What was Australia like in the 1930s?

What was Australia like in the 1930s?

They were years characterised by economic upheaval, skyrocketing unemployment rates, political and social unrest, and the shattered promise of the 1920s Australian dream. Families were evicted from their homes with such regularity they became the quintessential image of the decade.

What did Australia do in the Great Depression?

Australia was also borrowing vast sums of money, which dried up as the economy slowed. Then the Wall Street crash of 1929 led to a worldwide economic depression. The Australian economy collapsed and unemployment reached a peak of 32 per cent in 1932.

What was it like living in the Great Depression in Australia?

The Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. As in other nations, Australia suffered years of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement.

Did Australia experience the Great Depression?

The Depression, set off by the October 1929 Wall Street stock market crash, hit the New South Wales economy with great severity. Unemployment, already high at 10% in mid 1929, was 21% by mid 1930 and rising, hitting almost 32% in mid-1932. Factory output fell almost 10% in 1929-30 and another 30% in 1930-31.

What was Melbourne like in the 1930s?

In the depths of the Great Depression, Melbourne’s unemployment rate hit 30 per cent and thousands of families struggled for survival. Inner suburbs including Collingwood, Richmond, Fitzroy and Carlton were packed with derelict weatherboard houses and plagued by crime and disease.

How were people living during the Depression?

The average American family lived by the Depression-era motto: “Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.” Many tried to keep up appearances and carry on with life as close to normal as possible while they adapted to new economic circumstances. Households embraced a new level of frugality in daily life.

What jobs were left during the Great Depression?

What Kind of Jobs Did People Have in the 1930s?

• Unemployed Americans. For many Americans in the 1930s, working was more of a dream than a reality.
• Farmers Feeding the Country.
• Semi-Skilled Workers in Manufacturing.
• Serving Consumers.
• Professional and Skilled Workers.

What was Melbourne’s original name?

The first official name proposed was Glenelg. But Governor Sir Richard Bourke overruled this, and on his visit in March 1837 decided on Melbourne — after the then British Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who resided in the village of Melbourne in Derbyshire in the English Midlands.

Where are the Melbourne slums?

As far back as the 1850s, slums existed in inner city Melbourne. Slum dwellers lived a squalid existence. Often, they had no bathrooms, or sewerage. They lived in ramshackle housing, with leaky roofs and holes in the walls.

What was entertainment like in the 1930s?

Swing music, played by orchestras led by Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and others, entertained at dance halls around the country. Technology also helped make the 1930s an age of mass entertainment. The radio and the jukebox made drama, national news, and popular music accessible even to remote and rural communities.

What major events happened in Australia in 1930?

The following lists events that happened during 1930 in Australia . 11 November – The Shrine of Remembrance in Brisbane is dedicated. 6 January – Don Bradman scores a record 452 not out in one cricket innings. 25 January – Harry Hopman and Jack Crawford win the Australian Doubles Championship at Kooyong, Victoria.

What kind of movies were made in the 1930s?

Horror films such as Frankenstein (1931) and Dracula (1931) terrified audiences. Epic dramas like Gone with the Wind (1939) captivated audiences for hours. Western movies captured and enhanced the myth of the American West through sweeping landscape shots and tough cowboys played by the likes of John Wayne (1907–1979).

Who was the Prime Minister of Australia in 1930?

1930 in Australia Monarchy George V Governor-General John Baird, Baronet Stonehaven Prime minister James Scullin Population 6,462,610

What happened to the movie industry during the Great Depression?

Although many people and businesses suffered during the Great Depression (1929–41), the movie industry did not. In fact, the years of the 1930s are considered the golden era of Hollywood cinema. Eighty-five million people a week crowded movie theaters across America to escape their sometimes desperate financial situations.