WHRO Time Machine Video
The Great Depression In Hampton Roads: Parke Rouse
Special | 1m 31sVideo has Closed Captions
Shipyard cuts, unemployment, and neighborhood crab sales marked Depression-era Newport News.
After World War I, Newport News Shipyard faced drastic cuts, dropping from $80 million in Navy contracts to just $10 million. The workforce fell from 20,000 to 4,000, and families turned to selling apples, pencils, and crabs to survive during the Depression.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
WHRO Time Machine Video is a local public television program presented by WHRO Public Media
WHRO Time Machine Video
The Great Depression In Hampton Roads: Parke Rouse
Special | 1m 31sVideo has Closed Captions
After World War I, Newport News Shipyard faced drastic cuts, dropping from $80 million in Navy contracts to just $10 million. The workforce fell from 20,000 to 4,000, and families turned to selling apples, pencils, and crabs to survive during the Depression.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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- I don't want your millions, mister.
I don't want your diamond ring.
What I want new news was a one industry town.
The new Newport News shipyard really dominated and in the depression, the collapse of the work done by the yard was really terrible for this whole area because right after World War I in 1922, the big nations decided to cut the navies way down so that it wouldn't cost so much to maintain.
The new Newport News was building $80 million worth of ships for the Navy, and in 1922, the government cut it down to 10 million and they had to reduce the workforce at the yard from 20,000 people to 4,000.
I remember people going from door to door trying to sell things, or the usual people selling apples and pencils, devil crabs, all along.
The lower part of New Newport News, you'd people say Johnny got a crab, old devil crab.
And the crabs, you could get double crabs with a nickel a piece.
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WHRO Time Machine Video is a local public television program presented by WHRO Public Media