Not All Gloom and Doom

As parents were using their ingenuity to guide their families safely through the dark days of the Great Depression, their children were creating their own fun.

Those that could afford the dime admission, like William M. Cummings and Robert and George McKewin, flocked to movie theatres to be swept away by such adventures as King Kong, The Moon Riders, and The Wizard of Oz. Many children huddled around the family’s radio to listen to the adventures of Tom Mix, Buck Rogers, and Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy.

Children found a similar escape in reading, enjoying books and the "funnies" in the newspaper. Popular board games, such as Lexico (1931 - later Scrabble®), and Parker Brothers’ newly invented Monopoly® game (1935), offered other stay-at-home activities for children. Both boys and girls participated in outdoor games and played sandlot baseball and other sports, often substituting makeshift equipment, like sticks and stones, for real bats and balls and, like Robert D. Hill and Dorothy Snell Curtis, making the most of Minnesota winters.

For the poor, homemade toys, such as cars, dolls and puppets, were cherished gifts, as were recycled toys – used toys that had been repaired by volunteers from charitable organizations.

Though holidays were not as festive as they might have been in better times, children still looked forward to celebrating Halloween, Christmas, and other festival days.

Citations:

• Cummings, William M., Diaries and Related Papers, 1924-1995. MHS Manuscripts Collection.
• McKewin, Robert Williams, Going to the Movies. Minnesota Historical Society: Share Your Story, Robert W. McKewin, 2006.
• Top Rated 1930s Titles. IMDb, 2006.
• Photo: Boy looking at movie playbills in theater lobby, 1920.
• The Moon Riders. IMDb, 2006.
• Photo: Children listening to radio at Sheltering Arms, Minneapolis, 1926.
• Tom Mix - Background. Ralcorp, Inc. 2000.
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. The Buck Rogers Web Site, 2005.
• Object: Jack Armstrong telescope radio program premium, 1930s.
• Photo: Children looking at picture books, Hallie Q. Brown Nursery School, St. Paul, 1938.
• Photo: Schmidt children reading the comics, 1934.
• Scrabble. Wikipedia.org, 2006.
• Monopoly (Game). Wikipedia.org, 2006.
• Hill, Robert D. Reminiscences and Genealogical Charts, 1974-1997. MHS Manuscripts Collection.
• Curtis, Dorothy Snell Changing Edges. Dorothy Snell Curtis, copyright 1990, used with permission from the author.
• Object: Homemade car, 1930.
• Object: Dolls made from clothespins, 1930s.
• Photo: Firemen looking over the toys they have repaired, Engine Company Number 2, St. Paul, 1931.
• Photo: Webster School first grade students making a paper mache pumpkin, St. Paul, 1933.
• Photo: Child peering up fireplace with a flashlight. Photograph Collection ca. 1940.