Turnip Green Sandwiches

RBnSC

Well-known Member
A good friends Grandfather told this story I thought I would relate to You folks (Yall).
Back during the depression Times were tough and He worked on a CCC project building a road in the northern part of Florida. Every day for weeks his wife sent him to work with a mustard green sandwich for lunch. (A mustard green sandwich is two pieces of cornbread with greens and some thin slices of turnip in between). When He just didn't think he could stand it anymore a new Guy showed up on the job carrying his lunch in a paper sack just like his and it looked heavy too.All morning long all he could think of was that bag. Well when it came time for lunch Grandad ran ahead of everyone else and switched bags then went and hid in a big culvert to eat. He opened the bag and to his surprise found 12 hickory nuts and a claw hammer. No matter how bad things are you don't have to look far to find someone that has it worse.
Ron
 
In the 1930,s I heard the description of a turnip sandwich.
Two slices of turnip with a slice of turnip in between
I am not lying.
 
my dad was raised during that era also. being fatherless at age 15 he became the man of the house for his mom and siblings. no education and partial disability from ww2 led to a hard life in later years. he managed it though, always had food, shelter and clothes. i would come in from school hungry and mom would have a pot of dried beans on the stove and she would always holler; eat the bean juice only and not the beans. later she would add water back to the pot of beans for supper. many days after school i would have a bowl of bean juice with onions and a piece of bread. somehow i feel better prepared for life because of it.
 
Mom & Dad grew up during the depression also. Dad talked about eating lard sandwiches also. If they had sugar he would sprinkle some on it. Mom talked about ketchup sandwiches, 2 pieces of bread with ketchup in the middle. Worked for a farmer who said that they ate fried potato peeling sandwiches during the depression. They did what they had to do to survive.
 
In Laura Ingall Wilder's books she talks about taking turkey sandwiches to school for so long they where sick of them. So they traded the Indian kids for their Venison sandwiches. I just shook my head at that. I love turkey and don't really like deer meat.

As for times being tight. There where a lot of Dried beans and corn bread meals in my younger life. I still love a big ham bone in a pot of dried beans. Crumble up some corn bread in a bowl an fill her up with the beans. Yum!!! Chop up a onion and your good to go. Just don't work inside after that. LOL
 
Mom said back then, her newly married sister came out to the farm and cut the eyes out of the seed potatoes, planted the eys, and boiled the rest of it.

--->Paul
 
my story does not compare but I was on my own at 15, I did have good enough jobs (I had three) that paid my apartment rent and my car payment but nothing much was left over for food my meals for two years were three .99 cent hotdogs from the Mini Mart, I made it last for the two weeks between paydays, but like another poster said it made me better for it and appreciate what I have now cnt
 
I eat onion sandwiches without the bread for two weeks while wait'n on my first paycheck. For two or three days I had onion soup, these onions were in the trunk of my car when I went through the port of entry when entering california. The guy looked at the bag, looked at me and shut the trunk and sent me thru.
 
I take all my turnip greens, cut them and eat them as a salad. Dont know if I could do it everyday.

Rick
 
Dried beans [dry] at breakfast..........Dried beans [dry] at lunch.....Then drink water for supper...YUM>>>YUM>>>
 
I love the stories like that, because they can also teach that it serves him right for stealing! :)
My dad was a child of the great depression, he passed on a variety of cheap meals and habits.
To this day I still occassionally fix Macaroni and Milk for supper, crackers and milk
or bread and milk for breakfast or a snack and don't throw away beef fat.
Throw nothing away, you may need it if you're resourceful enough to use it.
I clean everything after I use it so it doesn't get damaged sitting, etc.
Now if I could just find the inside of my garage.... :roll:
 

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