What was the Depression like for middle and working class Americans? I know unemployment was as high as 23% and many people were absolutely destitute. In popular culture, the Depression seems to be represented by Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath," and by the gangsters of the era, such as John Dillinger. I assume life wasn't like that for most people.
What was the impact on the quality of life for Americans that didn't lose their jobs?
My US History teacher in high school in the 80s told us about his experience being a child during the depression in San Francisco. He talked about stealing food. Sleeping in the ferry terminal until the first boats had all left, so it was obvious they weren’t waiting for a ferry and they got kicked out. Then getting a couple more hours sleep at the train station or bus depot, until they got kicked out of there as well.
That’s pretty much all I remember...
I've heard a few stories from people who lived through it. One farmer told me that it was never as big a deal in the countryside as it was in the cities. While many people in the cities were destitute and standing in soup line (you can find pictures of this easily) there was plenty to eat on the farms. The farmer said that there wasn't a lot of variety, but there was always plenty on the table. For instance, you might have pork and corn and, say, apples, and that was all, but there was plenty of pork, corn and apples on the table. You never walked away hungry because you had eaten a whole plate of pork, a whole plate of corn, and maybe three or four apples.
Someone else who lived in the city told me another story. She said that her father lost her job in a brewery. Now, that could have had something to do with prohibition and is not directly related to the Depression. Anyway, he lost his job and couldn't find work. That may be Depression-related, not that he lost his job, but that he could not find another job. So her aunt started a business selling handmade candy door to door. This work supported four or five people because some made the candy in the home kitchen and her aunt did the sales and promotion, developing customers by word of mouth. By 1940, she was driving a new automobile and could even afford to take a cross country trip to see the Grand Canyon. Looks like people were saving money then, maybe not from 1929 at the start, but later into it, around 1935 or 1936, they were so accustomed to being frugal in the start that they were still living frugally when things picked up and then had extra money to put away.
Some people and communities can navigate any economy.