The 30s was the great depression. And 1933 was pretty bad. $0.5/hr is a typical wage. [1] In Chicago in 1933 a 4 bdrm apartment was listed for $35/month. [2]

The 30s was the great depression. And 1933 was pretty bad. $0.5/hr is a typical wage. [1] In Chicago in 1933 a 4 bdrm apartment was listed for $35/month. [2] So basically, rent was eating half your salary even then. But then again, you had a 4 bdrm apartment and not a closet. Probably would've been tough to buy a house on that though. And of course, there is this: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/place/article/Problems-Herb-Caen-saw-in-1948-San-Francisco-6171450.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/place/article/Problems-H... “the two great problems it ignored before — housing and traffic.”, Herb Caen, 1948 Some things never change. [1] https://www.jstor.org/stable/41815102 https://www.jstor.org/stable/41815102 [2] https://blog.rentconfident.com/2635/classified-history-housing-ads-in-chicago-1901-1933/ https://blog.rentconfident.com/2635/classified-history-housi...