As we are in our third month of the COVID-19 virus, I thought it might be interesting to look back at times when the Great Depression was in full swing, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt with his staff desperately tried to figure out a solution. Many people today are using that time as a standard for our future.
I chose Jack County, Texas, as my area to compare with Hunt County. Jack County was more ranching, with less rain fall but about the same population as cotton growers of Hunt County. Many of you may know Jack County has been home to my families since before the Civil War. I used the Portal to Texas History to peruse the January 5, 1933 issue of the Jacksboro Gazette.
The Jacksboro Gazette was a weekly newspaper for the entire county. It was filled with local news about who went to visit whom. The epidemic of influenza seemed to have subsided after almost sixteen years.
The first issue of every newspaper contains reports from schools and governmental offices. In 1933 the Home Demonstration Agent assisted in conserving food valued at $22,548. That was 31,388 tin cans and 23,00 glass jars. Club members made clothing valued at $26,546.25, saving a total of $883.51 by making clothes at home. Club women attended a meeting showing how a housewife with a big open shelf pantry could arrange 1000 containers of food at the cost of only $4.00 for shelving and curtain materials. Yes, families ate these canned goods instead of fast foods.
Someone suggested hiring unemployed men to cut timber for sale. It was cheaper than gas and would give unemployed men work. However, wood stoves that had been stored away with no intent to bring them out again must be approved with the housewife who had to keep the house clean.
The owner of the Gazette warned his readers that legal notices in the future must be paid with cash only before the ad was published. The past few years the Gazette has lost over 50% of his profits when clients didn’t pay.
The paper came out on Thursday with one page of comics. Two ads in the paper encouraged all residents to come to church – to any church. One grocery story encouraged attendance at church, even suggested that the wife come in on Saturday so she could have ample time to prepare the Sunday dinner with time to go to church. No mention was made of dining out.
One of the county tractors fell into the West Fork of the Trinity on the Post Oak road, as a result of the bridge giving away. No injuries were reported. Yet, Dan Tuggles another Jack County resident suffered a serious injury to his right hand as the result of a friendly scuffle. According to reports Mr. Tuggles was in Nash Grocery when the accident occurred. He was taken to Fort Worth (about 60 miles away) for treatment, but due to the fact that he had a high temperature, from “flu” when he reached that place, the surgeons did not operate on his hand.
Finally, an interesting ad for Saturday, January 7, 1933. Oranges . . .15c; Baking Powder . . .23c; 3 lbs. Folgers Coffee. . . $1.65; All Cigarettes . . .15c; Gallon Karo Syrup . . .55c; 48 lbs. Crown Flour . . .78c; 8lbs. Jewel Shortening . . .49c. The store was called Hokus Pokus. Who knows why?