I'm a lucky guy.
My ancestors came here from Ireland. They were dirt poor and starving. They didn't have food stamps and the government wasn't there to help them.
They maybe arrived with 40 bucks in their pocket. The rest was up to them.
They scraped the dirt, polished rich people's shoes.........................basically did whatever was necessary to eat some food and tackle another day.
I've heard many stories about the depression.....................and I listened.
My Grandmother had a button tin. Once the clothes were wore completely out...................she saved the buttons. Me and my other, "spoiled brat" cousins, played poker with them. We thought she was a silly old lady.

Do you remember a story about your parents or grandparents, and what they went through to make your life a little better?

It's for the same reason I didn't know what hamburger was supposed to look and taste like till I was late preteen.
I delivered the local paper, for doing a great job, they gave me a ticket for a hamburger and a drink.
At this point I hated hamburger, it was hard as a rock and always burnt and dry, that's how my mom cooked.
Well one day I was really hungry and cashed it in, I was shocked, this Mc Donalds thing just might catch on.

My mom and dad living through the depression without refrigeration, always overcooked everything, and I do mean everything.
Like you, I too didn't appreciate what they had gone through just a couple decades prior, we are the first of the spoiled generation.
But then, we grew up with a telephone and radio in the house, today kids grow up with Satellite TV, cell phones, the Internet, Nintendo.

What did I do for fun? I hiked to the river nearly everyday.
What do kids do for fun today?

Quote from: Solar on July 15, 2012, 05:25:47 PM
It's for the same reason I didn't know what hamburger was supposed to look and taste like till I was late preteen.
I delivered the local paper, for doing a great job, they gave me a ticket for a hamburger and a drink.
At this point I hated hamburger, it was hard as a rock and always burnt and dry, that's how my mom cooked.
Well one day I was really hungry and cashed it in, I was shocked, this Mc Donalds thing just might catch on.

My mom and dad living through the depression without refrigeration, always overcooked everything, and I do mean everything.
Like you, I too didn't appreciate what they had gone through just a couple decades prior, we are the first of the spoiled generation.
But then, we grew up with a telephone and radio in the house, today kids grow up with Satellite TV, cell phones, the Internet, Nintendo.

What did I do for fun? I hiked to the river nearly everyday.
What do kids do for fun today?

I'll admit that I'm part of the spoiled boomer group.
I also remember when a McDonalds came to town, (30 miles away). Man, that stuff was good. We'd go once a month...................30 miles one way to McDonalds, or 30 miles the other way to A&W Rootbeer............tray on the side of the car. Rootbeer float for dessert.

It's part of the reason I say that money is not that big a deal.........................................my fondest memories cost less than $20. Sometimes nothing at all.

My friends and I used to swim in the river and yank leaches off each other. Not a big deal.

I'm trying to forget the over cooking. Beef was bad enough.........................remember the pork chops?
It was like eating shoe leather.

Quote from: kramarat on July 15, 2012, 05:47:47 PM
I'm trying to forget the over cooking. Beef was bad enough.........................remember the pork chops?
It was like eating shoe leather.

Shoe leather? instead of USDA approved stamp, ours said Good Year.
But as I kid, I didn't know any better.
My dad was the better cook, my mom sadly, was clueless in the kitchen when I was growing up, she came from an even poorer family, they cooked everything in a pot over the fire pit outside.

I just got to thinking today.....................pointing out the stupidity of the liberals is easy.

I believe that part of our job is pointing out the the true heroes of this country.

It ain't about color.

It ain't about money.

It's about people that stared down adversity and won.

It's about people that stared down adversity and won.

That's what America was built on.

Were mistakes made? Yep.......................big ones.

If we sit back and allow the democrat party to separate us along racial and economic lines..............................we all lose.

Recovery won't happen.

I remember my Grandfather telling me stories about Ireland...how hard they had to work mainly. The hopelessness he had over not being able to own land. It sounded like he was some sort of sharecropper or was indentured labor by his father. He got pissed because he thought a British landowner cheated them so he joined "the great fallen". He later came to America and became a coal miner because he couldn't accept the partitioning of Ireland which he felt would leave the "rich Brit landlords" still in charge. To hear him tell it, saving up enough money to finally be able to buy a house was the greatest thing in the world.

I recall stories my parents told me from the "great depression". The main thing was nobody had any money. They ate all kinds of stuff like pigs feet, pig brains and intenstine coz it was cheap.

Most of the fun things I did as a kid Involved the outdoors. When I was 8 my father got me an old single shot bolt action 22 for Christmas...running around in the woods behind our house with a pocket full of shells was the greatest thing in the world.

Billy

Butter. I never had butter until I was 17 and in the Marine Corps. Before that I had always eaten margarine. Nucoa because it was cheap. we purchased it by the stick. I can remember when I was younger we literally had an icebox not a refrigerator. The Iceman used to come around on a horse drawn cart. And this was in Brooklyn, in the fifties. 

Quote from: mdgiles on July 16, 2012, 05:39:24 AM
Butter. I never had butter until I was 17 and in the Marine Corps. Before that I had always eaten margarine. Nucoa because it was cheap. we purchased it by the stick. I can remember when I was younger we literally had an icebox not a refrigerator. The Iceman used to come around on a horse drawn cart. And this was in Brooklyn, in the fifties.

My Grandfather was an ice man.

He delivered ice from a truck to people's homes, up around Bay City, Mi. My Grandmother took a liking to him, and used to "conveniently" be sitting on her parent's front porch on ice delivery day......................................

The rest, (as they say), is history.

Quote from: Bad water BILLY on July 16, 2012, 12:13:08 AM
I remember my Grandfather telling me stories about Ireland...how hard they had to work mainly. The hopelessness he had over not being able to own land. It sounded like he was some sort of sharecropper or was indentured labor by his father. He got pissed because he thought a British landowner cheated them so he joined "the great fallen". He later came to America and became a coal miner because he couldn't accept the partitioning of Ireland which he felt would leave the "rich Brit landlords" still in charge. To hear him tell it, saving up enough money to finally be able to buy a house was the greatest thing in the world.

I recall stories my parents told me from the "great depression". The main thing was nobody had any money. They ate all kinds of stuff like pigs feet, pig brains and intenstine coz it was cheap.

Most of the fun things I did as a kid Involved the outdoors. When I was 8 my father got me an old single shot bolt action 22 for Christmas...running around in the woods behind our house with a pocket full of shells was the greatest thing in the world.

Billy

It's this reason alone we fight liberals, we understand what can happen.
Thanks for sharing Billy.

Quote from: Solar on July 16, 2012, 06:12:00 AM
It's this reason alone we fight liberals, we understand what can happen.
Thanks for sharing Billy.

I can't even imagine what kind of world it would be, if today's prevalent attitude existed back in the days of our parents and grandparents.......................and of course, the ones before them.

My Grandparents also came from Ireland. They had six Boys, and my Dad was the oldest. He had to quit school at 15 to help support the family. He went to sea as a Merchant Marine in 1935. Stayed on until 1945, saw a lot of Ships getting blown out of the water during the War. He ended up being highly successful through perseverance. He joined the Power Squadron in his Middle Age and became Commander. Also he taught Advanced Navigation which is really mind blowing when you consider he quit School when he was 15.
That of course was "The Greatest Generation." I for one can definitely, attest to that.

The Greatest generation to usher in socialism.
The rest is history.

QuoteI recall stories my parents told me from the "great depression". The main thing was nobody had any money. They ate all kinds of stuff like pigs feet, pig brains and intenstine coz it was cheap.

Obviously you're not from the South, Like my parents were. Down there it's common to eat every thing on the Hog, except the squeak. 
Oh, and "wrinkles" (chitterlings: hog intestines) are okay with a little hot sauce - but don't be in the house while they're being cooked.