Depression Kids: The Greatest Generation

In the heart of the 20th Century, there were prevalent three main classes of humanity in the US, defined by their birth years. These were the Depression Kids, those born before or during the Great Depression, the War Babies, which were the early child crop of the Depression Kids, and the Baby Boomers, the late crop of the Depression Kids.

Those born in the teens, 1910-1940, were the Depression Kids. These folks were anywhere from tweens to teens or yet unborn when the Stock Market dropped out, leaving millions jobless, homeless and nearly witless. FDR was their Savior in a lot of respects, bringing in his cheer, charm and programs to put all of them to work. These folks had parents born late in the 19th Century, scrambling hard, working very long hours to feed their new young families. Most of them had two jobs, and wish they had time and energy for more.

But they made it, and making it made them what they are- very strong, very self reliant, very savvy, ingenious and extremely hard working. Depression Kids are a dying lot now, but their spirit of survival in the very toughest times made them unable to appreciate the me generation, life on a platter world they live in now. You will always hear them say, “I remember when”, and then tell of going or doing something against the toughest of situations for it. Every generation has its own stories.

The Depression Kids had kids during the WWII, and some got to stay home to raise them, while others were in either Europe or the Pacific somewhere in a foxhole, reading how Mom was doing it. What made this generation so tough was the attitude that they didn’t know if they could win WWII, but they were going to give it their best effort. The victory in that war reinforced their confidence in their own ability to get it done, whatever they had to do. When a Baby Boomer goes through surgery, the Depression Kid parent is expecting them to be training for the next 10k run within a week of the surgery.

War Babies grew up with rationing, bond selling, and general restriction of resources so the US could beat the Nazis and “Nips”. They drew inspiration from this, but since it was so early in their lives, did not really know what had happened until after it was over. The war being over, they could train their energy, talent and resources to making the world a better place to live in. There was a lot of raw energy and restlessness in this crowd, and a young teenager from Tupelo MS helped them channel it into dancing to the music he created. It was the War Babies, with their transistor radios, and convertible cars, dancing in the street that made Rock and Roll a true cultural revolution.