With all the talk about food storage and growing our own food, I did a little digging around to find out what some people ate during America’s Great Depression of the 1930’s. Surprisingly, a few of these were made by my mother and grandmother, traditions, I’m sure, from a more frugal era. I still have a soft spot for Chipped Beef on Toast! How many of these are familiar to you, and do you have any others to add to the list?
Milk toast
Chipped beef on toast
Cucumber and mustard sandwiches
Mayonnaise sandwiches
Ketchup sandwiches
Hot milk and rice
Turtle/tortoise
Gopher
Potato soup – water base, not milk
Dandelion salad
Lard sandwiches
Bacon grease sandwiches
Sugar sandwiches
Hot dogs and baked beans
Road kill
One eyed Sam – piece of bread with an easy over egg in the center
Oatmeal mixed with lard
Fried potatoes and hot dogs
Onion sandwich – slices of onion between bread
Tomato gravy and biscuits
Deep fried chicken skin
Cornbread in milk
Gravy and bread – as a main dish
Toast with mashed potatoes on top with gravy
Creamed corn on toast
Corn mush with milk for breakfast, fried corn mush for dinner
Squirrel
Rice in milk with some sugar
Beans
Fried potato peel sandwiches
Banana slices with powdered sugar and milk
Boiled cabbage
Hamburger mixed with oatmeal
American cheese sandwich: ‘American’ cheese was invented because it was cheap to make, and didn’t require refrigeration that may or may not exist back then.
Tomato gravy on rice
Toast with milk gravy
Water fried pancakes
Chicken feet in broth
Fried bologna
Warm canned tomatoes with bread
Butter and sugar sandwiches
Fried potato and bread cubes
Bean soup
Runny eggs with grits
Butter and grits with sugar and milk
Baked apples
Sliced boiled pork liver on buttered toast (slice liver with potato peeler)
Corn meal mush
Spaghetti with tomato juice and navy beans
Whatever fish or game you could catch/hunt
Tomato sandwiches
Hard boiled eggs in white sauce over rice
Spam and noodles with cream of mushroom soup
Rag soup: spinach, broth and lots of macaroni
Garbanzo beans fried in chicken fat or lard, salted, and eaten cold
Popcorn with milk and sugar – ate it like cereal
Lessons learned from this list? Stock up on ingredients for bread, including buckets of wheat. Bread, in some form, is one of the main ingredients for many of these meals. Second, know how to make different types of bread. Next, have chickens around as a source for meat and eggs, and if possible, have a cow or goat for milk. Another lesson is to have a garden that will provide at least some fresh produce, and plant fruit trees and bushes. Finally, don’t waste anything, even chicken feet!
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