The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck [263]
CHAPTER 25
1 Slaughter the pigs: In September 1933, over six million pigs were slaughtered to stabilize prices, while most of the meat went to waste.
CHAPTER 26
1 *Happy Hooligan: Comic strip character—a generous, kindly hobo who persistently looked on the bright side—drawn by Frederick B. Opper from 1900- 1932 and syndicated in Hearst newspapers.
2 Sam Browne belt: Originally a sword belt for Army officers with a supporting strap over one shoulder, and later used by police and guards; named for its inventor, General Sir Samuel Browne (1824-1901).
3 J. P. Morgan: Wealthy, powerful American financier and industrial organizer, John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) was one of the dominant figures in American capitalism.
CHAPTER 27
1 *cotton-pickin’ machine: John and Mack Rust designed and built a horse-drawn mechanical harvester, the Rust Cotton Picker, in 1928, and experimented with several mechanized versions in the following decade. In 1937 an improved tractor model picked 13 bales of cotton in one day, though because of the availability of cheap labor in the Depression such machines did not become widely used or perfected until the 1940s.
CHAPTER 28
1 *Two are better . . . help him up: From Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up.”
2 *Again . . . broken: From Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12: “Again, if two lie together, they are warm; but how can one be warm alone?”
3 *the poor . . . with us: See Matthew 26: 11: “For you always have the poor with you; but you will not always have me.” Also Deuteronomy 15: 11: “For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in the land.”