Remembering
the Great Depression
im Lynch saw most of the Depression’s effects near the railroad depot, rather than near his home in Ottawa, Ill. The train would stop for water, hobos would jump out of the boxcars, run to the grocery store and keep on going west. But he didn’t see the Depression as severe for his family. His father would bring home phonograph records on payday, and they would listen to the radio. He remembers people being close to each other.
“We didn’t stay isolated from each other in our rooms watching television or the computer. Since we did that, it eased the problems of some of the people having difficulties in the Depression years.”
It’s difficult to compare today to those times, since so much has changed. Lynch graduated from the University of Illinois in 1938. And since he was young, he doesn’t think the Depression affected him as much as it would if he was taking care of a family.
“There didn’t seem to be any end to this. It went on for 10 years or more. I hope this one doesn’t do that ... It wasn’t an easy time for anybody, but it wasn’t the same for everybody. We weren’t well to do, but we weren’t badly off.”
J