Abe recently reminded us that there was a huge part of the Great Depression that we never got around to discussing.

On top of all the economic bad news the country went through a horrific drought during the worst years of the Depression. Abe specifically remembers one of the side effects of this drought because the sunsets were more vivid during this period of time–flaming reds, oranges, and golden yellows. The only problem was that all that beauty in the western sky at sunset was caused by high winds blowing off the top soil in the proverbial Dust Bowl. Years of unsound agricultural practices coupled with a protracted period of drought quite literally created a situation in which high winds blew top soil into the atmosphere, creating some of the most beautiful sunsets. But the price in human misery wasn’t worth it. According to Abe “any of you who have read THE GRAPES OF WRATH,” know what the Dust Bowl combined with the Great Depression did to Oklahoma farmers. Moreover, the drought wasn’t limited to Oklahoma. It affected surrounding states as well. In fact one of our members (Bible Belted) had a mother who recounted some of the most schizophrenic weather imaginable during the 1930s, with wild fluctuations in temperatures ranging from sub zero lows to triple digit highs. The vivid sunsets were hardly liited to the area of the Dust Bowl. The dust, the dried out top soil, was literally scattered across the country, creating the same shades of red, orange, and yellow as far north as Wisconsin, Minnesota etc. The drought also extended, although to a lesser degree than in Oklahoma, to the Wisconsin, Illinois border. According to Abe and Bible’s mother, there were a couple of years where the drought affected Wisconsin and Illinois farmers. The sky would look as if it would produce rain; clouds would develop; there would be episodes of thunder and lighting, but the rain simply refused to fall. Again, extended highs in the 90s and triple digits were not uncommon. And then, as if to balance this out, the same time period produced some of the most frigid winters.

Another area that wasn’t discussed fully was the popularity of criminal types such as “Bonnie and Clyde,” and Al Capone. True, Capone eventually was frowned upon, but it seemed odd that character such as these rose during a time of moral certainty. And the moralists who gave us Prohibition also gave us increased levels in gangland violence. Today we got around dirty little details like this by ELECTING Republican hoodlums into office. That way they can control the Justice Department and run all the criminal activities that they want to. Again, just so they remember that Al Capone was once thought of as a hero and then his popularity took a huge plunge and he became a criminal in the public eye.

Censorship was another issue during the 1920s, as Bible thumping moralists and government officials tried to ban or at least challenge books with overt sexual themes. Mind you, the sexual acts portrayed in books did not have to be overt in nature. The moralists of the era were more interested in stamping out discussions of sexual activities; more interested in stamping out entire themes in both, American and foreign literature. Sound familiar? Sound like the kind of hogwash that we see happening to schools and libraries today?

The more things change the more they stay the same!

I love these conversations with Abe

The place looks fab, BTW.