For 10 years after the October 1929 stock market crash, the industrialized world was gripped by the Great Depression, the worst economic collapse in history. Wall Street panicked, and millions of investors lost everything. Over the next few years, investment and consumer spending dropped steeply, causing companies to lay off their workers and a massive drop in industrial output. But for such a devastating period in history, which saw 15 million Americans without jobs, it’s rarely talked about. Scroll through these rare pictures for a glimpse into life during the Great Depression …
Dust Bowl Masks
If the collapse of nearly half the country’s banks and the loss of millions of jobs wasn’t bad enough, the weather wasn’t playing nice either. At the time of the Great Depression, terrible drought hit the States and farmer conditions were rough. Consequently, the state of American agriculture hit an all-time low, with many farms destroyed. Due to the drought, dust and airborne toxic levels were so high that people had to wear masks to protect their respiratory systems. These came to be known as Dust Bowl Masks.
