By the sound of it, you might think that at the time, our family was well to do during the Great Depression. It wasn't like that at all.
Our small back woods community made it through that period by the “Barter” system.
Pa always traded his inventions or ideas for food, clothing, and other commodities. His ideas and inventions were specific to each individual Pa was negotiating with.
Jensen’s farm expanded twice its original size once Papa showed him how to dig out plateaus for growing his tobacco on.
The slopes and the steeper sides of the surrounding Appalachian Mountains, which was legally his property, now look like giant steps rising up their ridge.
Johanson's moon shine became the talk of the county when Papa showed him how to color and flavor his white lightning to look like real Kentucky bourbon.
Pa got some coins for that one I heard.
So you can tell, even though the economic crisis was in full swing gripping the country, we here in Little Pigsty stuck together as a community and helped each other out to survive.
Now about our trip.
I won't bore you about the details of my first time on a train going anywhere. Or how my mouth dropped open when I saw all those people living so close together in the town of Niagara Falls. I especially won't mention my instant distrust of the caretaker of the boarding house we rented a room in. All I can say is, he bushwhacked us with his prices.
You can imagine my astonishment from all of this coming at me so fast and being so young.
It felt like I was blind up until then and now I could see what the world was really like.
The day after our arrival, Pa and I got up at the crack of dawn and wondered why breakfast wasn't laid out.
Still, so excited the two of us were, we left without a bite to eat.
We flagged down an off duty cabbie right away who told us one more fare would make his night. So we rode with him to see the great falls for ourselves.
Even back then there was a big parking lot for the fancy cars people were driving. And for horses, a considerably long hitching post. It was twice as long as the one in front of Munson's General Feed Store in Little Pigsty.
I heard later that day that the hitching post was just up for display for nostalgic reasons. No one used a horse and buggy anymore in the big city.
Imagine that. It's 1934 and America is getting nostalgic of its past.
I don't recall if any of the families in Little Pigsty had one of those motorized vehicles that year. Of course the town didn't even have its one and only gas station yet so I don't imagine there was a great demand for cars in my little town in 1934.
When we arrived at the falls, part of Niagara State Park wasn't open for business yet.
They call the shoreline along the United States side of the river, with a group of islands, a park. The largest piece of land in the river is called Goat Island. That's where most of the tourists go to see the Falls because that part of the park is free.
The part where my Pa wanted to go wasn't opened yet. It's called Prospect Point. It's controlled by a local Entrepreneur who charges a small fee to have access.
My Pa had to convince a security guard to let us in early to see this part. From where we were standing you could see the water and all its glory, but Pa wanted to get up real nice and personal like. He wanted to see, approximately, what kind of impact he would have to endure when landing.
After a lengthy debate between the two men, my Pa promised he would pay the entrance fee on our way out. Telling the guard we would not leave until that part of the park opened.
Pa, somehow knew that Prospect Point, one of the many observation platforms that line along the Niagara River, gave us access to the lowest lookout available.
From there you can look up at the crest of the Falls and visualize a lot better the speed in which the water is flowing over the edge. You'll be able to see all the trash that is normally picked up along raging rivers, leap over the brink of the falls and start their descent. Finally you'll be able to observe the violent impact the debris has once it hits the varying whirlpools in Niagara's basin.
The impact is what Pa was worried about the most. If he didn't secure himself inside that barrel, he would have been bouncing around in it like the hollow beads in a rattlesnake's tail.
The advantage of seeing the falls from the lower platform is, you get the real feel of power. It was close enough to sense Niagara's raw electric energy field being generated by the sheer physics of water splashing down hard against other water which had taken the same route less than a second before.
When so much roaring water comes crashing down in front of you like that, you can't help but feel awed, inspired, chilled and wet. It's a pretty spectacular sight for anyone to see, at any age. I recommend it.
It was especially inspiring for me, a girl of seventeen.
Who, contrary to the times, was given the gift of a home education, encouraged to be curious about the world, and to ask as many questions as I liked about anything I was interested in.
My parents, who didn't believe I should have been married off and raising kids by the age of sixteen, took delight in the fact that most of the folks living in Little Pigsty at the time scorned their attitude of educating a girl and swore I would eventually end up an old maid because I was too smart for my britches.
I was given the freedom to learn as much of the world as I could and choose who I was going to marry. Not at all a common sentiment in those days in my neck of the woods.
Still, funny how fate has a way of making everything come full circle.
This is,
Raised Four Girls Of My Own
Jim Hauenstein,
And,
“I sincerely envy anyone who grew up during the Great Depression
sometimes. Can you imagine what it must have been like?”
That is my story and I am sticking to it!
Like what you are reading?
Like what you are reading?
Sign up as a Follower,
or leave a Comment.
If it's worthy enough,
I'll answer you in a Post.
Thanks for reading.
Be Kind To Everyone.
I'll Be Seeing You.
No comments:
Post a Comment