Detroit about to file for Bankruptcy

Welfare: A black man would be more than happy to have "a standup" on the back porch and might even have to do with a Peck sack so he could keep moving. A White man might get a sit down and might even get a three or four cornered ("square") meal. Hence the expression three squares a day.

Of course at this time the hobo and gypsy signs might also warn about dogs being set upon those who came looking for a meal in return for a trick of day labor. Most who traveled by rail road freight cars were Irish up till the late 1920s.

In the Depression, Chicago soup kitchens were plentiful with one third of them run by a guy the feds later got for tax evasion: Al Capone.

NYC depression era had bars and also Three Penny Restaurants for those who were too proud to accept a free meal.

Saw a movie the other night made in 1962 with
Tony Randall and James Garner. They rented an
apartment on 98 East End street in Manhattan,
a couple blocks from Central Park. Even then they
said that was the high rent district. The apartment
was huge, with 2 big bedrooms and a big balcony.
Had a bar, 2 baths, electric drapes, big kitchen.
$600 a month. There is a real 98 East End st and the
apartments today like that sell in the $1.3 million
range.

But you have to figure in that a secretary in NYC in
1962 made about $50 a week and lived in an apartment
that was about $40 a month. So $600 to her was 3
months wages.

Quote: Evenbob

They rented an apartment on 98 East End street in Manhattan, a couple blocks from Central Park. Even then they
said that was the high rent district. The apartment was huge, with 2 big bedrooms and a big balcony.
Had a bar, 2 baths, electric drapes, big kitchen. $600 a month. There is a real 98 East End st and the
apartments today like that sell in the $1.3 million range.

I thought Spanish Harlem began at 96th street? I would have thought the neighborhood was dicey in 1962. In the movie, the owner rents it for cheap because of a murder in the apartment.

I like the whole take on fidelity in 1962. If your
husband acts at all differently towards you,
immediately suspect he's cheating, hire a private
dick, and nail the guy with a divorce. Wonderful
times.

Hollywood script writers rarely embrace reality.