Millie Saunderson recalled "living in the kitchen" during the Great Depression.
Saunderson, 91, was one of five children, and she said things were pretty crowded in that kitchen in the family's Irene, S.D., home.
"I remember we changed from oil to coal, and I used to practice the piano in the cold," Saunderson, of Londonderry, said. The family sewed their own clothes, and her mother canned cherries and other vegetables from the garden.
"I feel OK," Saunderson said about the current economic crisis.
"It's scary for younger people. I'm sure many will move back home. I said to my son the other day, 'I hope they fix this (crisis) better than the Depression.' "
Elaine Peters, of Derry, was born in 1933 and was too young to feel the initial effects of the stock market crash of Oct. 29, 1929.
"I remember toward the end of the Depression during World War II," Peters said.
"We had to count our pennies like everyone else."
Peters, 74, grew up in Revere, Mass., and recalled having a large vegetable garden, chickens and rabbits.
"My father was a baker, so we always had bread, and our mother made our clothes," Peters said.
Peters recalled her father had a big green Chrysler car that he kept in the garage.
"We never drove in it, but took the subway everywhere," she said.
"My dad couldn't afford to register it."
Peters said a man purchased the car for his son shortly after the war, and she and her siblings were amazed when they finally saw the car being driven down the road.
Peters, who has been working as a receptionist at the Londonderry Senior Center since July, said "times are very scary" for her right now.
"I have very little savings," she said.
"I gave up my 401K in the 1990s. I just froze what little money I have for 10 years."
The company that employs Peters, National Able, is looking to cut jobs, and she is nervous that she may lose her position at the senior center.
"I'm afraid I'll have to look for work again," she said. "But I do like working. I retired from Raytheon and found I couldn't stay home all day."
Nancy Irwin, of Londonderry, also recalled being frugal during World War II.
"I try not to think about (the downturn in the economy)," Irwin said. "I've lived 75 years, and I'm not going to lose sleep over it."
Irwin and Peg Johnson, 78, recalled the rag man who used to comb the streets with a horse and buggy during their childhood, giving people change for old blankets and such.
Johnson also recalled a man peddling bleach who was called the "no worry man."
"I remember a policeman coming to our door with a basket of food," Johnson said. "My father said that we didn't need it. He said he had a job."
Johnson grew up in Kearney, N.J., and said her father was a dental mechanic, but became a factory baker during the Depression and stayed with that profession.
"A lot of men changed jobs and stayed with the one where they could make a living," she said.
Johnson, who was recently crowned Ms. N.H. Senior America, said she's not worried about the economy.
"I'll get a job if I have to," she said.
Adults who were born in the 1950s and 1960s remember their Depression-era parents stocking up on essentials for fear of being without.
"My mom learned those lessons and held on tightly," said Joy Baker, 49, of Londonderry.
Baker recently lost her job at a marketing and closing agent with Accurate Title of Bedford.
"The economy has impacted the whole real estate business," she said.
"I knew the potential was there (to be laid off), but I didn't expect it to happen when it did."
Along with her salary, Baker lost her health benefits, and she looked into unemployment pay.
"After COBRA, I'll only clear about $400 a month," she said.
Baker's husband is a self-employed musician, and he was also covered by her health benefits.
"The fear is there," Baker said. "When you listen to the news and the president says we may be facing unprecedented economic difficulty — that's scary."
