If you knew what Nigel Day knew, you might think twice about making unnecessary purchases in these volatile times.

As the country endures what many experts are calling the worst of economic times since the Great Depression, Day and her contemporaries have memories - and lessons - to share.

The simple definition of the Great Depression is a worldwide economic crisis that began with the Black Tuesday stock market crash of Oct. 29, 1929, and ended in the United States about 1939 as the nation prepared for World War II.

"I got married during the Great Depression. We were so poor. It was awful," Day, a Franklin County native, said. "I hope we never have anything like that again. It would be awfully hard on the people now, with what they are used to having."

Day, born in 1915, and other Southern Illinoisans remember the high unemployment, the efforts it took to feed a family and the hard times experienced during the country's worst economic crisis.

David Lewis, 87, grew up in Buckner during that era.

"I remember being dirt poor. I remember when the American Legion brought us a big basket of food when we were on relief. Both me and my brother joined the CCCs (Civilian Conservation Corps, a government work program) when we each turned 18," he said. "If your family was poor enough, you had to leave home when you were 18 so your family didn't have another mouth to feed."

Because her father worked in a butcher shop, Hallie French and her family had - not plenty - but enough to eat during the Depression.

Others, however, were not so lucky, she said.

"The people who had to do without were really hungry," she said.

"People didn't have any jobs - there were none to be had. We called it the panic."

French, 92, remembers living in Mount Vernon, and later McLeansboro during the economic depression that started with the stock market crash in 1929.

"My aunt's family had to move in with us because it was too expensive for them to live in St. Louis," she said. "People did whatever they had to do to survive."

And surviving today's economy may be easier to do if people paid attention to the lessons learned by survivors of the Great Depression.

First, Lewis said, hang on to employment.

"Back in those days there was no work for hardly anybody," he said.

"And if you had a job, you kept it."

Tough choices have to be made during tough times, he said, and if there are no jobs locally, consider a move to an area with lower unemployment.

Day encouraged people to save rather than spend.

"It seems like now if people want something, they get it, no matter what," she said. "People should save more."

French agreed.

"We could get through it again, but I doubt our grandchildren could," she said. "Back then, we did well to get what we needed, let alone that which we didn't. They were hard old times, but everyone was having the same hard times."

Finally, Lewis said, while times are different, people should still watch out for their neighbors.

"There's a whole lot of us who wouldn't have made it through without our neighbors' help," he said. "If you see people in need, do what you can to help them."

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Surviving the hardest times

Below are some tips from Southern Illinoisans who lived through the Great Depression, which is generally regarded as beginning with the stock market crash of Black Tuesday in 1929 and ending about 1939.

• If you have a job, do everything you can to hold on to it.

• Consider moving to areas with higher employment rates.

• Learn your wants from your needs.

• Save more, spend less.

• Have a care for your neighbors.