Made Do or Did Without: How Daytonians coped with the Great Depression

The 1920's was a time of prosperity for the nation. Businesses were doing well and people decided they wanted in on the action. Soon people from all walks of life were buying stocks. Profits could so easily be made this way that some people began borrowing from banks and plowing the money back into the stock market. Shareholders called it the "Big Bull Market," with the price of stock rising and everyone seemingly getting rich, at least on paper. Unfortunately, in some instances, stock shares rose to a price that was much greater than companies were worth. On October 24, 1929, the stock market plummeted. Five days later, on Tuesday, October 29, the stock market crashed, as prices again fell. Known as "Black Tuesday", billions of dollars worth of stock were wiped out as investors panicked and began selling their shares at lower and lower prices, hoping to get back at least part of their money before prices dropped even further. But there was little buying that day. Some stocks ended up being worth 2 cents on the dollar before the nightmarish day ended. Confidence in the U.S. economy crashed along with the stock market. Investors no longer wanted to risk their money. People stopped buying anything that wasn't really needed. This led to factories shutting down, as many already had merchandise they couldn't sell. This, in turn, caused businesses to fail. By the end of 1930 it was estimated that 7 million people had lost their jobs. It was just the beginning of a depressed economy that would last over a decade. This is the story of how Daytonians endured this period of hardship, battling to find jobs and feed their families, working together to survive, and how they dealt with trying to escape, if even for a little while, the grinding world-weariness of harsh conditions that seemed to have no ending in sight.