We were so poor that...
By peavey
@peavey (16936)
United States
July 20, 2018 1:17pm CST
Some of the responses from Richard's post about buying bags of white margarine were about how others were "so poor that.." Some of them, at least, were joking, but no joke, I grew up poor.
I was the oldest of 8 kids so that's a hint. We lived on a ranch and had a milk cow and that helped, but we ate a lot of beans and potatoes.
We were so poor that we used an outhouse even at night.
We were so poor that Mom made mittens for us from old sweaters.
We were so poor that we slept in an unheated attic under heavy quilts that sometimes were covered with snow when we woke up.
We were so poor that we had to carry in every bit of water we used because there was no running water.
AC? Not a chance. I'm not sure we even knew there was such a thing. We didn't have a TV until I was a young teenager. Mom cooked on a wood burning stove and that's what I learned on, until we finally got a gas range. We still heated the house with wood.
We wore hand me downs and patched jeans and we gathered wild greens and and ate fish from the river.
Were you poor growing up?
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13 responses
@peavey (16936)
• United States
23 Jul 18
@just4him My sister married into a family that hoarded everything because (so it was said) they went through the Great Depression. They didn't spend it on "frivolous things" but they owned a couple of houses, basements full of things and food and they acted like they had nothing.
Everyone is different! 
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@just4him (306266)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
22 Jul 18
@peavey They were victims of the Depression so they hoarded every penny they got, and told us they were poor. Which never made any sense. We always had a lot of Christmas presents, and took a two-week vacation every summer in August. Then there was the school shopping in August and the fact we went to parochial school. Poor people don't live like that. It wasn't until they went into assisted living that my sister told me they had stocks and bonds. No, they weren't poor. Not rich either, but they were comfortable.
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@AKRao24 (27424)
• India
20 Jul 18
I really don't know if we were poor or not as we never felt bad that we never had an opportunity to have sweets, Ice Creams and other luxuries. We never had even a fan in summer, we never had an opportunity to celebrate our birthdays! But I am happy that my parents have trained and taught to be happy in every situation and we were happy despite all the restraints! I am happy today for the lessons taught to us by parents! I am always happy irrespective of my economical status as i am taught that there are many things in life which are more important!
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@peavey (16936)
• United States
20 Jul 18
I don't think we would have thought much about being poor if it weren't for going to school, then other kids were better dressed, etc
I do think that growing up with financial restrictions can make people happier and more resilient and it keeps things in perspective. Thank heavens for good parents.
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@1hopefulman (45123)
• Canada
21 Jul 18
Until I was 10 years old, we were poor but I didn't know we were. I remember my youth with joy and fun.
We were five in all, the parents and three boys. We lived in a duplex that had one small room on each floor. a living room on the 1st floor and a bedroom on the 2nd floor and the stair to go up to the bedroom was on the outside.
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@peavey (16936)
• United States
21 Jul 18
@1hopefulman It's funny the things we accept and never think about until 'way later!
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@1hopefulman (45123)
• Canada
21 Jul 18
@peavey I don't know why they did it but in the winter we had to go out and climb to go to bed. However, at the time we didn't think it strange, we just accepted and did it.
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@akalinus (40440)
• United States
20 Jul 18
Probably not as poor as you were. We did use a wood stove. We ate a lot of peanut butter and pancakes. We carried water.
We moved around a lot and lived in all sorts of places. We even lived in a tent for a few months on a friend's property. We stored our stuff in an adobe shed there. I laid there when night turned the desert heat into icy shivers. I heard the eerie wails of coyotes and thought they were ghosts.
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@peavey (16936)
• United States
21 Jul 18
@akalinus I didn't have to do that. Daddy and the other men would cut wood in the fall, using a buzz saw that fitted on the PTO of a tractor. I can still hear it and smell it! We did have to stack it and carry it in to the house every night.
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@peavey (16936)
• United States
21 Jul 18
When I was very small, we moved a lot, too. One time we lived in a converted chicken house. Later, Daddy was a ranch hand, so we had a more or less permanent place to live.
We didn't live in the desert but the thin air of Wyoming cools down quite a bit at night, and yes, the coyotes! They were common there. We even heard mountain lions on the river behind us. That makes goosebumps.
@Courage7 (19633)
• United States
21 Jul 18
Though we lived in the city, we were most clearly separate from other families. We stood out in our neighborhood as wearing rags and so on. It was very sad as we were picked on for being so poor. I can only dream that we would have been out of that rotten place in the city and out on a farm. And we were not only poor but distinct. My Mother was treated so badly because of her accent. It was infuriating and depressing and that stuck with me all thru my life til now. How cruel people can be.
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@GardenGerty (157555)
• United States
15 Dec 19
I was poor, in a city. No outhouse, but there were times even in winter when ALL of our utilities were shut off. No food gathering, and no wood stove to heat with. Mom refused to go to yard sales or thrift shops be we were lucky to often have hand me downs. I think growing up poor made me more resilient. I am posting here because I have not seen you in ages and have been thinking of you.
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@peavey (16936)
• United States
15 Dec 19
Hi Heather! I'm still around, just haven't been actively doing much lately due to some health issues and holidays now, too.
It sounds like you had it tougher than I did growing up. We might have slept in the frigid air, but we had heat in the living room and kitchen. I think growing up poor does make one more resilient and less afraid of not being able to deal with things.
@LovingMyBabies (85127)
• Valdosta, Georgia
20 Jul 18
We were poor growing up according to societies standards. We ate a lot of tuna sandwiches, peanut butter, soup, grilled cheese, etc... We were on food stamps. We had clothes from older siblings and cousins-my parents couldn't afford new having 4 kids. 3 of us girls shared a pretty small bedroom.
My family is not well off now either but we are rich in God's love! That's the most important thing to us. =)
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@peavey (16936)
• United States
21 Jul 18
God's love is absolutely the most important thing!
When I was growing up they didn't have food stamps, but they did have "commodities" which I think they still do have. I remember loving the beef in gravy and the big slabs of cheese. And of course, hand me down clothes. Everyone we knew did that (and still do).
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@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
20 Jul 18
I grew up in the GDR (German Democratic Republic) in the years after the Second World War. Everybody was poor then. I didn't know many things and therefore didn't suffer. The adults suffered. No real coffee, for example. Only ersatz coffee from roasted chicory. No chocolate, no sweets, no cocoa.
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@peavey (16936)
• United States
21 Jul 18
Daddy worked on a ranch and the wife of the owner escaped from Germany just before the Berlin Wall closed. She told us a lot about how things were before the war and she worried a lot about her mother who was still there.
I think a lot of people all over Europe especially, suffered a lot after the war. I think that's a different kind of poor. 
@db20747 (43427)
• Washington, District Of Columbia
20 Jul 18
At least U had water!!! Patched jeans became the style and all the rage!!!! U mean U had a stove??!!! U gathered wild greens?? Those R the best greens!!! How about wild berries 4 cobbler!!! My great grandmother made cobbler out of wild berries!!! Looks like U made it work!!!
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@peavey (16936)
• United States
20 Jul 18
Yep, we had a hand pump, which is a whole 'nother story! Patched jeans didn't become the style for many years after we wore them. You're right; wild greens are the best and they're good for you, too. We didn't have wild berries close by, but we had rhubarb in the spring, which is a good second.
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@everwonderwhy (6697)
•
26 Mar 19
My gratefulness to our mothers back then,and today who never complained about our lack-of- things-and-made/make our homes a happy sheltered place to be.
Not long ago,my husband chopped wood, and I brought them in, loads and loads, to burn and to keep our house warm and comfortable all day. My children picked branches and dry gum tree leaves and twigs for kindling. I grew our vegies.
We wereonce called the Little House on the Prairie family. :-D
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