View Full Version : Could you stomach Great Depression meals?
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... (http://thesurvivalmom.com/2011/12/29/could-you-stomach-these-great-depression-meals/) 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!
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
eternal24k
12-30-11, 17:13
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.
Cucumber and mustard sandwiches
Mayonnaise sandwiches
Ketchup sandwiches
Hot milk and rice
Dandelion salad
Sugar sandwiches
One eyed Sam – piece of bread with an easy over egg in the center
Fried potatoes and hot dogs
Onion sandwich – slices of onion between bread
Creamed corn on toast
Banana slices with powdered sugar and milk
Boiled cabbage
Hamburger mixed with oatmeal
Sounds like eating with a 4-6 year old.
I too have eaten many of those as well as a few that aren't nearly as palatable...
Probably. My meal now is pretty close, some venison ground meat with a little bit of spices over white rice.
I may not want to eat some of the mentioned foods but hunger has a way of making almost anything look better.
elkknuckle
12-30-11, 17:46
Sounds better than wish sandwiches...
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.
PA PATRIOT
12-30-11, 17:53
Add to the list,
Pigeons (But anything with wings will also do)
Pan fish
Snake
Beaver
Rat
Certain wild grasses
grubs
Wild berries
Beaver is good, Raccoon is better.
Beaver is good, Raccoon is better.
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 .
SeriousStudent
12-30-11, 18:28
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.
Moose-Knuckle
12-30-11, 20:01
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. . .
I have eaten most of these things as well. Fried cornmeal mush is very good.
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.
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:
The_War_Wagon
12-30-11, 20:15
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.
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?:D
Yep, I've eaten most of that stuff too. Except for the lard. Man that sounds rough... oatmeal and lard. I guess if you eat dry bread and cheese for a week a little lard would be a welcome addition though.
Fig Newtons and Sardines.... now that's high class.
I'm sure I could stomach some of that stuff, but I wouldn't want to for long. I can't figure out what tomato gravy even is. The worst of it would be listening to all the picky eaters bitching about the food. This list makes me glad we are working to build up the garden and the chickens should start laying as soon as the days lengthen.
Judging from that list I would say it's bacon grease and either a tomato diced up and stirred in or if they had it a bit of tomato paste. Then a little salt and pepper. Maybe some flour if any to spare.
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I make freash tomato sandwiches a couple times a year. Ate mayo sandwiches, egg rice, milk & rice, & buttered rice growing up.
When I was about 12, an old guy (WWI vet) from Church offered to take me deer hunting. He said we would hunt all day. About 10am, I went looking for him and asked what we had to eat. He told me he had some pumpernickel and cheese and he gave me a small piece of each. I smelled it, took a small bite, and spit it out when he wasn't looking. Never ate nothing like that, tasted like hay bread.
About 3pm I found him again and asked if he had anymore pumpernickel and cheese and I gladly ate a couple of pieces. After I was through, he said we would have jam sandwiches when we got back to the truck after we were through hunting.
After dark at the truck, I begged for my jelly sandwich. He said we have a 2-hour drive home that we need to pace ourselves, then he chuckled, "It is a jam sandwich not a jelly sandwich". I persisted, already tasting some grape or apple jelly in my head. He pulled off the side of the road, took a piece of white bread in each hand, and then mashed them flat together and handed it to me. That was my "jam" sandwich.
I still buy pumpernickel every now and then.
It is amazing what you will eat when you get hungry....never say never.
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I'm sure I could stomach some of that stuff, but I wouldn't want to for long. I can't figure out what tomato gravy even is. The worst of it would be listening to all the picky eaters bitching about the food. This list makes me glad we are working to build up the garden and the chickens should start laying as soon as the days lengthen.
Tomato gravy starts out with bacon grease in a pan(and sometimes pieces of bacon if you are lucky), and the blanched/peeled whole tomato is juiced/mashed/smushed by hand above the pan and the small pieces fall into the grease in the pan and simmers.
Wonderful with squirrel perlo(perleau)......
And no, squirrel does not taste like chicken....
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. . .
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.
I have the shotgun my great grandfather used to feed his family, which was later used by my grandfather to feed my father. It hangs prominently in my living room as a constant reminder of the men I follow and aspire to be. It reminds me of how they lived, the things they lived with and without, the things I must now teach those in my charge, and how blessed my life is.
Other than the honored aged among us, few Americans know what real need, real hunger, and real desperation are. Nor would they have any clue what to do about it if it fell upon them.
You know, many times the depression style foods become the boom-time delicacies.
I hear tomato gravy & thkink of my 90yo Italian immigrant grandmother. Thats what she calls pasta sauce. Real Italian pasta sauce is incredibly simple, incredibly cheap, and incredibly delicious. Noodles are just egg & flour.
Fried anything is good.
My wife has Chinese heritage. Some of her relatives have shown me some traditional recipes that are also simple inexpensive recipes originated from tough times that are considered delicacies & family traditions now.
I see the bigger problems being quantity, and variety. We all would get tired of anything if we had to eat only that for a month straight.
We ate mayonnaise and pepper sandwiches all the time when I was little. Bologna sandwiches were also common. Egg sandwiches are still one of my favorites. Fried potatoes and hotdogs are good food. The fried chicken skin is the best part of the chicken. We eat boiled cabbage fairly often.
Don't know why there is so much whining going on here... this is good stuff.
Straight Shooter
12-31-11, 06:39
Hell yes Id eat it, Ive eat a lot of that growing up as it is. Ive seen about two times in my life where I was hungry, I mean aint eat nothin for two or three days hungry....and a man will about near eat anything when hungry enough.
I too get monumentally pissed around the UNDER 30 crowd..Ive never seen such limp wristed pussies in my life. They wont eat anything that dont come in a bag from a drive thru window.
Ive seen them look at me eating pinto's cornbread and onion and act like I was posseded by Satan himself.
Always...ALWAYS in the back of mind...I know that there may soon come a day when they will beg for such things, and BOY HOWDY am I gonna have the last laugh.
RogerinTPA
12-31-11, 09:25
I have eaten some of those meals as a kid, but not out of desperation. As a kid, I have seen friends who lived in the projects, eat what one might consider, the extremes on that list.
I have recently seen people dumpster dive behind medium to high end restaurants, and bakeries to get at left overs and day old bread thrown out. The sad thing is that the parents were pulling watch, while the kids did the diving. Last year during record breaking fuel prices, people stole cooking grease behind restaurants, in most major cities in FL, in an attempt to create fuel for their cars.
I have eaten a lot of that stuff. The mayo sandwich a common thing when I was a kid, and only slightly better then a "wish sandwich"
Me, I can and will eat pretty much anything I have to. Growing up, I had no idea what a "picky eater" was as my mothers attitude was, "don't like it, don't eat."
I wish more parents were like that today. To me, food is fuel. If it happens to taste good, all the better.
I love good food (the GF is an amazing cook...) but as they say "I don't have to like it, I just have to do it" and I apply that rule to food also as needed.
People in the US in particular, are spoiled mother f-ers, and if it does not taste like mom used to make or what ever, they wont eat it. :rolleyes:
I know that my grand parents use to eat some of that stuff even when it wasnt the great depression. people around now could learn alot from our older generations instead of playing with computers and gaming consoles.
skullworks
12-31-11, 13:53
I was surprised that there were so many sandwiches being that bread can be hard to find.
I was too - until I remembered that people used to bake their own bread back then. Didn't see bark bread on the list though.
DeltaSierra
12-31-11, 14:55
I've eaten many of the things on that list...
As long as it isn't really disgusting (fish heads and the like,) I'll eat it....:secret:
GeorgiaBoy
12-31-11, 15:04
One eyed Sam? Sounds good to me. I will dip my toast in runny egg yolk all the time. Same thing practically.
A few points to make...
1. Both cucumber and tomato sandwiches are awesome
2. Bacon grease on toast is awesome! If you have bacon grease you at least had bacon somewhat recently.
3. Egg sandwiches? WTF are ya bitchin about? You've got eggs! I love egg sandwiches.
4. Cabbage is good!
5. Fried potatoes and hot dogs sounds pretty darn good.
None of that stuff is what I would really consider being hard up for some grub. Try chokin down a partially developed bird egg, or some cleaned earthworms (very high protein we were told), roasted crickets or grasshoppers, grubs, etc...What I learned in SERE is that there is a whole lot more stuff to be found in the woods that is edible than one would think. The only issue is palatability. Various methods of cooking as well as salt and or various herbs and spices improve palatability of just about anything.
StrikerFired
12-31-11, 15:23
I've eaten worse. When I was visting Cuba we ate the Banana Rats that the locals were making snacks from. They made a really sweet, and spicy BBQ sauce and grilled them over an open flame. Much better then the shit ass MRE's that we had so I traded up...
"don't like it, don't eat."
I was told similar. "If you don't like what's for dinner, get up from the table, go wash your dishes off, stay out of the refrigerator and sit quietly ( no TV, no going out to play ) while we finish our dinner."
I only had to hear that once....I didn't last long in defiance.
I think down in Jamaica I've eaten every part of a Goat that can be eaten.
I was too - until I remembered that people used to bake their own bread back then. Didn't see bark bread on the list though.
Yep. I'm surprised nobody's mentioned frybread yet. Combine flour, a little powdered milk of ya got any, and a pinch of baking powder. Add water. Deep fry in oil or drippings. If you do it a certain way, you can put a little powdered sugar on top and people will swear you made beignets.
If you've got actual yeast and an oven to bake in, man you're living well :)
Hot milk and rice
Dandelion salad
Boiled cabbage
Have had all the above!
I was told similar. "If you don't like what's for dinner, get up from the table, go wash your dishes off, stay out of the refrigerator and sit quietly ( no TV, no going out to play ) while we finish our dinner."
I only had to hear that once....I didn't last long in defiance.
I think down in Jamaica I've eaten every part of a Goat that can be eaten.
I lived in St Thomas for a few with visits to that there island and others, and I ate parts of goat I'm not proud of....
I'd take most of what's on that list to the fish head soup I ate too, but by God it was served to me, and thus, had to be eaten with a smile.
My basic rule is, if someone else has eaten it and didn't die, I'll try it.
I must say however, no matter how cooked, I hate liver and brain. Two organ meats that gross me out in all forms.
"Sweet Bread" nice name, still tastes like sh&%.
Hell yes Id eat it, Ive eat a lot of that growing up as it is. Ive seen about two times in my life where I was hungry, I mean aint eat nothin for two or three days hungry....and a man will about near eat anything when hungry enough.
I too get monumentally pissed around the UNDER 30 crowd..Ive never seen such limp wristed pussies in my life. They wont eat anything that dont come in a bag from a drive thru window.
Ive seen them look at me eating pinto's cornbread and onion and act like I was posseded by Satan himself.
Always...ALWAYS in the back of mind...I know that there may soon come a day when they will beg for such things, and BOY HOWDY am I gonna have the last laugh.
I get monumentally pissed around the OVER 30 crowd that likes to make generalizations about half the population.
Always... ALWAYS in the back of my mind, I know there will soon come a day when they will get old and kick the bucket and BOY HOWDY am I gonna have the last laugh.
Since I'm under 30, does that mean I'm not allowed to eat my sardines and Tabasco sauce anymore? No kippered herring? Lemons are probably out. I'm gonna miss the home-grown okra, too.
I must say however, no matter how cooked, I hate liver and brain.
Yeah, I have to admit, liver brings back some bad memories. That whole deal of chewing for five minutes then swallowing a piece that has some kinda vein attached to the piece that's still in your mouth. Phew, man that makes me gag now just thinking about it.
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To this day, when a waitress asks me what I want on my hamburger (or salad or whatever) I say, "Everything but liver, don't put no liver on it!"
They always laugh but deep down, I'm serious as a heart attack.
But maybe it's just me...
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I'll eat liver like a champ. If it's tough somebody just cooked it wrong. But don't put no pickles on my dang hamburger, especially those awful bread'n'butter things!
Straight Shooter
01-01-12, 04:19
Why so butthurt lamarbrog?
If the shoe dont fit..dont sweat it.
And how are you so sure your gonna outlive me/us anyway?
Face it guy/gal..your generation, with FEW exceptions, are the biggest bunch of pansies/cowards/pussies this country has ever seen,IMO & others.
The very fact you responded to my post crying, then paraphrasing my words is proof enough again MOST of you are just titty babies.
Grow up dude/chick and quit crying every time someone says something you dont like. Noone cares, at all.
Why so butthurt lamarbrog?
If the shoe dont fit..dont sweat it.
And how are you so sure your gonna outlive me/us anyway?
Face it guy/gal..your generation, with FEW exceptions, are the biggest bunch of pansies/cowards/pussies this country has ever seen,IMO & others.
The very fact you responded to my post crying, then paraphrasing my words is proof enough again MOST of you are just titty babies.
Grow up dude/chick and quit crying every time someone says something you dont like. Noone cares, at all.
You're the one whining about the younger generation, you started the generalization about half of our country but don't seem to feel the same when it is the half you're in being mindlessly criticized.
Let's say you're 100% right... I'll take "generation of picky eaters" over "generation that let the government turn the greatest nation on earth into a debt-ridden carcass of its former self" any day.
As if your generation is spotlessly clean and above criticism. My generation isn't responsible for the mess this country is in... your generation did this. How about you don't point fingers about something as pointless as the food someone chooses to eat, and I won't place the blame on you for stuff that is actually of consequence.
Happy New Year
Straight Shooter
01-02-12, 06:57
So...the shoe must have fit.
Hunger can motivate you to eat anything. The North Koreans are eatting tree bark
dvdmacdaddy
01-02-12, 10:32
Both of my grandparents grew up in the depression, and we still eat most of those meals at their house, and some esp red beans and cornbread, boiled cabbage etc are served regularly at my house and my kid loves it.
My grandfather recently passed away and his two favorite meals from when he was a kid were lard fried okra and potatoes, and red beans and corn bread with a side of mayo. So at his funeral for the meal that is what was served.
When hunting we usually take minimal food hoping we have a successful hunt , if not were eating potted meat/deviled ham/sardines with bread.
I'll try to eat some tree bark before I eat liver again.
I'll try to eat some tree bark before I eat liver again.
Put some pickles on it. ;)
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 .
No one? Nothing?
.......
My parents went through the Great Depression as kids, so I've eaten a lot of this stuff as well. Being from the south... all the deep fried, lard laiden, sugar coated, flying, walking, crawling critters too. I was always taught not to waste and to make due with what you have. it's very hard to instill that into kids these days.
I'll try to eat some tree bark before I eat liver again.
I don't understand eating liver. Not one bit. It was my dad's favorite and just the smell makes me dry-heave.
Thomas M-4
01-02-12, 22:50
I remember my Grandmother always fixed corn beef hash damn good might add, I sure do miss the corned beef hash. I also got S.O.S which was good but damn just miss the corned beef hash. :cray:
Beef liver yaack !! Give me fried chicken livers[That is a different story] you best be getting out of my way.
My paternal grandparents raised 10 children from 1914 to 1954 so my father knew a lot of those dishes and served them up to me and my brother and sisters growing up. Kidney stew over fried day old bread was one of my favorite meals when we'd visit my grandmother. Yeah, I can live off of most of that.
Now I've got to find some beef kidneys. They used to be plentiful in the grocery stores around here, now you have to ask the "butcher' to order them.
TriumphRat675
01-03-12, 17:41
For pure weirdness nothing on that list compares to the things my girlfriend's family (they are Vietnamese) consider delicacies.
What about Tripe or Offal??? What say ye?? I had liver once, very sweet tasting. And "Sweet Breads"= brains.....I think.
Bon Appetite!
nineteenkilo
01-05-12, 09:38
I don't know about 'depression-era', but most of the things listed in this thread are on the menu every day of every year in Alabamastan.
How the hell does someone NOT eat mayo sammiches?:D
My grandpa's Christmas presents every year was a #2 pencil and an Orange. Some of the meals he tells me about make me think I would rather eat the ass out of roadkill.
Rough times...
and I thought those 99 cent chicken hotdogs and bread for a bun was roughing it in college. a side dish of some rice and bbq sauce and that was darn near gourmet haha.
One of my favorite meals as a kid when my folks were poor was potted meat and mustard sandwiches. Enough substance to fill you up and enough flavor to make you not want to eat too much. Saying that was a favorite means there were other things we ate that were uhhh.... not so favorite.
Having grown up during the other great depression aka communism I've eaten most of those items and some others. Boiled chicken feet, pig hooves, chicken brains, chicken liver, blood pudding, pigs ears both raw and deep fried. All sorts of fun stuff. When you're hungry enough you'd be surprised what you can swallow and thrive off of. I kind of miss the ole chicken grease, jalopeno and paprika sandwiches now that I think about it. HMM I may have to double the Lipitor just for thinking about it though.
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