We're here for the history, not the hype.
To shed light, not fan flames. We're here for the whole story, not just a headline. Here to uphold democracy, uncover the facts, and illuminate what matters. Democracy dies in darkness.
That's where we come in. The Washington Post. Switch on. Subscribe today at washingtonpost.com slash iheart. Never wolf down a Big Mac and thought, I could use some extra cash. Meet Drop, the ultimate rewards app. Earn free gift cards for getting your daily coffee or late night drive-thru effortlessly. Just link a card, shop, and watch rewards stack. With Drop, it's like getting paid to indulge. Download Drop now and start earning. Use the code DROP22 for $5 in points instantly. Hi, Icons. It's Paris Hilton. Check out my new single, Chasen, featuring Meghan Trainor.
Out today. I feel so lucky to collaborate with Meghan and how perfectly she put my experience into words. Listen to Chasen from my new album Infinite Icon on iHeartRadio or wherever you stream music.
Don't forget to visit infiniteicon.com to pre-save my album. Sponsored by 1111 Media. The following is a high-five moment from highfivecasino.com.
Welcome to Burger Yippie. Would you like a hot apple pie today? Yes. Yes.
Yeah. I won. Woohoo. So that's a yes on the apple pie? I just went big time playing high-five casino on my phone.
Real cash prizes, free daily rewards, over 1,200 games. So yes or no on the apple pie? Woohoo. I won again. I'll take that as a yes.
Drive around. Have you had your high-five moment today? Only at highfivecasino.com. High-five casino is a social casino. No purchase necessary. We're prohibited. Play responsibly. Conditions apply.
See website for details. High-five casino. Most deals are barely worth mentioning. But then there's AT&T's best deal on the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 featuring FlexCam with Galaxy AI. You can get it on them when you trade in your eligible smartphone in a year, any condition.
It's a deal so good, you'll be shouting from the rooftops. So grab a letter and learn how to get that new phone on AT&T. AT&T.
Connecting changes everything. Requires trade-in of Galaxy S, Note, or Z Series smartphone. Limited time offer, 256 gigabytes for $0. Additional fees, terms, and restrictions apply.
See att.com slash Samsung or visit an AT&T store for details. This is Lee Habib, 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 Neal Kidney, and she listens on WHO in Des Moines, a great I heart station. Joy is the author of Leora's Dexter Letters, the scarcity years of the Great Depression. And today she shares the story of a unique meal her family ate during those tough financial times.
Take it away, Joy. 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 hog and cattle farm, I couldn't imagine having any kind of wild meat instead of good old pork and beef. But from old family letters, I learned that both raccoon and possum showed up on the table of my mother's family during the Great Depression.
Some family members reported enjoying them. Clabe and Leora Wilson had seven children, five sons and two daughters. Clabe taught his sons to trap and hunt. Pelts could be sent to Sears Roebuck and Company in exchange for food and clothing.
Clabe insisted that his boys wait until they were 12 and could demonstrate safe handling of a gun before he was allowed to carry one to go hunting 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 anything the hunters brought her as long as they were already skinned, cleaned and ready for the skillet or the roasting pan. Clabe taught the boys how to do that and to stretch pelts to cure. During the hard weeks of winter, Clabe 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.
Leora canned hundreds of glass mason jars filled with produce, anything she could put up for winter. Because of the Depression, Clabe had no steady job. The two oldest Wilson brothers, Delbert and Donald, graduated from Dexter High School in 1933. No jobs for them either. A classmate had joined the Navy and was happy having a full belly, 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 Clabe okayed the plan, only asking them not to get tattoos. Those boys in the Navy were so good to write home. Young siblings followed 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 45th birthday, dated December 4th, 1935. My, what a wonderful present from my Navy boys.
Thanks a lot, boys. They had sent a card and some candy. We had roast coon two years ago today, remember?
Leora went on. That would have been just before Delbert and Donald enlisted in the Navy. You caught the last one on December 3rd and the folks, that would be her mother and brothers from Omaha, came and surprised me. But the next day was the 4th and we had that nice fat coon. Their next brother, Dale, age 14, 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 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 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 ooze and out and some gravy and some sweet potatoes. Opossum were good for 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 mail order catalog.
Two years later in November 1937, Delbert wrote home from the USS Chicago. You boys coming home with all that game makes me sort of homesick. I thought for a while you boys weren't going to take to hunting and trapping so well. But it looks as if you boys will break Don's and my records. Go tour boys.
It's good outdoor exercise and a lot of fun. You're like to sink my fangs into some coon meat for a change. In spite of Dale's and Darlene's comments about how good possum and sweet taters were, and even Delbert's memories of coon meat, I'd have to be desperate as they were during the Depression to try any. Just in case you want to try roast coon or possum with the fumes oozing out, you can find recipes for both of these these days on the internet.
And great job as always by Monty Montgomery on the production and a special thanks to Joy Neal Kidney, a fan of the show and also one of our best contributors. Possum, 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 cook anything that was shaved and clean. Dinner and supper included food from the garden.
They canned any and everything. The story of Joy Neal Kidney and her family during the Great Depression, their food regimen here on Our American Stories. Lee Habib here, the host of Our American Stories. Every day on this show, we're bringing inspiring stories from across this great country, stories from our big cities and small towns.
But we truly can't do the show without you. Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not free to make. If you love what you hear, go to our American stories.com and click the Donate button.
Give a little give a lot. Go to our American stories.com and give hi icons. It's Paris Hilton. Check out my new single Chasen featuring Meghan Trainor out today. I feel so lucky to collaborate with Meghan and how perfectly she put my experience into words. Listen to Chasen from my new album, Infinite Icon on iHeartRadio or wherever you stream music.
Don't forget to visit infiniteicon.com to pre save my album. Sponsored by 11-11 Media High Five Casino. High Five Casino is a social casino with real prizes and big Vegas hits at highfivecasino.com. The hottest games right from Vegas and all winnings go straight to your bank account. Hundreds of exclusive games, free daily rewards and come back to get free coins every four hours. Only at highfivecasino.com.
High Five Casino is a social casino. No purchase necessary. Void prohibited.
Play responsibly. Terms and conditions apply. See website for details at highthenumberfivecasino.com. High Five Casino.
This is Malcolm Gladwell from Revisionist History. eBay Motors is here for the ride. With some elbow grease, fresh installs and a whole lot of love, you transformed 100,000 miles and a body full of rust into a drive that's all your own. Brake kits, LED headlights, whatever you need, eBay Motors has it. And with eBay Guaranteed Fit, it's guaranteed to fit your ride the first time, every time or your money back. Plus at these prices, you're burning rubber, not cash.
Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. Election Day will be here before you know it. And we all need to be ready to show up big for our country and local communities. Make sure you know your state's voter registration deadline and requirements. Registration only takes two minutes. For more resources and information on how to make your voting game plan ahead of Election Day on November 5th, visit nfl.com slash votes m o d o dot us for the best free play social casino experience wherever you are. Modo offers a huge selection of Vegas style games with free spins, exciting promotions and always generous jackpots. You can waste your time with the others or you can win at Modo. Register today at m o d o dot us for your free welcome bonus. Modo is a social casino no purchase necessary void where prohibited play responsibly. Conditions apply. See website for details. m o d o dot us
