October 30, 1929 11:00am
Yesterday we were informed of terrible news, the stock prices plummeted very dramatically. This is especially terrible for my husband and I as we are expecting a baby in March.
November 12, 1929 2:00pm
Our neighbors and dear friends, Sally and George, have not been having a great time lately. Sally was let go from the factory because there is a new policy that only one person can have a steady income from each household. It is very unnerving because they have three children and two cows to care for.
November 21, 1929 12:00pm
We are struggling trying to scrape up enough money. Our crops are not selling for as much as they used to before the darned stocks crashed! Ugh! This is so frustrating! My husband comes home everyday from a long day at work with barely enough energy and little to no money in his pocket.
November 30, 1929 9:00am
Last night was a good time! My husband and I went out to a bar to enjoy some hot jazz. Our favorite song played last night was Rapsody in Blues sung by Paul Whiteman. We got to see all our friends and laugh and dance. It was a refreshing night that I think we all needed to clear our thoughts and destress.
December 14, 1929 7:00pm
This time of year is always stressful, but this year it is the most stressful it has ever been. The winter is treating us very poorly, and I cannot afford to surprise my young cousins for Christmas like I have in the past. My husband has also come down with an awful cold, but we cannot afford to go to the doctor for medicine.
December 27, 1929 4:00pm
My husband has miraculously recovered from his cold, thank goodness for that! Christmas was different this year, filled with sweet jazz and family. We only handed out gifts that were handmade and thoughtful because nobody could afford to buy enough gifts for everyone.
January 18, 1930 9:00am
I know I have not written for a while, but everything has been very busy and stressful. Now that the holidays are over, everyone is becoming depressed and very stressed. It is hard to gather enough money for food and clothes. The only time we feel like we can relax and have some fun is at night when we go dancing. My husband and I have gone many times recently and have had a blast!
February 3, 1930 7:00am
My husband’s pay has been lowered along with everyone else at the factory. Our neighbor George has found a laboring job that does not pay much, but anything will help them right now. As for Sally, she is trying her best to make her children’s lives the best they could possibly be at this time.
February 25, 1930 11:00am
We are getting closer to my babies due date and we worry that we will not be able to give him the proper medical care he needs. This is especially nerve racking because we have a couple of friends who have lost their newborn children as a result of not having enough money for the proper care.
March 4, 1930 3:00am
The days are becoming more and more depressing as we continue to try to think of ways to get enough money to be admitted to the hospital for our son’s birth. I am very scared because I do not know what will happen.
March 17, 1930 6:00pm
Our beautiful baby boy was born yesterday. We were able to scrape together enough money to have him delivered in the hospital, but we are not able to pay for any special treatments he might need, so we are just hoping he will be alright, and not get sick.
This was for the writing contest, but I actually originally wrote this paper for Mr. Covey US history class. We were asked too write about the Great Depression, so I decided to write as if I was living during that ti: writing in a journal. In this paper I was going for the fact that you don’t know a lot of background about the person writing Andrew the ending is very abrupt on purpose.