“A Blast to the Past: The Great Depression”
By Jessie Richwine
By Jessie Richwine
12/17/14
In his current home in Carlisle, Lee Richwine Sr. sat
down and shared every memory he had of the most terrifying time the world has
ever experienced; The Great Depression. When Lee was born, he entered a world
of war and suffering. Being so young, most of the time he had no idea what was
happening and that somehow made things a lot more horrifying for him. Everything
was scarce, not many people had money, and people completely depended on gardens
they had in their backyards. Every day was a constant struggle to survive and
an endless amount of unanswered questions. Would the feeling of fear ever go
away and would the world ever be a safe place again?
Lee’s family consisted of 10 other siblings, five
girls and five boys. He was the 3rd to last person born in his family
and the 2nd to last boy. He
didn’t see his oldest brother most of the time because he went off to fight in
the war when he was only 19. His mother looked after all the kids and saved
more money than his father ever did. She was an extremely hardworking person
and did everything in her power to take care of her family. She cooked,
cleaned, worked in the garden, and made time for her family all without her
husband being present. “Oh, you don’t want to know what kind of man my father
was,” Lee explained. “He would work all day, come home, sat down on a chair,
and just read the newspaper. On the weekends, we wouldn’t see him until Sunday
night maybe. He would go out to the bar with his friends, spend all the money
he made, and wouldn’t come back until the next week.” Dealing with this kind of
situation was difficult on the whole family. It caused tension between the
family, but Lee’s mother always came through for them. “She was a great woman.”
Lee’s family was no different than any other family
living during the Great Depression. They had very little money and were one
hundred percent dependent on the garden they grew in their backyard and the few
animals they had. “We just had the garden. Mother canned everything. We had a
cellar in our basement that looked like a library of cans,” said Lee. “We
raised the garden, went out to the field and picked out berries. All types of
berries. Any berry you can think of, we picked,” He continued. “Our garden was
as big as my yard is now. We had cows for milk and raised chickens and pigs,
killed ‘em, and sold those too.” Every
day was a routine. They got up early in the morning, put on their overalls,
picked berries out in the field, and some days, slaughtered and sold chickens
or pigs for extra money. Along with all this work, they had chores to do. Every
day of the week had a specific chore that had to be done and every week it
repeated all over again. Unlike today, the children hardly complained and even
found ways to make the days enjoyable.
Lee remembers his scariest moment being every night
when they had to black out their windows. Enemy airplanes soared over their
homes and towns and would bomb any trace of enemy life. Situations like these happened
often, but the feeling of terror never left.
“It was mostly scary because none of us kids really knew what was going
on. All we knew was that it was really dangerous and there was never a night we
weren’t supposed to black out our windows.” Lee said. Dealing with these kind
of struggles took a toll on everyone in America. Hope seemed to be lost and the
good days felt rare. Even with these struggles, Lee’s family found a way to
stay positive.
Not all the days during the
depression were bad. “People got along a
lot better back then. Everyone was really nice to each other,” Lee recalls.
“Not like how people are today.” His family was close with the neighbors,
especially the kids. During their free time, they always found a way to make
the days fun even with the worry of a war going on. Being inside was never an
option. The kid’s, along with the neighbors, played games like Tag with a
twist, played on swings, and even went out to creeks to have some fun in the
water. They also made up new games every day. One of Lee’s most enjoyable
memories was when he bit into the seed of a cherry seed and lost his first
tooth. They not only had other kids to keep them entertained, but they also had
dogs and cats. They helped with the animals and also brought them joy on the
more difficult days. School was also a factor in keeping the kids positive. “I
liked school a lot. In the first grade, I was the only one in my class and had
to sit in a chair right in front of the teacher’s desk. The walk was long and
we had to get up early, but the classes were good.”
Finally,
the day had come. “Oh, I remember the day we found out the war was over and
that we won. It was a great day. There were parades and celebrations
everywhere. People wore red, white, and blue. They shot guns into the air and
cheered all over the place. We didn’t know the war was gonna be over, but we
were sure glad it was.” Lee states. After years of being in constant fear and
losing hope more and more every day, there was more happiness than there had
ever been. This was the darkest time the world has ever experienced and no
matter how many times people had lost hope, America pushed through. We always
push through.
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| Lee's mother, Grandmother, and Uncle stand in front of the house in Carlisle that Lee's mother grew up in over 3 decades ago. |
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| Lee looks back on his time as a kid during the Great Depression. He talks about the first time he went to the movie theater in Carlisle and how he lost his first tooth. |
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| In the time of the Great Depression, Lee and his brothers wore overalls with no shirt or shoes every day. "All we wore were overalls. No shirt, no shoes. It got too hot. Our feet were sure dirty though." |
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| In a routinely fashion, Lee and his family wake up early in the morning every day to work on their garden and take care of the animals. |
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| To distract themselves from the darker times, the kid's play lots of games like tag, hide and seek, and love to swing on the swings. |
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| In Carlisle, Lee lives in a house he built for his wife and family over 20 years ago. His grandchildren now visit very frequently and plan on keeping the house in the family. |
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