Supermarket, spam, electric guitar, and 7 other things that came about thanks to the Great Depression

The global economic crisis, which began on October 24, 1929 with the stock market crash in the United States and lasted for a long ten years, is called the Great Depression. The 1930s generally went down in history as Dark Times. But we can't say that nothing good happened during this difficult period. In fact, hard times are often times of great innovation – because people need to be smart and creative to survive.

Leo Fender spent some time moving from one low-paying job to another, and then he was completely unemployed. But he did not fall into a depression, and decided to start his own business.

Somehow, he managed to borrow $ 600 and start making amps for musicians. Later, working with Doc Kaufman, he created an electric guitar, and as a result, his company Fender Musical Instruments Corporation began selling the first mass-produced electric guitar – the Fender Telecaster (this is already in the 50s). This is what happens when a person really wants to survive.

"Letters of happiness" appeared at the end of the 19th century, when some ladies in the Methodist church came up with the idea to send out a fundraising letter asking them to make three copies and give them to their friends (and so on).

We can say that this format eventually turned into the familiar pyramid schemes with the slogan "in the end you will get to the top and become a millionaire". And in the mid-30s, at the height of the Great Depression, "happy letter stores" appeared – in them, desperate people who hoped to raise money for a living in this way, sold "shares" of names in popular mailing lists.

This business was quite lively at one time – for example, one address sales company had 125 employees. However, its success did not last long: people quickly saw through the deception, and the brokers of "letters of happiness" ran away with all their dishonest loot.

The original version of the game" Monopoly " appeared before the Great Depression. It was patented in 1903 by Lizzie Magee, who named it Landlord's Game. In fact, the game was a political statement designed to say: capitalism is evil.

Therefore, in its original form, few people bought it and it did not gain popularity. Nevertheless, she had her own fans. In 1932, an unemployed and desperate guy named Charles Darrow decided to remake Landlord's Game, and then sold it to the Parker Brothers game company and became a millionaire. Later, when asked how he came up with this phenomenal idea, he simply shrugged and said:

The politicians of the 1930s knew that the best way to get the country out of the depression was to give people jobs, and they developed a number of programs to do this. One of the most successful was the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a program that eventually sent 3 million young people to work as conservationists.

This was a real innovation and progress, because the Americans at that time could only pollute the air and water, and they did not care about the state of the environment. The program lasted only nine years, but at one point the Corps employed 5 percent of the American male population. It is largely due to their efforts that today the United States has such a reliable system of national and state parks (trails, campsites, and other facilities).

Also in its short history, the Corps has planted more than 3.5 billion trees to replace those lost in wildfires, due to agriculture, logging, and soil erosion. The Civilian Conservation Corps ceased operations in 1942, largely because money needed to be diverted to the military, but it became a model for similar conservation programs that still operate today.

Canned Spam appeared as a way to dispose of unpopular pieces of pork. But even during the Great Depression, people didn't really like the idea of canned meat, despite the fact that it was a cheap and quick way to fortify themselves (like today's instant noodles, for example).

In general, in the 30s, Spam did not become popular. But it was very useful during the Second World War – it was sent to soldiers at the front. More than 100 million cans of these canned goods were sent to the Pacific Theater of Operations.

In an economic crisis, there are certain things that you can do without, and there are basic things that are necessary – such as food and clean clothes.

So, it was during the Great Depression that public laundries appeared. At that time, the first electric washing machines were already on sale, but they were very expensive and few people could afford them. So smart entrepreneurs would buy a few washing machines and then rent them out for a short time. So the self-service laundry was born.

The idea of "economics" did not exist until the Great Depression. Everything that happened was something of a Force – dollar signs that surround you, penetrate you, and tie all of your personal consumer spending together.

So, when the Great Depression hit, things just went bad, and no one could pinpoint exactly why. It was pretty scary because it meant everyone was vulnerable. And then someone came up with the idea of national income, which was just a way of expressing the value of goods and services produced by America. (Today we call this " gross domestic product.")

People liked the idea because it was an indicator that they could use to see how bad things were and/or how much they were improving.

Packaged macaroni and cheese was actually invented during the Great Depression. They may not have had a refined taste, but they were an inexpensive product that could be quickly prepared and eaten together with canned Spam ham (as an option). At that time, it was not up to fat – to satisfy his hunger.

Kraft macaroni and cheese sold for 19 cents a box, and as many as 8 million packages were sold in a year. This product was also popular during World War II. Surprisingly, but the fact is that it is still on sale today, and someone even buys it. Although it didn't taste much better than it did during the Great Depression.

One of the great achievements of the time was the Social Security Act, signed into law in 1935 by Franklin D. Roosevelt.

This law has undergone significant changes since its adoption – now not only pensioners benefit from pension benefits, but also their families. Roosevelt called it " reasonable, necessary, and patriotic legislation. If the Senate and the House of Representatives, in this long and busy session, had done nothing but pass this bill, the session would have been recognized as historic for all time."

A typical grocery store in the United States was once about the size of a living room and its assortment consisted mainly of canned food, potatoes, and carrots. Basic products, such as flour and sugar, were stored in barrels, and you had to ask the grocer to get them out, measure them, and pack them. In addition, everything was very expensive, and the grocer constantly tried to cheat customers.

People knew there had to be a better way to shop, but the problem was that there really wasn't a better way – until the Great Atlantic and Pacific Trade Company (A&P) came along. The A&P store only had items that could be sold quickly, and everything on its shelves was cheaper than the regular corner store.

By the beginning of the Great Depression, A&P had come up with the idea of buying up canneries, dairies, and bakeries, which meant it could get food to its shelves faster and much cheaper. Thus, for most consumers, the choice of where to shop was easy – A&P stores were pleased not only with the prices, but also with a large selection.