The Dust Bowl

            When we first decided on choosing the Dust Bowl as our narrowed topic, we really had no idea what it was all about. Sure, it is about dust storms, but also much more. As the name says, the “Dirty Thirties” lasted for about a decade. It was a time full of hazardous blizzards, tornados, floods, droughts, and dirt storms. These characteristics were the worst for the Southern plains. However, it was not much better for those in the Northern plains. Above all, the dust became the worst factor for the people. It was described as being yellowish-brown in color in the South and black in the North. Throughout the overview, we will discuss the working conditions, impact on farmers, how this time of history affected people, and the economy.  

            The farmers were hit the hardest by the Dust Bowl. The first problems to show up with agriculture began during World War I. The price of wheat went soaring out of control and the needs of allied troops made farmers want to plant more wheat. They would do this by plowing and seeding in prairie states including Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico. The lands in these places were used for grazing before the 1930s. After the land was used for planting wheat, the livestock were returned only to demolish the soil that was unprotected. In the mid 1930s, strong winds blew this unprotected soil into dust clouds. From December to May, the dust storms would continue as they did the years before. There was a severe health hazard when the crops and land was ruined by the terrible storms. Grandma Crawford explained one time when the grasshoppers made the daylight sky in July turn black. They swarmed over the crops and made the conditions of agriculture worse. These are the reasons why farmers were hurt by the storms during the 1930s.

            Working conditions for people other than farmers proved to be quite a struggle. The WPA, or Works Progress Administration, was created to help young boys who were out of high school and did not have jobs. They would build things such as sidewalks and be paid by the government for their work. Today, you may even see things that have WPA still on them. The WPA is closely related to what welfare is today. Schools only required one teacher to teach all the grades, such as first through eighth. The others were not needed, which meant that they would not be hired. If you got married, you quit and stayed home for work to take care of your family. Now, there are more working mothers than there were during the time of the 1930s. This is what the working conditions were like during the Dust Bowl.

            The “Dirty Thirties” had a tremendous affect on the people during this time. Grandma Crawford helped us understand this. People during this time were frugal, or avoided waste. If a family ran out of something like toothpaste, they would go to the next best resort, which was soda. People would never waste food that they did not eat at a certain meal. They would save it for leftovers and eat it at the next meal. People were poor because there was not much money that anyone could get. Canned food was a popular method of preserving food and making sure you normally had something to eat. Wearing a mask was essential to keep the dust from entering your mouth and nose when you inhaled. Visibility was also an issue when the winds whipped your face with dust. Mothers would often put wet towels in the windowsills of houses to try and keep the dust from entering. During heavy rains or harsh floods, the roads would become muddy and useless to everybody. These are the ways that people were impacted.

            The economy suffered greatly during the time of the Dust Bowl. The United States had not completely recovered from World War I, which put them into debt. People continued to lose their farms and land because there was no money. There was no social security in the 1930s. As the economy got better, however, people continued to buy their land back. Inflation occurred due to the success of the economy. This especially hurt farmers and other little people who were truly poor.