The Smithsonian sets the scene for this Christmas card despatched in 1933, a couple of years into the Nice Depression. They write:
Regardless of the glum economic situation, the Pinero family used a brown paper bag to fashion an inexpensive holiday greeting card. They penned a intelligent rhyme and added some allureing line drawings of Mother, Dad, and the children with the message: “Oh, nicely—despite all of it—right here’s a Merry Christmas from the Pineros.” On December 19, 1933, they mailed it from Chicago to mates in Massachusetts, utilizing a one-and-a-half-cent stamp. For a minimal outlay of money, they have been capable of keep up a correspondence with mates and comment on their lowered circumstances with wit and humor.
This hand-lettered poem is a delightful examinationple of sunshine verse, a whimsical type of poetry intended to entertain or amuse, even when deal withing a serious subject in a humorous manner. Within the poem, the Pineros suggest that they’d struggled economically for a while, however now, because of the continuing Depression, others shared their financial plight, which enabled them to be extra open and maydid about their situation.
Like many families, the Pineros probably had numerous payments for necessities including hire, groceries, utilities, milk, and ice. As a result of not each family had electric refrigeration in 1933, many relied on regular deliveries of ice to maintain their perishin a position meals chilly. These payments for milk and ice have been sepacharge; they weren’t a part of the grocery account. Native dairies supplied milk and other products on a daily foundation. Each the Ice Man and the Milk Man would cometh, so long as they have been paid!
It’s a historical case of when much less is certainly extra…
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