Lee Remembers the Depression Years

The Following comes from Lee R. Christensen's book:

 "You Knew Me As Buddy and other Tales"

His book is a compilation of letters he has sent to friends over the years.  His memories of going to school at Hamilton Elementary, North Sanpete and Wasatch Academy are filled with his wonderful humor.

 From a letter to Beth Lund June 14, 1997

Most of the sheepmen in our town in our day were broke. The one exception was John

K. and his son-in-law, and ranch manager Bill Olsen. The banks could have foreclosed

on most herds, but what would they do with them? World War II got the sheepmen out

of debt, just as it did other industries. Unfortunately, for John Seeley and W.D. Candland

families, the banks did foreclose. Most of the boys from both families went to work for

someone else.

Robert Hinckley, mentioned in an earlier letter, former mayor of Mt. Pleasant, owner of the

Dodge agency, went broke. The Locke family left town when the Ford agency went broke.

Both banks failed. Only two people drove a car as fancy as a Buick - when the car you

drove indicated your financial status - Doctor Madsen and Ralph Throndsen. Many families

had no car. Did Wayne’s family have a car? And his father had been head of the bank.

We were all poor - but even then, some were poorer than others. I don’t know how some

families made it. I was close to the Wing family. Never saw them eat anything but canned

pork and beans. Poor as they were, two of them finished college, Bette and Bob -and maybe

Ed. Jack I don’t know about. He was dyslexic, which we did not understand then - and

maybe not today. Never saw the father. Mrs. Wing (a Freston), small as she was, kept her

family together and moving forward. A strong woman.

Both the grocery stores could tell us stories of how they carried people on their books. The

government helped - WPA, student aid, free flour. We had classmates at both North Sanpete

and Wasatch sweeping the classroom floors. At Wasatch, they were working for room

and board. And, at Wasatch, running both the school bank and bookstore.

How did families like the Blacks, Smiths, Dale Christensen’s family in your neighborhood

make it? 1930-1940 was a bleak, tough ten years. WWII put everyone back to work and

killed 60 million people. We’ve been on a roll since.

L.R.