Hello everyone, today I was going through some boxes and totes that I had in my daughter's storage unit which she decided to close, they had been there for a couple of years and I had actually forgotten what was in them. I was strolling down memory lane with each new box or tote I opened, some were happy, some were sweet and of course there were the bittersweet memories as well. One of the items that I came across was my copy of "Scrap Cotton" a book that was published in April of 1991 authored by Floe Ellen Penley and published by Tri-State Press Corporation. Floe Ellen Penley is my grandmother's sister and the book is about their childhood and what it was like to live through the Great Depression although the book did not focus solely on the depression. I flipped through the book and of course read it as I did. I began to wonder what it was like for those who were not fortunate enough to live on a fairly productive farm as they were blessed to do, after having read the book as I have at least twice before, I decided to research The Great Depression and was astonished at the similarities between then and now.
The Great Depression as we all have been taught started when Wall Street Crashed in October of 1929. The cause of the depression was blamed on many things, too much debt by the farmers and the population in general, banks and other financial groups being too eager to loan money, too much economic growth too quickly, etc. The results of this event were high stats in unemployment, poverty, deflation, plunging farm incomes and no economic growth. Does this sound familiar? The industries that were effected most were construction, agriculture, shipping, logging and durable goods such as automobiles and appliances. I think we are seeing a repeat of history in the making, I sure do hope not but it does make one think about what we are seeing and living today! The depression lasted throughout the 1930's and wasn't it just a few years later, the early 40's that we found ourselves wrapped up in a World War? I know it seems I am an advocate for doom in writing this post, I don't mean to but wake up people, we need to put some government officials in office during this election who are focused on what this nation needs to pull it out of the downward spiral we are in instead of playing "block and veto" with the lives of the American citizens who have voted them into office!
I think it is time for me to step down off of my soap box for now but remember, if you don't vote in this next election, you really shouldn't complain about who isn't doing what they promised, the only way you as a person can have any say as to who is in office is to vote, it is always important but especially so in this election! I'm sorry I got off track but sometime it is hard not to, now where was I, oh yes, memory lane! I also found an unfinished "tacked quilt" piece in one of those totes I was going through, my grandmother had attempted to start a quilt but her eyesight had gotten pretty dim by the time she made this (she was probably in her 90's) she is now 105 years old and yes, she is still with us, she has out lived all of her siblings and two of her children, one of them being our mother, anyway, how many of you have heard of "tacked quilts"? I have made an attempt to research the history of these quilts and have not been very successful in doing so which leads me to the conclusion that these might have been the "original" quilts in the beginning.These quilts are simple in that they are not as time consuming as an intricately stitched "quilted" quilt. These quilts were as implied, tacked all over the surface to hold them together otherwise they were put together the same as a regular quilt with a lining, some type of batting that was probably as varied as the people and locations where they were made and a top, all three layers were then "tacked" together. I would like to have been able to post a picture of this quilt piece but I have a lot to learn about blogging before I would attempt to post any pictures on this blog. I should add a picture of this quilt piece to my Facebook Timeline and try to link it to this blog maybe that would work, oh well we shall see. I also found a recipe book that appears to have some recipes dating back to 1896 and in that book I found a picture of my grandmother and grandfather when they were a young couple, what a treasure! I think I will try to share these recipes in my next post. Well I am getting tired and I could not get to this post until now, it is 11:50 pm so I will say goodnight to everyone who may read this post. May God bless, protect and keep you and your loved ones.
