In several columns, Ruby Maschke was the best contributor to
the paper, including the AP writers.
When she decided to semi-retire, I remarked we would miss her.
In case anyone doubted my beliefs, she stepped up and once
again displayed her keen ability to relate her experiences
to her readers. Admittedly, she said she verified some of her
recall with her friend, but throughout the article, she was
right on.
In
case you missed it, her column appeared in the Tribune’s
Saturday, June 11 issue. It began with a question she was asked
by her grandson: “Is the present recession as bad
as the Depression of the 1930s?”
I found the question interesting and details in her response
enlightening. Ruby has a few years on me. I did not live through
the Depression but my folks sure talked of it often.
One of the things Ruby did was divide the people of those times
and describe how different groups were affected. People who
lived on farms were hardly impacted because they grew their
own food, mothers made their clothes and most farms were family-owned.
She compared folks who lived in the country to her family who
lived in the city, where there were no vegetable gardens or
barns with fresh meat and milk. Mothers in the city did little
or no sewing and many families lived in rented homes.
Ruby
described her dad’s Studebaker, which she
loved riding in, and how they had to sell it during
those tough
times and rely on public transportation.
Childhood
illnesses were difficult to deal with because of lack of
health care, and when she had to be hospitalized,
her parents had to ride a bus to visit her. It’s
hard to imagine school clothes amounting to two
changes for weekdays,
one pair of shoes plus a Sunday church outfit,
as Ruby recalled.
Today,
everyone expresses how hard times are — and for
many they are. Perhaps I can describe how things were during
what was called the recovery years following the Great Depression.
Our country entered a time of war — WW II. Many of our
men were called upon to serve by the draft, but probably just
as many joined up. Women went to work, taking the men’s
places on the factory lines making tanks instead
of automobiles. Families in the cities gathered
at nearby
vacant lots
and planted what were called victory gardens.
There were a
variety of veggies,
such as corn and potatoes. Each family took a
turn weeding and hoeing the plot and all equally
shared
in the harvest.
Meat was scarce because of rationing. I remember
saying how good horsemeat tasted. Gasoline was
rationed and
rubber tires
were very hard to obtain. Christmas, even after
the Depression, was about the way Ruby described
it:
A small package
with underwear and a toy.
It’s hard to relate those days to today’s tales
of hardship. I’ve heard of families having
one of their cars repossessed and being forced
to share
one. Many
homes
with four car garages and six bedrooms and
a balance owed of more than $200,000 are being
foreclosed.
So many people
spent
two wages a week and never considered losing
one or certainly not both incomes. Putting
money
away,
saving,
was never
considered. Times were great, and the money
would just keep rolling in.
In
past years, unemployment payments were unheard of. Somehow,
people found a way to feed their
families and keep a roof
over their heads. I’m sure each family
member may not have had their own bedroom
and certainly
none had
their own
phone
or TV. Most young people had to help by getting
odd jobs after schools. The 1930s were tough
years, as
were the
1940s, years
of rationing and young men leaving their
families, but eventually things improved
and we have
to hope they will
this time also.
Just as I related in past columns what a great writer Ruby
Maschke was, I also told you LeBron James was not the superstar
he thought he was.
I recall seeing him play against the Suns while I was visiting
Arizona and he was touted as the Messiah of the Cavaliers.
I said then he was a one-man show, and way too fond of himself.
It was shortly after that he began being referred to as King
James.
After
all the build-up and fuss made on ESPN when he made his dramatic
decision to play
for the Heat
and
Cleveland’s
bitter disappointment at losing him, we
can only wonder. Was he ever as great as
he and
the media
thought he
was, and when
was he ever a team player? He was truly
childish when he had to accept the fact
his team lost
and let the
fans down.
I’m
a Heat fan, half of the year at least, and I believe they
could have
won
without the
King.
It
was exciting to watch a team that had never won a title and
whose players
had
never played
on a championship
team
take the trophy. Although they had
only one superstar (he is 7 feet
tall), they all played as a team, and
when their star had to sit down, they
still
pushed through.
It’s too bad their
victory was overshadowed by media commentary about how bad
James played, and why, and “Oh,
woe is poor James.”
As
I see it, we should all add our congratulations to those
of Ohio’s governor, who issued a proclamation declaring
every Dallas Maverick an “Honorary
Ohioan.”
To conclude: We encountered one of the best out there this
week, Ruby, and perhaps one of the worst, James. I know which
one I would like to see more of.