Mei Man: I drew Superman during the Great Depression

Chapter 50 Relief Bread
"It's on the left. It's 10 cents a book."

Hearing the question, the boss sitting in the newsstand didn't think too much, pointed to the location of "Messenger Comic", and replied casually.

"Ok."

Pick up a copy of Courier Comics.

The pedestrian didn't say much, just left 10 cents and turned to leave.

"This is? Sold?"

"So simple?"

Looking at the 10 cents in front of him, the boss couldn't help showing a somewhat astonished expression on his face.

"Boss, I want to buy "Messenger Comics"!"

However, he hadn't waited for him to figure out what happened just now.

In front of the newsstand, there was another eager inquiry.

"No problem, ten cents a copy."

Come down all morning and wait until the boss comes back to his senses.

The "Messenger Comics" in front of the newsstand has been sold out. Looking at the blank space on the bookshelf where "Messenger Comics" is in stark contrast to the surrounding ones, the owner of the newsstand felt a little bit annoyed besides joy.

"If I had known, I would have bought a few extra copies of Courier Comics from the delivery guy."

And this annoyance, with the inquiries from time to time in front of the newsstand, became more obvious.

……

"thank you, sir……"

In front of the Messenger newspaper office, a child with a sallow complexion in unfit loose clothes looked up at Ke Lin in front of him, and expressed his thanks in a childish voice.

"You're welcome, kid."

Smiling, he wrapped a piece of bread with newspaper and put it in the child's hands. Colin patted his head and said softly.

Stretching out his hand to hold the bread that Ke Lin handed over firmly in his bosom, the little boy walked out of the line in three steps at a time. Lin, then hurriedly ran back to his parents at the corner of the street.

"Mommy mommy……"

When he came to his mother, the child held up the bread wrapped in newspaper in his hand, with a smile on his immature face, and said in a showing off tone.

"I got the bread."

"Well done, baby."

Reaching out to take the bread from the child, the mother's emaciated face showed a bit of shame.

In this day and age, there is virtually a fine line between begging and receiving alms.

For many, visits to soup kitchens in the street became a regular occurrence, the only guarantee they had to survive a difficult life.

In the face of handouts, parents who have too much self-esteem to accept handouts send their children because they know their shame is less ingrained.

Even if I can't fill my stomach, at least my children won't be hungry.

In general, soup kitchens on the street can only provide a small amount of food, and it cannot be taken away.

But this time, Mr. Colin Luper of the Courier newspaper said that the bread given away is obviously a rare food for poor families that can be taken home by children to share.

Although, what the other party gave was cheap pork liver bread.

But for many families who can't even eat bread, such a piece of pork liver bread is still a rare food, and it is more filling than a roadside soup kitchen.

"For tonight's food, maybe you can use pork liver bread with mashed potatoes, and add some wild vegetables that you dug before..."

On the way to "Hoover Village" holding the child's hand, the woman thought about what kind of food to make for the family for dinner. A piece of pork liver bread greatly reduced the burden on the family.

"Mommy mommy……"

While the mother was thinking, the child beside him pointed to the figure in the cloak in the cartoon on the newspaper outside the bread, and asked in a childish voice.

"What is painted on it?"

Hearing the child's question, the mother's thoughts came back from the dinner, and she looked down at the newspaper wrapped in the bread in her hand, barely discerning the identity of the figure from the blurred folds and words.

"It's Superman."

"Superman?"

Hearing the mother's answer, the child blinked, looked at the figure in the newspaper, and gradually formed a vague image of a superman in his mind.

……

"...In my childhood memories, reading the "Superman" comics in old newspapers has become the thing I look forward to most in my childhood."

"Creed Burke was born on the eve of the Great Depression. He was only six years old when the Great Depression happened. Before the Great Depression, his father was a bank clerk. He lost his job in 1929. In order to survive, he had to find a job at the dock. But it was a tough time for everyone, including the Creed Burke family."

"Clyde Burke's father often went out to work all day, but he didn't earn a penny. Because of this incident, Creed Burke could often hear his parents' quarrels, but they still lived together , at that time, divorce was still a social taboo and the economic cost was high. Either the husband abandoned his wife, or the couple remained under the same roof in a tense atmosphere.”

"... Later, as life became harder, Creed Burke's family had to move into 'Hooverville,' along with the neighborhood, and 'Hooverville' was the Great Depression, and people would use tin iron A dilapidated shantytown of cans, cardboard and sacks, the move to 'Hooverville' resulted in more frequent quarrels among Creed Burke's family and an alcoholic father..."

"It was still during Prohibition, but obviously no one would care about the problem of 'Hooverville'. Many bootleggers hid there and brewed wine 24 hours a day. These inferior wines were very popular in 'Hooverville' at that time. 'Welcome from the locals, many people would rather not eat for a day, but also to drink a sip of wine..."

"One of the necessary psychological passages for children is to realize that their parents are not infallible. But in the Great Depression, this realization tends to come much earlier, as young people discover that parents, too, are like babies helpless."

"Because of poverty, my mother had to take me to the porridge kitchen on the street to find food. At that time, I didn't know the meaning behind it. I just thought it could fill my stomach. Every time I asked my mother why When she doesn’t accompany me to eat, she always tells me with a smile that she has already eaten. Now that I think about it, this may be her last insistence as a parent.”

"...during those difficult days, the greatest pleasure for me and the children my age was to read the comics of "Superman" in the "Courier", Mr. Colin Luper of the Courier, who will be in every week On the morning of Monday, he gave out bread, and he used the old newspaper of "Courier" to wrap the bread, so every Monday has become the day I look forward to the most." - Excerpted from "Remembering My Great Depression Era"

Author: John Walker
　New book, ask for a monthly pass~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)