this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2023
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Can I recommend The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck? It’s historical fiction.
It’s a glimpse into life back then; focusing mostly on the affects of the dust bowl and how hard it was to find proper work. While not nonfiction, it may give you some ideas of specific things you can research more, like crop rotation and Hoovervilles/shantytowns.
Side note: I always think of the Great Depression when an appliance breaks. My history teacher said one of the causes was that things were built to last back then. When they say, “they don’t make them like they used to” it’s 100% correct. Now we make things with a shorter lifespan on purpose because, when things last forever, we don’t buy new ones.
I came to suggest this one as well. I think about this book from time to time and it's another one that they force on US high school students before they're really ready to understand the themes within. I read it in high school and the only thing I remembered was the last chapter because something odd occurs, and I didn't remember it because of any emotional or philosophical part but because "ew gross".
I re-read it as a an adult and I loved the book. It's depressing but truly I think it's a great insight into the cause of the depression and the migration West. It may not be the most in depth explanation and doesn't address the issues in the stock market, but it covers the western experience very well.
Beyond that, I haven't read any other books on the topic but I can recommend the American History Tellers episodes if you are OK with listening. I love the series and if nothing else they will list a series of sources at the end of their episodes that you could reference. You can get it for free from most podcast sources
https://wondery.com/shows/american-history-tellers/season/10/
That's partially it, but part of it was because low quality cheap options didn't exist. You can still buy appliances that will last, it's just nobody is willing to pay for it anymore.
Case in point dollar stores - despite buying anything from there that's going to break down very easy and cost much more over a lifetime, people love thier cheap crap and China loves you all for it.