Vake's History of the Depression

When I was a student at Oregon State University, in the spring of 1968, I took a course on American history. Our professor instructed us to interview our parents about the depression as being one of the most important historical events of their lifetimes (together with WW II). Very few bothered, but Milly and Vake each wrote me a text of what they recalled. Milly’s text ran six single-spaced type-written pages; nobody could read her cramped handwriting. Vake’s was five pages printed in his bold, clear letters. Here’s what he said:

The stock market crash of 1929 was the beginning of the depression. The ensuing bank failures throughout the country removed the available cash and credit not only of large business complexes but of the small investors and even the savings accounts of many citizens. Mortgage foreclosures were common-place but land values decreased to the point where the mortgage holders could not realize sufficient value from their collateral to remain solvent.  Business, bank, and other financial agency failures snow-balled. At that time we had few Federal or State curbs on loaning agencies and banks, as compared to now.

President Hoover’s Republican administration attempted to alleviate the financial crisis by making capital available at attractive rates  to banks and financial institutions. However, it was the man on the street who needed aid and purchasing power immediately.

The depression really made itself felt on the west coast in 1930. Most sawmills halted operations due to the lack of markets for lumber products.

I was 16 years old in 1930, a junior in high school. The teachers were paid in cash but later most county employees would receive warrants in lieu of cash for pay. The warrants were discounted by various agencies who had cash available. Some mills operated and issued warrants instead of cash, which were accepted by most merchants for goods. During the depression years the populations in the Coos Bay area probably remained static or even decreased slightly as people left for any area that offered employment.

Dad [Eli] was working for Coos Bay Lumber Company in 1930 as a carpenter when the mill was closed.  It remained closed until 1933 or so.  Dad didn’t lose money or property because he didn’t have any money and very little property.  Here in Oregon I don’t remember any organized protest groups.  The citizenry did show interest in various groups and organizations such as Dr. Townsend’s plan to give senior citizens a pension of $200.00 a month which they theorized would alleviate the depressed conditions.  Another group with a large following was the technocrats who advocated a highly technical approach to government with equity for all.  No group to the best of my memory who advocated the overthrow of the then-present government  had any following. People did listen to communists, religious idealists and other fringe groups but none achieved any notoriety that I recall. The Veteran’s Bonus Army which was dispersed by force was the greatest extent of violence displayed during the depression. The Democratic administration under President Roosevelt passed the bonus bill and the veterans received their bonus in about 1934 I believe.

Grandma [Sofia] did work in the Wesely Hospital, McAuley Hospital now, during the depression to aid the family budget. There never was an social stigma attached to women working in the Coos Bay area. At that time a person was obligated to attend school only through the 8^th grade, even that was not enforced as quite a few people I knew quit before graduating from the 8^th grade; undoubtedly many were forced to drop out of high school due to financial circumstances.

I worked for $.15 an hour at odd jobs and traded work for food, money was a scarce item. The first steady employment I got was in a grocery store for $50.00 a month, some weeks we worked as high as 70 hours—no unions, no overtime or extra pay for extra hours.

One industry that was not affected by the depression was the gold mines. Gold was valued at $24.00 an ounce at that time, labor was available at most any price one wished to pay.  In California in the American River Valley the gold dredges operated 24 hours a day completely destroying the fertile valley land by upending the topsoil down and the gravel from the bedrock up—running the gravel through sluices to extract the gold—cash for gold dominated, land destroyed forever the cost. Since, this practice has ceased—wouldn’t the conservationists have a fit if this were the case now. We hear complaints of government getting bigger and intruding on our birthrights, however, over all legislation curbing and controlling finances, natural resources, etc. on an overall picture are prudent and wise—under our present laws and system, unemployment insurance, social security, savings deposit insurance, etc. a depression of the magnitude of the 30s is improbable.  One of the probable reasons that violence, revolution, and civil strife did not occur during the depression is that nearly everyone was affected, white, negro, Catholic, Jew and protestant—no single segment could accuse the others of discrimination causing his present problems.

In spite of our high cost of government today, the average citizen who remembers the depression should be willing to pay his taxes today if that will prevent an economic upheaval such as we witnessed in the 1930s. The depression was directly a result of chaos in the financial structure of our economy at that time. President Roosevelt called a bank holiday in 1933.  All financial institutions were closed for a period of two weeks (as I recall) for a reappraisal. From that date on concrete steps were taken to bolster the economy of the country. The NRA (National Recovery Administration) was enacted—in essence it provided for  wage guarantees—it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court—but the unionization of industry achieved the same purpose only more so.

Roosevelt—O.K. good Joe

Hoover—Figurehead for Republican moneybags

New Deal—got the job done-which had to be done.

Vake concludes his history with a note to Eric, who was six months old at the time, and who had sent makea leipa for Vake’s birthday on April 19. “Thanks for the bread and butter, Eric. Writ by a 54-year-old boy (by hand.)”