The Greatest Photos - Year by Year - Part 4 - (1932 - 1945)

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Part 4 of our series entitled Our Greatest Photos - Year by Year. This issue covers 1932 to 1945.

For those who lived through it, there is no need to explain. For those who didn't, the period between 1930 and 1945 was the most horrifying, devastating and struggling period in our recent history. Not only did the "Great Depression" ruin our economy and way of life, millions were uprooted from their homes, their businesses and jobs, creating a desperate country like we had never seen since the Civil War. The Great Depression was followed by a World War that took many young lives and left the nation psychologically and physically spent.

These are the greatest photos, year by year, beginning with 1932. Selected by the popularity of our photos by our readers and from letters and comments.

Stories by Robert Martinez

Colorization by Palette.com

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1932

Mother's Little Helper (1932)

A charming photo, Terese Dupuis helps her mother dry dishes. The Dupuis family owned a large garage on North Howell Avenue where the high school parking lot is today

1933

Brooksville Flying Ace, Jack Endsley, takes off at the Old Brooksville Airport which was located on Highway 50, just east of town. The old airport was nothing more than a landing strip for small planes and helicopters. On weekends, Jack and other flyers would feature rides for local customers for only 50 cents and flying lessons as well. The airstrip closed before the war and a new airport was built south of town that was large enough to accommodate bomber planes to practice landing on aircraft carriers during World War II.

1934

After prohibition, Brooksville residents were ready for a nickel beer at the Maillis Recreational Center on the west side of the Jennings Building downtown. The center had billiards, cigars and beer like Schlitz and La Tropical Beer from Tampa.

1935

"Aunt Lizzie" Washington (1935) was born a slave in 1848 in South Carolina, and brought to Brooksville in 1851 by the Edrington family for help at the big house on Chinsegut Hill, just north of Brooksville. She delivered more babies than any doctor in the county. When she died in 1938, she had won the respect and admiration of everyone who ever knew her.

1936

Brooksville kids during the summer of 1936 having fun at the Brooksville City Pool, located off Bell Avenue, near the old primary school. The pool was in operation from around 1935, then faded away during the war.

1937

Main Street looking north from Broad Street (1937)

1937 ad found in a local Life Magazine

1938

A classic small town photo shows Brooksville's A&P Grocery (1938) on North Main Street. In 1959, the A&P would move to South Main & Liberty. At one time, the A&P grocery chain was the largest in the United States

1939

"Now about that loan we talked about!"

Susan Batten Wiggins (1939) strikes an imposing figure near the corner of Main and Broad. Mrs. Wiggins was born in Hernando County in 1879. Behind her is the old Zeke Rogers Dodge dealership, originally a Ford dealership in 1914 and currently the Hogan Law Firm

1940

Crossing Main at the corner of Jefferson Street on an autumn day in 1940. Bacon's Drugs/Luncheonette is where Main Street Eatery is today.

1941

1941 Hernando High School play. Remember all those eyes staring at you?

1942

Main Street looking north on Jefferson Street

1943

1943 Hernando High School band under the great leadership of George Kayton made it one of the state's finest high school bands.

1944

Haley Lynch, a World War II veteran who served in Japan, was a carpenter and a member of the Freewill Baptist Church.

Brooksville pals, Joe Burdin and Eddie McIntyre

Wyet Douglas served in the Army during World War II in Europe. He later worked many years at Camp's Mine in Brooksville.

1945

The Florida Cafe (1945) was a very popular restaurant during the 40s and 50s. On the corner of Main and Broad in the Jennings Building, it was open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

*****

Hobos

The hobo was a very popular folk hero during the 1930s. Hard times forced many men to dangerously ride the train rails or just hitchhike down Highway 5 into Brooksville. Frazier Mountain recalled "Many hobos came to Florida by hitching a ride on a car or truck. Some came on freight trains, but this was considered the end of the train line for most people. Many chose the highway instead. Hitchhiking was a common thing in the 1930s. People didn't worry about crime like they do today."

Hobos were a cut above tramps and bums. Dr. Ben L. Reitman, a sociologist, defined the difference as "A hobo was one who works and wanders, a tramp was one who dreams and wanders and a bum was one who drinks and wanders."

Hobos would usually visit this area during the winter months and many of them came from up north. While the origin of the term "Hobo" is unknown, it was seen in Harper's Magazine in 1868 describing harvest hands in Minesota. The term was also seen in the Western United States in 1890 possibly from "homeward bound," hoe boy" (migrant farmer) or a "ho, boy" greeting, gaining prominence after the Civil War.

The expansion of the railroad brought a greater hobo population. It was estimated by the U.S. Bureau of Transient Affairs in 1934 that there were 1.5 million hobos in the United States, most of them riding the rails. Hobos provided a vital stopgap to the labor market. Here in Brooksville, many worked in the citrus groves or doing general rounds of yard work or housework. Eddie McIntyre remembered "They came every year, usually the same ones. We knew their names and they usually performed jobs abound the yard for just something to eat or a little money."

The 1930s showed more tolerance for hobos than before. Hard times had gripped everyone and there was a shared human bonding and understanding toward the hobo. However, all was not easy. The romantic appeal of being a hobo quickly lost its luster. A young Alabama hobo said "I never gave it much thought why I did it, but after my parents died, I was upset and didn't know what to do with myself." Despite the romantic sheen of being a knight of the road, most of them lived in danger and had a fatalistic approach about death. There were hobo jungles where hobos met and spent the night or around railroad water tanks. They also had their own language and sign codes to warn other hobos of danger up ahead, an unfriendly town or police. Railroad police were called "Bulls" and although many of them weren't too bad, a great deal of them would club them, beat them up, shoot them, or throw them off a high speeding train. "Jackrollers" were low life who followed hobos after a paid job and knocked them out with a blackjack and stole their money. Although writer Jack London and singer Woody Guthrie romanticized the hobo, his life was far from that. After World War II, hobos began to decline. Government programs helped those in need, but during the 1930s, the hobo was "King of the Road."

Hobo Secret Codes

(Hobo-glyphics)

Hobos were quite common in Brooksville during the Great Depression and had their own codes and signs to warn other hobos of what lay ahead.

1934 beer ad for Maillis Recreational Center