Some Depression Stories

I think the whole family has heard lots of stories about my Grandfather, Al Morton. Most of the stories revolve around his talents as a famous photographer, river runner and cinematographer, and we have all watched and enjoyed his adventure films. But today while talking with my mom, I heard some other stories about my grandmother and grandfather that some of us have probably never heard. Here are a couple of those stories.

Grandma and Grandpa lived fairly close to the tracks in Salt Lake, and often men we called tramps in those days would stop at the house for food. My mom thinks the house was marked somehow so that they knew it was a safe place to get fed. Grandma always made sure that they got something, even if it was only a peanut butter sandwich when times were hard. Grandma used to bake two loaves of bread every night and then leave them on the counter to cool. One night, she left the bread on the counter, mopped the floor, and Grandpa left his wallet, spare change and keys on the counter before bed. When they awoke the next morning, Grandma found muddy footprints in the kitchen, and one loaf of bread was gone. The money and wallet had not been touched. As we talked about that, I wondered if that would happen now. Back then people stole what they needed to survive. Now it seems to be another profession.

During the depression, it was hard to find work. Grandpa Morton, was not immune to the troubles and had to scrounge to find whatever work he could. He heard there was a job opening for someone to clean apartments, so he decided to apply. When he got to the place, there was a huge line of people waiting for the place to open so they could interview. He knew the job would be filled by the time he could get in. He decided to do something out of desperation. He went to the back and found the coal chute to the building. Stuffing his hat into his shirt, he crawled into the coal chute, dropped into the bin, dusted himself off as best he could, and put his hat back on. He went upstairs where the office was and startled the man who was hiring, scaring him into falling off his chair. "I'm sorry to bother you", he said, "but I really need this job. I have four little girls and a new baby." The man decided that if he was willing to crawl through the coal chute to get the job, he deserved to have it, and Grandpa got the job. "There's just one thing, though" came the response. "You must leave the same way you came in. I can't afford to have a riot here." So that is how Grandpa got the job to support his family and feed my mom who was the new baby.

People complain about how hard things are right now, but I think we have no idea how hard things can really get, or how much our parents and grandparents suffered during these times. We owe them all a huge debt of gratitude for what they did to make our lives better.