The 1930s

A historical overview for the setting of the Glass Menagerie

Quick Facts Population was123,188,000 The average salary was $1,368 Unemployment was 25% There were 21 lynching's Milk was around 14 cents per qt and Bread 9 cents per

loaf The life expectancy of a male was 58.1 and of a female

was 61.6 Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo

across the Atlantic Ocean. "The Star Spangled Banner" becomes the national

anthem. Important authors were F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest

Hemingway, John Dos Dassons, and Thorton Wilder.

American Presidents During the 30s the

country was in the Great Depression and in 1932 President Roosevelt (at left) was elected to replace Herbert Hoover, who many people blamed for the poor economy. Roosevelt is known as one of the most popular presidents and served until his death in 1945. He rebuilt Americas economy with his New Deal. 

Politics Dominated by Economics The 1930s began with shanty towns called

and ended with an alphabet soup of federal programs funded by the national government and an assortment of commissions set up to regulate Wall Street, the banking industry, and other business enterprises.

By the beginning of the next decade the United States had gone from a laissez-faire economy that oversaw its own conduct to an economy regulated by the federal government.

Examples of New Deal Legislation The Social Security Act of 1935 set

up a program to ensure an income for the elderly

The Wagner Act gave workers the legal right to belong to a union

The CIO, Congress of Industrial Organizations was founded by John Lewis and improved conditions for blue-collar workers

The WPA made jobs for people to work in buildings, hospitals, and parks. It also hired artists and photographers.

The AAA, Agricultural Adjustment Administration helped farmers by paying farmers to not produce crops so that the price of goods would rise again and there wouldn’t be so much overproduction which caused farm income to drop.

The Empire State Building On May 1st 1931, the

world's tallest building, the Empire State Building, was opened by President Hoover in New York.  It was 380 meters high and 102 stories with a solid steel frame. 

The Dust Bowl In addition to the Great

Depression which left many people unemployed, and many families without much food, the Dust Bowl also occurred. During the year of 1930 most farmers would get quite an amount of rain, and healthy crops. However the weather changed with the year and the mud dried up and turned into dust. The Dust Bowl lasted until 1936 and in the duration many farmers traveled to California in search of the gold rumored to be there.

The Hindenburg In 1937 the German

Hindenburg air ship burned to the ground in less than two minutes and left 33 people killed and 12 people injured

Important People

Mary McLeod Bethune was a very influential African American woman educator and friend of Eleanor Roosevelt who, as a board member of the National Youth Administration, was able to extend benefits to African Americans.

 Richard E. Byrd  was a famous explorer of the Antarctic and Arctic whose 1933-35 expedition to Antartica conducted many scientific search projects.

 Father Charles E. Coughlin wasa Catholic priest who gathered a large following of all denominations with his radio broadcasts; an early Roosevelt supporter, he later came oppose his programs.

 Mildred Babe Didrikson was considered by many to be the finest woman athlete of all time, she won medals or distinction in sports such as baseball, basketball, track and field, and golf.

 Amelia Earhart  was an aviation pioneer who was the first woman and second person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Karl Menninger was an American psychiatrist whose book The Human Mind had a great effect on public attitudes toward mental illness.

 Jesse Owens was an African American athlete who won four gold medals in track-and-field at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and put to shame Hitler's Aryan superiority message.

 Frances Perkins was the first woman cabinet member who advocated the 8 hour day, stricter factory safety laws, and laws for the protection of women and children in the labor force.

 Will Rogers was a homespun philosopher who began his career as an Oklahoma cowboy.  Well loved and respected radio commentator, film actor, and author

 Walter Winchell was a 'gossip' columnist and radio commentator whose controversial stands and scoops on celebrities made him one of the most famous twentieth-century American journalists.

Activities People enjoyed movies,

parlor games and board games.

They also gathered around radios to listen to the Yankees and Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats

Young people danced to the big bands

Mystery novels were popular by authors including Agatha Christie, Dashielle Hammett and Raymond Chandler.  

Art Pablo Picasso painted a major painting of the

time titled "Guernica". It was nearly 8 meters long and reveals a bombing in which a soldier lays dead on the floor and a women is screaming wildly.