Born in Ogden, Utah During the Depression



 
I, Janet Ethel Anderson, was born to Carl Ferrell Anderson and Ethel Sigrid Larson on January 22, 1933 at the Thomas Dee Memorial Hospital in Ogden, Weber County, Utah.

In a letter years later Mother described my birth day.  She said it was early in the morning and very snowy. Dad had to walk over to Aunt Erica's and dig the snow away from the garage. 

The depression was in full swing so anyone who could pay $25 in cash was entitled to full treatment at the Dee Hospital. They had managed to save that much. The Doctor was also cheap but was very hard to pay.

While we were in the hospital, Mom's sister Ellen took care of the other children: Richard William (Dick), David Martin, Jeanne, and Marilyn Avis.

Mom and Dad furnished all the food to feed both families in payment. Aunt Ellen could really cook good food with very little, nothing was ever wasted. All the peelings from the vegetables were saved, cooked till tender, and then put through a sieve and seasoned. Mom said Ellen was so skilled she could spend less for two families than Mom had for one. Mom said I was treated to lots of rocking as a baby because the stove was in the middle room of the house and the bedroom was very cold.  She would bundle me up and rock me to sleep, something we both enjoyed. I was given a name and a blessing on March 5, 1933 by my father in the Ogden 10th Ward.

Because of the depression and fear of being laid off, Dad had left his job as Assistant Manager at JC Penney Co in Evanston, Wyoming and was now working for Theo Soderberg, at his Meat and Grocery store in Ogden for $20 a week. Theo was the husband of Mom's sister Erica.  Before I was born Mom and Dad were able to move the family into a nice home near Ellen and Erica for a rent of $20 a month.  It had a coal stove but no central heating.

We spent a lot of time at the home of Aunt Erica and Aunt Ellen.  I thought I never let anyone see me cry, but I see I did!