The Great Depression

In February 1930, the Turner Valley Observer published an editorial commenting on the sudden economic downturn that was the source of some concern in the region. The editorial assured readers that Turner Valley’s economic position was “substantially sound” and that anxiety over the future was nothing more than a “state of mind” and a “mental depression” that afflicted “croakers, pessimists, and preachers of blue ruin.” “Let everybody work together for prosperity in 1930,” urged the Observer, “and prosperity will be assured.”

Contrary to the Observer’s optimistic tone, Turner Valley was on the threshold of a significant economic crisis with the onset of the Great Depression. A variety of factors, including the stock market crash, falling agricultural prices and drought took a devastating toll on Alberta’s economy in the early 1930s, and the effects spilled over into Turner Valley. Heavy investment in Turner Valley prior to the stock market crash of 1929 allowed work to continue into early 1930, but investment dried up by the end of the year and work slowed down considerably.

The amount of footage drilled in Turner Valley fell from approximately 240,000 feet (72,000 metres) in 1930 to approximately 13,000 feet (4,000 metres) in 1933. The early 1930s in Turner Valley were marked by high unemployment, uncertain prospects for the future and a daily struggle to weather the crisis.

At the municipal level, the Great Depression struck a crushing blow to the recently incorporated villages of Turner Valley and Black Diamond. “Things in the Valley here are terribly quiet,” commented Turner Valley Councillor Ed Andrews in a September 1930 letter to Alberta Municipal Affairs; “I don’t know what or when this shut down will cease, or just what is the cause.” By 1931, an overwhelmed Turner Valley Council was seeking financial help from the provincial government to meet its obligations, warning that “the whole district is practically indigent.” In September 1931, both Turner Valley and Black Diamond declared bankruptcy— less than two years after their incorporation as villages amid predictions of growth and prosperity.

At the individual and family level, the Great Depression was marked by high unemployment and economic hardship. One resident of Turner Valley sought help from his MLA, illustrating the vulnerable position of unemployed workers during the Great Depression:

I wish to state that owing to accident years ago the writer lost the hearing in his right ear, and recently has severe pains in his left ear also the back of his head. Will say I am a Canadian citizen and as I am on Municipal Relief with a large family I have no money for medical treatments. Would it be possible for you to arrange so I could see a Specialist as I must get relief from this pain soon?

Another letter illustrates the particular challenges facing single mothers during the Great Depression. Its author, whose husband had died in 1926, claimed that she had been denied relief by municipal authorities because her eldest son had managed to keep a part-time job. Complaining that her son’s job was “not steady” and could not support the whole family, she took her appeal to the Department of Child Welfare in August 1934:

I have been living in Canada for 32 years and I am 50 years old and am getting up where I cannot work. Winter

is coming on now and we have to have clothing and groceries and the prices are going up. So what can I do if the Municipality will not help me?

Those who managed to keep their jobs faced challenges as well. According to historian Sandy Gow, the Great Depression “decimated” wages for oilfield workers and forced many to accept “no jack” jobs for which most of the wages were held back until the well started to produce. This left many without pay for months or even years after work was completed on the project. In other cases, workers were compensated partially with cash wages and partially with company stock— stock that would effectively be worthless if a well failed to produce. The region’s main employer, Royalite, offered some assistance during the worst years of the Great Depression by distributing food hampers to impoverished families, a practice that echoed the company’s larger corporate philosophy of "welfare capitalism."

The onset of the Great Depression challenged the expectation of unbroken prosperity in Turner Valley, plunging the region into economic decline. The discovery of Royalties No.1 in 1936 sparked the region’s economic recovery and emergence from the worst years of the Great Depression.