Benjamin Appel

As the Depression deepened, conditions seemed to get worse. Unemployment increased and houses and farms were being foreclosed at an alarming rate. Everybody seemed to be on the move looking for something better in the next town or the next state. Benjamin Appel was a writer who roamed around the country interviewing people from all walks of life. In the following excerpt he interviews A.C. Brown, the owner of a small garage in Oklahoma City, and Mercer, a tire shop owner. Both shops were the last stops out of town for many. Many of their customers could not afford to pay them.

Ramsey Tower is on North Robinson Avenue in the Oklahoma City of movies, restaurants and money-inthe bank business. But ten blocks south on Robinson Avenue, the eating joints offer: MEALS 15c, the rooming houses...