It’s been a tough year and a half for Americans. A pandemic-weary people watched as a heated presidential election resulted in a nation more divided than united. We’ve observed a horrible conflict unfold in Europe and watched as riots erupted across the globe over pandemic-related policy and racial divisiveness. In addition to a recent string of mass shootings, we are feeling the effects of inflation and rising fuel prices. With grim warnings from financial executives of a hard economic recession looming on the horizon, one must wonder what the future of our nation holds?
There’s an old quote from Mark Twain that says, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” This quote may ring truer today than at any time in recent history. Recessions, inflation and economic downturns come and go. Unfortunately, they are all just a part of society. Looking back, however, it’s certain that some hardships are worse than others. This was certainly the case in 1929.
They called it the Roaring ’20s, a decade noted for decadence, bootlegging, organized crime, speakeasies and night life. The credit card was introduced, and consumers went wild as credit was handed out freely. As is typical with a sharp economic upturn, however, the bubble would eventually burst, and in the late 1920s, what started out as a slight recession bloomed into a great depression that the world has yet to witness since.
Historians point to several things that caused the depression. The federal reserve, meant to ensure the nation’s economic stability by controlling the money supply, was a fairly new institution in the 1920s and their policies failed to stop the looming economic downturn. In fact, some historians believe their policies hastened the depression. From 1921-1929, there was a drastic 67% increase in the money supply. That, combined with low interest rates, overborrowing, and financial speculation, caused the bottom of the economy to fall and Wall Street to crash in 1929.
The results of the Great Depression were disastrous. Banks failed, unemployment soared to 25%, and working families were turned into refugees. To make matters worse, a prolonged period of dry weather in the west led to one of the worst drought disasters in modern history, hindering America’s agricultural might.
As bad as things were, people did their best to cope with the hardships of the depression. In McLeod County, people worried what the future might bring. In a letter penned on Oct. 15, 1931, Hutchinson resident Ole J. Helland wrote about the hardships of running his JC Penny store and how nobody could afford to spend one cent “It seems like the whole darn country is going to the dogs in every way,” he said.
McLeod County resident R. W. Dahl worried about his parents Peter and Christina Dahl. They worked hard their entire lives, but had little, and there was great concern about how they could survive their old age in such an economic disaster. They, like many elderly folks across the nation, had no means of income and were forced to survive on the good will of their children.
People in McLeod County were not the only ones to suffer the hardships of the depression as its effects were felt around the globe. For a time there was an exodus to California where people hoped to find a new life. The depression lingered on into the early 1940s. Measures taken by the federal government and President Franklin Roosevelt provided some relief, but the depression did not officially end until the start of WWII when more than 12 million Americans were sent to the military and many others toiled in defense jobs.
Times were good after the depression. Men returned home from war, found good jobs and raised their families — the dawn of the “baby-boom” began. In the years to follow, economic hardships came and went. None was as serious, however, as the Great Depression. Here’s hoping the next one won’t be either.
