Christmas During the Great Depression

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Subtitles: Jose Mendoza | IG @worldagainstjose

#tastinghistory #christmas #greatdepression

[sesboks]

I've never seen a dude so chipper as he's getting an alergic reaction. Never change

[Lavthefox]

I chuckled when you mentioned getting an orange for Christmas. My Dad's family grew up as poor Southern Virginians. My grandpa used To tell us grandkids about how Christmas day gifts were given out at church, you would get a paper bag with an apple and an orange, maybe a single stick of Wrigley's chewing gum and maybe maybe got a little bit of chocolate.

My dad said something similar, however by then finances had improved just a smidge so you would probably get two sticks of chewing gum and a banana.

Towards the end of my dad's life, he lamented just how monetary and materialistic Christmas had gotten, and he was very saddened to see how Christmas was all about spending as much money as possible....

One of the very last gifts I ever got him was a brown paper bag filled with goodies. Now I went a bit far LOL. I stuffed it with his favorite candy, got him a toy fighter jet because he was in the Air Force, and he got all the fruit: Apple, orange, banana. Two packs of chewing gum instead of just one!

Of all the gifts I ever got my dad, that was the only one where I saw him cry... Only gift I ever saw him brag about on Facebook to everybody else in the family.

For just a split second he was taken back to his childhood... Miss him every day.

[lynseybowe]

My grandmother was a little girl in the Great Depression. She really wanted one of those Shirley Temple dolls but her family couldn’t afford the doll since they had 6 kids in their family. Her mom made her a doll out of rags instead. When she was in her 80s, one of her sisters bought her a vintage Shirley Temple doll. My grandmother kept it on her bed until her death. It meant so much to her!

[Flierarchy]

the face at 14:33 where you realized it had uncooked egg whites. Very "(chuckles) I'm in danger. "

[Naaman]

Depression era recipe + Gelatine, I'm sure that's how you summon B. Dylan Hollis

[billycathcart]

Max- “I’m allergic to uncooked egg whites, my mouth is going numb but I’m OK” as in the background we hear Jose running around looking for that dang Epi Pen. The lengths they go through to bring us high quality content is commendable. And we truly appreciate it !

[fnnygood]

Max trying to remember his allergy is such a mood; I'm constantly forgetting my own.

[A.Filthy.Casual]

I really cant overstate how much i appreciate that despite the sharp rise in obnoxious and clickbaity thumbnails--even amongst major channels--this channel has stuck true to its roots and not really changed the thumbnail formula much at all over the years.

Getting your success off the quality of your work and just being an absolute gem is something the platform needs more of.

[izabelafirmowska]

I am from Poland and as a child in the 80s ( the communism times) we were still getting an orange in our Christmas presents plus a small toy and a whole chocolate bar for yourself! That was really something and that was a good Christmas. We were also doing paper decorations for the Christmas tree ourself. We were very happy and proud of our hand made achievements.

[moreanimals]

Everyone's favorite Christmas decoration, in our family, is a homemade decoration made by my Grandmother. It's a victorian style card with a boy and girl, taking a small tree home with a $2 bill inside the card. It commemorates the Christmas when Grandma and her brother were facing not celebrating Christmas at all. Their Dad was away at war and there just wasn't any money. When her little brother realized how upset she was at the prospect of not having a tree, he broke open his piggy bank and took all the $2 to go get a tree. Her brother ended up coming home with a tree, not much smaller than he was. It is one of her favorite Christmas memories. I recreated a version of that ornament for our tree so family history can be passed down and stories aren't forgotten.

[RosieIfYouKnowMe]

I've been hit with a financial crisis and have been holding myself together for my kids sake but all this mention of depression and how families made Christmas happen despite not having much really made me cry. Christmas isn't going to be much this year but if I can distract my kids with flour dough crafts and art projects then maybe they'll have happy memories. They know money is tight and they're good kids, like the little girl with the old doll, so they'll be happy with just being together. I don't mean to leave a sad comment, just wanted to thank you for reminding me that Christmas means more to kids than how we adults stress over it being. ❤

I love you guys and Merry Christmas to you both 🎄

[zenfrodo]

12:58 memory unlocked. In the 1980s, I was flat broke, struggling, and wanting to give folks *something* for Christmas, I made homemade Christmas cards. I was into Celtic knotwork at that point, and had watercolors and assorted leftover paper from a nearby college art department, so I created these beautiful handdrawn Celtic knotwork parchments to send out.

I found out later that my parents and sibs had just tossed theirs in the trash. My grandmother, though, kept hers (she had it on display every year I managed to visit until she died, and my mom tossed it without asking if I'd like it as a memory). I also found during a recent move that my husband (back-then boyfriend) has also kept his carefully packed with his family keepsakes...a 40 year old piece of parchment with fading watercolor and gold paint.

How to tell who your real friends and family are...

[michaelbobic]

My Grandfather was a minister in a poor neighborhood in Tennessee. From October through Christmas, he would raise resources to buy small dolls or fire trucks, bushels of apples and oranges, and chocolate covered cherries, and sometimes a small bag of nuts. He would put an orange, an apple, some cherries and nuts, and a toy in a lunch style paper bag. At the end of the Christmas eve service, he would pass out these small bags. I remember I was about 10 when I got to help pass out the bags. I remember how stunned I was to hear and see the excitement the kids showed when they got these small, inexpensive toys. I overheard one mom thank my Grandfather because she had gone 2 or 3 years witho ut a present for her children. Later that night, I went with Grandfather add he took gifts and food to other people in the area. I've tried to emulate his service, but not as successfully as I should.

[betsyeverson]

My grandma once got a dozen eggs from her best friend who raised chickens and they had "Merry Christmas" printed on them.

[streamstriss]

I didn't live through the Great Depression, but we were poor as dirt in the 80s and so homemade gifts and oranges got us very excited. Then always a pear oatmeal pudding. I never felt poor because of the love around me.

[grendelgrendelsson]

My dad was born in 1937 in Norfolk in England. He doesn't remember much about the 1930's because most of his early memories are of the war. However, he does remember his first orange! Around 1948 a cargo ship ran aground off Norfolk and had to jettison cargo to re-float. The cargo was oranges. These drifted on the tide and thousands of them were washed up on the beaches near the town where my dad lived. He and some of his friends were fishing and came home with fish for dinner and as many oranges as they could carry for dessert!

[corporalvideo]

As a young boy, in the early 50's, our Christmas tree was covered with lead tinsel. It always looked beautiful and who knew, or cared about being poisoned. The funniest thing that I remember about the tinsel was walking past the tree and causing the tinsel to move in the slight breeze. The effect on the TV set was a sudden interruption due to the static from the metal. Having only rabbit ears for an antenna it was sitting just a few feet from the tinsel which caused interference. Wonderful memories that I would never want to forget.

[FrankieG-M]

I suspect the big saving is in the energy to steam a pudding for 6-8 hours, but it's using less dried fruit and alcohol too

[lindaannelineharwood]

I had wondered who the 'Guest Taster' would be (because of the egg whites...) but I never thought you'd have Ben Adryl over to join you, Max... Thank you for all the great cooking programs, and so happy that this channel is doing so well!

[rickhobson]

This one hit me hard. Both my parents are gone, so I don't have them to ask about this stuff... but growing up in the 60s, I would get those oranges and nuts in my stocking, and there was an ancient Chinese checkers board in the basement that would sometimes come out during the holidays. My folks would have been kids during the time period you reference... it all becomes clear.