Hard times farming: Farming during the Great Depression of 1930-1940.
Getz, Carl C.; Getz, Lowell L.
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/8775
Description
Title
Hard times farming: Farming during the Great Depression of 1930-1940.
Author(s)
Getz, Carl C.
Getz, Lowell L.
Issue Date
2008
Keyword(s)
Starting Farming
1930s
Great depression
Midwest
Illinois
Abstract
To start farming with no inherited land, no money, and without financial backing is challenging irrespective of the economy of the times. Money required to buy the necessary farm equipment and supplies is difficult to obtain. This was especially true during the Great Depression of the 1930s when few, if any, banks had money to lend and the potential for sufficient income to repay a loan was low. Carl C Getz, was one such farmer who, with no personal resources other than his reputation as a responsible hard-working hired farm hand, began farming for himself at the very beginning of the depression and endured until better times. The present account documents how he and his wife, Evelyn, were able to begin farming “on the half’s” with the owner of a 220 acre farm (160 acres of tillable farmland) in 1931 and how they managed to survive the years of the depression. Carl was meticulous in keeping records of all his farm-related expenses during his entire life. His records for 1931-1940 not only document the meager resources on which he and Evelyn survived, but provide an excellent insight into the difficult times of farming a Midwestern combined crop-livestock farm during the Great Depression. The records list in detail all the expenses incurred in operating the farm and the various incomes each year from 1931-1940. From these, the net annual income for the entire farm and that for Carl are presented. Scans of all of Carl’s original ledger sheets are also included.
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