The Depression was bad, but some years were a whole lot more "depressed" than others. My parents got married in 1933, and my dad told me plenty of stories of pretty low wages. But he was running a service station in 1937, the year my older brother was born--and they bought a brand new Ford that year.
Production totals tell an interesting story about the firearms industry during those years. From 1930-35, Winchester cranked out 60,000 Model 12's. They made 42,000 in 1940 alone. Browning made only 3,000 A-5's in the 3-year period from 1932-34. From 1937-39 they made 24,000.
