Could you stomach Great Depression meals?

Preparation, Preparedness & Prevention Disaster Preparation & Planning
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I thought this would be of interest to the members here. Take a look at some of these foods our grandparents used to eat when times were rough.

With all the talk about food storage and growing our own food, I did a little digging around to find out what some people ate during America’s Great Depression of the 1930′s… A few examples from the article listed below. Follow link for plenty more dining delicacies.

Cucumber and mustard sandwiches

Mayonnaise sandwiches

Ketchup sandwiches

Hot milk and rice

Turtle/tortoise

Gopher

Potato soup – water base, not milk

Dandelion salad

Lard sandwiches

Bacon grease sandwiches

Sugar sandwiches

Road kill

One eyed Sam – piece of bread with an easy over egg in the center

Oatmeal mixed with lard

Fried potatoes and hot dogs

Onion sandwich – slices of onion between bread

Tomato gravy and biscuits

Deep fried chicken skin

Creamed corn on toast

Corn mush with milk for breakfast, fried corn mush for dinner

Squirrel

Fried potato peel sandwiches

Banana slices with powdered sugar and milk

Boiled cabbage

image by Blue Mountains Library
Hamburger mixed with oatmeal

American cheese sandwich, ‘American’ cheese was invented because it was cheap to make, and didn’t require refrigeration that may or may not exist back then.

Tomato gravy on rice

Toast with milk gravy

Water fried pancakes

Chicken feet in broth

Follow the link above for lots more yummy ideas.

Lessons learned from this list? Stock up on ingredients for bread, including buckets of wheat. Bread, in some form, is one of the main ingredients for many of these meals. Second, know how to make different types of bread. Next, have chickens around as a source for meat and eggs, and if possible, have a cow or goat for milk. Another lesson is to have a garden that will provide at least some fresh produce, and plant fruit trees and bushes. Finally, don’t waste anything, even chicken feet!

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Great link thanks.

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Makes you grateful for going to the fridge to eat when youre bored.

Something I do alot.

Some of the kids nowadays couldnt hack it.

Pussies. I cant stand half of the kids 18+

They couldnt even survive without their Xbox or internet

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I have eaten a majority of those items.

I was surprised that there were so many sandwiches being that bread can be hard to find. There are a lot more creative things to make with limited resources.

I grew up eating a lot of “odd” items off the land, my grandmother carried her Native American heritage and knew everything that was edible. My grandfather was a depression survivor and between the two of them they could make a feast from nothing.

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Sounds like eating with a 4-6 year old.

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I too have eaten many of those as well as a few that aren’t nearly as palatable…

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Probably. My meal now is pretty close, some venison ground meat with a little bit of spices over white rice.

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I may not want to eat some of the mentioned foods but hunger has a way of making almost anything look better.

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Sounds better than wish sandwiches…

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I think I would avoid a lot of those , unless I was really hungry. The lard and grease sandwiches … no thanks. I’m afraid I’d gag.

On the other hand my depression era grandparents fed me some of the others, such as One eyed Sam, fried corn mush, onion sandwiches, American cheese sandwiches and squirrel. They weren’t bad at all. Heck, growing up we hunted squirrel and rabbit every weekend during the winter. I cleaned so many squirrels I could probably do it in my sleep. We obviously ate a lot of it too.

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Add to the list,

Pigeons (But anything with wings will also do)
Pan fish
Snake
Beaver
Rat
Certain wild grasses
grubs
Wild berries

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Beaver is good, Raccoon is better.

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Never ate beaver but we used to eat coon back when I trapped a little. It was good but I always get weird looks when I mention eating it .

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I was discussing this with my daughter over dinner last night. We have had good times and thin times in our family, as have most of you.

“Dad, I remember you laughing about someone getting mad that their $6 cup of coffee was not perfect. And we did not have $6 worth of food in the house.”

Poor does not mean stupid, nor does rich always mean smart.

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My grandfather is in his 90’s. He was a teen during the Great Depression and grew up in rural Iowa on a family farm. He got quit good and chasing down rabbits with his bare hands! Ammo was a luxury most could not come by in his neck of the woods. In WWII he would trade is ration of Lucky Strikes to Europeans for various eats and treats as he was not a smoker.

I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to have grown up during that time then sent off to fight in Europe. :eek:

Life has SUCKED for A LOT of people, our turn is coming down the pipe. . .

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I have eaten most of these things as well. Fried cornmeal mush is very good.

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My favorite Raccoon recipe, use at your own risk.

1 coon
1 (or 2 or 3 or ?) large bottle favorite sauce be it BBQ, Hot, Dales.

Place skint coon on cookie sheet and bake in oven at 350 till done. You might could wrap the bandit in bacon if you is livin high on the hog. Pick all meat off bones and place in crock pot. Stir your sauce into the meat, slow cook for an hour or 2. Serve warm on toast, or use as chip dip, bbq sandwich, or whatever.

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My favorite Possum recipe, use at your own risk.

1 Possum purged, cleaned.
Potatoes
Carrots
onions
salt
pepper

Cook the vegetables, throw the possum to the dogs. :lol:

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Our grandfathers were tougher than us. Skinnier, too.

You get HUNGRY enough, you’ll survive on whatever’s on your plate, as my dad always said.

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Humans have eaten all kinds of weird crap since we were kicked out of the garden of Edan and yet we have survived. Personally, nothing in the above menu choices interest me; my issue would be how to get past my gag reflex! Barf bags anyone?:smiley: