October 27, 1931 the new Anthony Wayne high level bridge was dedicated and much celebration was planned for Toledo. There were bargains in the stores, free taxi and streetcar rides which brought 40,000 people downtown. A & P stores offered 3 large cans of Alaska pink salmon for 25 cents. Tiedtkes department store offered lunch of fricasseed rabbit-10 cents. "The splendid bridge was a spectacular symbol of the new metropolis and again, as so often in the past, the 'dawn of a bright new era' was proclaimed. But the cold steady rain of October 27th was also a symbol. There would be long years of depression and war before the bright new era of Toledo arrived".(3)
The city of Toledo was hit harder than any other city in the country. It was on the verge of bankruptcy until the Federal government stepped in. In the book Gateway to the Great Lakes, the chapter covering The Great Depression is titled "The Desperate Years" and so they were.
A fire station at the corner of Bancroft and Franklin Avenues became one of the centers for dispersing vegetables to the needy: potatoes, onions, carrots, etc. Philip, about age 10 would pick them up. Lena turned the vegetables into mouth-watering soups we loved to eat. She found ways to fool the stomach; one in particular, a delicious, milkless potato soup tasted as if it had been cooked with meat.
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