Sadie McIntire:
Great Depression
Oral History #1: Dorothy Rankin Kelleher, Merle Rankin Winter and Sadie McIntire Powell
Interviewed by Margaret Brooks April 18, 1989
Dorothy Rankin Kelleher and Merle Rankin Winter were students at the Lanesfield School, in rural Johnson County near Edgerton. Sadie McIntire Powell was a teacher at Lanesfield School.
Margaret: Was it any different trying to farm during the Depression? I mean if you started a farm in the middle of the Depression, did you have any particular problems?
Dorothy: I’m sure we had the usual problems people had during the Depression. But we have real pleasant memories of those years. I mean we didn't have a lot of material things, but no one else did either. We didn’t know we were poor. We were happy. I don’t remember it really being depression time.
Margaret: It never impressed upon you that this is different than normal or...
Dorothy: I knew, but like I say you didn’t have a lot. But we had all we needed.
Sadie: The folks were very good managers.
Merle: And they took care of us kids. We always had milk, meat, eggs, and can goods and everything there was to eat.
Dorothy: Mother was always standing at the kitchen stove, singing and cooking.
Sadie: Their brother says that every time he woke up in the morning he looked out the window and Mama’s hind end was sticking up and she was getting stuff out of the garden. [Laughter]
Margaret: Did you help her with the garden?
Dorothy: Not as much as we should have. [Laughter]
Merle: I did, we were all assigned chores. I always felt so lucky when I could get to help Mama in the garden, and I helped her a lot. And I loved it.
Dorothy: I remember she gave me a choice; “You can do this or you can do that, which would you prefer?” And I always preferred working in the house.
Margaret: Did she have a lot of things that she grew?
Dorothy: Oh, yes, even meat.
Merle: Rendered lard. All that.
Dorothy: Made soap. We’re talking about Abe Lincoln day’s here.
Sadie: No, your talking about the Depression, because that’s the way it was. We made our own soap.
