In Those Days: The Wasatch Front of the 1930s

KUED takes viewers on a nostalgic journey back to the Wasatch Front of the 1930s in a brand-new special, In Those Days. Created by local award-winning producer Michael Dunn, the 80-minute program includes hundreds of photos, archival footage, and interviews with well-known Utahns who reminisce about life during the Depression years.

Like KUED's wildly successful Salt Lake City--Once Upon A Time, In Those Days is a video scrapbook that preserves our past through personal oral histories. The program opens up the world of yesteryear in a compelling, touching diary format.

"We're ready to lose a generation of people who remember the 1930s," says Dunn. "It's an era that's going to fade from our memories very quickly. So it's important that KUED is producing documentaries that preserve our histories."

Among those Utahns sharing their memories of the era are former Governors Calvin Rampton and Norm Bangerter, Senator Bob Bennett, Salt Lake Tribune publisher Jack Gallivan, poet Emma Lou Thayne, Elaine Cannon, Paul Cracroft, and Lila Bjorklund.

"The program features memories of the things we did, the feelings, the open spaces, the simple games we played," says Dunn. "It's not about places, it's about people."

In one segment, called "The Canyons," people talk about getting in the car to drive to Brighton, how the car overheated, and what an adventure it was. In other segments, people reminisce about how they weathered the Depression. Life became simpler, they say, and values clearer.

"In Those Days: The Wasatch Front of the 1930s" sponsors: