11 2 Life During the Great Depression of

11: 2 • Life During the Great Depression – ¼ of the workforce unemployed – “Shantytowns” (“Hoovervilles”): homeless people put up shacks on unused public land

11: 2 • Hobos – Homeless men and boys who would hide on railway cars to cross the country

11: 2 • The Dust Bowl – Uncultivated fields – Drought strikes the Great Plains – Massive dust storms

11: 2 • Art and Entertainment during the G. D. – Americans looking for a way to ‘escape’ – Superman – Batman

11: 2 • Hollywood during the G. D. – More than 60 million Americans went to movies each week – Shirley Temple • Reflected a lost ‘innocence’ – Groucho Marx • Provided comic relief

11: 2 • Hollywood – Walt Disney • Mickey Mouse (1928) • First full-length cartoon: “Snow White” (1937)

11: 2 • Hollywood – “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” • Serving in American government is an honor – “The Wizard of Oz” • Colorful musical help lift American spirits – “Gone with the Wind” • About the Civil War

• Radio in the G. D. 11: 2 – Comedians • Jack Benny, George Burns – Superheroes • The Green Hornet • The Lone Ranger

11: 2 • Radio in the G. D. – Soap operas • “The Guiding Light” • Sponsors were often makers of laundry soap • Americans were able to see that everyone else had problems

11: 2 • Literature in the G. D. – John Steinbeck • “The Grapes of Wrath” (1939) – Life during the Dust Bowl – William Faulkner • Stream of consciousness technique • “The Sound and the Fury”

11: 2 • Art in the G. D. – Painters • Thomas Hart Benton • Grant Wood (“American Gothic”) – “Regionalist School” style – Glorified Midwestern values