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Stephanie wrote

My husband and I were just talking about wood stoves and how it would provide heating and cooking and hot water for washing if the power went out. The only problem being we are not allowed to have one! We would have to move to an area that was zoned for such things, and we can't do that. We are not even allowed to have a fireplace.

I would like nothing more than to have a candlestick phone for this study, but we run into the same problem of living in modern times. There are no landlines in my neighborhood! If we could find a replica phone, it would have to be compatible with our wi-fi, and service would have to come through the internet. We are stuck with our modern phones that even turn our car into a phone! I thought about not having a phone for the study, but I couldn't get takers for writing letters. If I want to communicate with others, I have to use my smart phone. The best I can do is attach it to the wall in a holder and not use it for anything but phone calls at home. When going out, it has to go with me because there are no pay phones or call boxes anymore.

This study is hard! :)

I did change my kitchen quite a bit. Put away all the modern things. Even the refrigerator magnets were taken off because they didn't do that in the thirties. I put up my '30s replica wall clock and a nail for hanging my apron and cleared my counters. I am stuck with my modern electricity so I put my working 1930s toaster next to my bread keeper and my working 1930s waffle iron next to my vintage cookie tin that I now keep my household cash in. The kitchen looks very streamlined and utilitarian, which is what the photos I looked at showed. The kitchens in the advertisements of the times are beautiful and colorful, but the pictures of real kitchen showed mostly plain ones, so I've got a plain one. I did put a cheerful and inviting table cloth on my table and that really brightened things up.

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Lissa wrote

I thought this was interesting:

https://livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/life_07.html

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Hilogene in Az wrote

Hi G’Donna,
This is so great, thank you, I am really enjoying your research and the life choices it represents. As a side note. My husband was born in Philadelphia in 1947. His father worked downtown Philly. At around age 10-12, my husband remembers going downtown with his dad and seeing horse drawn carriages where men would get off and scoop up the horse manure that was in the street, and he recalls seeing quite a few vendors using horse drawn wagons. So this was 1957-1959 time period, in downtown Philly. So times changed more slowly than we know.

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Grandma Donna wrote

Stephanie, you are doing a great job figuring out how to simulate the early 1930s. I feel like you, that I am stuck with many modern things. We cannot get just like they were but we can do enough to make a difference because it is mostly going around and taking away what they did not have and packing it up for the study. I want to find out by the end of the study what I actually want to unpack. We too are trying to get creative with the phone situation. Your comment is very helpful, I have already had someone send me a private message that your comment helped her to visualize things better. We don't have to look like the 1930s but it is how we manage this critical time with our money. As you took your refrigerator magnets off and changes you are making helps to remind us of the time we are studying.

Lissa, thank you for the link, that has some good information that comes from people that lived through these times.

Hilogene, I am so glad you brought this up because I wouldn't think that Philly would still have this in the late 50s but I knew they had it in other cities and especially small towns because I saw this myself. I feel like many modern things were presented as though everyone had it or needed it or made people feel embarrassed if they did not have it. When in reality as you said times changed more slowly than we know.

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Stephanie wrote

Thank you, Grandma Donna, for letting me know. I find all of the comments so helpful. I put all the books recommended on hold at the library, click on all of the links, and read all of the fascinating stories. In fact, I've been reading the comments again and again to make sure I'm not missing anything. I appreciate knowing someone found my comment helpful. :)

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Miriam in Finland wrote

This is so so interesting! Thank you for sharing this all with us Grandma Donna!

Stephanie, I saw someone in Medieval circles hiding her smartphone between covers of a ''prayer book''. I am looking for a book I can turn into phone covers, so far in vain. The real old ones I have (1919-1935) are too precious for me to craft with, but I am sure I can find something that isn't an eyesore soon enough.

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Miriam in Finland wrote

Could someone please explain me the difference between a wood stove and a wood range? As I understand these words they are both used for cooking and fueled with wood. Thank you!

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Grandma Donna wrote

Miriam, in the catalogs to purchase a wood stove or a range, the pictures show, a wood stove is a smaller stove used to heat and to cook, it may have one or two or more plates to cook on. A range is a large stove with an oven and sometimes has a back splash and shelf above. The Range is the beautiful large cook stove, sometimes with a water reservoir to heat water. They were cast iron or enamel. I cannot explain why the name, maybe someone will know.

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Miriam in Finland wrote

Thank you for replying so soon! Now I see The difference (I've Dern pictures) and what you are talking about (catalogues). I was wondering which one is the right term to use for my stove; neither. My wood burning stove is built of bricks with a cast iron top all over (and an oven underneath). What would you call that?

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Grandma Donna wrote

Miriam, you got me on that, maybe it is called a wonderful brick mason built stove with casts iron top? :)

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Miriam in Finland wrote

????Let's call it that! Thank you!

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Debby in Kansas USA wrote

Very interesting, Donna! When you talked about things being a convenience, it reminded me of a recent conversation with my college roommate. She was in Honduras. She said that everyone she met was happy. They live in metal and mud homes, no anything, cook outside, etc. but they are far happier than Americans who think they're suffering because they don't have cable. Sh was talking to some village women carrying baskets of fruit and asked them how they get around. One said, "BMW.". Friend was impressed and commented that she hadn't seen many cars. The women laughed and said, "Not a car! Better Me Walk! Keeps me healthy and fresh air is good for my spirit.". Proving yet again that money and such doesn't buy happiness!

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Grandma Donna wrote

Debbie, thank you for sharing that. I have personally seen this type of happiness in people with very little. :)

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Stephanie wrote

Debby in Kansas USA, I just wanted to say that I love the Darling Dahlias! Thank you for that recommendation. In addition to the fun mysteries, I appreciate how the author weaves in the various events during the Depression, like the story about the town using scrip instead of money when the bank closed. I learned a lot more about it than I had known. And the recipes and hints for stretching money in the back of each book have been helpful too.

Researching about my area during the Depression, I learned that during the dust bowl, dirt from Kansas blew into our state and people appreciated it because they thought the Kansas soil was more fertile than our own.

I know that the more I simplify my life, the happier I am. It's one reason I am looking forward to the new study. Poor Christmas is almost getting ignored in my eagerness for New Year's Day.

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Stephanie wrote

Miriam in Finland, that's very creative, putting the phone in a prayer book. I suppose when she's on a call, she's just praying. ;) Have you thought about facsimile books that look like the real thing, but aren't? I've got a 2018 reprint of a 1930s Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and few others, like the original Nancy Drew stories. I wouldn't want to cut up my Nancy Drews, but the cookbook would do because it's easy to replace. I'm sure you could find lots of choices.

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Lana wrote

This was such an interesting read! My Mom's family did not have electricity until 1951 and this was when they moved from far out in the country to town.

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Tammy wrote

When I was a young child visiting my grandparents and great-grandparents back in the mid-60s, it was partially like stepping back into the 1930s. They all had electricity in their homes, my maternal grandparents and my great-grandparents had a kitchen sink, faucet, and running water, but none of the three had indoor plumbing bathrooms. Finally around 1967 my maternal grandparents put in plumbing and a bathroom. My paternal grandparents didn't have a bathroom in their home until they moved "to town" in 1975. My great-grandparents never had a bathroom in their home. My great-grandmother also cooked on a wood stove until she passed in 1979 - it was difficult visiting her in the summertime when she was preparing a meal, as she had only one window fan While I admire you and Grandpa Charles for trying to live as close as possible to what it was like in the early 1930s, to be quite honest, I don't think I'd want to live without indoor plumbing or electricity at this point in my life, I'm 62. I also wouldn't want to live without my washer and dryer. Two years ago this month, our washer stopped working and it was a couple of weeks before our repairman friend could come by to fix it. That was the longest two weeks of my life having to wash some things by hand, hanging them up ~ in a condo, mind you ~ to dry, and what I couldn't do by hand I had to drag out to my mother-in-law's house, an hour's drive away, to use her washer and dryer. I'll be the first to admit I've been spoiled by modern conveniences. Btw, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

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Grandma Donna wrote

Tammy and Lana,
Many people today think that when people got electricity, that everyone got it but it was the same for my parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles, some did and some did not have electricity and running water and some still in the 1960s did not and there were places the the electric lines were still not pulled to at that time. Same for running water.
Many people did not have telephones and in my younger self, our first phone was a party line you had to wait for someone else to get off of the phone to use it and that someone was not in our household. We normally had three households on our party line.

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Phil Pogson wrote

Hello from Australia.
I used to listen intently to my grandmother who raised 9 children during the depression.
She had one tap in the kitchen and there was one electric light in the kitchen with an adapter on the side of the light fitting to plug in an electric iron.
She baked on a wood stove and her entire backyard was vegetables and a peach tree.
Sometimes when things were a bit tough it would be steamed spinach leaves with vinegar for dinner one night and the next night would be the the spinach storks with white sauce.
They had a telephone ( the only one in the street) and she would charge the neighbourhood a small fee to use it.
She was a tailoress by trade and could work miracles with patterns and remodelling old clothing.

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Grandma Donna wrote

Hi Phil,
Thank you for your comment and sharing with us some of your family history. This is helping to add to our information and giving us a mental picture of this time in history. My family members that had only one light and it was in the Kitchen was because when they connected to the power grid there was one line pulled into the house and there were no other rooms that had an outlet.
Thank you again, Donna

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Becky Sue wrote

I enjoyed your post. When I was growing up in the 1960s we didn't have a phone or a T.V. for quite a while. When we did get a phone it was on a party line. I think we had 3 or four families on our party line. I was so excited when we got a phone that I called a few kids from school to tell them about it. But they just thought I was weird since they had always had a phone. I remember my mother taking our clothes to the laundromat before we got a washing machine, which was a wringer washer. She didn't get a dryer until years later. I remember her hanging many cloth diapers on the line. I still have a clothesline and an indoor drying rack for drying clothes by my woodstove in winter.

I enjoyed Debby's comment about how the poor people in the Honduras are happier than people in the U.S. We have so much luxury here that people take it for granted. People also feel entitled to have whatever they want, like it is their right to have anything they desire. I've been doing "BMW" for about a month now since my car broke down. The other end of town is only about 3 miles away so it is doable. It was interesting to me what my father said was a luxury when he was growing up. He was born in 1932. He said they had an outhouse so they used catalogs for toilet paper. But in the summer his mother bought fruit for canning and each piece of fruit was wrapped in tissue paper. He said that tissue paper was a total luxury for as long as it lasted. Then when they eventually moved to town and had city plumbing they got to use real toilet paper every day! How many people nowadays could appreciate such a thing?

I appreciated Stephanie's comment too about putting things away and getting the kitchen more streamlined and functional. I think I will start putting things up too all over the house. I have a hard time getting rid of things because I am quite sure from what I have read and heard that people didn't get rid of things in the depression years. They saved them and repurposed them when they could. I have a big room upstairs that I don't use at all so I could store things up there in case I need them later.

That is so sad that Stephanie can't have a wood stove! Mine is my main heat source right now. I haven't used my furnace in almost 3 years. I have a big canning pot of water heating on it right now because I haven't used my water heater for almost 3 years. I also keep a tea kettle on it so there is always hot water for tea. I've often cooked on it too and even done a little baking on it. I can also dry my clothes by it. I couldn't imagine having to live without a wood stove. I really couldn't imagine not being able to have a landline phone either. I have no cell phone service at all and I get by just fine. I'm glad that I was born before cellphones and all these other electronic contrivances were even made, or at least before they were common.

I really appreciate that people can leave comments now. I know it is more work for you Donna having to keep up with reading all the comments before they get posted but it adds SO MUCH to your blog and I'm sure everyone appreciates it. I also love when people post links to other sites or books with more information.

I hope everyone has a great day!

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Anna wrote

During the Depression and into the early 1950, chicken feed came in printed cloth bags. My mom would always insist on buying the chicken feed because dad was color blind so wouldn't come home with what she wanted. Each bag was inspected to make sure there were no tears. It took two bags to make a little girl's dress, but shorts and a halter top could be made from one. I recall a bunch of women getting together to trade feed bags in order to get enough matching ones to make whatever they were planning.

My maternal grandmother was an expert at remaking old garments into new. Five of the men in the family worked for grandpa's Conoco station at various times so she had a lot of white with green stripped fabric to reuse/remake. Most of the grandkids had sunsuits made out of that fabric and she would put the Conoco emblem patch off the shirt onto the bib of the sunsuit.

Any remaining fabric was made into a rug. She used a toothbrush handle to make the rugs which were sort of braided. The toothbrush handle was shaped to a rounded point on one end and the other end had a hole to thread the strips of fabric into. I saw in Countryside Magazine many years ago instructions for making these rugs and I think in Backwoods Home at a later date. My sister who is lefthanded learned to make the rugs and then taught me. However, I had difficulty translating her instructions for my righthand! My arthritic hands are no longer strong enough to do these rugs. My grandmother died in 1982 and I'm still using one of her rugs.

Grandma also save all buttons, zippers, trims etc. from discarded garments. I inherited her button box which is a treasure. I save buttons too, but not zippers and seldom trims.

Joke from when I was a kid -- when asked if we had running water -- the answer was yes if we ran with the bucket. Of course, running with a bucket of water never works!

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Emma - Barradale Farm wrote

I was wondering what cream of wheat was that you mentioned in your shopping research?

In our last home, before we bought our farm we lived in an old stone cottage. Built around 1800ish. The lady who used to live there had lived there her whole life and very little had changed. It was a symmetrical 4 room cottage with a timber lean-to out the back. By the time we bought it the lean-to had to be demolished and rebuilt but we slowly restored the rest of the home. The things we found! It still had the big old cement laundry trough, the wood oven and her original electric oven from the 1930's. It was a beautiful little oven made from grey and cream enamel with chrome trimmings and curved legs. It had two coil hot plates and the main oven. There was an electrical socket in the front of it which would have been a big deal. We covered up the electrical socket though with a safety plug as it was hardwired in and our electrician told us strictly not to use it when he saw it. (whoops) The oven was very slow to heat, and the cooktop was as well. I struggled to get the oven to heat evenly. Apparently the woman who used to live there used to make the most amazing sponges, but the best I could turn out was a decent butter cake. It was an oven that needed quite a bit of attention and monitoring. I never did master it fully, though I did ok on it. I used to joke the oven didn't like me and missed her old owner who knew her better. I would have a little talk to it whenever I was going to cook something special in it (bonkers I know! But it amused us) Though when we renovated the kitchen I kept it and the wood oven. I couldn't bear to get rid of it, it was just so sweet. I'll have to see if I can find a photo and send it to you.

The old lady had a small grove of almonds and would sit under them when it was hot. She never put in air conditioning even though it could get to 45C+ in summer. She had what was referred to here as a "fruit salad block" meaning she had oranges, mandarin, grapefruit, peach, apricot and lemon trees planted. When she was younger she used to sell the almonds, and the oldies in town were after my grapefruit every year as they were the best around, it was always such a generous tree I gave them away in abundance. She lived at home until she was 100.

The wiring in the house was very old, wrapped in cloth and laid in timber channels in the roof. We upgraded that and put in a new power box for safety reasons. As you say, there were very few power points throughout the house.

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Grandma Donna wrote

Emma, Cream of wheat was the brand Cream of Wheat. Thank you for your comment and quite an experience you had with your stone cottage. :)

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Jackie wrote

Oh my! I love this post and all of the comments. So helpful! I am working on my back story just now. I think I'll be the same age I am now (73) which means I was born in 1859. I was actually born in Nebraska but have lived in Washington state for a number of years. Where I live now is very rural and I need to do more research into how this area fared during the Depression. I'm following Stephanie's way of putting away all of the appliances, etc that weren't being used then. I'm giving away to my new granddaughter-in-law my big kitchenaid mixer. I'm keeping an egg beater and also my small hand mixer. I found out that Kitchenaid made the first hand mixer in 1922. I'll keep my blender put away as well as my crock-pot. I don't have a toaster, coffee maker ( I drink tea and have a nice kettle for the stove) or clothes dryer. This time of year I dry clothes on racks in the house.
I gave my TV away and I haven't had cable for years. I can watch YouTube and the one channel I subscribe to - Britbox, on my laptop and tablet. Since I live alone in an isolated area I've become addicted to social media, primarily Twitter and IG. I look at some others occasionally. I'm weaning myself off of them and finding other things to do.
My mother gave me the book "House's by Mail" years ago I just love looking at the Sears houses you could buy and have delivered. I'm going to choose my home from there.
Just an interesting bit of trivia : ballpoint pens were not in common usage until after WW2. I'm going to try to use my fountain pens as often as I can.
Thanks for all the great information. Merry Christmas to all!

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Kathryn wrote

This project is gaining momentum in our home. Initially my husband was skeptical, but he's now on board and enthusiastic. I've ordered several used books about depression era living and the history of the period. We have a lot of homework to do! Some general "rules" that we've established as we blend our 2023 life with an older period...we really want to make every attempt possible to feel authentic. Three small stores have been selected - Aldi for groceries (fewer choices than larger stores), a local hardware store and a pet store. Big box stores and online shopping are prohibited as they didn't exist. We will use cash only and adhere to a very tight budget. I'll use my stovetop percolator, egg beater and generally put all small appliances that weren't available, on hiatus. My husband started only using hand tools for woodworking and I will continue knitting or crocheting at night. Decor will be simple and utilitarian with more of the homemade items on display (afghans, quilts). We plan to hand wash dishes and let laundry hang to dry. I'll have a dedicated laundry/ironing day each week. I could go on and on as my mind keeps adding to our list. I'm looking forward to reading of others' changes and experiences. Thank you, Grandma Donna, for providing an educational, fun respite from our usual frenzied life.

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Teresa Pittman wrote

They sold combo wood/electric cookstoves. I had one. It had two complete stoves on a single base. Never got to try it out. I am so tempted to put in a wood cookstove, if I could find an old one.

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Grandma Donna wrote

Question from Grandma Donna
Who was it that asked about the one thousand gallons of water per month? I am waiting on a reply from our city to an email I sent asking this question. I will let everyone know when I find out.

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Megan wrote

Hi Donna, I love reading your blog. I find a sense of calm and purpose unlike most of what happens today. This study has answered a few questions for me about my own family. My father was born in the mid 40s and talks about his grandmother using a copper boiler in the back yard to wash clothes even into the 1950s she did this. All throughout his childhood they used a wood burner stove and his job was to collect the ice from the ice cart and 'tote' it to the house. Thank you for all the effort and detail in your research.

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Miriam in Finland wrote

Stephanie,
thank you for your suggestions! I think I have seen some ''new old books'', but, to my excitement, I was able to use covers of a little religious book from the 40's ! :-)

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I know I am late to the party, but each of the past couple nights have been trying to catch up on your posts so I'm not as far behind as I was ????  I am so grateful for this post and what you are doing.  I will have to go through the house again.  Tomorrow I will be "undecorating" which will be a great time to clean house of other things as well.  Hubby would not be on board for such a study, but I will be doing what I can in addition to a financial challenge I have for myself.  Oddly, Jane Austin has been presented to me in multiple ways within the past week - strange you mention her site here as well.  One of the things I noticed on that price list was huck towels - remember those?  They lasted forever!  Oh, and the other thing I remember about the old places was the sinks had drainboards and were lower often with a stool next to them.  We are in a rental right now so only so much I can do but will be doing what I can.  I must keep reading.  I am also enjoying the comments so thank you to your lovely readers for their input.

By the way Merry Christmas ????

 Apologies in advance for this long post!

I am a 59 year old divorced woman, living on my own in the UK. I vowed to divorce my unfaithful husband if both my sons came home from the Great War unscathed.  They did so I did!  This created quite a lot of scandal in my home town (Midlands) so I moved away, down to the outskirts of a small  coastal village on the West Sussex coast.  I have been living here ever since. (Most of this is true apart from the fact that only one of my sons is in the RAF, the other is an Accountant.  I am divorced and live alone with a rather disdainful cat… I moved away from the Midlands to go to University – something that would have been nigh on impossible for a woman of my age during this study period)

What is our occupation?  I am a part time book keeper and secretary for my landlord.  I am also an amateur homeopath, studying in my free time and treating my friends and neighbours. ( I've been a homeopath for over 3 decades and teach it at our local college. It has been very interesting to discover what remedies were available in the UK during this era, and who the famous homeopaths of the time were!)

What type of house we own, rent? I rent a very small, one bedroomed cottage on the edge of farmland. I can walk to work and part of my wages is used to pay for my rent and utilities.  I do have electricity but use it very sparingly. 

What our income level will be? My income level is fairly low but I have the interest from a small inheritance to top up my wages. (unfortunately not true but during this time period I wouldn’t have earned enough to live on – my current wages are low but it’s doable!)  I don’t have to really worry about money as long as I am careful and waste nothing.  I realise that I am extremely fortunate to be living in the UK and not the US during this time; I’m also very grateful that I can manage my finances without having to rely upon my sons for help.

Do we have a car, wagon, buggy?  I drive a small car, a Morgan three wheeler but use it mainly for journey’s into the nearest city.  I have a bicycle or walk otherwise. (I do have a small Fiat but mostly cycle or walk, unless I have to go into the city to teach or shop).

Do we live in a large city, a small town, rural farm or rural just outside of town?  I live on the outskirts of a small coastal village on the West Sussex coast.  It’s fairly rural and most of the people who live here earn their money from the sea. (Where I live is true but most people commute now, hence the horrendous amount of traffic on the main road out of the town!)

Do we have a garden? Where do we shop for groceries? Do we have a farm and raise or grow our food?  I have a small garden attached to my tiny cottage but grow my own vegetables quite intensively.  I would like to have chickens but the local fox population makes that an impossibility.  This coming year I would like to plant more fruit bushes (I already have a rhubarb crown and my landlord lets me pick the cooking apples from his tree) and have planned my beds so that I can produce the maximum from a small space. (All true)

Do we live close enough to walk to the grocery store?   The nearest shops are a 20 minute walk away but I tend to buy staples and raw ingredients and to cook, ‘from scratch’.  This is going to be even more important with the current depression and I’ve been building up a small stock of sugar,  dried fruit, and other storable foodstuffs to help me eat well on a tiny budget. (Two of my unchangeable items from 2022  are my fridge and freezer – both well stocked!).  I can buy locally grown potatoes and my local town has an independent butchers, within walking range. (Again, all true!)

What type of transportation do we use to get to work?  I walk to work and only use my small car for longer journeys- to visit my sons or the nearest city.  I am very lucky that the small town that I live near is very well provided with a large range of shops. It even has a small but well stocked library. I do need to travel to the city to get fabric though. (True)

Do we have electricity?  Do we have running water or a well?  I have electricity and running water but use them sparingly.  Living by myself means that I don’t need to have an automated washing machine (although I do have a spin drier, the third of my  unchangeable items from 2022.  I have put away my microwave, electric kettle,  slow cooker and e-readers.  My laptop is my fourth unchangeable item but I’ve decided to only read real paper books, and preferably those that were published within the study’s era, and ones I can get from the library.

What type of stove do we have for this study?  I have an electric stove but, like you Grandma Donna, I shall be acting as if it’s a more traditional wood burning stove.  It will be used as sparingly and as economically as possible. (I’ve researched and can keep my pressure cooker but not my slow cooker- so that’s been put away.  I shall keep my phone (the fifth and final item from 2022 but will limit its use to texts, phone calls and as a means to listen to the radio and music (at least until I save up to buy a radio- I don’t have one at the moment)  I don’t have a television set but obviously won’t be buying one- I do intend to keep an eye on what’s on at the local picture house though.  In the evenings I intend to study, knit, sew and read whatever books I’ve been able to borrow from the library.  I have a couple of oil lamps and some candles to read by.  The Winter Solstice has passed so the days should be getting longer, although I’m aware that we’ve got the first quarter of the new year to navigate first. I’m very thankful that I live where I do, it may be rather windy but at least it rarely snows!  Once the growing season starts I shall be out in the garden.

I won’t be buying any period appropriate crockery for this challenge.  I use a minimum amount of plastic anyway and the crockery I do have is from the 1940’s; I’m guessing that women from this era wouldn’t be in a hurry to dash out and replace what they’d been using in the kitchen already. My pans and stove top kettle are made of (anachronistic), stainless steel but as the alternative is to go out and buy enamel pans… I’ll stick with what I have! I already have a set of enamel dishes and a pyrex jug, glass storage jars and bakeware.    I have a bristle broom and dustpan and brush but as I mostly have laminate or lino floors, this isn’t going to be a real issue.  I already use sheets and wool blankets so I won’t have to make any changes there either.

All in all, I feel that I’ve done as much prep as I can for this challenge. I would like more information about how life was in my local village during this period, but I’m guessing I can do this before 1^st January.  As you can probably tell, I’m rather excited about taking part in this study!

Oh my gosh -- my non-math brain is about to explode, and I hope someone can help me figure this out! The internet is not helping!  I am trying to adapt my current income to what the equivalent of it would have been in 1932.  So, for example, if I am currently making $1300/month now, what would have been the equivalent of that in 1932?  I can't determine if I can afford electricity or how to compare grocery prices if I don't have that basic fact.  What I am getting from the internet is what $1300 in 1932 would be worth NOW, when I actually want the reverse.  Does this make sense?  Can someone help me with this before I have a mental breakdown?  Knowing the inflation rate does not help me.  I am not that person.  Thanks for your help! 

Lynne J, help is on the way. We surely don't want your brain to explode. :)  

Lynne J, your answer is $59.76

Lynne, I used the CPI online calculator and was able to reverse it, and it says $1300 in 2022 would be $60.93 in 1932.  The confusing thing is that the other inflation calculators I tried came out at $68.08, and that was several calculators.  So maybe choose the one you like best?  The one at saving.org gives the whole range of years, so I like that one.  Just reverse the years, so put in $1300, make the first year 2022, and make the second year however far back you want to go.  That one says $68.08 for 1932

https://www.saving.org/inflation/?page=home

Also I read that the average income dropped 40% between 1929 and 1932!

Grandma Donna, which calculator did you use?  I used several and didn't get a number that low, so I would like to be able to match the one you are using.  Thanks :) 

Kimberly F, we used a different one but the problem here is calculating the wrong year.  We need to be calculating the year 2023 instead of 2022.  If you do 2023 you should come up with  $59.76 because we calculated the year 2022 and it gave us the total you had. See if that works on your calculator. 

Grandma Donna That makes sense.  I did it that way too on the CPI calculator, and got the lower number, but was thinking that $1300 is what Lynne J has been making in 2022, so I changed it.  And the saving.org inflation calculator hasn't been updated to 2023 yet.  I really love the saving.org calculator because it shows all of the years and you can see how the cue of the income went down during the Great Depression.  Indeed, Lynne J's $1300 in 2022 was worth $83.46 in 1926 and only $61.08 in 1933!

Thank you so much, Donna and Kimberly F!  I spent awhile looking for calculators with this info but no luck!  I appreciate your prompt responses and this will help me in determining what I can afford this year!  (Really hoping I can afford electricity because I live in an all-electric house!)

Your welcome Lynne J, thank you for your impute Kimberly F.  I just want everyone to remember to calculate based on 2023 and 1932 when doing figures.  If you want to calculate on another 30s year that is okay to do that is your decision it is just the years went up and down mostly down and we have more information on 1932. This is just helps to get the study started to have some figures. 

Sheryl C, you really had me convinced at first that this was your real story. I kept thinking, what war is she talking about. lol  A very good story, I need to live where you live so I can get to places easier.  Thank you for sharing your very detailed 1930s profile that was quite a read and well worth the interesting life you will live.  :)