Saturday, December 20, 2014

Celebrating Christmas, 1930

The picture shows Ruth in a canoe on her honeymoon in Detroit, 1929.  The diary entries below were in 1930,when Ruth and John Kellogg were married 18 months.  The Depression had been running the country downhill for over a year.

Wednesday, Dec. 24, 1930     "It was cookies we got Mon. from A.A.  Rec'd gift from Wanda - sent John with hers.  He didn't have to work today.  Had the first of 3 pots of baked beans for supper (4:00).  Again."

The cookies came from John's family in Ann Arbor, Michigan...Wanda was such a close friend of Ruth's in high school, but gradually drops out of the picture.  At this point John was still working for Montgomery Ward, but not Ruth.  After being shunted from department to department because of the huge layoffs of workers, Ruth was finally let go in August, 1930.  She went to an employment agency and attempted to find another job, but the economy was collapsing around her with jobs were fewer and fewer.  Notice that baked beans, a thrifty dish, was on the menu. Again.

Christmas Day, 1930      "Nice sunshiny day.  Took snap of John carrying Xmas bundles over to the folks.  Had a big turkey dinner and played cards later.   Ate a lunch in evening too.  Drove us home with our gifts.  Gifts listed under 'Memo'."

I didn't find a tally of the gifts for 1930, though the ones for 3 other years in this 5-year diary were listed.  I'm sure there were few of them with so little money coming in.



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