Life During the Great Depression

DIVERSIONARY FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT
Everyday I have to come up with some new way to keep my brother and sister entertained and distracted from their hungry belly. I've made games, created music for them to dance to, and even enlisted the help of my neighbors to help distract them through more games and talking. I don't know what else there id to do. I already sneak the newspaper home from my job so I can read to them and show them the comics. Maybe the next step is to make comics of my own for them to read. I don't know.
- Mary Anne Smith

For Mary and her family, they had to find free ways to have fun, but as the depression continued, America's love for entertainment increased. Football was becoming a big along with movies.

Roadside camp of migrant workers, Lincoln County, Oklahoma, 1939. Photo by Russell Lee.
Another way people kept themselves entertained was through song. Folksongs were popular and only required a guitar and a little bit of talent.