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Story
September 9, 1932
The Ironton News
Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio
What is this article about?
Dialogue between a soda jerker and bank clerk discussing Hoover carts as a Depression-era adaptation for farmers, highlighting both cheerful ingenuity and underlying hunger and bitterness, with references to potential unrest and the Bonus Army gassing.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
THE SODA JERKER
AND THE BANK CLERK
"Have you seen one of those Hoover carts that are cluttering up the roads in other parts of the State?" asked the Soda Jerker.
"Yes. I've seen them," replied the Bank Clerk.
"If Ohio tenant farmers had taken down their old Fords, built them into Hoover carts and used horses and mules for motive power five years ago, instead of spending all their surplus cash for automobile repairs and gasoline, they would have been better off. The trouble with the Hoover cart idea is, it came at least three years too late," said the Soda Jerker.
"I don't know," said the Bank Clerk: "I look upon these Hoover carts as one of the happiest manifestations of our times."
"How so?" asked the Soda Jerker.
"It's like this," said the Bank Clerk: "take a farmer whose old Ford is worn out and who can't scrape together enough money to put it in running order again. If he could get it running, he couldn't buy the gas and cylinder oil for it. Instead of setting around the cross roads grocery and cussing the government, or moping around with the idea of killing himself, he backs the old Ford or the Chevy out from under the shed, takes off the rear axle and its two wheels, mounts springs and a seat on the axles, attaches a pair of shafts to the outfit, hitches the old mule to the contraption and starts to town. His kids watch the operation with much glee, romp and shout and all want to climb on when the thing is ready to go. Even his poor wife smiles. Everybody grins. And John Farmer is so busy with his work, and invention that he forgets all about his economic troubles. With the aid of their Hoover cart hundreds of poor farmers and their families are laughing off the depression. That's why I call the Hoover cart one of the happiest manifestations of our times."
"You may be right," said the Soda Jerker, "but underneath the laughter there is a lot of gnawing hunger and smoldering bitterness. They are already beginning to stage parades and rodeos with their Hoover carts. There will be thousands of them on the road this fall and winter, and, like the ex-soldiers, if they should take it into their head to march onto Washington, the government would be a pretty kettle of fish on its hands."
"Oh, I don't think so," said the Bank Clerk. "Hoover would call out the National Guard, the cavalry and a fleet of tanks, drive them back home with tear gas and bayonets and then issue a statement to the press saying that these farmers were mostly foreigners and Reds."
"Hoover couldn't pull anything like that on a bunch of American farmers and get away with it," said the Soda Jerker.
"Hoover could get away with murder," said the Bank Clerk.
"He certainly got away with the murder of the three months old baby Bernard Myers that was gassed by the soldiers he called out against the B. E. F." said the Soda Jerker.
About that time the Bank Clerk's German police dog romped into the drug store.
"Has that dog of yours got a family tree?" asked the Soda Jerker.
"No," replied the Bank Clerk, "he has no particular tree."
AND THE BANK CLERK
"Have you seen one of those Hoover carts that are cluttering up the roads in other parts of the State?" asked the Soda Jerker.
"Yes. I've seen them," replied the Bank Clerk.
"If Ohio tenant farmers had taken down their old Fords, built them into Hoover carts and used horses and mules for motive power five years ago, instead of spending all their surplus cash for automobile repairs and gasoline, they would have been better off. The trouble with the Hoover cart idea is, it came at least three years too late," said the Soda Jerker.
"I don't know," said the Bank Clerk: "I look upon these Hoover carts as one of the happiest manifestations of our times."
"How so?" asked the Soda Jerker.
"It's like this," said the Bank Clerk: "take a farmer whose old Ford is worn out and who can't scrape together enough money to put it in running order again. If he could get it running, he couldn't buy the gas and cylinder oil for it. Instead of setting around the cross roads grocery and cussing the government, or moping around with the idea of killing himself, he backs the old Ford or the Chevy out from under the shed, takes off the rear axle and its two wheels, mounts springs and a seat on the axles, attaches a pair of shafts to the outfit, hitches the old mule to the contraption and starts to town. His kids watch the operation with much glee, romp and shout and all want to climb on when the thing is ready to go. Even his poor wife smiles. Everybody grins. And John Farmer is so busy with his work, and invention that he forgets all about his economic troubles. With the aid of their Hoover cart hundreds of poor farmers and their families are laughing off the depression. That's why I call the Hoover cart one of the happiest manifestations of our times."
"You may be right," said the Soda Jerker, "but underneath the laughter there is a lot of gnawing hunger and smoldering bitterness. They are already beginning to stage parades and rodeos with their Hoover carts. There will be thousands of them on the road this fall and winter, and, like the ex-soldiers, if they should take it into their head to march onto Washington, the government would be a pretty kettle of fish on its hands."
"Oh, I don't think so," said the Bank Clerk. "Hoover would call out the National Guard, the cavalry and a fleet of tanks, drive them back home with tear gas and bayonets and then issue a statement to the press saying that these farmers were mostly foreigners and Reds."
"Hoover couldn't pull anything like that on a bunch of American farmers and get away with it," said the Soda Jerker.
"Hoover could get away with murder," said the Bank Clerk.
"He certainly got away with the murder of the three months old baby Bernard Myers that was gassed by the soldiers he called out against the B. E. F." said the Soda Jerker.
About that time the Bank Clerk's German police dog romped into the drug store.
"Has that dog of yours got a family tree?" asked the Soda Jerker.
"No," replied the Bank Clerk, "he has no particular tree."
What sub-type of article is it?
Historical Event
Tragedy
What themes does it cover?
Misfortune
Survival
Tragedy
What keywords are associated?
Hoover Carts
Great Depression
Farmers Hardship
Bonus Army
Political Critique
Economic Ingenuity
What entities or persons were involved?
Soda Jerker
Bank Clerk
Hoover
Bernard Myers
Where did it happen?
Drug Store
Story Details
Key Persons
Soda Jerker
Bank Clerk
Hoover
Bernard Myers
Location
Drug Store
Story Details
A soda jerker and bank clerk debate the merits of Hoover carts for impoverished farmers during the Depression, contrasting inventive cheer with underlying bitterness and potential unrest, referencing the government's violent response to the Bonus Army and the death of baby Bernard Myers.