RALEIGH—During the Great Depression of the 1930s North Carolinians sought ways to distract themselves from economic woes while still watching their pennies. The exhibit “Fun Times in Hard Times: How We Played in the Great Depression,” now on display at the State Capitol, highlights how people made their own fun, often on a shoestring. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
Featured artifacts include a ball from baseball Hall of Famer and Rocky Mount native Buck Leonard, an original 1935 Monopoly game, a 1930s radio and more. The exhibit will remain on display on the Capitol’s second floor until April 5.
During the Great Depression, new toys became a rare luxury for many kids. Some resorted to fixing their old broken toys or fashioned homemade playthings. Flour sack dolls, sardine can racecars and clay marbles entertained kids and didn’t cost a cent. For families with little money for entertainment, new games like Monopoly and Old Maid were all the rage. Radio programs amused families in the evenings, and for North Carolina readers, new books like Thomas Wolfe’s Look Homeward, Angel gave them a brief break from the day’s hardships.
Many leisure activities North Carolinians still enjoy first became popular in the 1930s. During the Depression, spectator sports like college football and baseball attracted better-heeled audiences (UNC football tickets then went for $2.25 each, the price of a full bag of groceries in 1937) and also generated much-needed revenue for the schools. The federal government also sought to jumpstart the economy through programs like the Works Progress Administration (WPA), hiring unemployed workers to build public recreation facilities such as N.C. State University’s Riddick Stadium.
Guest Curator Charis Guerin, a student intern from N.C. State University, conceptualized, researched and wrote the text for the exhibit. “I suppose more than anything I hope that those who view the exhibit will take away from it the knowledge that people who lived during the Great Depression were not without hope, laughter, and imagination,” said Guerin.
A National Historic Landmark, the N.C. State Capitol is one of the finest and best-preserved examples of the Greek Revival style of architecture in the United States. It features a domed rotunda and state senate and house chambers, meticulously restored to their 1840 appearance. Until 1888, its granite walls housed all of state government and the legislature met here until 1961. Today the governor and his staff still occupy offices in the Capitol.
The State Capitol’s mission is to preserve and interpret the architecture, history, and functions of the 1840 Capitol building and Union Square where it is located. In downtown Raleigh, the State Capitol is bounded by Edenton, Salisbury, Morgan and Wilmington streets. Free parking is available in state lots near the Capitol. For more information on the Capitol call 919-733-4994 or go to http://www.nchistoricsites.org/capitol.
Administered by the Division of State Historic Sites, the State Capitol is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture. Join the Cultural Resources 2009 theme observance of “Treasure N.C. Culture.” For more information, visit www.ncculture.com.