They Never Threw Anything Away: Memories of the Great Depression by Americans Who Lived It

by Ed Linz

The parallels to the present are an international pandemic killing nearly 700,000 Americans, followed by a booming stock markets and political turmoil….then years of unimaginable misery for so many – an era so difficult and challenging that it became known as The Great Depression….SOUND FAMILIAR? CAN HISTORY REPEAT? They Never Threw Anything Away provides an entertaining, informative, but all-too-plausible comparison of then and now from memories of 22 Americans who lived through The Great Depression. In their own words they tell of experiences gained while living during the social and economic chaos of that era. During the late 1990’s author Ed Linz traveled throughout the U.S. gathering stories of lives permanently scarred by the disaster years of the 1930’s. His interviews of a wide array of Americans from varying geographic regions and differing social strata produce an eclectic collection of captivating memories of life during the Great a Black man in southern Georgia who toiled in a turpentine forest, but called this period “the happiest of my life”; a young socialite (and friend of Ginger Rogers) whose famous engineer grandfather took her on a steamship to visit his masterpiece, the Panama Canal; a teenager whose big band played in all the “gin mills” on Long Island; the daughter of Greek immigrants who found herself in a L.A. tuberculosis sanitarium at age nine; a Seattle barnstorming aviator; a raccoon-hunting dirt farmer in North Carolina; two Mennonite farm families in northern Indiana; young women who worked by themselves as teachers in one-room schoolhouses in the Dust Bowl of the Midwest; a group of nursing students from the coal mining regions of Kentucky – and many other captivating memories of life during the Great Depression. Each story is interspersed with anecdotal facts about the events and circumstances mentioned during the interviews. A time-line of major events during the Great Depression is an included Appendix.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

263 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 25, 2021

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

In attempting to capture his own parents’ stories, Ed Linz interviewed people who lived through World War I, the Spanish flu epidemic, the Great Depression, the climatic disasters of the 1930s, and World War II. He presents us with 22 vignettes drawing on the early life, career, family, and societal reminiscences of those interviewed. Weaving characters from different geographic, religious, ethnic, and economic backgrounds, Mr. Linz presents us with a dynamic picture of Americans in all their diversity during one of the most trying times in American history. “We were poor, but no one told us.” Mary Jeanette Roberts, pg. 68.
In addition to the memories of each “star” in the cast, the author inserts “side-bars” of interesting and often less well-known facts to back up what were sometimes vague or hazy references to people, places, or events. I found these tidbits to be as fascinating as the personal memories of his subjects.
My parents were of this same generation and only recently deceased. At first I thought the book might bring up unpleasant memories, but found myself nodding in agreement with an idea my mother or other relatives had been heard to utter. She would have loved this book. The format of individual chats is a perfect foil to today’s multi-media, 120 character, brain bombing pace of data dumping.
As we all sort through the belongings left behind by our ancestors, the detritus pile may at first appear daunting and pointless, but the ideas and attitudes Mr. Linz has drawn from his subjects reminds us of the values and richness of our nation’s foundations. Particularly at this time of COVID-19 lockdowns, quarantines, “work from home”, closed schools, forbidden physical social interaction, and diminished earning opportunities, looking back to see how others in earlier generations survived gives us a window of hope. My mom spent her last 3 years in an assisted living facility in Baltimore and died just short of her 96th birthday. She told me that the COVID quarantine for her generation was worse than anything she endured during the depression or World War II because she was physically alone in her room. Without the electronic tools many of us depend on to stay connected, her “things” were her memories and helped her survive. She never mastered a “smartie-phone” but pointed out to me that people in her generation never felt such loneliness because family and neighbors were always around. The isolation was the problem, not the virus.
For me, the loveliest chapter in the book was the final one where the author interviewed four of his mother’s closest life-long friends. Intersperced with their recollections are Linz’s short personal comments matching or amplifying their memories. They help us understand the great gift he inherited and is passing on to help us cherish the piles of “stuff” left behind. The physical paraphernalia may finally be repurposed or re-cycled, but the philosophies, the mindsets, and the stamina of that generation who raised us is still with us. As well it should be.
As the author says in his introduction,
The generation of Americans described in this book lived through incredibly challenging, personally difficult times. Hopefully, we will not be faced with that scenario, but if it happens, their memories can give us a blueprint of what to do and how to survive. Pg 8.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really about the great depression. It could have been really fascinating but just wasn’t.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book, with one caveat that I'll get to later.

I bought this book directly from the author during a vacation to Maine in the summer of 2023. Ed is an amiable fellow and I wish now that I'd spent more time talking to him.

This book tackles the important work of collecting first-hand accounts of people who survived the Great Depression--how they did it, how they felt about it, and how it shaped their lives. It does it well, in an engaging and detailed manner. Reading this book added valuable perspective to my life, and gave me some insight into the life of my father, who grew up during the great depression.

The one small problem I have with this book is some of the cover hype (The parallels to the present are an international pandemic killing nearly 700,000 Americans, followed by booming stock markets and political turmoil …, etc.) I recall some mentions of the 1918 influenza epidemic, but that is not the focus of this book.

Setting that aside, I highly recommend this book.

[Koren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really what I thought this book was about. The author interviewed people during the 90's that lived in the early 20th century. Throughout the book, I wondered why it took him almost 30 years to put this book together. By the time the book was published everyone he interviewed was long gone, as they would be at least 110 or more years old if they were still alive. Anyway, the one thing that struck me throughout the book was that most of the people didn't have it as rough as what we have heard the Depression years were. Most of them were able to find enough work to get them by or were self-sufficient, able to grow their own food, or they were lucky enough not to have all their money in banks that closed. This book was ok, but not as interesting as others I've read about the Depression years.

[Dave Sweet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impression from Depression

My parents also went through the Great Depression. They taught me how to budget my way through life never getting into significant debt; also repairing and refurbishing items rather than discarding and replacing them as is done often today. It is in part because of the learned frugality of that generation that I amassed enough resources for a good retirement today! This book is a thoughtful history of their struggles and work ethic.

[Ruth Saale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not particularly focused on the Great Depression

Not much of this book is about the Great Depression. It makes you wonder if people don't like talking about it or have blocked it out of their memories because times were so hard. My mother was born in 1927 so was a child during the Depression, and I learned much more about those difficult times from her than from this book.

[Linda Berger · Rating 5 out of 5]

They Never Threw Anything Away

Interesting book. Times were tough and you made do. My parents were of this era and I heard similar stories. No wonder it was "the Greatest Generation". At very young ages, they found themselves responsible and had to work. Imagine that today! Thank you Ed!

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointed in this book. The cover and name of the book had nothing to do with stories told. They had jobs, schooling, cars and seemed to get by just fine. Not what I thought the great depression was.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the book to be interesting. My parents were born in the early 1930s, and they, too, were frugal individuals who brought their children up the same way. "Waste not want not." They were masters of repurposing. They passed down to me and my siblings those items that have been passed down to them, as well as what they believed to be cherished family heirlooms they had acquired in their married life. It, sadly, has been left to my generation to dispose of those possessions that meant the world to the two generations before me. I find that that can be very hard to do.

The subjects were interesting, and I would have loved to have had maybe fewer interviews and more information on some of the people's lives during this significant period in American history.

I did note one error in the book, in that the quote attributed to an FDR fireside chat ("the only thing we have to fear is fear itself") was actually given during his first inaugural address in March of 1933.

[Tina Geiger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't finished it because I was 5 stories and didn't read a thing about life during the depression. I might pick it back up.

[Joyce]

No rating. Skimmed only. DNF

[Ashley Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

I have a new appreciation for this generation of people! I learned so much. Thank you, Ed for this wonderful book!

[Mark See · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Reminded me of front porch conversations with my grandparents and great grandparents. Those stories and the ones in his book may guide us someday.