Activity :
Create an advertising poster for a new product (something introduced during the 1920’s) that reflects
the spend-free attitude of the time.
Meals & Snacks:
Planter's Peanuts
Beverages:
Hires Root Beer
Wheaties (1924)
Kool-Aid drink mix
Kraft cheese
7-UP (1929)
Gold Medal Flour
Orange Crush
Kellogg's Corn Flakes
Coca-Cola
Oscar Mayer wieners (1929)
Dr. Pepper
Birds-Eye frozen vegetables (1928) Pepsi-Cola
Del Monte canned foods
Welch's grape juice
Kellogg's Rice Krispies (1928)
Fruit Smack drink mix
Peter Pan peanut butter (1928)
Libby's canned tomato soup
Green Giant canned peas (1925)
Jell-O ice cream powder
Cracker Jack
Cream Of Wheat
Other Products:
Fountain Pens
Hallmark Greeting Cards
Cigarette Lighters
Dixie Cups
Sani-Paper Towels
On Thursday, October 24, 1929 share prices began dropping drastically. This trend continued Friday and into Monday.
On the following Tuesday, shareholders were so anxious to sell their stock but no one was interested in buying. With no
one to invest new money into the stock market, it crashed. This is referred to as Black Tuesday.
Watch video : http://youtu.be/DXFAf-V9Qpk Black Tuesday
Discuss the photo on page 87. How do you think this man’s quality of living will be affected?
What Caused The Great Depression?

Stock market crashed

Financing : manufacturers used credit to purchase new equipment to keep up with the demands of production
(which people later were unable to purchase). People used credit to buy stocks which in the end were useless.

Overproduction : Manufacturers produced products in higher numbers, believing the good times of the 20’s
would continue.

Exports : Canada traded heavily with the US. When the US economy died, it could not sell its products to the US.
US investors pulled out of Canada and plants closed.

Minimal Regulation : financial institutions (banks) were much less regulated than they are today giving them the
upper hand over consumers. They were free to create rules almost as they saw fit that benefitted themselves.
Effects of stock market crash

Companies slowed or pulled out of production. People were laid off. Unemployed workers could not pay for
things bought on credit. Hey relied on public relief

Social Effects : Unemployed workers became desperate. Money dried up. Luxuries were a thing of the past.
People became homeless and malnourished. Diseases such as scurvy plagued society. People sold their
possessions and went door to door panhandling, borrowed from family and asked for charity from
churches. When all else failed, they went to “the dole” (“pogey”). Asking for help like this was
embarrassing and there were embarrassing requirements (giving up alcohol and your driver’s license).
They were forced to work clearing brush, cutting wood, or building roads.
People in rural areas were a little better off because they still had remnants of the subsistence economy
from the 19th century. They retained the means to support themselves and their families better than
people in cities who had become reliant on the consumer economy.
Activity :
Read through pages 90 – 91, students can write a journal response to examine how the effects of the
Great Depression were felt across the country. How were the effects felt differently in various regions
across Canada?
Activity :
Listen to the song “Brother Can You Spare a Dime?”
"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931)
They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,
When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job.
They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
Why don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Complete the chart on the next page.
Video with visuals: http://youtu.be/JppgeksnrdE
Brother Can You Spare a Dime?
Questions
What is the Origin of the Document?
For what audience was the document created?
Why might it have been written?
What does the information in the document tell you about
life in the 1920s?
What other information do you wish the document had
included?
Thoughts
In 1936, the CBC was formed. People who had access to electricity and a radio could “forget their troubles” during these
hard times. One such show, The Happy Gang began in the late 30’s. People would could afford a few pennies went to
movies. Movies were now in colour and had sound (no longer black & white).
http://youtu.be/TpfY8kh5lUw
Video with lots of pictures of conditions during the Great Depression.
http://www.greekshares.com/twenties.php Background Information