Woody Guthrie, in this library of Congress recording of 1940, narrates and sings about the plight of the unfortunate mid-western farmers facing the repeating dust storms of the late 1930's, the great depression, terrible banks and the boll weavel pest attacking their crops. They left in droves for California where hey were looked down upon, exploited, settling down near river beds that flooded and drowned a thousand of them, picking up peaches for as little as one dollar a ton, picked, packed and crated. Most had no running water or sanitation, surviving on a diet of peaches and whatever they could fish out of the mostly dry river beds of Southern California. Hundreds of thousands of them, mostly forgotten today, dreamed about California where they were told that they would make $5 a day. This had to be before the Internet or snopes.com!. Thanks Woody Guthrie, you are a sweet man to remind us of all of them. It's been good to know ya! Also my thanks for 7 photos by James N. Gregory, American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California
(Below, a well-done YouTube of Woody singing)
5 comments:
And we complain about our bad economy, the cost of health care and our Chargers losing every game on the road...
GREAT WEBSITE YOU HAVE HERE. THE GRAPES OF WRATH WAS A MOVIE ON WHAT THE OKIES, ARKIES AND TEXANS HAD TO GO THRU WHEN THEY CAME TO CALIF, BACK IN THE 30'S. JUST LIKE TODAY, GREED WAS A MAIN FACTOR OF MANY LANDOWNERS IN CALIF. AT THAT TIME, NOW IT IS THE MEXICANS WHO GET THE SHAFT. MANY OF THESE DEPRESSION PEOPLE FROM BACK EAST, ENDED UP IN THE OIL BUSINESSES NEAR BAKERSFIELD, CA. EVENTURALLY THEY FIT INTO THE PATTERNS OF BEING CALIFORNIANS. WHAT HELPED AT THAT TIME, WAS THE MANUFACTURING OF WAR ITEMS, BEING SENT TO THE BRITISH AND EVENTURALLY THE HAPPENINGS OF PEARL HARBOR.
BEING A NATIVE CALIFORNIAN, I KNEW AND HEARD HOW IT WAS BACK THEN. MY FATHER USE TO WORK THE PRODUCE AND FRUIT FIELDS OF NORTHERN CALIF. TO HELP SUPPORT HIS FAMILY, AS A YOUNGSTE. MUCH OF THAT ENDED FOR THE YOUNG WORKING CALIFORNIANS WHEN THE OKIES, ARKIES AND TEXANS CAME WEST AND WOULD WORK FOR LOWER WAGES. AGAIN, THANKS TO GREEDY LAND OWNERS. MY FATHER WORKED FOR CAMBELL SOUPS WHEN I WAS BORN AND THEY GAVE HIM A $5 WEEKLY RAISE WITH MY BIRTH. THAT WAS AS MUCH AS SOME OF THESE POOR DEPRESSION PEOPLE MADE IN A WEEK.
SURE IS TRUE THO, ABOUT A PERSON HAVING TO BE RICH TO NOW LIVE IN CALIF.
Salut Jacques !
Ma décision est prise, je déménage chez vous, l'argent n'est pas un problème, par une chance inouïe je me suis fais un nouvel ami sur internet, il a énormément d'argent, lui-aussi souhaite déménager de son pays, mais il a un problème pour transférer ses avoirs en Amérique, pour l'aider je vais l'autoriser à transférer tout son argent dans mon compte à ma banque, l'affaire est réglée, on va avoir de l'argent à dépenser en masse, on va inviter tout le monde à Vegas.
Cependant il faudrait un montant de $5000 U.S. pour régler quelques frais d'administration et aussi quelques pots-de-vin coutumiers dans son pays, en Afrique, le Nigeria je crois.
Alors Jacques, l'affaire est dans le sac, tu seras comblé comme moi et bien d'autres.
P.S.: Pourrais-tu m'aider à payer en m'envoyant un chèque de $2500 ? Sinon ça ne marchera pas et on va tout perdre.
Merci d'avance, nous serons tous de gagnants.
Good day Jacques !
My decision is taken, I move at your place, money is not a problem, by an unheard-of luck I am myself does a new friend on internet, he has enormously money, also him wishes to move of his country, but he has a problem to transfer its have in America, to help him , I will authorize it to transfer all sound money in my account to my bank, the matter is seetle, we will spend in mass, one will invite everyone to Vegas.
Nevertheless it would be necessary an amount of $5000 U.S. to regulate some expenses of administration and also some jars-of-customary wines (brides) in his country, in Africa, the Nigeria I believe.
Then Jacques, the matter is in the bag, you will be filled as me and many other with money.
P.S.: You could help me to pay while sending me a check of $2500 ?
Otherwise the operation will not walk and all of us will lose.
Thank you for advances, we will be all of winning ones.
Cher Missie Paradiso,
Pas de pwobleme pou trandferr lagent car ici
au Nigeria ya beaucoup dagent likid, Tu as
juss bizoin de ma donne le numewo de ton
compte de banke et je vais fai ca tout suite.
ton nami Aka
(acadien d'origine)
"I hate a song that makes you think that you are not any good. I hate a song that makes you think that you are just born to lose. Bound to lose. No good to nobody. No good for nothing. Because you are too old or too young or too fat or too slim too ugly or too this or too that. Songs that run you down or poke fun at you on account of your bad luck or hard traveling. I am out to fight those songs to my very last breath of air and my last drop of blood. I am out to sing songs that will prove to you that this is your world and that if it has hit you pretty hard and knocked you for a dozen loops, no matter what color, what size you are, how you are built, I am out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work. And the songs that I sing are made up for the most part by all sorts of folks just about like you. I could hire out to the other side, the big money side, and get several dollars every week just to quit singing my own kind of songs and to sing the kind that knock you down still farther and the ones that poke fun at you even more and the ones that make you think you've not any sense at all. But I decided a long time ago that I'd starve to death before I'd sing any such songs as that. The radio waves and your movies and your jukeboxes and your songbooks are already loaded down and running over with such no good songs as that anyhow."
- Woody Guthrie.
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