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But in 1929, most Americans didn’t
play the stock market, but kept their
savings in banks. It was the
failure of so many banks, along with
rising unemployment, that caused so much
suffering during the early 1930's.
There is no evidence that anyone
leapt to their death because of the
market crash, although several did shoot
themselves. One man decided to end his
misery by leaving his gas stove on and
then taking a long nap. And then there
was the guy who had a heart attack at
his broker's office watching the
dropping numbers on the ticker tape. The
one person reported to jump from an
upper floor of the Plaza Hotel in New
York City, did so several days before
the market tumbled. Will Rogers, the
great humorist, picked up on it and
included the "jumping out of windows" in
his routine for a number of years, and
so the legend.
It should be mentioned that as bad as
that day was for the stock market, it
got worse. The market didn't bottom
until August 12, 1932 when the Dow hit a
low of 63. This was all the way down to
where the Dow began in 1896 (all about
the Dow beginning page 48).
|
Some early companies
that are still in
business today
|
established |
|
J.E. Rhoads and Sons
|
(conveyor belts,
originally buggy whips)
|
1702 |
|
Dexter |
(high-tech adhesives &
coatings) |
1767 |
|
D. Landreth & Co. |
(seeds) |
1784 |
|
George R. Rulh & Sons
|
(bakery supplies) |
1789 |
|
Burns & Russell |
(building materials) |
1790 |
|
Thomas Nelson |
(publishing) |
1798 |
|
|
