While newspapers reported on the stock market crash on October 29 and October 30, 1929, it’s clear that they didn’t know what was in store for them. Some papers downplayed the events and even showed outright optimism, showing how these headlines shaped how people understood and reacted to the crisis.
The Great Depression began in 1929 when, in a period of ten weeks, stocks on the New York Stock Exchange lost 50 percent of their value. As stocks continued to fall during the early 1930s, businesses failed, and unemployment rose dramatically.
By 1932, one of every four workers was unemployed. Banks failed and life savings were lost, leaving many Americans destitute. With no job and no savings, thousands of Americans lost their homes.
The poor congregated in cardboard shacks in so-called Hoovervilles on the edges of cities across the nation; hundreds of thousands of the unemployed roamed the country on foot and in boxcars in futile search of jobs. Although few starved, hunger and malnutrition affected many. – The Library of Congress
Headlines from this time are striking historical records. Phrases like “Wall Street Lays an Egg” and “Stock Prices Slump $14,000,000,000” convey the dramatic financial collapse. During the early days of the Great Depression, newspapers documented everything from bank failures to skyrocketing unemployment. Headlines such as “500 Banks Close in One Month” and “Millions Jobless” were not only news reports but grim reflections of daily life for many Americans. This relentless barrage of bad news added to the pervasive sense of despair.
Here’s a look back at some of the front page newspaper headlines reporting the ups and downs that heralded the beginning of the historic stock market crash and an economic disaster that would define a generation.
The Great Depression newspaper headlines from October 29, 1929
Brisk Rally Trails Market Crash
The Eugene Guard (Oregon)
Stocks Lose 10 Billion in Day
The Klamath News (Klamath Falls, Oregon)
Great Depression newspaper headlines: Selling Swamps Stock Market
The Index-Journal (South Carolina)
Stocks Sink Despite Banks; Rally
Brooklyn Daily Eagle (New York)
Stock Prices Rally Sharply
El Paso Herald (Texas)
Bankers Act on Stock Crash
The Minneapolis Morning Tribune (Minnesota)
Prices Again Collapse on Stock Market
Wilkes-Barre Record (Pennsylvania)
Trans-America Price Crashes
San Mateo Times (California)
Stocks Shrink 10 Billions
Great Depression newspaper headlines from The Des Moines Register (Iowa)
Stocks Crash Again in 16,410,030-Share Day
The St Louis Star (Missouri)
Bankers Stop Stock Crash
Great Depression newspaper headlines in the Binghamton Press (New York)
Stock Prices Collapse Again
The Muncie Morning Star (Indiana)
Market Losses Reach New Level
Harrisburg Telegraph (Pennsylvania)
Start of the Great Depression: Newspapers from October 30, 1929
Prices Go Up on Market Rally
Harrisburg Telegraph (Pennsylvania)
Wall St. Business Better
Green Bay Press Gazette (Wisconsin)
Stock Slump Ends in Rally
Chicago Daily Tribune (Illinois)
Buying Halts Stock Collapse
The Minneapolis Morning Tribune (Minnesota)
Eleventh Hour Rally Checks Stock Crisis; Huge Losses Reduced
Detroit Free Press (Michigan)
Frantic Stampede on Market Checked
Wilkes-Barre Record (Pennsylvania)
Stock Market to Close Friday and Saturday
St Louis Star (Missouri)
Stock Market Declares Recess
Great Depression newspaper headlines from The Springfield Leader (Illinois)
Stocks Continue to Make Recovery
Post-Crescent (Appleton, Wisconsin)
Buying Wave Forces Stocks Higher
Muncie Evening Press
Stock Market in Severe Collapse
Great Falls Tribune (Montana)
Stocks Higher in Broad Rally
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio)
Bankers Promise Support to Save Market
Democrat & Chronicle (Rochester, NY)
Leading Stock Prices Rally
Mason City Globe-Gazette
Rockefeller Saves Market
Carbondale Free Press (Illinois)
Market Bottom Reached
Daily News Standard (Uniontown, PA)
Stocks Off 10 Billions More
Great Depression newspaper headlines published in The Des Moines Register (Iowa)
