Shortages: Are They Similar to the Great Depression?
The Great Depression took a huge toll on this country nearly a century ago. Fear had its grip on families, while millions of men and women were left without work. To make matters worse, there was a scarcity of food and other shortages as well. Shortages: are they similar to the Great Depression?
The recent pandemic has brought about struggles and shortages on a similar scale today. Most of America was shut down for several weeks just a few short months ago. With so many Americans out of work, it created a domino effect of shortages that initiated several challenges in the way you and I live.
Shortages: Are They Similar to the Great Depression?
At first, we were only noticing shortages when we headed to the grocery store, but as time went on and Covid-19 continued to keep people out of work, more and more shortages began to pop up. Here’s more on some of those shortages that we’ve experienced and their similarity to the Great Depression shortages.
The Toilet Paper Scare
One of the first shortages that we all encountered was toilet paper. Really? I’m still shaking my head on this one. But it’s true. Toilet paper was virtually nowhere to be found due to the high demand for it. You couldn’t even purchase any online with Amazon, as they too were out of stock.
By the end of March, toilet paper sales dropped through the floor because there simply wasn’t any to be found. What little the stores did have, customers were being limited to only one pack per family. Many people who didn’t beat the toilet paper shopping frenzy had to learn new ways to keep clean.
Empty Grocery Store Shelves
About the same time toilet paper was disappearing from the grocery store shelves, several other shortages began to pop up as well. Paper towels, hand sanitizer, cleaning products, detergents, eggs, milk, peanut butter, and canned foods, all began to make their exit not long after.
Even bottled water was sold out. Where I live, the bread aisle was completely wiped out and out of stock for close to a week, and took a number of weeks before you could find your favorite specialty bread. Thank goodness I make my own bread. If you need some FREE no-fail bread recipes here they are: How To Make My No-Fail Homemade Bread
Meat Packaging Industry
No, there wasn’t a shortage of livestock, from beef, pork, or chicken during the worst parts of the pandemic, but there certainly weren’t enough workers to keep the meat market rolling. At one point, 40% of the pork industry was at a standstill.
Even with stricter safety measures in place at three of the United States’ largest meat processing plants, the infection was spreading rapidly (and continues to) amongst its workforce. This forced several plants to close down, and led to empty shelves in every grocery store’s meat department throughout the country, along with a skyrocket in meat pricing.
Grocery stores had to start limiting certain meat products in the quantity they could buy.
Things are starting to return to normal, but you may still notice that meat departments are still rather light on the products available as we continue to move throughout the grilling season. With the second wave of corona cases that are currently happening throughout the country, experts were wary about whether the meat factories would close back down once again. So, far, that’s not the case. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
Coin Shortage
The coin shortage didn’t become a huge concern until after businesses started opening back up and having to take coinage from their banks. The only problem was, that the federal reserve was incredibly low at the time due to limited available staff to run the machinery.
At first, you may not have thought anything of it when that first business asked you to use exact cash and coin or encouraged you to use a debit/credit card, but more and more, this situation was starting to pop up everywhere.
With every small and big business that was shut down throughout our nation, along with Americans not being able to go out and make purchases as they did before, our economy came to a screeching halt.
Money (especially coins) was not circulating as it should, while fewer workers at the U.S Mint were allowed to continue producing money (due to COVID restrictions), which only made things worse. In case you missed my post, Coin Shortage: What You Should Know
Lumber Production
Construction has also taken its toll because of the shortages of lumber that we are experiencing. This has made it more difficult to find cabinets, doors, and windows to keep building projects moving as smoothly as before. Again, this is not because of there not being enough lumber, but rather a shortage of workers (due to Covid-19 restrictions) to keep tree harvesting and production rolling.
Drugs and Prescriptions
There has also been a growing drug and prescription shortage over the past several months due to slower manufacturing. This is especially true for drugs that treat bacterial infections. Ventilators and anesthetics were also impossible to come by.
The prescription drugs known as Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine are experiencing shortages. You’ve undoubtedly heard about them in the news not too long ago. Many doctors had found them to be effective in treating Covid-19 symptoms and prescribed them to their patients. There were also doctors questioning the effectiveness of the drugs. The debate continues.
The FDA began cautioning against this and before too long, both of them were cut back for use in the United States. Hmmm…this one seems rather odd and doesn’t sit well with me. I understand the pharmacists were actually questioning why the patients needed it even though so many people are already using it and still using it.
Appliances
Yes, even appliances have been harder to come by as well. This is especially true if you’re looking to buy a refrigerator or stand-alone freezer. In the past few months, more and more people were buying them to keep a larger supply of food at home and not being able to take as many food shopping trips outside.
As of right now, if you’re looking to order one of these, there’s at least an 8 to 10-week waiting period because of the manufacturers’ short supply. I saw shortages of dehydrators, pressure canners, water bath canners, and of course canning bottles and lids. If you’re lucky you may see some on the grocery store shelves. Or you can order them online where there may be some price gouging.
Final Word
These are just a few of the major shortages that we’ve been dealing with over the past several months. They may not entirely line up with the shortages that our grandparents were faced with during the Great Depression, but there was still an eerie feeling as you’d walk up and down the grocery store aisle and see so many empty shelves for all kinds of products.
What other shortages have you come across lately that have been related to Covid-19? What do you think of shortages: are they similar to the Great Depression? Please keep prepping, we must! May God bless this world, Linda
My wife has lupus and is on Hydroxychloroquine. In JANUARY they started only giving her 30 days at a time instead of 90. Her Dr said yeah that’s because we knew it was going to be used for the virus which supposedly didn’t even hit until months later in America. They were cutting back in JANUARY on supplies.
I’m not a conspiracy theorist and I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer but I ain’t no spoon either.
HI Matt, WHAT??? Your wife has Lupus, she needs a 90 day supply. This makes me really sad and mad at the same time. I ain’t no spoon either, I LOVE that statement, I agree with you. Linda
I looked up Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine and they are not banned in the US as you say in your article, they are now banned for use to treat COVID as it is not as effective as other drugs. Plus like Matt said, the people who take it for Lupus and other conditions need it and couldn’t get it.
Matt, I’m sorry about your wife having lupus. My niece also has lupus and it’s a terrible condition.
Hi Topaz, thanks for catching this, this is what it should have said and I have changed it: The FDA began cautioning against this and before too long, both of them were cut back for use in the United States. Hmmm…this one seems rather odd and doesn’t sit well with me. I understand the pharmacists were actually questioning why the patients needed it even though so many people are already using it. People take the one for Lupus and arthritis. Linda
Hi Topaz, thanks for catching that, I just changed it The FDA began cautioning against this and before too long, both of them were cut back for use in the United States. Hmmm…this one seems rather odd and doesn’t sit well with me. I understand the pharmacists were actually questioning why the patients needed it even though so many people are already using it. Linda
It compares to the 30s but isn’t as bad. I know there’s some without jobs that are wanting to chop off my head for that statement and I feel for you but the numbers of those unable to buy food per capita aren’t as bad. I was always at some point able to buy stuff even if it meant going to different stores. I had to actually “gasp” shop for things. Makes me feel spoiled again which is something I hadn’t felt in many years since leaving the Army.
It wasn’t dire it was just inconvenient. In Oklahoma the deer and turkey were almost wiped out. The elk were. It took 35 yrs to regain populations. It was in the 60s before western Oklahoma saw deer again and now they have a larger allowed harvest than eastern Oklahoma. This is due to agriculture, increased ponds and lakes as well as conservation. Fast forward to 2020 and most poaching is still for trophies or meaningless. Cattle rustling hasn’t risen to a higher percentage that I’m aware of either. Food was still available. Suicides haven’t reached the 30s level either because of hope. We still have it. Regardless of the politics the relief money seriously helped people too.
I’ve lived in multiple places overseas and even with this stuff we didn’t ever go past what I refer to as second level countries. This is still by far the best place in the world.
Rough patches can be good as they give you the opportunity for re-evaluate, planning and preparedness.
Don’t waste it.
I like the way you see things.
Hi Marisol, thank you. I’m not a DoomsDay prepper, just someone who wants to be prepared for the unexpected. Linda
I agree with Marisol, I like the positivity in the way you think. Like you, I’m not a DoomsDay prepper. While I’m prepared for things like losing power, tornadoes and flooding; it’s the financial emergencies from extremem medical bills and job loss that we usually end up using our preps. While a job loss may feel like DoomsDay, most of us do recover from it.
Hi Topaz, thank you, I always feel like we will overcome the worst, it may take time but we will get through it. If you’re reading my blog, you realize the importance of being self-reliant. I just pray that people can recover financially from this COVID mess. Linda
HI Matt, I hadn’t thought about suicides in the 30s. I’m not sure why I didn’t realize it or think about it. We are going to see more suicides although we will not hear about them because of privacy issues. But suicide is real. People without income are losing their homes or having to move out of their rentals. Those in government jobs are most likely the only ones who are okay for now. We will see more restaurants closing for good, more stores of all kinds closing forever. People can get food stamps, extend mortgage payments but for how long. Landlords need to make their payments so they can only go so long without rent payments. People get mad when the unemployment checks run out. Life is going to get a whole lot worse, people get mad when they are hungry and can’t pay their bills. There are no words to help those without income right now, I have family members struggling. They have food storage but that doesn’t pay the housing, etc. I don’t want to sound like a Debbie-Downer, but we need to be real now. God help us all. Linda
Linda and Matt ~
I think that people are getting mad not so much because they are hungry but because they fear they are going to be hungry. I believe that is a big reason for the shortages we are seeing – people fear not having or being able to get food.
Another thing that I believe is different now than during the Great Depression is that even if you lose your job now or the unemployment runs out, there are still programs to help you with money, food, etc. The governor here in Washington has mandated that banks cannot foreclose or rental owners cannot evict because of non-payment of mortgage payments or rent payments (you can still get evicted for criminal issues though). But, what this only does is give a temporary fix. I do know of some people who have “decided” that since they won’t be evicted, they are not going to pay rent – they are going to be hurting for housing once the governor lifts these restrictions and those people then do not have the money to pay up! Also, when the banks closed during the Great Depression, money came to a halt. You could not get your money. Not sure what will happen to me if the banks/credit unions shut down now.
Yesterday I saw a number of signs of stores closing for good. Sad to say but stores and businesses cannot go for very long without some permanent repercussions – only one of these signs was for a business that is not a local small business. All others were.
I am sad to see all of the changes but they are inevitable during this era we are going through. For a few months I have been hearing things like, Oh the poor seniors are missing out on their last months of school and missing so many experiences; or I feel so sorry for the kids having to go through this. Well, I am going to just say that I have never been through this before either and neither have 99% of those of us living today! It is all new to everyone. Yes, kids are missing out on a lot of things but so are their parents and grandparents; seniors missed having graduation but I am thinking that they will all most likely survive that!
I am hoping and praying that this has been and will continue to be a learning experience for those of us who were/are prepared as well as for those who were not. I do know that my daughter and SIL have been able to teach their kids – at least the 3 older ones – what is going on in the world as far as financial, medical and social are concerned.
Oh girlfriend, I totally agree with you! I feel so bad for those high school seniors, but my heart aches for those who can’t feed their families. One thing that I am shocked at is the hundreds, and I mean several hundred cars lined up to get food in their cars at a food line. WHAT??? Do they not have a stash? I guess not!! I am shocked. Okay, REALLY shocked! I remember what my mother used to say “teach a man to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime” that’s not the whole jest, but you remember that one. It’s really easy to write a check to help others but it’s smarter to teach them how to budget and cook from scratch. Linda
Love this perspective. I’m an Army Brat and I’ve also travelled on my own around the world as an adult—I agree. We are not in as bad of shape as many other countries are on an everyday basis before the pandemic. Hard to find stuff early on, but not impossible. And yes, experiences like this help us be more prepared for possible worse situations. Thanks!
Here in NW Florida, flour & yeast are just beginning to show back up on the shelves, with flour being the most easily found of the two. Jigsaw puzzles also extremely hard to find.
Lysol spray & generic equivalents were just available in very limited quantities per store last week. Still not finding Clorox wipes, although I did snag a couple tubs of essential oil disinfectant wipes at the Navy Exchange back in May.
Tp, paper towels, plates & kleenex available so long as we don’t have any tropical disturbances heading into the Gulf of Mexico. At the first sign of that for Hurricane Isiais a couple weeks ago, all paper goods, batteries, baby supplies, bottled water, canned goods, bread, crackers, peanut butter were gone!
It is nice to know that more people are taking stocking up for potential disasters seriously now. Hopefully this will help them deal with the next batch of shortages heading our way due to the crops destroyed by the Derecho in Iowa.
Hi BDN, I need to go check out the peanut butter aisle, thanks for the tip. I just stocked up on batteries but I can’t get C & D. I believe things are going to get a whole lot worse before they getter better. I’m glad to hear you were able to get some supplies. I’m extremely worried about the people who are out of work. The food shortages are real and they are going to get worse. I hope I’m wrong about the shortages. The damaged crops are going to impact the world. Please stay safe, Linda
Linda,
I was able to get some C & D batteries from Sam’s Club. I have a few of each shipping directly to you. They should be delivered by Friday. Hate to see you do without. LOL!!!
Hi Harry, no you do not have to mail some to me! I just picked some up at Home Depot!! Thank you, my friend!! You are the kindest person ever, thank you, you made my day!! Linda
Linda,
You are the kindest person to help so many people, me included. I also like doing things to help other people. I already have a few of those batteries on order for you. I doubt that they are so many that they will overload your storage. LOL!!! Keep up the great work and stay safe from this pandemic.
Thanks again my friend, Linda
I have noticed all the things missing that you mentioned and also those of your readers in the comments section. In addition, the big one for me has been canning jars and lids. Ugh. We moved over a year ago and I sold hundreds of jars. As a matter of fact, they nearly half filled a 20′ container. I was so sad, but we needed the truck room when we moved. I’ve slowly been buying jars, but have only recently – 6-8 months ago, started to buy them in earnest. I wanted flat lids in bulk, and have been looking everywhere. I see the prices on both have gone crazy. A friend of mine told me that flat lids were impossible to buy during the war (I assume she meant WWII) because all the metal went to the war effort. I ended buying more Tattler lids the other day. There have been lots of other things missing too. I started buying Christmas gifts for my grandsons last week online because I’m thinking they won’t have lots of stock by then:) (Wasn’t there some prophecy about manufacturing ceasing for a time and farmer’s not growing for a time?)
I have a 90 day wait for a white dishwasher with a utensil holder on the door, but stainless steel and black are available.
It will be my last one I’m sure so I will wait.
With ground beef at DG $6 a lb., my freezer got stocked with slaughter house gb @ $2.10 a lb….worth the 40 mile drive!!!
I had a craigslist ad selling lids last year and no one took them…thank God. They were the Amish store lids bought before the caution of lids only good for 12 months now. Small blessings. A lady has a ‘wanted’ ad for jars. I would have never predicted this even as I bought jars and lids years ago. Imagine $7 a case from Ace Hdw, which is where I got mine!!
One friend of G’s got 3 boxes of wide mouth from me but he gave me a 5 gallon bucket of tomatoes, so we’re even–oh, that’s bartering!!!
Linda, we were pretty much set before January as we had decided to stock up on prepping & hurricane supplies early for this year. I’ve mostly been looking for things friends and family members were low or out of, as I seem to have the God given knack of finding things.
I just reordered enough of the supplements we use, as well as supplements for the livestock, to take us through late spring next year. Will be increasing livestock feed supplies this week, as well as dog & cat food. Will be planting things to extend the critter feed situation. Will be planting more for our own use, as well as sharing plants with anyone of our friends willing to try a fall garden.
I know that there are many people who are struggling. Our church has been providing food to several hundred families at least twice a month since February. We help any of our family, friends, Sunday School classmates & acquaintances we can, either by encouraging them to not lose hope or finding what they need. We are blessed to be here for this time.
Hi BDN, you know I LOVE hearing this comment! We must be able to share with those who are in need. Hopefully, they will understand the need to be prepared when they get back on their feet. I love your statement “I seem to have the God-given knack of finding things”! Thankfully your church is able to help those in need. Where I live, so many people are on food stamps. It’s sad because in some cases I know first hand they hide their income. Some it’s a way of life, they expect the government to take care of them. I know there are a few who need help but they shouldn’t expect it forever. I think I told you before I was sitting at a table in a church group and the three young mothers were talking about having more kids because they would get $500 more in food stamps per child. That’s when my eyes were opened. Like really wide. I’m with you we need to help others not to lose hope, but without any job it’s getting harder to boost their hope. Linda
While trying very hard not to sit in judgement, my husband and I were amazing at the number of people on the news, not able to pay April’s rent or mortage….. nothing, even in NY was shut down till mid to late March. I admit, I don’t understand. What happened to an emergency Fund? Are too many people willing to sit back and wait for someone else to take care of them? I believe God helps those who help themselves, and that is how we raised our children. Maybe I am wrong?
Hi Chris, we believe the same way. We have always had an emergency fund, and we taught our kids the same thing. I very much believe that God helps those who help themselves. We are not judging, I think we are just surprised that people think the government or parents should bail them out. I believe in tough love. If you keep writing a check to help people which is easier than teaching them to take care of themselves, how will they take care of themselves when you are no longer there to bail them out. In essence, they are saying to their adult kids “I know you can’t make it on your own, they will soon believe it.” I will get off my soap box. Linda
My husband reminded me that more then 30 years ago I approached our county social aid office, offering to teach people on food stamps how to shop the sales, how to build a pantry, even on limited resourses, I wanted to teach people where you go to pick strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, and how to make jam or freeze them. To make my grandmothers bread and butter pickles and applesauce and pies. To shop garage sales, and find quality clothes for their children. Unfortunately, I only had a high school education and not worthy of their consideration. I really think I could have done some good.
Hi Chris, oh my gosh, yes you could have changed many lives!! That’s really too bad that you were willing to help others and were not “worthy of their consideration”!! Wow, just think how much you could have helped people. And that was 30 years ago!!! Oh my gosh, what a shame!! P.S. I do not have a college degree but I know how to do everything you just mentioned!! Not your grandma’s recipe, but mine! LOL! Linda
Emergency Funds. Likely younger people either live paycheck to paycheck, or have no experience in seeing their parents having one.
My momma always squirreled away a little each week, even if was $2.
When a co-worker of my dad (who was a laborer) could not afford his daughter’s sickle cell medicine, mom had enough to give him.
Money in the bank is not the same with putting a little back each week. $5/$10 etc.
Adds up be years end…aftermath of storms, etc.
Hi Mary, you know I love hearing this! First of all, your momma squirreled away a few dollars each week. Then to help a co-worker with the expense of medication for his child melts my heart. We need to hear more stories like this, thank you for sharing. Linda
I have found bread flour to be hard to get. I use a bread machine because I have Osteo Penia (brittle bone disease or as I call it “Swiss Cheese bones” and I can’t make bread by hand. Think I will teach daughter and daughter-in law some of your quick no fail homemade bread. Put them to work. We have also found things like sparkling grape juice, and items that you would use for the holidays in short supply. I was able to find a 2lb. bag of yeast a couple months ago and put it in freezer until I use up the small jars and packages I have (I can use the yeast in the jar in my machine but will let the girls use the packets because they are not usable in the machine), We also found a lot of Canned food that are in short supply. We get around that by buying the #10 can’s and storing the rest in the fridge and use what is in the fridge until gone. We live in the dessert of New Mexico caused by the atomic bomb testing 25 miles from us. I wonder if I will be able to find worms for my compost pile. I’ve never tried using them to help the ground and maybe that will help me grow my own.
Hi Jackie, wow, it sounds like you found some great items to stock up on. Linda
My preparing takes an organized list form. 8 chuck roasts require 8 bags of frozen baby carrots, 8 cans of button mushrooms and 4 bags of baby onions. Likewise, chili, spaghetti sauce, broccoli cheese chicken…. I always do my best to match up the ingredients so as to not be caught short.
Even non-food items…..I’m a fall fragrance person so when the hand soaps came in, I ordered 26 (each one lasts about two weeks.), 25 pocket size sanitizers also last 2 was each 30 large and medium jar candles in Chocolate and pumpkin scents, will allow me to hygge thru the winter. While it might seem excessive to some, but it also allows me to cross it of my list. Any shopping we do is in quantity, I know what I buy now, means I wont be in the stores competing with other people if and when there are shortages.
We have found almost all stores large and small have been willing to work with us for Curbside pickups, limiting person to person contact.
We are low right now on beef, because of prices. I have noticed the prices coming down slowly.
Hi Chris, that’s awesome how you plan how the items you need to make meals. It’s good to hear prices are coming down on meat. I will have to check the next time I go to the store. I’m stocking up on beans, mostly pinto and black. They will fill the belly and have high protein. Stay safe, Linda
Chris, I do the same thing with my food storage based on recipes. I used to read the lists of things you “need” for 3 months, 6 months, 2 years and wondered what do you do with this stuff? What if your family won’t eat it? That’s when I decided to find food storage recipes and base my food storage around that. When we moved into this house 3 years ago, the basement had been finished at one time and then after a sewage backup the previous owner removed the carpet and the bottom 2 to 3 feet of sheet rock. We are slowly finishing the basement and there was this one long narrow room that hubby decided he would either combine with the two rooms adjacent to it or use it as a storage room. I saw, nope, this is my kitchen/food storage room. He made fun of it and kept delaying adding the shelves I wanted until the pandemic hit and he realized that I wasn’t just paranoid to build a food storage area. Then he added the shelves I wanted.
I have a basket (from dollar tree) for each recipe. For example for my spaghetti, I have crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, spices in a ziplock bag, a bag of spaghetti pasta and a jar of powdered parmesean cheese; In the freezer I have a pound of ground beef to use. Just in case this pandemic last longer than we can get affordable ground beef, I have freeze dried ground beef on the very top shelf.
For my chili box, I have canned beans for a quick cook, dried beans for when I plan ahead, once again, spices in a ziplock bag. Just in case we are low on ground beef, I have a can of beanless chili to add meat and some seasoning.
Right now I have about 12 of these box of meals. Each one has the recipe in it along with business card sized cards with the name of the recipe, these card become my inventory system. When we fill or refill the box, I bring cards upstairs and keep them in a binder. When we use a meal, I take the card and put it in a box for my husband or youngest child to return to the meal box. Each box holds 1 to 5 meals each. On days we don’t feel like cooking some of these meals can be made in 15 to 20 minutes.
My goals for the next year: Build up to 24 meals in meal boxes. Learn to can, especially meats, to add to these boxes. I also have 2 recipes for “meals in a jar” that we like and I want to go up to 6 to 10. I also want to try some of the mixes you see all over the web for brownies, cookies, other deserts/treats and make those up. I have discovered that I can buy a 25 pound of restaurant quality flower for about $7.50 at Sam’s Club. Last Christmas, I bought a bag and in one day, hubby and I made 12 batches of cookie dough and froze it. We only bake what the 3 of us can eat at one time.
The bonus, we are buying a small camper after hubby retires and we can use the meal boxes to pack food for a long trip. The bags/jars of cookie dough and brownies would be ready as well. Using these items, we could probably pack for a 3 to 4 week trip in just a few hours.
Hi Topaz, thanks for sharing your “meal ideas”! Yay for a storage room and a small camper to enjoy life with you baskets of meals! I LOVE your comment, thank you, Linda
WOW…. You have really thought this thru and done a truly great job. I will definitely be interested in trying some of your tips. I love your organizational skills and that your whole family is involved. My husband is more the eggs and bacon, ham broccoli and potatoes cook in our family. I never thought to write down the roasts and slow cooker and sauce recipes. Thank you for the “food for thought”
About the toilet paper shortage: I read on your blog many moons ago the quote ‘you can never have too much toilet paper ‘ – so I started buying toilet paper every time I went to Costco. Consequently when this shortage started a few months ago, I had 90 rolls out In my storage shed (plus about 20 or so in my 2 bathrooms in the house).
My daughter and granddaughter both came over and shopped for toilet paper!
Thank you Linda!
Hi Kathie, oh you made my day!!!! This is music to my ears!! Way to go girl! Linda
From all the blogs and forums I read, as usual the comments here show a higher caliber of readers here 😉
It is disconcerting looking at the emptiness of shelves at stores.
Canning supplies are off and on. If you seen, buy some! But the blatant price gouging an many goods is disheartening 🙁 Rubbing alcohol was <$1 not $2.50-ish. canning lids were <$1.50 now $3+
Seems lie most things are becoming outrageous in price… have a supply and keep it building little by little – while we still can. With the election fast approaching I don't see it getting any better.
The hatred and fear mongering is at an all time high.
and remember:
3 minutes without air
3 days without water
3 hours without shelter
3 weeks without food
and
3 months without hope!
Hi Bruce, wow, you are so right! You nailed it! Linda
Hi Linda,
America has been known as “The Land of Plenty” since the end of WWII. We, and our children and our grandchildren have grown up knowing that if you wanted something, all you had to do was just run to the store and bring it home.
I don’t know how old you are, I think younger than my 82 years, but I remember the rationing of items during the war. Yes, there were rationing stamps, in fact I have two of them left over. But the thing that I remember is that everyone knew that there was a shortage of things and cooperated when going to the store. Nobody hoarded things. Of course, with rationing stamps, you couldn’t hoard anything.
Any time the government gets involved in “telling us” what to do and how to do it, you can bet your bottom dollar that we will experience scenarios such as we have seen these last several months. I have not lived in any other countries, but I have lived in many, many places here in our great US and I can tell you that no matter what we have to endure, I’d rather endure it here than any other place.
I have gone bac k to canning and plan to continue canning into the late fall so that I can be sure that my family has food to eat.
I gues we can cuss and discuss till the “cows come home” but it won’t change much.
Stay safe Linda.
SuzyQ
Hi Suzanne, I turned 70 this year, we are a lot alike. It won’t change unless people change. Stay well and stay safe, Linda
Hi linda,
Can you give me some advice about where and what to look for when I go shop for a wheat grinder. I had one many years ago and it got lost in one of my moves. IActually I think it got stolen. I cringe at the thought of what a new one would cost today!. Do you iknow if there are ever any GOOD used ones for sale anywhere?
I always enjoy hearing from you.
Take Care
SuzyQ
Hi Suzanne, they are very expensive. You could buy a hand-grinder but they are so hard to use. I was given one from a company to write about and it’s awesome. I have hand-grinder but it’s expensive as well. The one red one I have is from Montana, my husband choked when he heard what I paid for it. It’s for power outages. The red one: https://grainmaker.com/products/grainmaker-grain-mill-model-no-99/ and the other one is a KoMo (sold out) https://pleasanthillgrain.com/komo-classic-grain-mill-flour-grinder-wood-stone. I will be honest with you, and I have this one: https://www.homedepot.com/p/NutriMill-Classic-20-Cup-11-Speed-White-Grain-Mill-with-Removable-Filter-760200/205359374. I wish we lived closer, I would grind wheat for you!! Linda
Linda, my daughter and son-in-law are in a financial situation due to COVID. They were making good decisions for a young married couple. While they were engaged, they saved a downpayment for a house. In December, they married and closed on their first home in the same small town where he worked. She transferred jobs from their previous small town to the new town. They started an emergency fund. Then in March everything went south. My daughter lost her job due to COVID. My son-in-law had all his overtime cut and now his paycheck was half as much as normal. They also found out they were expecting a baby. We are helping all we can, however, my husband is retiring in about 6 weeks and we aren’t sure of our finances yet.
Oh Topaz, this breaks my heart, here is a young couple who had plans, and prepared way ahead of the game. I have several family members and friends out of work, they do not know what they are going to do. Even if people had an emergency fund, this COVID nightmare is way beyond what normal working people can handle. I have to shut the news off somedays, I don’t want to know what’s happening but I can talk to my friends and family and know they are sinking. I had hope for them but now I’m questioning how anyone can make it unless you have a government job. Just my two cents. I’m getting scared for the people in this country. Trump is doing everything he can but something is off with this COVID. I better not say anything else or the FDA or government could shut down my website. God bless this world, Linda
Hi Linda,
It’s early September and here in the Midwest , you still can’t find any canning supplies of any kind in any of the stores. This includes things like jar lifters and magnetic lid lifters as well as jars and the lids and rings. We were wanting new fall boots and Walmart has a very limited supply. Usually the whole isle is full of boots. Not this year. One of the odd things that is missing is pillows. I went to get a new one and all they had left were a few of the boxed My Pillows and about 5 king sized. I also noticed that there are quite a few towels missing although there were still a decent amount. Just holes where there would normally be full shelves.
Hi Mamabear, oh my gosh, I have people calling and texting me for canning lids and supplies, NONE to be found. Now I want to go check out if the pillows are gone. And winter boots, wow!! The bad thing is the gardens are at full harvest right now here in Utah. People want to can their bounty. Crazy times. Linda
During the Depression; No one complained about eating cow tongue. you were happy that you were eating some beef. We need to start doing things the way they did back then. Like being proud that you PAID OFF your car five years ago. Not caring about the clothes a movie star wears. Plus living the house you were born in.
Our last recession was caused by people who did not think that way. Plus Big banks who loaned money to people who could not pay off those loans.
Hi Elbert, oh my gosh I grew up on Beef Tongue! I begged for the tip of the tongue because it wasn’t as chewy!! LOL! Oh, and don’t forget the liver and onions, chickens livers are the best!! Mark and I have one car, it’s a 2009 Honda CRV, and still going strong!! The only regret I have is we don’t have neighbors stay in our neighborhood. Most are rentals and so we have small moving trucks constantly. No one is interested in being neighbors anymore. It’s pretty sad. I still regret moving from my last neighborhood 12 years ago. We were true neighbors, I miss that terribly, but not the snow. Life has changed and not necessarily for the best. Linda