In the poem “Being Poor”, the author mentions that, “Being poor is a box of crayons and a $1 coloring book from a community center Santa”. This idea of not receiving gifts for any particular holiday due to financial problems immediately reminded me of the Easter holiday that is approaching, and how the recession could potentially affect the sales of Easter candy and gifts.
According to an article detailing the events of the Great Depression, not many people received Christmas presents during that particular time period. Millie Ruchel, an 82-year-old that lived during the time of the Great Depression, speaks of her father’s unemployment, and that, "Because of [her] father's continued unemployment, [her family] received no gifts [for] Christmas." She then discusses how one Christmas, her father wanted to give his children a gift, so he hand-crafted a teeter-totter out of wood. Ruchel appears to have fond memories of that teeter-totter, and it seems that not receiving any store-bought toys was a common during the years of the Great Depression.
A similar scenario is now emerging in the current recession that the economy is facing. The article, “Will the recession slow down the Easter Bunny?”, discusses the predicted outcome of Easter sales this year. The article states that, “the National Retail Federation says a survey shows people plan to spend about 15% less on their Easter celebrations this year” (Famuliner). It continues to state that this 15% decrease in shopping will most likely come from people purchasing fewer gifts such as clothing or flowers for others, but the amount of candy sales is projected to stay the same.
The projected fall in spending this year for Easter is very similar to the Great Depression Christmas sales fall, and may be an indication that the world is heading toward a similar situation to the Great Depression. I hope that lack of holiday sales is not a foreshadowing of a depression to come.
2 comments:
That doesn't surprise me that Easter sale's went down this year, but I find the part about the hand made teeter-totter to be really interesting. It shows that not everything has to be bought, nor do things have to be extravagant. Maybe this mentality could do some good on a larger scale...
I particularly like the bit about the hand made teeter-totter. It just goes to show that material items are not necessary. If anything, a handmade toy probably meant more to Millie in the long run than something store-bought. Maybe this mentality could do our country some good on a larger scale...
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