THE DEPRESSION

Depression
1931-The Galleron Family can smile even in the midst of the Depression and Prohibition

The Depression following on the heels of Prohibition added insult to injury and most ranchers survived by feeding their families off the farm. They raised produce, nuts, fruit and livestock. Young Paul Galleron, known as a "picky eater", loved to stuff his pockets full of green beans from the Bommarito garden and scamper home to eat them in secret. Mrs. Bommarito knew what he was up to, but never said a word knowing it was probably the only thing Paul would eat all day. The children on Galleron Road played barefoot in the Rutherford dust, and Paul Galleron, to the chagrin of his mother, preferred not to wear any clothes at all.

The Galleron's opened their home to family and neighbors and fed a steady stream of friends, relatives and farm hands with hearty French country cooking and homemade wine. The Depression was a time when jobless men traveled from town to town on foot or by rail in search of employment. Most would work odd jobs in exchange for food and one such "hobo" appeared at the Galleron door once a year like clockwork. He was always treated to a hot meal, a glass of wine and sent on his way with a clean, white, starched shirt.

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