Gibraltar Talks Program Discusses Farm Life in the 1930s

The Gibraltar Historical Association (GHA) will present “Farm Life in the 1930s” for the June 13 “Gibraltar Talks” history related program. This journey back to the rural farming days of the 1930s will be held at 7 pm at the old Gibraltar Town Hall, located at the corner of Maple and Spruce Streets in Fish Creek.

Door County resident and past GHA president Eunice Rutherford will lead the program. Rutherford was born and raised on a farm located a few miles east of the village of Ephraim. She will share personal accounts of her experience growing up on a Door County farm during the Depression.

The Great Depression changed the lives of people who lived and farmed during the 1930s and, in turn, changed America and the county. “Repair, reuse, make do, and don’t throw anything away,” was a motto during the Great Depression. Many farm children didn’t have “store-bought dresses and shirts” until they went to high school. When farmers brought home big sacks of flour or chicken feed, farm women used the sacks as material to sew everything from girls’ dresses to boys’ shirts. Flour sack clothing was the fashion trend for much of the 1930s.

Gibraltar Talks programs are free and open to the public; audience participation is encouraged and refreshments will be served. Free will donations are appreciated to help GHA with future programming and other history related events and goals. For more information, call 920.868.3618 or visit historicnoblehouse.org.