Possum for Supper and Other Memories from the Great Depression

On this episode of Our American Stories, during the Great Depression, Joy Neal Kidney’s family didn’t eat strange food for fun. They ate what they could find. Sometimes that meant possum. Other times, it meant even less. But in the middle of the hardship, they found ways to stay connected, to laugh when they could, and to keep going. Joy reflects on the meals that got them through and what they taught her.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habibe and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
Up next a story from our regular contributor out of Iowa.
A listener Joy Neil Kidney, and she listens on who
in des Moine a great iHeart station. Joy is the
author of Leora's Dexter Letters, the scarcity years of the

(00:33):
Great Depression, and today she shares the story of a
unique meal her family eight during those tough financial times.
Take it away, Joy.

Speaker 2 (00:46):
When I heard about someone having to eat raccoon or possum,
I thought of poor folks in the Deep South. Dad
wasn't a hunter, and having grown up on an Iowa
Hogen cattle farm, I couldn't imagine having any kind of
wild meat instead of good old pork and beef. But

(01:07):
from old family letters, I learned that both raccoon and
possum showed upon the table of my mother's family during
the Great Depression. Some family members reported enjoying them. Clay
and Leora Wilson had seven children, five sons and two daughters.

(01:27):
Clave taught his sons to trap and hunt pelts could
be sent to Sears, Roebuck and Company in exchange for
food and clothing. Clay insisted that his boys wait until
they were twelve and could demonstrate safe handling of a
gun before he was allowed to carry one to go hunting,

(01:47):
and no animal was to be killed just for sport.
Squirrel and rabbit were their main sources of protein during
those days. The saying was that Leora would cook any
thing the hunters brought her, as long as they were
already skinned, cleaned, and ready for the skillet or the
roasting pan. Clave taught the boys how to do that

(02:11):
and to stretch pelts to cure. During the hard weeks
of winter, Clay hung carcasses on the porch, where they'd
freeze until they were needed. Dinner and supper also included
fruits and vegetables from their big garden. Fresh during growing season,
leoricnned hundreds of glass mason jars filled with produce anything

(02:35):
she could put up for winter. Because of the depression,
Claive had no steady job. The two oldest Wilson brothers,
Gilbert and Donald, graduated from Dexter High School in nineteen
thirty three. No jobs for them either. A classmate had
joined the Navy and was happy having a full belly

(02:56):
days filled with activities and an income. Leora said that
the boys with not enough to do would probably get
into trouble, so she and clave okayed the plan, only
asking them not to get tattoos. Those boys in the
navy were so good to write home. Young siblings followed

(03:20):
their world travels on a map. Their mother saved all
those family letters. What a joy for me to read
through and transcribe them decades later. One was from Leora
on her forty fifth birthday, dated December fourth, nineteen thirty five. My,
what a wonderful present from my navy boys. Thanks a lot. Boys.

(03:44):
They had sent a card in some candy. We had
roast coon two years ago today, remember, Leora went on,
that would have been just before Dilbert and Donald enlisted
in the navy. You caught the last one on December third,
and the folks that would be her mother and brothers
from Oha came and surprised me. But the next day

(04:07):
was the fourth, and we had that nice fat coon.
Their next brother, Dale, age fourteen, wrote about a football
banquet and added, today we had possum and sweet taters. Boy,
it was sure good. Dale's twin Darlene enclosed her letter

(04:28):
in the same envelope. The sun is shining beautifully this morning,
she wrote, Dad and the boys are out trapping this morning,
so Mom and us girls clean house and get dinner
ready for the hungry hunters when they come. They come
in with two possum yesterday and today we're going to
have a possum and sweet taters. Yum, yum. She chatted

(04:52):
about her twin playing football, older sister Doris playing basketball,
younger brother Danny being old enough to hunt with their dad. Well,
I'll write more after having a piece of good old
opossum with the fumes just to oozin out, and some
gravy and some sweet potatoes. A possum were good for

(05:17):
something else than food. Clay wrote just before Christmas that
he'd shipped eight skunks and five opossum to Sears in
trade for goods from the Male Order catalog. Two years later,
in November nineteen thirty seven, Dilbert rode home from the
USS Chicago. You boys coming home with all that game

(05:39):
makes me sort of homesick. I thought for a while
you boys weren't going to take to hunting and trappin
so well, But it looks as if you boys will
break downs in my records. Go tour boys. It's good
outdoor exercise and a lot of fun. Sure like to
sink my fangs into some coon meat for a change.

(06:03):
In spite of Dale's and Darlene's comments about how good
powsome and sweet daters were, and even Delbert's memories of
coon meat, I'd have to be desperate as they were
during the Depression to try. Annie. Just in case you
want to try roast coon or possum with the fume

(06:23):
zoosan out. You can find recipes for both of these
these days on the internet.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
And great job is always by Monte Montgomery on the
production and a special thanks to joy Neil Kidney, a
fan of the show and also one of our best contributors. Hawesome,
raccoon and rabbit all showed up at the family dinner
table during the Great Depression years. The kids they all
knew how to trap and hunt, and Mom well, she'd

(06:52):
cook anything that was shaved and clean. Dinner and supper
included food from the garden they can and any and everything.
The story of joy Neil Kidney and her family during
the Great Depression their food measurement here on our American
Stories Lee Habib. Here, as we approach our nation's two

(07:32):
hundred and fiftieth anniversary, I'd like to remind you that
all the history stories you hear on this show are
brought to you by the great folks at Hillsdale College,
and Hillsdale isn't just a great school for your kids
or grandkids to attend, but for you as well. Go
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the finest I've ever seen. Again, go to Hillsdale dot

(07:55):
edu and sign up for their free and terrific online courses.