Memories from Ann Penfield, former MxCC Library Director

My father lost his hardware store early in the Depression and my parents moved to my grandmother's summer boarding house in Hadlyme. As a small child I enjoyed playing with the farm animals (I had a pet lamb) and the attention I got from the summer guests. But my parents struggled mightily to make the summer business pay and to survive the lean off-season. My father joined with others to cut wood for fuel and learned to do all the repairs needed in our 1790 farmhouse. My mother tended a garden, fed chickens, and sometimes milked the cows, in addition to cooking for guests. Every fall I noticed that men would appear at our door, offering to work in return for a meal. People tended to scorn these "tramps" but they were fine people just down on their luck. My parents suspected that hobos had left marks on the telephone pole across from the house to show that this house would feed the wanderers. I remember family friends from New York City who asked that we save newspapers and old paper bags for them. I learned later that they used the papers and bags to replace the worn-out soles of their shoes, since they couldn't afford to have their shoes repaired. I remember "helping" my mother (not that a 4 or 5-year old was much help)churn butter, make soup, and feed chickens. I remember watching my father catching and beheading chickens. I'm sure it was the chickens, eggs, and milk from our cow that kept us from starving. I do not remember ever being hungry, but I suspect that my parents often had very little on their plates. My mother was an excellent cook and turned out incredible meals on our kitchen wood stove, which was the only source of heat in our huge house. People survived the Depression but it certainly aged them fast.