During
the
early
years
of
the
depression,
I
do
not
remember
Tulsa
having
the
suicides
other
eastern
cities
had,
but
jobs
and
money
were
scarce.
We
had
a
good
sized
equity
in
our
5-room
house
and
so
were
allowed
to
pay
only
the
interest
on
payments
until
things
straightened
out
and
we
could
refinance.
However,
a
flat
cut
of
10%
throughout
all
the
Mid-Continent
workers
was
made
two
times.
We
weathered
it
by
letting
the
taxes
take
an
80
acre
farm
and
a
city
lot
belonging
to
my
dad
and
by
cutting
down
to
essentials.
We
had
only
Erwin's
salary
to
take
care
of
two
children,
my
father,
Erwin's
mother
and
the
two
of
us.
In
1934,
our
third
son
Frank
was
born,
in
'35
my
father
died,
and
in
'36
Grandma
Schad
died.
These
expenses
were
ours.
No
insurance
was
available
then
such
as
we
now
have
and
it
took
us
several
years
to
get
all
debts
paid.
During
the
very
dry
summer
of
1934,
our
house
was
like
an
oven
due
to
the
extended
heat.
I
felt
this
heat
worse
than
the
celebrated
summer
of
1936.
Dust
storms
caused
Oklahoma
to
be
dubbed
the
"dust
bowl."
We
wet
large
Turkish
towels
and
hung
them
over
the
open
windows
by
day
to
keep
the
dust
out.
Frank
was
born
March
5
of
that
year
and
really
caused
us
concern
trying
to
keep
him
from
suffering
from
the
dust
and
heat.
There
was
some
relief
at
night
as
we
moved
beds
into
the
fenced
back
yard
and
put
Frank
in
his
buggy
with
mosquito
netting
over
it.
Sleeping
wasn't
too
bad
out
there.
Everywhere
beds
were
outdoors,
on
porches
and
in
yards.
Having
a
small
baby
and
being
responsible
for
so
many
people,
I
felt
the
heat
worse.
We
had
no
rain
for
over
two
months
and
temperatures
hovered
at
100
degrees.
Crops
burned
up
and
plowed
ground
with
no
vegetation
became
dust
as
the
top
soil
blew
away.
There
were
not
as
many
man-made
lakes
as
we
have
now
and
the
water
was
rationed
so
that
there
was
not
enough
to
keep
things
growing.
Many
farmers
picked
up
whatever
they
could
load
onto
whatever
they
had
in
which
to
travel
and
left
the
rest
behind.
Most
went
to
California
to
work
in
the
orange
groves.
Thus
the
term
"Okie"
from
Steinbeck's
"Grapes
of
Wrath"
depicted
what
the
summer
of
1934
was
like
for
us.
The
48
states
had
their
own
laws
governing
prohibition
before
World
War
I.
Some
were
wet,
some
were
dry,
and
some
bone
dry.
The
Indian
Territory
was
bone
dry.
The
18th
amendment
prohibited
the
manufacture
and
sale
of
liquor;
the
21st
amendment
repealed
prohibition.
Oklahoma
remained
bone
dry.
Governor
Murray
called
a
special
election
on
May
24,
1933.
Tax
laws
were
re-organized
and
3.2
beer
was
declared
non-intoxicating
and
legal.
Not
until
July
11,
1959
was
the
state
allowed
to
buy
and
sell
liquor.
At
this
time
liquor
could
now
be
sold
by
the
bottle
in
package
stores.
Not
until
the
summer
of
1985
did
liquor
by
the
drink
become
a
reality.
During
Prohibition,
people,
including
my
father,
made
home
brew
even
though
it
was
against
the
law
to
do
so.
At
times
it
became
hard
to
prevent
others
from
knowing
that
he
brewed
his
own.
When
the
weather
was
cool,
if
I
left
to
go
to
the
store
or
such,
when
I
came
home
I
could
smell
beer
all
over
the
house
because
Dad
had
brought
the
five
gallon
bottle
into
the
dining
room
to
keep
it
warm
by
the
stove.
Often
in
the
summer
he
bottled
the
beer
and
then
he
put
it
in
his
clothes
closet.
There
was
no
air
conditioning
and
all
the
windows
and
doors
were
open.
One
day
one
of
the
bottles
blew
up.
Harry,
then
six
years
old,
ran
in
to
see
what
the
trouble
was.
He
picked
up
the
broken
bottle
and
cut
his
finger.
It
required
a
bandage.
I
heard
him
tell
our
neighbor
that
Grandpa's
beer
bottle
blew
up
and
he
cut
his
finger
on
the
glass.
In
the
late
thirties
after
Skelly
Stadium
was
built,
John
Phillips
Sousa
came
to
Tulsa.
The
different
high
school
bands
met
at
the
stadium.
The
field
was
covered
with
these
bands
and
Sousa
conducted
all
the
bands
at
the
same
time
as
they
played
his
marches.
As
we
lived
only
1
1/2
blocks
from
the
stadium,
we
took
the
boys
there
to
hear
the
program
and
see
Sousa.
We
all
were
impressed
by
this
program.
When
Harry
and
Charles
were
about
12
and
14
years
old,
they
wanted
to
have
bicycles.
My
husband
told
them
he
would
match
whatever
amount
of
money
they
could
make
doing
odd
jobs
in
order
to
get
them
their
own
bicycles.
We
had
a
snowstorm
right
after
this
agreement
was
reached
and
the
boys
took
shovels
and
decided
to
see
what
they
could
make
cleaning
the
snow
from
our
neighbors'
walks.
The
first
day
they
got
a
pretty
good
part
of
their
share
of
the
needed
money.
In
a
few
weeks
spring
was
here
and
they
cut
grass
for
these
same
neighbors.
As
a
result,
the
boys
had
their
half
of
the
cost
of
the