Dec 22, 2009

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe | Historical Context

The Great Depression
Flagg's novel refers to several historical eras, but primarily to the period after the café's opening, the summer of 1929. "By the way," reports Dot Weems on October 15, 1929, "is it just my imagination or are times getting harder these days? Five new hobos showed up at the café last week." The hard times she refers to are the result of what John Galbraith describes as a "fundamentally unsound" economy. A mere five percent of the American population receives thirty percent of all personal income. The booming economy is the result of an...