Great Depression
Have you seen us in…
Depression-Era Dinner & Flick
One of FDR’s favorite meals and a damn funny movie make for an evening of festive frugality….
Dinner-and-a-flick can easily run you over $50, so why not whip out the cookbook and pop in the Netflix? Better yet, make it a themed evening with a Depression-era recipe and a classic movie. This chicken dish is a flavorful alternative to a wallet-breaking restaurant meal. Lucky for me, PBS was airing the 1958 fav Auntie Mame the night I made it. The film stars Rosalind Russell as lovable New York bohemian Mame Dennis and chronicles her hilarious responses to the Great Crash – which she mitigates by marrying a southern oilman, of course. Mame’s famous line, “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving,” remains an excellent motto for hard times.
Recipe from The Tabasco Brand Cookbook
by Paul McIlhenny with Barbara Hunter
“Country Captain Chicken”
This chicken and rice dish has graced southern tables for many a generation and continues to be popular today…
Redux: Barter is Back
Looking back at the Great Depression to see the path ahead.
If past crises are any indication, a cash shortage won’t stop the wheels of commerce.
During the1930s, people without money started trading goods and services as a way to keep themselves afloat. Workers exchanged labor for room and board. Students traded farm produce for tuition. Moonshiners, bless them, exchanged goods with just about everybody.
People with skills in high demand did especially well. Someone who could bake delicious bread or sew quality clothing could draw people from miles around to barter for their products. Eventually, people established more formalized barter groups like The Unemployed Citizens League, which had 200,000 members across the country at its peak…
Redux: Fashion Takes a Turn
Looking back at the Great Depression to see the path ahead.
Is the Recession the final blow to SATC excess?
Flappers of the late 1920s were the Carries and Samanthas of their day: bold, sassy, and fond of flaunting fabulous frocks. They stepped out in sequined sheaths, pricy handbags tucked under their arms. They sported make-up, smoked cigarettes, and bared limbs. Trading petticoats for scanty panties, they shopped for sequined dancing shoes to replace sensible lace-up boots.
But the fashion orgy didn’t last.
Redux: Will Meals on Wheels be the Next Boom?
Looking back at the Great Depression to see the path ahead.
Will Meals on Wheels be the Next Boom?
A hot dog tale.
Good-bye filet mignon, hello meatloaf. As the recession rages, Americans are finding ways to chow on the cheap. Consumers are shifting food purchasing patterns. We’re trading down to private label and value brands. We’re eating out less, and getting more aggressive about buying products on sale. Fast food joints are luring us by including more premium items on their dollar menus. High end retailers like Whole Foods are feeling the heat as the organic revolution slows. Many of use are doing without that Starbucks latte.
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