Penny auctions were really a thing. When farmers went bankrupt, the bank auctioned off everything – and I mean everything. Neighbors would go to the auction and bid on every item – with most bids being no higher than a penny – and promptly return everything to the farmer. Interlopers were usually warned off – often with hoes and pitchforks.
In the 1930s…
- A loaf of bread cost 9 cents.
- Milk cost about 26 cents per gallon, down from 35 cents in the 1920s.
- You’d shell out $2.50 for a man’s shirt and an overcoat would run about $15.00
- If you had the means, you could buy a Sears and Roebuck catalog house for under $1000.
Sliced bread was invented in 1928.
Ford was the most popular make of car in 1936, but Cadillac was the priciest.
New York City and Chicago didn’t have all the mob activity during the roaring twenties and the Great Depression. Gang life in St. Louis was just as violent – with gang wars taking out many crime families in the 1920s. Edward Hogan, known as “Jelly Roll,” was the top crime boss in the 1930s. He was also a State Senator.
If you’d like to learn more trivia and tidbits from the 1930s, let me know! There’s plenty more where these came from.
Ann Dudzinski 