Depression Memories BY H E L E N E. B U N N E L L
O U R EXPERIENCES DURING THE G R E A T DEPRESSION were toughening, spine-stiffening experiences that left lasting impressions, but not scars, on our lives. We were never hungry or cold or homeless or desperate for anything we could not do without. We struggled and "made do," as a majority of people did, but we had youth and health and young love on our side. Although we had lots of experiences we have related to our children to impress them with our fortitude, we remember those years as good ones, laying a strong foundation for our marriage and future life. We were married in the fall of 1932, both of us leaving school at the end of winter quarter. Our goal was to get Omar^ back to the University of Utah as soon as possible. That road had many detours, but he did graduate in June 1935, five days before our second child was born. We didn't think of school a year at a time, just a quarter. It took about $300 to keep us for that long. T h e Rotary Club would lend us $150; we had to have the rest. Of course, jobs were scarce. By patching up used cars and performing other odd jobs for his dad's foundering automobile business, selling Fuller brushes, and raising sugar beets a couple of summers, Omar was able to earn the money. Actually, the most profitable work he had during that time was not raising sugar beets—a New Deal program that really helped us. I don't remember what we paid for rent, but we could buy a week's groceries for five dollars. That did not provide a varied menu and was probably lacking some nutrition, but we made do. If we had bacon for breakfast, I saved the grease to make gravy (Big White, we called it) to put on bread for the next meal. We had some chicken my mother had given me and helped me bottle and also a case of corn we had canned together. The corn had not been sealed properly and all of it spoiled. Although I was pregnant and retched at every sniff, I didn't throw a can away without giving it a good smell. And the chicken—Omar had a friend who was a little hard up, too, who would show up about dinner time every Sunday until the chicken was gone. Mrs. Bunnell lives in Price, Utah. 1 The author's husband, Omar B. Bunnell, has represented Senate District 27 in the Utah State Senate since 1965.
