Salem During the Great Depression
The closed businesses, quiet streets and financial uncertainty in Salem during the COVID-19 pandemic are a reminder of what life must have been like 90 years ago during the financial turmoil of the Great Depression. That economic crisis began on October 29, 1929, when the American stock market plunged, causing thousands of Americans to suffer catastrophic financial losses. Soon, banks, stores, businesses and factories began closing their doors and within months, thousands of Americans were unemployed. Stability didn’t begin to return until 1933, when Franklin D. Roosevelt became president and initiated a series of programs and projects to bring jobs and relief to Americans. New Deal projects and programs in Salem included historic building documentation through the Historical American Building Survey (HABS), expansion of Greenlawn Cemetery and restoration of Old Town Hall. (For more about New Deal programs in Salem see the Streets of Salem post in the sidebar.) At the same time, the City was initiating its own building projects including the creation of a new golf course - Olde Salem Green (see image below.) These national and local initiatives coincided with the country’s efforts to ramp up production of war materials at the start of World War II.
104-106 Lafayette Street today
In Salem, a city that had only recently recovered from the 1914 Fire and the Great World War, building once again all but stopped during the Great Depression as local residents faced financial crisis and uncertainty. There are examples, however, of resilient residents and companies who continued to build despite the economic turmoil around them. According to Salem’s historic building inventory, one example of a building constructed during the Great Depression is the Classical Revival building at 104-106 Lafayette Street. Constructed between 1929 and 1931, this building first appeared in the 1931 Street Directory as home to the St. Joseph Credit Union, the Paul N. Chaput real estate, and the Le Courier Publishing company. The building was constructed by Napoleon Ouellete, who lived at 38 Perkins Street in the rebuilt Point Neighborhood. Ouellette also served on the board of directors of the St. Joseph Credit Union, which had incorporated only three years before the 1929 Crash. The credit union was started by the French-Canadian parishioners of St. Joseph Church, which once stood on Lafayette Street.
The original Parker Brothers factory building
Another story of resilience and opportunity during the Depression is the story of the Parker Brothers company and their hit board game Monopoly (see the Salem State University post and the WGBH article in the sidebar for more on this story). First started in the 1880s, the Parker Brothers was a highly successful fun and games business when the Great Depression hit. The company’s fortunes suffered until the creation of a little-known board game with a curious provenance. The original game was created in the early 20th century by Elizabeth Phillips and later copied by Charles Darrow, who redesigned the game board, secured a patent and began producing games in 1934. In 1935, after purchasing Darrow’s patent and reaching an agreement with Phillips to use her original game play, Parker began producing their version of Monopoly. Within a year, Monopoly was the best selling game in the nation, with the company producing 20,000 games a week out of their Salem factory. The game ultimately served as an economic and employment windfall for the entire city of Salem during the Depression and provided Americans with a temporary escape from the economic turmoil around them. As described in the WGBH article, "People did not have money, but they had time on their hands and here comes this game that, for a period of two-three-or-more hours gives you the feeling that you’re rich".
For stories about salem’s experiences during The Great Depression:
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