Changing Times (Chapter 28)

The year 1930 began with the Great Depression well under way. Hoover was President, and many people blamed him, but of course no one person could be blamed. There was much talk every week when father met with his friends around the dining room table - usually on Friday nights. All the ramifications of the state of the country were discussed and the name Franklin Delano Roosevelt emerged as a principal topic. Campbell was impressed with him, and put his support squarely behind him. All the talk was animated, intelligent and informative, and as a `10 year old, I learned a lot just listening.

Going on trips downtown with father were depressing and not quite as much fun as they used to be. There were long lines of unemployed lining up for whatever jobs were available, and soup kitchens set up all over to feed those with no jobs or money. These sights made a deep impression on me when I was 12, especially when I saw World War 1 veterans selling apples on street corners, huddled in their World War 1 uniforms and polishing the apples with their "doughboy" caps before holding them out for your inspection. The Forgotten Men!

Eric Hopf did not participate in any of the round table discussions. In fact, Friday nights were mother's movie night, and she always went out to see a film saying that she was going with her younger brother, Eugene Beck, who was 22 at the time. Eric, of course, drove them!

The Stewart children loved the living room in their new house, especially in the winter when after supper the fire in the large stone fireplace would be lit. Campbell would be settled in his big red leather wing chair and the large console radio would be turned on. He enjoyed "The March of Time" weekly news hour. Martha and I loved the "Little Theater off Times Square". Irving loved "G Men" and the "Eddie Cantor show". Helen was too young to really have a favorite, and didn't like the scary music sometimes played on "G Men" and so would end up on father's lap. But, father would not allow the radio to take over, and the nights when programs weren't on were reading time. We all enjoyed this time as much as the radio and Martha and I took turns as reader. How we loved and enjoyed our big, cozy living room with the crackling fire. Those years 1930 to 1934 became the last and most enjoyable of our family "years". The family was fractured after that and we never knew them again...