Memoirs of Norbert E. Gnadinger, Sr. Volume 1

1929

Everyone has heard of the Stock Market Crash of October, 1929. The worst money disaster in the history of the United States and the world.(?) There had been other crashes over the years but nothing like this one. As all of this developed, I knew nothing about it. I was protected by my family. It would be several years before I became aware that life was no longer the same as before the crash. This event was called The Great Depression. Since nothing similar to this business collapse has occurred in the world since the 1929 crash, we now refer to any business down-turn as a Recession. In a recession there are similar job losses and bankruptcies as in a depression but the extent of the losses are so much less. But, if you have been laid-off from your job and can’t find another, you really wouldn’t be able to know the difference. A common phrase which originated in the early 1930’s was, “he lost everything he had.” In other words, “he’ had no job. “He” could not make his house payments, his automobile payments or his furniture payments and “he” was foreclosed-on by those who carried his debt. “He” lost everything he owned. This doesn’t mean that the bank or other lender became rich from the foreclosures. They did have the real property but if there was no one with the cash that they could re-sell the property to, then they too were in danger of bankruptcy and this often happened.

I am aware of what brought on the great depression but I am not sure I could explain this in the detail necessary for you to understand what I am trying to explain. Basically, investors in the Stock Market(most of them) were buying securities on “Margin”(credit). The investor put up only a percentage of the total cost of the stock shares with the promise of supplying the remainder of the cash at a later date or when the broker “called” for the balance, This worked just fine in an “up” market. Every day the market went “up”, your wealth increased. Beginning in October, 1929 we saw a definite “down” market. There was no “real” money to back up the “bloated” market. As the market further declined, the brokers began calling for the promised(margin) money. Most investors were already over-extended and could call on no new money to bail them out of this catastrophe and the bankruptcies began. There were some small up-swings in the market but the trend to a smaller market continued well into 1930. The Government approach to this increasing problem at first was words of optimism that this “seeming” crash was only temporary and things would soon get better. They never did get better at that point in time. (Pop’s sister, Aunt Rose[Pauline Rose Gnadinger]Schuster died Oct. 8, 1929)

Very few of our friends and neighbors were hurt directly by the stock market crash. Investing in the market was just not done by the average citizen of the country. Our investment was in family, a house and furniture and possibly an automobile. Any monetary investment was through a bank. We borrowed from a bank to buy our homes and automobiles(There were very few Credit Unions in those days). Our furniture and appliance mortgages were generally made directly through the store from which they were purchased. As the depression deepened, more and more peopled lost their jobs and were not able to make payments on their possessions. Those who retained their jobs had to take a tremendous cut in pay and their mortgage payments remained the same. Pretty soon their savings were exhausted or, worse still, the banks had to close for they had little cash to cover with-drawals(the bank temporary closings were called “bank holidays”. The “ bank holidays” were a cool-down period ordered by the government to control an, almost total, with-drawal of money by depositors which would ultimately bankrupt the banks. Many, many banks did go bankrupt and the unlucky depositors were fortunate if they finally got back ten cents on the dollar)(?). The banks and stores also had to “close-on” or call for payment of these personal debts. Those who lost their homes had to find cheap rental property or move in with fortunate relatives who had some type of job.

My Pop retained his job with C. Lee Cook Mfg. Co. through most of the early 1930s. I’m sure he took a healthy cut in pay as did many others(?). Research shows him being on the Cook payroll each year at tax time. But, the talk circulating at that time in the family stated that Pop, at one time, spent time going door to door selling religious articles to friends and neighbors because he was temporarily out of a job or he needed the extra money to supplement his paycheck. The most common stereotype of joblessness during the depression was the man selling apples on a street corner. Another was photos of the lines of people outside of “Soup Kitchens” and wherever free food was handed out by charitable organizations. It was during this time when none of us children hardly knew what money looked like, and I was given, for some important reason, a nickel by my Pop. This was such a good gesture and also a shock, that I can still visualize the whole thing. It is burned in my memory. I don’t remember what I bought with my nickel but you know I had to give the purchase a lot of thought.(12-24-2000)

Food became an all-important commodity in our house as in all others. I know we made weekly visits to the Farmers Market on Jefferson St. at Floyd. Here we could buy fresh vegetables in bulk for our large family. Uncle John Steinmetz also bought for his grocery at the Market. On the corner of Preston and Jefferson was Klein’s grocery which sold other products in bulk and Mom saved money in this way. We still bought from Uncle John, but not as much and he understood our predicament(shortage of money). I remember two important thoughts about food from this period. Mom was a good cook. She could take the most basic foods, like corn meal and cook up a most delicious dish which I can still taste today. It was cheap, filling and plentiful and the taste improvement was from the use of lard and bacon grease no doubt. The second memory of food was the monotony of the soups which were also cheap, filling and plentiful. The only problem was that after five or six years of bean and vegetable soup twice a week, it was years later before I could bring myself to eat either one. I like bean soup pretty much now but I have no great desire for vegetable soup even though Helen loves it. Mom also saved money, as most people in that era did, by “canning” different vegetables while they were in season and cheap. We had a gas double hot-plate in the basement and a copper tub. In the summer, Mom always had something cooking and simmering away. She even made her own ketchup this way. During the winter we had to buy few vegetables. We bought our milk in bulk from the Ellison farm, later owned and run by Mr King. We had coffee which we ground ourselves but I didn’t like coffee until I was drafted into the Navy in World War II and the navy taught me the better aspects of it. I’ve already mentioned Mom’s pie baking skills. Mom and Aunt Tillie Cooper were the pie baking experts in the family while Aunt Dene Steinmetz was the cake baking Queen. You can tell I was really impressed by all of this for I was always hungry while growing up. Normal?(12-25-2000)

The government had a grave responsibility brought on by the Depression. Many laws had to be passed to protect the citizens from anything as terrible as this happening again and providing economic security for its’ people in the future. Under president Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was first elected in 1932, his program to combat our economic problems was titled “The New Deal”. I will not attempt to explain each program which was voted into law by the Congress for they are part of history and you can look up each one in any encyclopedia. I will mention most of the programs by name with a brief explanation.

Without a doubt, the most important was the Social Security Act. It was designed to provide income and services to individuals in the event of retirement, sickness, disability, death, or unemployment. Mainly, it was a contributory retirement plan. It has been changed and expanded over the years and at the present time there is discussion about possibly adding prescription medicines into the mix. Previous to the enactment of the Social Security Act, when a person reached the period in his life when he had to retire for any reason, and if he had no savings to live on, he was in desperate straits and there were very few corporation pension plans available. Social Security did not make up for the loss of your wage but it is helpful and dependable. Mom and Pop never drew a nickel of the benefits of Social Security. It became law just as Pop left the labor force and “add on” benefits such as the SSI program(Supplemental Security Income)which paid a small monthly amount to uninsured persons came into being after Mom died.

The “New Deal” was set up for recovery from the economic depression and to stabilize the national economy to prevent a severe economic crises in the future. As you will notice even today, all government programs of any sort are known by their initials. Besides the SS(Social Security)Act, there was set up a cooperative measure, WCA(Workman’s Compensation Act, between the Federal Government and the individual states which paid a fixed sum to an individual if he was laid off from his job and lasted approximately 26 weeks. It could amount to 50 percent of his take home pay. Depression preventive measures were many and are still being improved to this day. The first and most important was the SEC(Securities and Exchange Commission)to regulate stock exchanges which the depression proved was sorely needed. The FDIC(Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)insured that a depositor with money savings in a bank would not lose their entire wealth if there was a bank failure. The AAA(Agricultural Adjustment Act)gave aid to the farmer. The NLRA(National Labor Relations Act and Board)was a benefit to both labor and business owners. The REA(Rural Electrification Administration) had a far reaching benefit to the rural areas of the country and brought long-term modernization of living conditions through modern appliances and equipment to farms and small towns. The FHA(Federal Housing Administration)made it possible for the little man to buy a house with a guaranteed low interest(?)loan through standard home loan organizations. All of these acts strengthened the economy for the average citizen All of these acts also helped Corporate America because a secure citizenry makes for a healthy economy. Large scale business was assisted by the RFC.(Reconstruction Finance Corporation)which began in the Hoover administration and was improved during the depression years. It furnished large credit to railroads, banks, insurance companies, building-loan companies and agricultural-credit companies which bulked-up these companies and cut off many, many bankruptcies. The depression, although lessened, continued into 1940 in spite of all these special programs and finally came to an end with the beginning of World War II.(Helen’s brother, Harold Edward Buchter, Born, Jan. 14, 1929)

During 1929, I passed from the second to the third grade entirely unknowing of all of these tremendously important happenings around me. In fact, I remember very little of any important event in the third grade which made an impression on me, except one. I believe this was the year I learned to size up an opponent. There was a boy in my class named Anthony Schmitt who lived on Goss Avenue. For some unknown reason we had a disagreement in the play yard. We squared off, I took a swing at him and I ended up on the ground. I got up very angry and went after him again and I ended up on the ground. Honestly, I never saw either fist but I sure felt it and I gained enough sense to realize I was not as tough as I thought and I backed away. I never regretted it. Anthony and I did not become great friends but he knew I respected him.(12-26-2000)

There is a phenomenon concerning age recognition which is very important when you are young but becomes less so as you become a grown-up. Let’s see if you have experienced it. As I went through my pre-teen years, I ignored all the little kids(anyone a year or more younger than I was) and I looked with respect on those a year or more older. I did not run around in either group but I did listen to the wise sayings of the older group. Most of what I learned in life was from sitting on the curb under a street light at night with our feet in the gutter and absorbing the wisdom coming from the mouths of the older guys. It was wisdom for they were a year or two ahead of me in school. Peer pressure kept us from having much to do with the younger kids and the older ones looked down on our peer group. As we grew out of our teen years it was surprising to learn that the little snot-nosed girl two years younger suddenly became someone to look at and become friends with for obvious reasons.

Another for-instance of this age phenomenon was my relationship with my older siblings. In this year of 1929, brother Frank was in the sixth grade and sister Mary Catherine was in the eighth grade. I neither saw them in school nor had much to do with them at home. I knew they were there for they would tease me very much. I felt comfortable with them but I was too young to be included in their crowd. Stanley, Mary Catherine and Frank all attended Ahrens Trade School before me. When I switched from St. Xavier to Ahrens in 1936 I found that the fact that they had done so well in Trade School made my transition a whole lot easier. As for my much older brothers, they were completely out of my reach. As I advanced into my twenties, all of a sudden they were my friends and I always felt respect for them.

I want to add a short note here about how a young person looks at things. Again, this is a memory. The Baby Ruth candy bar was popular during this period of time as it is today. Also, “Babe” Ruth, the ball player was at the peak of his fame as a home-run hitter. In my mind, the candy bar had been named for the famous baseball player. Years later I discovered that the Baby Ruth candy bar had been named after the daughter of the candy maker. As for “Babe” Ruth, I still have in my possession some baseball cleats which were given as a prize by the Quaker Oats Co. and came with screws so you could attach them to the leather soles of your shoes. I never did and I still have the cleats in their original box.(12-27-2000)

Imagine that you are the only girl in the family and you have six brothers, four of them older than you and two of them younger. If you can imagine this than you know what my sister, Mary Catherine, had to endure in our family. She really did have to learn to take up for herself and became very good at it. Mary Catherine was named after her mother but we never called her “junior”. Do they do that with girls?

I would say that all of we kids were spoiled as children but, Mary Catherine, being an only girl was spoiled even more than the boys. Nowadays, people don’t use the term, “spoiled”, they explain this condition as “being loved”. Maybe there is something to this theory, but I was spoiled and Mary Catherine was spoiled even more than I. Supposedly, our Aunt Rose Gnadinger was responsible for this for she had no children of her own. I do know that we all have fond memories of our “Tante” Rose. Mary Catherine spent part of her summers as a young girl with Aunt Rose while Aunt Rose was a housekeeper and cook for Fr. Meinke at Cecilia and Stanley, Kentucky.

I’m sure that Mary Catherine like the rest of us worked at odd jobs to earn spending money as she grew up(?). Even in those days there occasionally was the need for a baby-sitter for instance. The trend, which started with Stanley, was that we would continue our education. Without a push by anyone, Mary Catherine enrolled at Ahrens Trade School and graduated with a major in sewing(or dressmaking)(?). I remember clearly that Mom and Mary Catherine were always making some piece of clothing on our “Singer”, pedal powered, sewing machine. Later, there appeared a portable electric model, but, still a “Singer”. I was always impressed with their skill at sewing. All the talk was about the latest patterns and styles. They always bought their material and patterns at Ben Snyders on Market Street, on the second floor and up a grand stair-case. They never made any clothing for me because I would inherit all the hand-me-downs from Frank as he grew out of them. They would darn my socks and stockings though. I can still feel the sewed spot rubbing against the shoe and my foot. If I had cut my toe-nails more often I could have avoided this.

Mary Catherine had a lot of friends in the neighborhood. Girls and boys were always coming and going in our house. Most of the parties in our basement were the result of planning by her and her friends and there always had to be decorations. There was always a theme based on the time of year. One I recall was all the corn stalks probably for a holloween party. I don’t know why, but I was never allowed in the basement while the party was going on(?). Everyone brought their favorite records and the wind-up Victrola was hauled downstairs to furnish music for the dancing. I would still sneak down the stairs and peak from the landing at everything going on and sometimes they would send me up a soft drink and pop-corn. I can’t remember a lot of her friends but I do know that some of our cousins, such as Ellen Cooper, attended the parties. From the neighborhood, there was Caty(Catherine)Feisner, a Bieberdict girl, Clara Thome next door, Louie Bientz, Orville Cody, etc., etc. As of now, I cannot remember any others even though there were many more. What I missed was when the house parties were held at another house. No goodies then and I was always hungry.

One of Mary Catherine’s hobbies and no doubt a most enjoyable pastime was her joining an entertainment troupe which visited Camp(Fort)Knox to entertain the lonely soldiers. This was in the 1930s, long before the start of World War II. Various churches and social organizations recruited young girls into a club which visited with the soldiers at regular intervals for dancing and talk. To me, Camp Knox was a far away place and I thought that was something special that she would travel all the way there for a dance. Naturally they got to know some of them real well. I remember one, Eddie Harrington, who I got to know well later when I worked for the Jeffersonville Quartermaster Depot. I also remember being invited along when several of the club members made a special trip to the army base just to visit. Maybe I wasn’t really invited but I went along because my sister was my baby-sitter. Mary Catherine was active in this club for several years. This may not mean anything but after she met Willie Wantland the army base visits tapered off. During this same time, Mary Catherine met and became friends with “PeeWee” King, a country band leader and singer who later became famous as the writer of the very popular song, Tennessee Waltz, which is presently the state song of the State of Tennessee. Mary Catherine was a beautiful young girl and very popular with the boys. After she began dating Bill Wantland there was a general pairing-off of the friends and she and Bill visited various dance halls and night clubs with Caty Feisner and Louis Bientz, who later married, and Clara Thome who dated Orville Cody. They all liked to dance and this group made a weekly ritual of this. Later, in the late 1930s and all through the 1940s most of the Gnadinger family joined in this fun, including Helen and I. Bernie, who took dance lessons to fit in more with the group, was always ready for the next dance. I don’t know why Bernie never married for he had many girl friends and they were all pretty. He did have a good eye for girls.

Other than the times we attended special dances at local churches, all of the dances we attended featured, at that time, well known, famous, “Big” dance bands such as Guy Lombardo, Kay Kyser, Tommy Dorsey, Wayne King, etc., etc. Generally, the dances were held at the Madrid Ball-Room or Colonial Gardens. We could afford these good times because they were very inexpensive. The same entertainment today would probably cost over one hundred dollars a couple. I have to mention one innocent happening during these times. I can remember Mary Catherine and Bill letting loose and dancing on the table at the Madrid. They were not alone in doing this.(12-30-2000)

I seem to remember that Mary Catherine worked for Stewarts or Kaupfmans, both fine department stores at the time but her main place of employment was at Porcelain Metals Corp. located just off Hill St. around 15th St.(?). Porcelain Metals manufactured various colored enamel coated metal plates, among other things, which were used as a covering for buildings instead of brick or other siding. The effect of the mix of colors was quite stunning but harmonious. One well known building which used this type of siding was the Greyhound Bus Terminal(previously, Union Bus Station) which at that time was located at 5th and Broadway Sts. Her official title was “brusher”. After the enamel was sprayed or brushed on the metal plates sometimes in intricate designs, it was her job to “brush”, or dress up the designs before the enamel was put in the ovens for baking to a hard finish. A very delicate job. As in most manufacturing jobs, sooner or later you find a way to have something made for your personal use. I only know of two things that Mary Catherine had made for her at Porcelain Metals. A metal box with a sliding lid which Jim Wantland now owns and two checker boards with black and white enameled squares. She gave me of these checker boards to me sometime around 1940. I suppose someone in her family has the other one. I still have mine and I prize it very much.(1-7-2001)

Getting across the Ohio River to southern Indiana was most difficult. Down in Portland there was a railroad bridge, the K. & I., which connected the city to New Albany. Cantilevered out from the two-track railroad bridge proper on each side was built a single lane extension for automobile and truck traffic and tolls were charged by the Railroad Co. This was just fine for the west end of Louisville and for New Albany, but something was desperately needed for downtown Louisville traffic to the north. Finally, in 1929, a bridge which was a continuation of Second Street was completed. It was a construction marvel of the times, with two lanes of traffic in each direction. Construction Bonds had been sold to finance the bridge and tolls were needed to pay off the Bonds. They were collected until after World War II when the debt was finally paid off. The George Roger Clark bridge eliminated the need for the, slow, river ferry. The dedication of the new bridge was such a grand occasion that the President of the United States, Mr. Herbert Hoover was present for the ribbon cutting.