Customer Reviews

Stories and Recipes of the Great Depression of the 1930's and More From Your Kitchen Today, Vol. 1 (Stories & Recipes of the Great Depression)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a lovely read. This book has many stories of life during the Great Depression from those who lived through it, in their own words. It is amazing how people came together to feed and care for each other in times of unimaginable poverty. Included are recipes and how people prepared foods that we normally kill as weeds. Several items I recognize from my Grandmother's little file box of recipes.

If you never really understood why people over the age of 60 do things, reading this book will put their mindset into perspective and the core of where they came from. It is so much more than just a little recipe book. I can also recommend the other books in the series as well.

This book, and the 4 other books in the series, are one part oral history project, one part cookbook emphasizing simplicity and frugality, and one part Grandmotherly advice on how to get through Hard Times, which can happen to anyone, even in the best of times. The stories illustrate how ingenuity and creativity made up for the lack if necessities, and helps us consider what is necessary for living and what is luxury. We are losing those who lived in those Hard Times, but thanks to Mrs. Van Amber and her daughter, the wisdom of that age will not be lost.

It probably seems odd to enjoy reading about this difficult time in America, but it confirms my feeling that it gave those of who did, the ability to face whatever hardships come to us.

The first section is devoted to anecdotes and stories about living in the 1930s. Although it discusses happenings in Wisconsin during that time, it is easy to see the similarities between them and the people in other parts of the U.S. during that same time.

The second part has the recipes. Some of them would be appealing to people today, i.e., the Hot Dish chapter. The items used are not expensive and are filling. They take a bit of time to prepare and cook, but can be served for more than one meal. They are just good, simple food to be enjoyed by most anyone.

This is far from just a cookbook from the Great Depression. It is just full of snippets of first person accounts of the Great Depression, a few smiles, a lot of tears, and bringing a wonderful fuller understanding of what it was really like to live through the Depression, an understanding that I think just cannot come through in a history book. Reading it, I began to more fully understand what that time in our history was really like for the average person, what they ate daily (sometimes corn mush for three meals, or flour mixture to fill the belly), what they wore (comments describe taking apart a dress and turning it inside out when the outer part was too faded) and some of the thoughts and attitudes that shaped so many of our elder generation now. The simple old-style font and wording in the text and recipes enhance the feeling of reading an old biography or sitting listening to the oldest of the family tell about what it was a like. This book is a real treasure.

The book's description is sort of accurate: it contains snippets and stories and memoirs from people who grew up during the Depression (nearly all of them in Wisconsin). There are economical recipes and interesting old flavors and techniques.

What the description DOESN'T say is that this is a church bazaar-type cookbook, typed on a manual typewriter or perhaps an old dot matrix printer, then reproduced and spiral bound. There are far too many typos and even some repeated stories. Badly edited and badly assembled and not worth the price.

If the Lutheran church ladies sold me this, and tacked on a little extra $$ to refurbish the church, I'd have happily paid this price. But not otherwise.

In my concern over today's economy, I purchased this book to glean some money saving ideas. What an eye opener! As I read through the stories, I saw why my father, born in 1922, was always so frugal and insisted on going through life debt-free. To the day he died, he could never accept or understand waste or buying on credit. I believe that most people living in America today would not be able to comprehend the conditions of the Great Depression, nor would they be able to survive a repeat of those conditions today. Our uncertain future will not be the same as the 1930's but I fear will be just as dire. Everyone should read this book and get their children and grandchildren to read it too.

Do you remember the Charlie Chaplan movie "The Little Tramp" where he made soup from an old boot? How we laughed, but felt sorry for him at the same time. Many people from that time in history can identify with the Little Tramp. There were no jobs, little food and no money.

"Stories And Recipes of the Great Depression of the 1930's and More From Your Kitchen Today" Is truly an inspirational book on survival. Mothers were challenged to cook nourishing, filling meals for her family with what little they had. With a little improvisation and imagination, they created unique recipes, many of which are the basis for some of our recipes today.

The book gives you a peek of what life was like in the Great Depression Era, told by people who lived through it. Today with spiraling gas prices, food and housing costs, etc., we can incorporate some of their methods and still serve nutritiously and economical meals.

I know You'll love this book as I did. You'll want to pass this down to other family members. It shows the human spirit,courage and creativity during these trying times. This book is an inspiration for us in today's uncertain economy.

Happy reading and cooking;
Petra

This is a very interesting trip down memory lane of a Real Depression. The recipes are fun to try, and are good, but, it is also good to read this, and, to see how very lucky we are now. A book to show you a bit of the past, and, to appreciate the now, And our tomorrows.

This cookbook is beyond being a book of recipes. It is a look back to the time that none of us want our children to experience, except as a lesson in togetherness and caring. It should be required reading in every classroom, to point out what our grandparents experienced. If you have teenagers buy it just for the stories of the "Great Depression", to impress upon them how this country was, for lots of people.

I like the book. I was a little surprised to see that most of the stories and recipes were from ice cold Wisconsin, Minnesota, etc states. I wish it had represented all the states and climates of the era. It's a good reminder that hard times can come at any time and being prepared and resourceful is a skill. I love the sharing and helping attitude of the people turning to each other in a time of crisis.