Ideas from the Great Depression

I don't know what lunch and a lecture cost back during the Great Depression, but today it was $2.22, not that that isn't a perfectly reasonable price given the current Great Recession (and don't tell me it's over).

Arriving early enough to have lunch before the lecture at the Library of Virginia, I noticed for the first time the "Please enjoy the patio today" signs and thought, why not? Around the corner at the Positive Vibe Express, nothing was grabbing my attention, but my server informed me, "We can make whatever you want." Well, okay then.

A request for a BLT on wheat yielded a large sandwich within moments, and brought one of the staffers out to find the source of the delicious smell. She admitted she hadn't had bacon in two years (just kill me now) and I offered my sympathy. But nothing could have prepared me for the price when she rang me up: $2.22. Excuse me? Isn't that less than a drink usually costs?

The little patio on the 9th Street side had a couple of other occupants and was a lovely place to enjoy an al fresco lunch away from the fray but with a great view of people bustling by on their lunch hour.

I was very interested in the lecture topic, Soul of a People, about the lives and experiences of people who worked on the Federal Writer's Project back in the1930s. Naturally I'm one of those people who believe that during tough economic times, we need to look out for the creative class and the bounty of work that came out of doing just that back then should be proof enough of why.

It's not just that stories of massive unemployment resonate especially now, although of course they do, but the idea of economic stimulus policies that benefit the cultural good as well as the physical infrastructure should be on the table.

Author and filmmaker David Taylor spoke of the Federal Writer's Project as undoubtedly the most amazing instance of democracy in literature that we'll ever see. Just as importantly, it allowed for a mirror to be held up to American life, something that hadn't been done before.

Since there were still slaves and Civil War veterans alive in the 30s, even as the old ways of life were dying, the project coincided with an urgency to get people's individual stories. Part of the project became obtaining oral histories, an unprecedented effort to balance official histories with life history interviews.

I think a clear case could be made for the same sort of cultural collecting today and goodness knows we've got plenty of un- and under-employed writers and filmmakers available to do the job. We might have to up the pay from $70 a month, though.

While we're better about getting oral histories now, the fact is that the people who lived through the Great Depression, fought in WWII and Korea and have memories of a life completely unlike the ones we live today are rapidly dying. Every one of them has a unique experience to share.

In the same way that the Federal Writer's Project's travel books still provide a viable link to knowing and understanding the country's regions as they were 70 years ago (several attendees mentioned still using them when traveling), the accumulated knowledge collected in the 21st century would only grow more valuable with time.

And probably just like back then, it would be no badge of honor for the people doing federally-funded interviewing and writing. But it would be one rung above joblessness, and that alone would be worthwhile.

Maybe it's time to look backwards for inspiration, much like Positive Vibe Express' backward-looking pricing. Both suit the time.