Scenes of Boone 1936

[Kgfish]

Thought ya'll would get a kick out of this.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Some of the younger kids in the film could be in their late 80s maybe or a bit older. I wonder how many are alive and could ID some of the people 78 years later?

[Gonzo]

I'm sure WV will be identifying himself in the film soon enough.

[appmandan]

I got a kick seeing most everyone walking by the camera it put a smile on their face. I'm sure it was not a technology they ran into every day.

Nice find. Thanks for sharing.

[asu66]

I was taken by the apparent vibrancy of the community so soon after The Great Depression.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I was taken by the apparent vibrancy of the community so soon after The Great Depression.

After? 1936 was still during I thought.

[NewApp]

I was taken by the apparent vibrancy of the community so soon after The Great Depression.

Wasn't the Great Depression considered still going on in 1936?
Woops, I didn't see McLeansville App's post.

[asu66]

I was taken by the apparent vibrancy of the community so soon after The Great Depression.

After? 1936 was still during I thought.

I took a grad school economics course on The Depression way back when. I entered the class confused; and came out about the same way. US market conditions were probably at their worst in '30--with upward movement from '31 forward. The auto industry began to recover in the mid-30s and things s-l-o-w-l-y improved. Then the war effort put a lot of women to work--while husbands and boyfriend were digging foxholes all over Europe or banging their heads in below-deck battleship crawl spaces in the Pacific.

I think it really depended on where you lived and if/where you worked as to when it ended. The film footage depicted a busy, vibrant small town with business a-boomin'. I expected to see at least some signs of poverty. Even the farm scenes gave the impression of happy--not downtrodden folks. I think it underscores what we've known as former Appalachian students--Boone/Watauga wasn't and isn't any ordinary mountain community.

In some countries around the globe, TD didn't end until well after WWII. In some sections of rural Appalachia, it really still hasn't ended.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I was taken by the apparent vibrancy of the community so soon after The Great Depression.

After? 1936 was still during I thought.

I took a grad school economics course on The Depression way back when. I entered the class confused; and came out about the same way. US market conditions were probably at their worst in '30--with upward movement from '31 forward. The auto industry began to recover in the mid-30s and things s-l-o-w-l-y improved. Then the war effort put a lot of women to work--while husbands and boyfriend were digging foxholes all over Europe or banging their heads in below-deck battleship crawl spaces in the Pacific.

I think it really depended on where you lived and if/where you worked as to when it ended. The film footage depicted a busy, vibrant small town with business a-boomin'. I expected to see at least some signs of poverty. Even the farm scenes gave the impression of happy--not downtrodden folks. I think it underscores what we've known as former Appalachian students--Boone/Watauga wasn't and isn't any ordinary mountain community.

In some countries around the globe, TD didn't end until well after WWII. In some sections of rural Appalachia, it really still hasn't ended.

Maybe something to be said about buy local. I doubt there was much industry in Boone in 1936 so not much job loss there. This was not the Dust Bowl area so if you could grow enough to eat you could do ok I would think. And if the production in the Dust Bowl area was down there could be markets for a farmer here, if they could get the crops to market. I guess they were growing a bunch of burley tobacco then in the area.

[asu66]

I was taken by the apparent vibrancy of the community so soon after The Great Depression.

After? 1936 was still during I thought.

I took a grad school economics course on The Depression way back when. I entered the class confused; and came out about the same way. US market conditions were probably at their worst in '30--with upward movement from '31 forward. The auto industry began to recover in the mid-30s and things s-l-o-w-l-y improved. Then the war effort put a lot of women to work--while husbands and boyfriends were digging foxholes all over Europe or banging their heads in below-deck battleship crawl spaces in the Pacific.

I think it really depended on where you lived and if/where you worked as to when it ended. The film footage depicted a busy, vibrant small town with business a-boomin'. I expected to see at least some signs of poverty. Even the farm scenes gave the impression of happy--not downtrodden folks. I think it underscores what we've known as former Appalachian students--Boone/Watauga wasn't and isn't any ordinary mountain community.

In some countries around the globe, TD didn't end until well after WWII. In some sections of rural Appalachia, it really still hasn't ended.

Maybe something to be said about buy local. I doubt there was much industry in Boone in 1936 so not much job loss there. This was not the Dust Bowl area so if you could grow enough to eat you could do ok I would think. And if the production in the Dust Bowl area was down there could be markets for a farmer here, if they could get the crops to market. I guess they were growing a bunch of burley tobacco then in the area.

[asu66]

I was taken by the apparent vibrancy of the community so soon after The Great Depression.

After? 1936 was still during I thought.

I took a grad school economics course on The Depression way back when. I entered the class confused; and came out about the same way. US market conditions were probably at their worst in '30--with upward movement from '31 forward. The auto industry began to recover in the mid-30s and things s-l-o-w-l-y improved. Then the war effort put a lot of women to work--while husbands and boyfriends were digging foxholes all over Europe or banging their heads in below-deck battleship crawl spaces in the Pacific.

I think it really depended on where you lived and if/where you worked as to when it ended. The film footage depicted a busy, vibrant small town with business a-boomin'. I expected to see at least some signs of poverty. Even the farm scenes gave the impression of happy--not downtrodden folks. I think it underscores what we've known as former Appalachian students--Boone/Watauga wasn't and isn't any ordinary mountain community.

In some countries around the globe, TD didn't end until well after WWII. In some sections of rural Appalachia, it really still hasn't ended.

Maybe something to be said about buy local. I doubt there was much industry in Boone in 1936 so not much job loss there. This was not the Dust Bowl area so if you could grow enough to eat you could do ok I would think. And if the production in the Dust Bowl area was down there could be markets for a farmer here, if they could get the crops to market. I guess they were growing a bunch of burley tobacco then in the area.

Yes...burley leaf, cabbage, rare herbs, trapping/furs, timber. Wholesale and retail sales and services. ASTC as a category of its own; even then, the largest employer in the area. Manufacturing to include printing, cottage industries, kraut production and...rumors persist to this day that not-so-legal alcohol distilling was in evidence. That'll come as a real shock, I'm certain!

[firemoose]

[

Yes...burley leaf, cabbage, rare herbs, trapping/furs, timber. Wholesale and retail sales and services. ASTC as a category of its own; even then, the largest employer in the area. Manufacturing to include printing, cottage industries, kraut production and...rumors persist to this day that not-so-legal alcohol distilling was in evidence. That'll come as a real shock, I'm certain! [/quote]

Rumor? Yeah, if my grandpop and great grandpop were still alive they would shake their heads yes with a BIG grin over that word. And considering the Ol' Mountain Jug was made in either 32' or 33' I'll give one myself.

[zim262]

This looks like one of the films that were filmed in small towns and then were shown in the local movie theater. The film producer would make money from the admissions and the locals could see themselves in the "movies". I remember seeing a very similar type film that was filmed in Valdese, NC.

[WataugaMan]

I was looking to see if I could spot a grandparent or great-grandparent in the clip, don't know why. If I could have spotted them they would have been much younger than I would have remember them. My grandmother worked at Belk in Boone for many decades. The scene where the ladies were shopping, I was trying hard to see if she was there, didn't see her. Then again, maybe I did and didn't recognize her. My great-grandfather sold fruit and vegetables in town, didn't see him either. The little kids in the video were about my parents age.

[Maddog1956]

I was taken by the apparent vibrancy of the community so soon after The Great Depression.

Maybe something to be said about buy local. I doubt there was much industry in Boone in 1936 so not much job loss there. This was not the Dust Bowl area so if you could grow enough to eat you could do ok I would think. And if the production in the Dust Bowl area was down there could be markets for a farmer here, if they could get the crops to market. I guess they were growing a bunch of burley tobacco then in the area.

I think you're right about the effect of the depression on Boone. Life was never easy in Appalachia, even in the best of times. To most the "stock market" was where they sold their pigs. Also by 1936 most the programs created during the new deal would have been in place for awhile and already paying off, especially in the mountains. Unemployment had drop by 8%, so to most people "happy days were here again". Over in Tenn, the TVA was hiring, (later Watauga Lake would replace the original town of Butler). Work on the Blue Ridge Parkway was starting or getting ready to start.

Also towns were much more important during the day. "Going to town" was a major event and most "crossroads" stores were supplied from the "downtown" stores. Going "down or across" the mountain" was hard so Boone was your main option.

Also Boone did have one ace in the hole that not every town had...Appalachian State Teachers College. With approx 1200+ students this would have create a major impact on a small town and it's business.

[WataugaMan]

Also, times were more simpler then: People grew their own food (big gardens, livestock, etc.). And, people helped each other out a lot more back in those days as well.

[Maddog1956]

Also, times were more simpler then: People grew their own food (big gardens, livestock, etc.). And, people helped each other out a lot more back in those days as well.

Yes most people would live a mile from where they were born. To some degree WWI, changed that but mostly WWII changed the dynamics of the US. People moved to take manufacturing jobs to help the war effort, military personnel saw the world and didn't want to go back to the farm. All of a sudden we became a consumer society, with little box houses.

[WataugaMan]

Yes, after WW2 the world took off. My dad graduated HS after WW2, his first job after a stint in the Army was in Oak Ridge, TN. working at a "top secret" facility. Thus, unlike his parents, grandparents, etc. before him things had changed.

[NewApp]

The quality of the film, despite its storage, from 1936, was extremely impressive. That's roughly 88 years. Surely it was copied to video years ago, but even in that there was a loss of quality via the transfer.

Thanks for sharing, kingfish.

[eggers76]

These posts remind me of something my my Dad told me about when he was growing up. The time would have been in the same timeframe as when this movie was made. He said that he and his brothers along with my Granddad, used to gather up sweet potatoes and other local produce from Cleveland and Rutherford counties. They would take the produce to Watauga and Avery counties and trade their produce for apples, cabbages, and other mountain produce. Dad always enjoyed these trips. Being as their name was Greene, the same as many of the local folks, they were always welcomed into the local homes and treated just like family.