While his children struggled to merge their two worlds, Otoosan was busy working to support his family during the economic crisis and continue to provide for the well-being of his mother and Shigeno in Japan . Only a year passed from Black Thursday which marked the stock market crash to which the children had returned. After World War I, rural America had lost more than 30% of its value, homes foreclosed, factories idle, millions out of work. and families in need of basic necessities. Then the Dust Bowls of Texas and Oklahoma added further misery to the declining economy. Farms were abandoned and Midwestern Americans began their migration to California trying to find work or anything to support their families. However, the influx of people has further exacerbated the crumbling job market. Americans against Americans, ugly scene at the state border. Representatives of the State of California, alarmed at the ever-increasing migration, issued orders to stop itinerants at the state border: no Okies or Arkies are allowed to enter the California border. In 1937, California passed the "Anti-Okies Law" which prohibited any person, agent, or corporation from providing aid or relief to indigent persons not residing in California. Some moved to the San Joaquin Valley seeking work as fruit pickers and farm laborers. Work was scarce, and farms exploited children for low wages instead of employing adults. Unlike seasonal workers who moved in after the harvest, the new crowd stayed rather than migrated. They came to this region destitute and since they could not get decent wages, they lived in squalor, in tents, shantytowns and wherever they could rest their weary bones. Out of this misery came John Ste...... middle of paper ...... who raised animals for food. Once a week, an Issei man would pull up with a truck selling fish and tofu set on a bed of crushed ice to keep the food fresh. His mother often bought whole mackerel and the family cooked them over the coals by burning discarded grape stumps. As soon as the fish began to cook, stray cats appeared out of nowhere and watched the divvying up of the fish scraps from a safe distance. Later, the meat-based diet changed when his brothers were in high school and joined the 4H club. They raised chickens that became meat and eggs for the family. George was the most adventurous of the brothers. She watched him pick up the unripe pears, wrap them in paper, and secretly hide them from the others in the barn. However, eyes were watching him closely, for the others knew his tricks and were checking his stash to see if anyone was mature enough to let him steal a few..