Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Fall/105/Section059/Otha Ottoman

Biography

Early Life

Otto Olsen was a Norwegian seaman born in 1883 in a small town of 14,000 inhabitants. He was one of five children (three girls and two boys) and mildly educated. At the age of thirteen Olsen left his family farm to go work in the seaports. This decision was made as Olsen had a desire to follow in the footsteps of his extended family including his uncles and grandfathers from both sides. After his decision, Olsen lived a life at sea, from the time he was thirteen to the time he was twenty, he only spent three weeks on dry land.

Life at Sea

During his time at sea, Olsen reported that he had traveled around the entire world three times and had been to every country that had a seaport. In these three trips around the world, Olsen also experienced three shipwrecks, once in the Baltic Sea, once off the coast of Siberia and once in the Gulf of Mexico. The wreck off the Gulf of Mexico was the most brutal as he was the only survivor. At the time, Olsen was working on a British cargo ship hauling cotton from Liverpool when they experienced a bad storm that sunk the ship and killed the crew. Olsen was eventually rescued and taken to the port in Galveston, Texas where he ran into an old friend from home. In his short stay in Galveston, Olsen was fortunate enough to experience but survive the Great Galveston flood which claimed the lives of 13,500 people. After leaving Galveston, Olsen returned to England where he was unsuccessfully tried for desertion. Following his trial with the British Board of Trade, Olsen grew distasteful of the British and joined a Dutch merchant ship headed for South Africa. Olsen would eventually settle down and move back to the United States where he resided in New Bern, North Carolina and worked as a dredge boat operator/captain.

Family Life

Olsen settled down in North Carolina and eventually got married to a woman whom he met while working on a dredge boat cutting the inland waterways. The couple did not have kids of their own but wanted children so they decided to adopted two kids, a boy and a girl. It was very important to Olsen that his children attend church and school but he was not strict as to which church they attended. Olsen was born and raised Lutheran however attended the Episcopal church in New Bern with his wife. In addition to this, their son was not raised in any church and so he attended the Episcopal church with them. Their daughter on the other hand was raised as a Baptist and thus they allowed her to attend a Baptist church.

Social Context (The Great Depression)

Understanding Otto Olsen and his experience with the Great Depression is complicated as he split his time with the front end being in Britain and the back end being in the United States. As a result it is important that both are considered.

Britain and the Great Depression

It was quite obvious that Olsen already had animosity towards the British after he was accused of desertion due to the shipwreck off the Gulf of Mexico. After this experience it seemed that Olsen sought out reasons to dislike the British, with the coming of the Great Depression, this was rather easy to do. In their attempt to maintain the economy, “Britain supplanted policies designed to sustain small firms with policies designed to create huge monopolies." As a result of this change, the British government effectively undermined the business of the smaller merchant ships which Olsen had been working on. Further more, the “UK nominal imports of manufacturers from Europe and the United States were reduced by something like 60% ‘as a result of tariff’.” . In other words, if the attempt at monopolization was not enough to cut down business and thus work for Olsen, international trade had dropped by nearly 40%. This meant that there were less jobs and the competition was larger and tougher to beat. Due to these changes, it was Olsen's decision to move to the United States where he thought he could try to forge a better living.

American Families in the Depression

While Olsen's account of his time in North Carolina is favorable compared to his account of Britain, it must still be understood that he did not escape the effects of the Depression. Through his interview, Olsen explains that he is making less money than when he first started on the dredge cutting the inland waterway. While Olsen is relatively alright with the change, it is typical of what many Americans were experiencing. “Those that were lucky enough to have steady employment often saw their wages cut or their hours reduced to part-time.” Furthermore, it should be noted that the family did not own a car, while the development of cars was still relatively new, it was not uncommon for a family to own one. This could have be indicative with the family's budget as Olsen often also went fishing for dinner. Another way in which American's copped with the effects of the depression were potlucks. “Potlucks, often organized by churches, became a popular way to share food and a cheap form of social entertainment. Many families strived for self-sufficiency by keeping small kitchen gardens with vegetables and herbs.” Similar to many of the other American family's, Olsen's family also kept a garden and was active in the church community. With this in mind, it was probable that potlucks were commonly attended by Olsen and his family.