Having Fun in the Great Depression

In the Great Depression there was no internet, no video games, no TVs, DVD, Ipods or all the other technology we have today to entertain ourselves.

They had to make their own fun and they did just fine.

Children would play without expensive plastic toys. They would use their imagination, play hop scotch, tag, hide and seek, jump rope, and use their imagination to make up games.

Families would sing, socialize with friends and relatives, and tell stories.

Common family games were horse shoe and corn hole.

Of course there wasn't a whole lot of free time to play since many people were busy working just to survive. They grew their own food, raised chickens and livestock, and cooked and cleaned the old fashioned way. There were no dishwashers, vacuum cleaners or other equipment that makes household chores faster. Floors were swept and scrubbed on hands and knees.

Families arose at dawn and settled down for bed at night fall. There was no staying up late watching TV. Mothers would tuck in their children with a song or bed time story and when the parents went to bed, they blew out their candles or their kerosene lanterns.

It was a different kind of fun than we have today, but it was wholesome and it made them happy.