The Great Depression

[updraught]

A recent Youtube addition. Quite long.
I found it interesting where all the photos in the Library of Congress came from.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIGIDEC-bZM

Warning:
It now seems this might be AI generated content. Absorb at your own risk. All care, no responsibility taken.

[Joe K]

I have re-found "The Waltons" of which Dad's truck (1929 Express) is of particular interest.

I remember the show from back when it was broadcast (1973-79) but I was in college and didn't really have time or opportunity to watch regularly then.

I'm measuring out the episodes which are available from a few sources online.

It's a little "goody-goody" in the telling but I believe it does fairly represent a time and place in American culture - a time which perhaps we would do well to recover. Not that I want a world war on the horizon.

Or maybe that would be better?

Based on the pleasant watching I went out and bought Hamner's "Spencer's Mountain" upon which The Waltons is supposedly based and am now about 2/3rds the way through it. Based on but there is a wide variance in details. In Walton's Papa "Owns" his home and cuts wood to ilk out a living. In Spencer's Mountain Papa rents his home from "The Company" and works at the company mill - and is building his own home on the mountain.

Spencer's Mountain varies in goody-goody. It also pictures a time and family considerably at the edge of "civilization" with company electric power, but no radio. Papa has a truck but their financial condition almost precludes being able to put gasoline in it. Unlike the TV show, Spencer's Mountain was a very "hand to mouth" existence. One might imagine John Walton's family might think of the Clay Spencer Family as "those poor people" and invite them to stay for dinner?

The dialogue in Spencer's Mountain is a little off-putting. Those of respect for education don't generally slur or mispronounce their words. It may be Hamner attempting to effect a southern dialect?

IMHO, Hamner's "Waltons" is a more entertaining diversion than the book. Characters in the book are primarily motivated by "survival" whereas the TV shows a "variety" of motivations. With a better display of the contest between good and evil. And more like real life.

Joe K

[Jim/GA]

Originally Posted by updraught

A recent Youtube addition. Quite long.
I found it interesting where all the photos in the Library of Congress came from.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIGIDEC-bZM

What do you know about the creators of this video?

I could find nothing about this FD Finance organization.

It is not always easy to tell, but I think this video was created by AI from a mix of old and new photos. The new photos can be turned into B&W and made to look old. There are several factual errors that scream AI-generated material. "President Edgar Hoover"? Really? That is classic AI error where they mash together to different things into one (AI is easily confused).

The overall tone of the video has an anti-American, anti-capitalism tone. I'm concerned that FD Financial may be a bad actor pushing a negative agenda.

[Marshall V. Daut]

President Edgar Hoover"?

Or as radio announcer Harry von Zell so famously said during a live broadcast in 1931 on the occasion of Hoover's birthday celebration: "Hoobert Heever". Von Zell never lived that slip of the tongue down.
Marshall

[BlueSunoco]

Jim, thanks for the observation.

I'm relieved to think that I was not the only one who saw thru the lines and picked up on that

AI is spooky stuff and as they get it 'down' and perfect it. it will be quite dangerous. Nothing will be as it seems, and 'who' controls this will be the Master....

[Big hammer]

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Well then not going to waste my time on the u-tube video ! Thanks Jim !

[updraught]

Well, you can't expect me to be an expert on American history!

We only got British history when I was at school. I did ask, why don't we learn Australian history?
The answer "there is none".
That answer was also wrong. So you can't just blame AI for history wrongness..

[Jim/GA]

No, I don't expect you to pick up on that subtle detail. I wish YouTube would do a better job of flagging the AI-generated stuff, then people could decide if they want to watch it or not.

There is an entire category of YouTube videos now that are made up, inflammatory "stories", often with some celebrity person as the subject, but also with some random made up person as the subject. They are complete made up stories about how someone was taken advantage of and underestimated by someone else (the courts, the police, some other random official) and how they prevailed, showing everyone else how prepared they were, how proud they were, etc. It appears that the primary motivation of the people making this junk is to get "views" so that they get paid by YouTube. YouTube gets paid by advertisers for having eyeballs there to hawk their stuff to. Crazy.

[TomInCologne]

Read John Steinbecks grapes of wrath. eye opening.

[katy]

Most people think that "The great depression" was only in the USA, while it was actually worldwide.

[rfitzpatrick]

[QUOTE=updraught;2405745]A recent Youtube addition. Quite long.
I found it interesting where all the photos in the Library of Congress came from.

Why aren't there Women in the bred-lines? Looks like the Hat-Makers did OK

[updraught]

This one attempts to explain somewhat quickly, what happened in America at least.

https://youtu.be/qF3ekm9Gx_E?si=vLTl6zk1_F5a8GFJ

Seems mass production and loose lending played a part.

Here, we relied on agriculture at the time.
Things weren't good in the twenties after losing so many men in the war. Things just got worse to nearly one third unemployment. The iconic Sydney harbour bridge is a result.

[Synchro909]

Originally Posted by updraught

This one attempts to explain somewhat quickly, what happened in America at least.

https://youtu.be/qF3ekm9Gx_E?si=vLTl6zk1_F5a8GFJ

Seems mass production and loose lending played a part.

Here, we relied on agriculture at the time.
Things weren't good in the twenties after losing so many men in the war. Things just got worse to nearly one third unemployment. The iconic Sydney harbour bridge is a result.

Here is a little known fact about WW1. On a per capita basis, no country lost more men than Australia - and we are about as far away from the idiocy as can be. I had two great aunts who were like soo many other young women during the 20s. There were no where near enough men to go around so many never married. Now imagine life for those women when the depression hit. It brings a lump to my throat to think of it and I shake my head about some of the %^& we argue about these days.

[TomInCologne]

Originally Posted by katy

Most people think that "The great depression" was only in the USA, while it was actually worldwide.

Most people in the USA, yes...


There was a worldwide crisis with unemployment, leading to the rise of far-right parties in several countries and culminating in 1933 in the taking-of-power of the Nazi party in germany. In the USA, in addition to the world economic crises, there was the partially-man-made problem with the dust bowl in Oklahoma and others.


I have to repeat myself here, read 'grapes of wrath'. I once saw a pjoto of a Model T big-end where the bolts holding the big end together were welded on. I thought that could have been a repair done on the way to California.