Ella Mae and the Great Depression

By B.J. Taylor

This book discusses memoirs from my mother as she grew up and lived before, during, and after the Great Depression. It details some of her experiences. She was from a very poor background educationally and financially, like many people were during those days. It discusses her poor living conditions, her discomforts, and how she lacked any of the conveniences that one has today. It details how hard people had to work at that time and how she persevered to the endever, ever struggling to reach her goal of a permanent home. Some of the types of working conditions are described: how difficult it was to get a job that paid enough to live, how hard it was to keep enough food to eat, and how uncomfortable their living conditions were. The homes were poorly built and drafty. It emphasizes the struggle to get rid of bedbugs since they seemed to be everywhere, and just the difficulty to keep warm during winter since there was no central heat or air- conditioning. It discusses her father going to World War I and his war conditions and hazards, such as body lice, gases, death, and not having enough to eat. Then, her husband was drafted into World War II. It touches on the polio epidemic and hospital conditions. It tells how she scrimped and saved unendingly to finally reach her goal of a permanent, warm, and comfortable home. Young people will see a great deal of contrast between living conditions then and now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Aug 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781490710174

B.J. Taylor

I am a retired elementary schoolteacher and elementary counselor. I have a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in reading, with a reading specialist and a counseling certification. My husband passed away two years ago, leaving me a widow. I have three sons, one daughter-in-law, and two granddaughters. I often play mah-jongg with a group of ladies and read a lot for entertainment. I enjoy traveling with my family. Not long ago, all seven of us took a cruise to the British Isles, visiting England, Ireland, Scotland, and France. The following year, we went to New York for five days and enjoyed a couple of Broadway shows. I am active in my church and spend a great deal of time there. My other books are Ella Mae and the Great Depression, Bumble Bee Summer, Honeybun and Pig Wisdom. These can be seen at Trafford Publishing, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and www.BooksAlacartebybjtaylor.com.

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© Copyright 2013 B. J. Taylor.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or

otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

isbn: 978-1-4907-1016-7 (sc)

978-1-4907-1017-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013914034

Trafford rev. 08/12/2013

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In memory of my mother, Ella Mae Stallings, since she told these stories and for her unending devotion to her family.

Ella Mae was born the middle child of Frank J. Magness and Pearl Glenn Magness just prior to the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover would become president five years later and change the outlook of the economy. But it was too late. The stock market crash would bring panic, with the public rushing to banks to withdraw their money and a wave of bankruptcies. Many old people and children would die from hunger, cold, and sickness. Almost everyone was starting to feel the upcoming catastrophe long before it began. But for the Magnesses, the Depression had already begun.

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The Magnesses immigrated to America in the 1700s from England, where Peregrine Magness had been a blacksmith. The family settled in Maryland and traveled across America looking for the perfect home. From South Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee to New Mexico, and back to Texas. They finally settled in Frankston, Texas, in the early 1900s.

World War I started on July 28, 1914. Frank served in World War I from 1918 until 1919. Afterward, he met and married Pearl. They soon had three children. Ella Mae was a dark-haired, hazel-eyed beauty, with plump, dimpled cheeks and a strong, healthy frame. She had a very pretty sister, Dorothy, three years older, who mothered her and protected her as if she were her own. Three years after that, she would have a cute and precocious younger sister named Faye.

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Pearl was a very religious person, and she brought the girls up to be honest, God-fearing, and hardworking, just as she had always been. Frank, on the other hand, was not as religious; but he believed in honesty and had a