Depression Days

Dear family and friends,

The Program Chairman of our local Sr. Citizens Club asked me to tell how the Depression affected me and my family.  I thought you might be interested to know what I talked about.  (I was limited to 5 minutes.)

My name is Angagh Kalpakian MacKellar Elwood, an Armenian born at the end of 1918 in Adana, Turkey.  Adana is a port on the southern shore of Turkey, not far from the Syrian border.  Things were not good for Armenians in 1921.  So my mother wrote to her sister and brother-in-law in California to see if they would sponsor us so that we could come to the U.S.  They did; but when the papers arrived in 1922 my mother was nine months pregnant!  So we took a ship to Istambul, a large metropolitan city, where things would be better.  We arrived on Thursday and my sister was born on Sunday!  My father had relatives there who were in the oriental rug business; so my father learned to buy and sell oriental rugs. 

We came to Venice, California, moved into a tiny house at the back of our relatives' house, and my father ran a small tobacco and candy stand on the strand of Venice Beach.  Not much income.  Three years later we moved to Los Angeles where my father bought a small grocery store on the corner of South San Pedro and 19th Streets.  Living quarters were behind and attached to the store.  We were there only about 9 months when a man came along, wanting to buy the business!  My father quoted a price he was sure the man would not accept--but he did!  So with that money my father bought a larger market on South Figueroa and 108th Street, with 3 separate parts: grocery, fruits and vegetables and meat.  (He ran the first 2 parts.)  This was early in 1928.  My father ran the business alone in the mornings; Mother came and helped every afternoon; and sometimes on Saturdays I came to help.  Business was good!

Also in 1928 my first husband's father had a very good job as general manager of a refrigerated warehouse.   They were so well off that when his wife expressed the desire to go back to Michigan to visit relatives, they bought a brand new Willys Knight Touring Car and she drove the three children to Michigan to spend the summer!  Some time later, the owner of the business died, leaving my future father-in-law without a job!  From then on, both parents worked whenever they could, moving from one rented house to another where the rent was less. 

Although the market crashed in 1929, the full effect did not hit southwestern Los Angeles until 1932 or 1933.  When my future husband graduated from junior high school in 1933, the family could not afford to buy him white corduroy pants for the ceremoney, as required.  The PTA bought them.

During the three years that Father had that grocery store, he earned good money!  Many years later, Mother told me that it was in that market that Dad made the most money ever!  In all other stores, he earned a living; but in that store he earned the money which bought in 1941 a large two-family home on Olympic Blvd, educated four daughters, and provided a comfortable retirement for my parents. 

Now, whenever I think about the Depression, I remember that the daughter of William Gibbs McAdoo (former U.S. senator) was down to her last $20,000, she was so depressed that she committed suicide!!