could go to a movie for 20 cents and (that) got you into the movie and then you were able to get a hotdog and a Coke. Very few people had cars, so we used a trolley. For seven cents, it would take you anywhere in the city.

The amazing thing was that everyone was happy. Nobody knew how poor the next guy was. All the kids played outdoors in the wintertime. They didn’t have computers and all that other stuff . . . not even a radio. We never got a radio in our house until I was about 12 years old. It didn’t hurt us as we grew up. We didn’t know, but my mother knew. I remember she would feed five of us in the family with one pound of pasta and nobody complained.

I went into the service when I was 17 — right out of high school — during World War II. That was a time you met a lot of guys who were going through the same thing. Then, as the war went on, the depression was over. But people remember that (time).”

– Joe Palmieri, 82,
West Manchester Township

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5 Comments for this entry

  • John
    November 20th, 2009 on 4:08 PM

    Thanks Mo – Glad to have you back. Please Follow my Blog on NetworkedBlogs – link is to your right. Peace!

  • Mo
    November 19th, 2009 on 10:39 PM

    What a great story from your Dad!

    Love the new look of the blog too. I’ve had computer issues lately so that’s why I haven’t been around at all.

  • Chris
    November 13th, 2009 on 7:16 PM

    Dad did a great job…he’s as sharp as a tac! I love these memories of “less was more”…they didn’t have a lot of material things…but sure had a lot of love of family!!

  • John
    November 13th, 2009 on 12:14 PM

    Wow Abby what a cool story! Yes our elders are like living history books…and books that don’t just make generalizations of the past but give specifics as to times and era’s in which they lived…the specifics of their story helps us better understand the “bigger story”.

  • Abby
    November 13th, 2009 on 10:23 AM

    Thanks for reminding us of the great value of our elders. My next door neighbor (who has since moved to an assisted living home) is 102 years old. She is a wonderful, sweet woman. I enjoy visiting her, and this was a good reminder that I haven’t been to see her in a while and need to put it on the calendar to visit her soon. She has a great
    memory and can share some very interesting stories, but mostly she likes to share new things so she doesn’t feel like she’s being repetitive. She likes the boys (Sam-5 and George-4) to visit and to talk to them to see what they have learned. My favorite memory of her is that she got to hold George when he was 4 days old. She shared that she had never held a newborn child in her life until that day. She was 98 years old. She only had one child herself, and she had Scarlet Fever when he was born, so she didn’t get to hold him until she was better, which was weeks or maybe months (I can’t remember which). I was so glad that I had been able to give her that gift. She has really enjoyed watching the boys grow up. I miss her and wish she still lived next door. She had lived in her house for 70 years. I had the pleasure of living next to her for 8 years. Thank you for letting me share my memories of Ann Ray, a wonderful blessing into my life from God.

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