People need comedy during tough economic times, but during the great stock market crash of there was a problem. Large numbers of entertainers lost their shirts, too, and there didn't seem like much to laugh at.

This week is the 80th anniversary of the big market crash. America's Great Depression was a ripple effect of the Great Stock Market Crash of This year marks the 80th anniversary of "Black Tuesday," which bankrupted much of America. It's impossible to think about our current "Great Recession" without flashing back to America's Great Depression of the s. We might only remember images of people waiting in bread lines and being served in soup kitchens. But some folks — and businesses — managed to find themselves "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" during the Depression.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of "Black Tuesday," Oct. Here's a rundown of a few of the winners, music and food of the s, evidence that for some, "Life Was Just A Bowl of Cherries" during that economic downturn.

Actress Mae West was highly paid during the Depression. Joseph Kennedy center with sons John F. Kennedy left and Joseph Kennedy Jr. The senior Kennedy would become the first chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The cast of the NBC radio show Oxydol's Own Ma Perkins in Hollywood — Throughout the Great Depression, as many as 80 million Americans went to the movies once a week or more.

The introduction of films with spoken words added to the industry's popularity, and movies were a way for Americans to escape their gloomy economic realities. Filmmakers and theaters slashed prices and introduced special promotions to keep viewers in seats. Although that high attendance rate fell in by about 40 percent, it was a sector that outperformed countless others during some of the hardest times for industry.

Mae West — Hollywood's vixen of the Great Depression, her starring roles in multiple films helped keep Paramount Pictures afloat. Her hypersexualized roles were tamped down by censorship prompted by the s Hays Code Of Decency, which was adopted by the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association.

Joseph Kennedy — The father of President John F. Kennedy, and first chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which was founded in reaction to the stock market crash. He divested almost all of his stocks before the market collapsed.

Kennedy's film business made him money before and during the Depression, as did his alcohol ventures. Ironically, much of the questionable business methods he practiced would be the very ones he clamped down on during his stint as SEC chairman. During the late s and early s, the company ramped up its advertising instead of cutting back.

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It was able to maintain and increase sales while other companies folded. By , these radio serials were widely known as "soap operas," and they inspired today's TV dramas. Soup became a staple because it could be made with whatever was in the kitchen, could be cooked in one pot and could be stretched just by adding water.

Depression soup was one part ketchup to two parts water. Stale bread became croutons or bread pudding. In the late s, the Works Progress Administration commissioned a writing project to create an encyclopedia of American food and food traditions from coast-to-coast.

The book was never completed, and the files were archived in the Library of Congress. Mark Kurlansky put those recipes and stories together in Food of a Younger Land. This recipe is adapted from that book and has not been tested by NPR. Grease and flour a cake tin. Preheat oven to degrees Fahrenheit. Temperature and time was not specified in the original recipe.

Mix together the first nine ingredients grape juice through bacon drippings. Use a spoon, not an electric mixer. Sift together the remaining dry ingredients and stir them into the sizzling mixture.

The original recipe did not specify the flavoring. Orange would probably be a good one. Bacon drippings are optional. Without the bacon drippings, this cake qualifies as a vegan recipe. People also began gardening to produce their own food and butchered their own meat. But many could no longer afford meat and began relying on meatless dishes like nut hash, black-eyed pea sausage, and meatloaf made of cottage cheese, crushed peanuts and rice.

The crash and the Great Depression marked a change in popular musical styles.

Songwriters wrote music that identified with the public mood or sought to keep people's minds off their hardships. Composer Rob Kapilow analyzed the song for NPR , taking note of the piece's minor key, syncopation and angry ending, all Depression-era musical traits.

In it there's a land of milk and honey, with cigarette trees, a soda water fountain, and handouts that grow on bushes. Lines like "Old Man Depression you are through — you done us wrong," make it a cheery send off to the Great Depression, albeit a few years too early.

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October 23, NPR's Robert Smith explores the comedy of the Economic Crash Of Remembering The Great Depression's Sunny Side Listen. Timelines America's Great Depression was a ripple effect of the Great Stock Market Crash of The Crash Of -- Highs And Lows.

How To Earn, Eat and Dance During A Depression. October 21, Depression Cake In the late s, the Works Progress Administration commissioned a writing project to create an encyclopedia of American food and food traditions from coast-to-coast.

Bake for 40 minutes at Serves 10 to Help Contact Terms of Use Privacy Sponsorship Choices Text-Only.