Connecticut Town on the Sea, Stonington, Connecticut
November 1940, Reproduction from Color Slide.
Photo by Jack Delano, Prints and Photograph Divison,
Library of Congress
A friend of mine recently emailed a marvelous collection of original color photos (from color slides) , perhaps the only known images of the effect of the depression upon small town and rural America.
The photographers are from the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information and the pictures are property of the Library of Congress.
Click on the this link to view!
Here are some of my favorites. #2 is of the Long Island Sound at Stonington, Connecticut (just North of Mystic). Taken in November, 1940, the bleak landscape is shrouded by a sky filled with cumulous clouds; a few solitary figures are at the shoreline; a stream of gray smoke just to their right indicates that they are hovering about a 'campfire' probably to keep warm.
The overall mood is somber and somewhat bleak; however, the patches of blue are signs of optimism.
Slide number 6 is a December 1940 scene in front of the Brockton, Massachusetts Enterprise Newspaper. The latest news stories from both the depression and World War II (before we entered) are posted in the large front window. Churchill Urges Italians to Oust Mussolini; another reads New England Has Earthquake with Connecticut suffering serious damage.
The people milling about are getting free access to the news, much like the internet provides us today. A great way to save a few cents, the cost of the newspaper! And the cost of a couple of apples!
Slides 16-21 are of Pie Town, New Mexico. The town hosts a Pie Festival the second Saturday of each September. Jack Whinery a homesteader and his family is featured in #16 and his dugout home in #21.
We all too often forget the hard times of the early 1940's
But for some the prolonged recession which began 2 years ago is a grim reminder of the cyclical economic crises of our Republic.
My thanks to the Denver Post for posting the link!
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