The Great Depression began in 1929 when, in a period of ten weeks, stocks on the New York Stock Exchange lost 50 percent of their value. As stocks continued to fall during the early 1930s, businesses failed, and unemployment rose dramatically. By 1932, one of every four workers was unemployed. Banks failed and life savings were lost, leaving many Americans destitute. With no job and no savings, thousands of Americans lost their homes.
The poor congregated in cardboard shacks in so-called Hoovervilles on the edges of cities across the nation; hundreds of thousands of the unemployed roamed the country on foot and in boxcars in futile search of jobs. Although few starved, hunger and malnutrition affected many. – The Library of Congress
So what were media outlets reporting at the time? Here’s a look back at some of the front page newspaper headlines reporting the ups and downs that heralded the beginning of the historic stock market crash.
VIDEO: Headlines from the start of the Great Depression
Newspaper front pages from October 29, 1929
Brisk Rally Trails Market Crash
The Eugene Guard (Oregon)
Stocks Lose 10 Billion in Day
The Klamath News (Klamath Falls, Oregon)
Selling Swamps Stock Market
The Index-Journal (South Carolina)
Stocks Sink Despite Banks; Rally
Brooklyn Daily Eagle (New York)
Stock Prices Rally Sharply
El Paso Herald (Texas)
Bankers Act on Stock Crash
The Minneapolis Morning Tribune (Minnesota)
Prices Again Collapse on Stock Market
Wilkes-Barre Record (Pennsylvania)
Trans-America Price Crashes
San Mateo Times (California)
Stocks Shrink 10 Billions
The Des Moines Register (Iowa)
Stocks Crash Again in 16,410,030-Share Day
The St Louis Star (Missouri)
Bankers Stop Stock Crash
Binghamton Press (New York)
Stock Prices Collapse Again
The Muncie Morning Star (Indiana)
Market Losses Reach New Level
Harrisburg Telegraph (Pennsylvania)
