𝐓𝐎𝐌 𝐒𝐀𝐖𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 "𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍" 𝐄𝐑𝐀 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒~𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍𝐒𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐄'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐒

 

By Rene Torres

According to economists “The Stock Market crash of 1929 was the beginning of and/or a symptom of the Great Depression," a depression which lasted for about ten years, caused mass poverty as many people lost their jobs and had no choice but to live in shanty towns. 

It was said then that "those who were rich in the roaring twenties were reduced to selling apples and pencils on street corners.”

Families lost all their possessions, were divided and forced to go on Public Relief. The era created more hobos and drifters than ever before.

Word spread throughout the country that the Rio Grande Valley was prosperous, with a mild climate and that you could eat as many grapefruits as your stomach could hold. 

It was a combination of these reasons that a flood of bums, hobos and drifters made their way to the Valley.

“They came in record numbers, more than this region had seen before,” said local peace officers. A newspaper report read “The highways of the Valley are literally lined with human driftwood, hobbling along the side of the road, or footing it along the railroad tracks.”

Brownsville today, is not absent of beggers, but what the city experienced then was a stranger at every corner. They were at street intersections appealing for money, waiting for rides and at the backdoor of many homes looking for food. 

In the Valley, the most vulnerable to the ills of the period were kids.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer comes to the rescue…

During the decade, Brownsville and the rest of the Valley was deeply touched by the hard times of the period. This city, according to Mark Fanning, Capitol Theater manager, saw the rise of more poor kids than ever before. 

Fanning wanted to do something to bring some instant smiles to those that could not afford to go to the movies.

Speaking then, Fanning said, “I’d hate for a child in Brownsville to miss seeing this classic of child life, 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.' This is why I am giving free tickets to poor children.”

The idea was to bring some joy to the less fortunate by inviting them to the movie theater.

Perhaps a movie would redeem some life into the poor sentiments of the period. .

"Tom Sawyer," the novel, was written by Mark Twain in 1876 and eventually made its way into film. The movie has been filmed and animated many times since its inception and the first was a silent version in 1907.