Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
D9377-2
Date(s)
- 1940-02-05 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Five or more clerks behind the counter at the Pierce County Welfare Department, Food Stamp Division, hand out books of food stamps to a large number of people who lined-up outside and crowded into the Tacoma office on February 5, 1940. The event marked the first sale of government Food Stamps which came 11 years into the Great Depression (1929-1941). The County had hired 25 persons to distribute the books to the 10,000 eligible county residents. Anyone who was on public assistance or was a WPA worker was eligible. It was estimated that the initial sale would take two weeks. For $1.00 a recipient would receive $1.50 in stamps, redeemable for food at any participating store. (T. Times 2/5/1940, pg. 1)
Food relief--Pierce County; Welfare facilities--Tacoma; Domestic economic assistance; Pierce County Welfare Department (Tacoma); Poor persons;