Published by The Evansville Courier

That edition appeared on Oct. 25, 1929.

For the next few days, the newspaper ran articles by The Associated Press reporting that powerful investors were buying stock on the New York Exchange and that the market again was reaching normalcy. One headline over an AP story said, "Leaders of Finance and Industry Sweep Away Cloud of Impending Disaster."

But three days after AP reported that leading markets had re-established themselves, Courier headlines on Oct. 29 blared, "Stocks Crash to New Low Records." The country began a downward spiral that lasted until World War II.

Evansville did not feel the full effects of the shutdown until the fall of 1931 when the first of eight local banks closed.

As manufacturing ground to a halt and plants around the nation closed their doors, reports of joblessness appeared in The Courier. Soup kitchens sprang up and many who had lost their homes resorted to ramshackle shanties along the banks of the Ohio River and Pigeon Creek. The national unemployment rate was 25 percent.

By September 1931, food and other products were available at rock-bottom prices but sales remained stagnant. A Sept. 24 advertisement by the Evansville Dry Goods Co. offered women's fall dresses for $2.99; boys' knickers for 69 cents; girls' dresses for 59 cents; and children's shoes for 79 cents. Lizard skin shoes for women could be purchased for $1.98.

"There was a restaurant at Division Street and Elsas Avenue that served a big meal for 25 cents," recalled Evansville resident Clayetta Risley. "Someone in our household would take a big platter to the restaurant and bring it home full. The whole family would make a meal from that."