THE DEPRESSION IN BRANTFORD

Born an early Baby Boomer, I grew up hearing stories about the depression. Not a great deal has ever been written about the effects the Depression had on Brantford, Ontario, which I now call home. Having been raised on a farm outside of the city, I heard stories of the hardships that country folk endured during that bleak period but not much about the city. Country folk fared pretty well during that bleak decade. Though there were many things they could not buy, they grew their own food and traded with neighbors.

Even in Brantford the years of 1929 to 1939 were not as bad as they were in the larger cities. Some say they remember few hardships while others remember food shortages and the lack of work available. Some people's lives were touched forever by those ten years that seemed like an eternity.

The drought in the Prairie Provinces seems to have been one factor that affected Brantford. The city's industries such as Massey's and Cockshutts manufactured farm equipment. Suddenly, there was no demand for these products. At Cockshutt's a lay off resulted. Only a skeleton crew of foreman, assistant foremen and maintenance workers were kept on. All laborers were laid off with the hope that when the economy picked up they would be called back to work. But the economy didn't pick up.

Of those men laid off, some found work but many didn't. Some of the men left town, hoping to find work elsewhere. Some men created their own work. One local man told of buying vegetables from local farmers and walking door-to-door selling them. Others pulled weeds for ten cents an hour.

There was one significant factor that helped some of the men through the Depression. In 1932, the erection of the Cockshutt Bridge helped to relieve the unemployment situation. Though the construction company had its own crew, it needed men to haul supplies and dig ditches. They received twenty-five cents an hour for the backbreaking labor.

The men didn't complain about low wages nor long hours for they knew there was always someone willing to take their place. Often, men were standing on the sidelines in hope that someone would either get fired or quit. Being in the right place at the right time often paid off.

Unemployment and lack of money were everyone's troubles. It is said that even the mayor couldn't make his house payments for some time. The mayor didn't allow his personal troubles to keep him from the people. It is said he walked the streets of the downtown, talking to unemployed men who lined the streets. As a result, he came to know their needs and concerns and was sympathetic to their problems.

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