Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Summer II/Section 12/Sam Barkley

Overview

Sam Barkley was a supply salesman who sold parts for oil rigs in the midwest and around the US in the early 1900s. He experienced the effects of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl on the midwestern United States as well as increasing corporation restrictions on the industry he was in.

Biographical Information

Though common details about his life, like his birthdate and family, are not known, it is known that Sam Barkley was an impressive salesman. He sold rig-irons for oil-well drilling throughout the country, but most notably in Oklahoma. He started his career in 1911. Just one year later, in 1912, he had some of his best success in Cushing, Oklahoma. He was able to sell 100 rig-irons in a single order, beating the company's previous highest single order of 15. The President of the company Barkley was working for even came out to personally congratulate him. By 1939, Barkley was an old man, though still a supply salesman, and the oil business was not as booming for him as it once was. He said that there were “just a few holes being cleaned up, nobody drilling.” This was likely a result of both the Great Depression, as well as increased restrictions on oil drilling. What Barkley really wanted to do was own a farm with a pond and raise bullfrogs to hear them sing. There is no record of whether he did this later in his life or not.

Social and Historical Context

Rural America During the Great Depression Era

Rural America was greatly affected by the Great Depression when it hit, mostly seen by family farms and small oil drilling companies, ones similar to what Sam Barkley worked for. Overproduction and decreased demand led to decreasing prices of goods and a tanking economy. The decreasing prices for oil and food caused by the tanking economy led to poverty for many in the midwest. To keep what was theirs, they had to take out loans from banks, but when they were unable to pay off the loans, the banks ended up taking their property and selling it to big businesses. The farmers and oil drillers not only lost their land and their property but also their "very identity" (Hall 35).

The Dust Bowl in the 1930s also devastated the midwestern United States and the people living there, including Sam Barkley. Many people moved west in search of jobs while others stayed during the worst droughts in American history. With little work to be done for the people who stayed, there was not much else to do other than listen to the radio.

Oil Regulations

Between the years of 1920 to 1940, the per capita energy consumption of the world flattened out, which was different as it had been increasing over time prior. This includes oil, which had greatly decreased in price due to the lower demand. Corporations in the petroleum and oil industry were the ones leading the regulations on their industry rather than the federal government during this time. This was in order to stabilize prices and profits between them "after the simultaneous discovery of several large oil fields depressed oil prices" (Nordhauser 53). But, rather than the federal government regulate the industry, the corporations themselves were allowed to discuss and self-regulate, something only ever seen in wartime. Sam Barkley saw this affect him as smaller oil drilling companies could not compete with the standard prices and regulations that were being set up by the large corporations.