Breadlines Appear: The Great Depression Begins, 1930-1931 | Food during the Depression | bread lines

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When did the Great Depression start?
How did the hungry and unemployed get food?
Breadlines (or bread lines) had existed in large cities for generations. However, these breadlines had been managed by churches and charities like the Salvation Army or restaurant families like the Fleischmans.
The United States of America was a very food-rich nation at the start of the twentieth century. Farmwives made pies for each meal, and the new urban classes of the Roaring Twenties visited sandwich shops, delicatessens ("delis"), and soda fountains.
However, the Stock Market crash of October, 1929 was an indicator that something was wrong. President Herbert Hoover received mixed reports on what was happening during the first year of the crisis in 1930.
But in the streets of a big city like New York City, the late night breadlines did not go away in the spring of 1930, as they usually did when warm weather labor began.
The lines got longer. Charities began daytime lines. Then businessmen, now out of work, were standing in the lines. It was only the beginning of the Great Depression, an economic depression that would last through the 1930s.
This video is a discussion of the book "A Square Meal" by Andrew Coe and Jane Ziegelman
Video by Jeffrey Meyer, historian & librarian

[@JeffreytheLibrarian]

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[@Chris-ut6eq]

Both my grandparents and parents lived through this period. Their values and habits were passed on to myself and siblings. My generation is an echo of the Great Depression and at least in my family it was still alive in stories of hard times and used as a teaching tool to be frugal and save during abundant times as there will be inevitable hard times ahead. I had to live through two recessions as an adult for me to really understand what this meant and my experience was tiny vs the years long struggles of the great depression.

[@maryellenmeyer2702]

Another great poignant video My parents lived through the Great Depression at a young age and it impacted how they lived their lives. Pictures are a great addition

[@JeffreytheLibrarian]

Thank you!

[@ilFrancotti]

Thank you. I have never heard about the breadlines before.

[@thomasrastocky3871]

I was forwarding your videos to my adult son. He’s is now one of subscribers also. He’s eating them up. Great job. 👍

[@JeffreytheLibrarian]

Thanks for watching! I really appreciate it.

[@oldrootsoutdoors2059]

Great video. Great to see you having Monetization to get paid for your hard work. Your videos are great and your hard work and knowledge shows. Would love to learn more about Grant and the Mississippi campaign in the civil war. Your custom maps are great visual aids for Geography needs like me. The maps do benefit the viewer. Thank you for the great videos. Really enjoyed this Great Depression video and look forward to more!

[@JeffreytheLibrarian]

Thank you! I am actually returning to the western theater in the Civil War for my next large video.

[@robg9236]

Bowery, like the bow of a boat, not like a violin bow.

[@BoulderCreekSteve]

You’d think that a librarian - a wordsmith, if you will - would be meticulous in pronouncing widely-known, commonly used words. But no.

[@JeffreytheLibrarian]

I really tried on this one. I knew of all the words in this video, "Bowery" would be the one I would get wrong. I listened to folks say it, and I still got it wrong. Oh well, each video has a mispronounced word, which makes the videos like an Easter egg hunt to find the wrong one. Happy Easter!

[@thomasrastocky3871]

@@JeffreytheLibrarian I get a kick out of the mispronunciations. I think they are intentional. 😊

[@wurzel9671]

​@@BoulderCreekSteveyou should touch grass.

[@jonny-b4954]

1:30 Huh, goes to show even when you think you at least have the basics understood of a topic, there's always something new to learn. Didn't know Hoover was into logistics in his early career.

[@oldrootsoutdoors2059]

He was a great engineer.

[@JeffreytheLibrarian]

Hoover was actually an amazing administrator, and he had organized food relief in Europe. They just didn't understand in 1930 how long lasting the depression was, as they had no living experience of such a depression in the USA.

[@corycardwell]

No mention of the dust bowl?

[@JeffreytheLibrarian]

Dust Bowel is later, I think 1936 or so.

[@stevecooper7883]

​@@JeffreytheLibrarian1930 is when the dust bowl began. The height of the dust bowl was probably around 1936 like you say

[@automaticmattywhack1470]

You can keep going with a series on the Great Depression. We never hear much about 1929-1933. Only that 1933 was the height of the Depression and that the government only made things worse with tarriffs. I'd love to hear how Americans mobilized to help feed each other.

[@JeffreytheLibrarian]

Yes, there is a lot to unpack with the Depression. There will be more.

[@goldschmidtcompany431]

This new generation has been far removed from what their great great grandparents faced

[@ronalddevine9587]

Bow in Bowery rhymes with cow. Sad to see the poverty. Even more sad that recovery was due to WW2

[@stevecooper7883]

What got citizens through the Great Depression was the strong family structure, which we do not have today. Lord help us if/when we see the next great depression...

[@lamwen03]

When you look at the people of that era, and see how slim they were, you can realize just how much work they had to do to burn so many calories.

[@NathanDudani]

🍞🍞