There is no question that times are tough. Signs of economic distress are everywhere. In the last few months, Americans have endured a daily barrage of troubling news on home foreclosures, job losses, credit problems, record gas prices and soaring food costs.

Let's be realistic, though. As difficult as things seem, we have experienced far worse times.

During the Great Depression, Akron residents coped with misery on an unprecedented level. Poverty, unemployment, debt and hunger were constant concerns for families in the 1930s.

''I remember it well as a kid growing up,'' said George W. Knepper, 82, distinguished professor emeritus of history at the University of Akron. ''Everything that people were accustomed to doing or wanted to do was pretty much restricted.

''The whole society had to adjust. It was not like today's recession where some people — a very, very large percentage of the people — are living high on the hog, and others are in pretty desperate straits.''

The turmoil of the 1930s affected nearly everyone: rich or poor, young or old. Some wealthy businessmen lost their fortunes and ended up selling apples and pencils on the street.

Jobs were almost impossible to find. Factories laid off workers or drastically cut back on hours. People stood in long lines outside soup kitchens.

''The industrial cities were hit extremely hard,'' Knepper said. ''In Akron at the height of the unemployment, 1932-33, it's estimated that there was 60 percent industrial unemployment. That is factory unemployment. That's almost two out of every three people had zero jobs.''

Knepper, who grew up on Beechwood Drive in West Akron, said his family was fortunate because his father, George, had a steady job as minister of High Street Church of Christ.

''At the very worst of the unemployment, there were literally some families that had to depend on their little kid's paper route to make enough money to buy the essential food,'' he said.

Families make due

Virginia Nicholas, 84, of Akron, remembers moving from house to house with her parents, Roger and Nellie Casey. Homeowners would rent out rooms to help make ends meet.

''We'd sleep in upstairs bedrooms and come down and share the food with the people,'' she said. ''Then we'd have to move someplace else. Years later, we finally got a home.''

Despite the circumstances, people didn't seem to complain too much, she said. They tried to make the best of the situation.

''You were grateful for everything,'' Nicholas said. ''We were happy. We were poor and really didn't know it. We just made do with what we had and appreciated it so much.''

When toys were scarce, kids learned to enjoy simple pleasures. Nicholas recalls splashing on Yale Street in South Akron.

''We loved to have it rain,'' she said. ''When the streets flooded, we would wade in that dirty water and have the best time. Then the parents would have to wash us in the tub.''

Every weekend, Nicholas and her friends from Lincoln School were allowed to splurge on a cowboy matinee at the Majestic Theater on South Main Street.

''We had a nickel to go to the show on Saturdays, which was a big, big thrill in our life.''

Stretching food bills

Bob Weyrick, 83, a lifelong resident of Ellet, remembers the cherries and peaches that he plucked from the trees outside his home. Depression-era families planted vegetable gardens and fruit trees to lower grocery bills and enjoy fresh produce.

''People took a lot of pride in their canned goods,'' he said. ''Usually there was an area in the basement where jars of canned foods could be stored for the winter.''

Weyrick's father, Clark, a carpenter, built a chicken coop on an adjacent lot so that the family could have a steady supply of eggs and chicken dinners.

''Every spring, you'd get a new group of small chicks,'' Weyrick said.

It wasn't uncommon for hobos to knock on the door to ask for something to eat. Weyrick's mother, Miriam, made sandwiches and handed them out to the hungry men. Even though the Weyricks had to scrimp, they still tried to share.

''I think people realized that life was hard and it was even harder for many,'' Weyrick said. ''As I remember, there was really a spirit of people trying to help one another as best they could.''

Clothing made to last

Eloise Schill, 81, of Copley Township, grew up on Herman Avenue off Diagonal Road in Akron. The whir of a home sewing machine was a frequent sound when she was a pupil attending Crouse Elementary.

''My mother made all of my dresses, and she did well, but I was embarrassed, you know, because everybody else went to the stores to get their clothes,'' she said.

Kids wore clothing until it couldn't be repaired. Socks were darned. Pants were patched. As little girls grew taller, mothers adjusted the hems on old dresses.

Such frugality helped Schill's parents, Gertrude and Willard Schill, keep their house.

''A lot of people on that street lost their homes because they were all brand new,'' Schill said. ''My parents survived.''

Since money was tight, her favorite childhood memories involve activities that were free. She recalls riding a bicycle to the library to read books and climbing the Wooster Avenue hill to watch dirigibles over Akron.

''I never knew that we were in a Depression except I couldn't understand why we didn't do a lot of things that other people did,'' she said. ''But we always had good meat and potatoes. We never went hungry.''

Mel Hynde, 86, who grew up on Bittaker Street in East Akron, remembers how people used to look out for each other.

''A family moved up from Alabama, and my mother went around the neighborhood, picking up clothes for them,'' he said. ''And we were as poor as they were.''

Neighbors had to find innovative ways to make a little extra cash during those difficult times.

''A guy two doors up from us set up a barber chair in his house and he cut people's hair for a quarter,'' he said.

Parents Leonard and Evelyn Hynde had to reduce expenses after his factory job was cut back to three days a week. Their children were none the wiser.

''We didn't know,'' Hynde said with a laugh. ''We didn't know we were doing without.''

Except maybe for the clothes. Hynde was at the top of the ladder on hand-me-downs.

''The fortunate thing was I was the oldest boy,'' he said. ''My kid brother was a couple of years younger than me. So he got everything that I would wear.''

Men put to work

Some Akron residents had to go on direct relief, receiving 12 cents a day from the state for each person in the family. Desperate people barely subsisted in crowded tenement houses. Some children couldn't go to school because they had no shoes.

The Works Progress Administration, a federal jobs program, helped alleviate some of the suffering in Summit County. Tens of thousands of people earned pay for working on hundreds of public projects. Unskilled laborers earned $55 a month while skilled workers took home $85.

In 1938, Ohio had about 238,000 workers on the WPA. Men dug ditches, paved roads, built bridges and constructed landmarks such as the Rubber Bowl and Nimisila Reservoir. Women canned vegetables, sewed garments and handled other domestic duties.

Most families depended on one income — usually a father who had been raised to believe he was the literal breadwinner.

''If he lost his job, not only did the family lose its income, but he lost his pride,'' Knepper said. ''For that reason, even as a kid, I just knew that the New Deal programs that were putting people back to work were sensible. It gave them a little self-respect in earning the money.''

Such programs kept people working until World War II started an industrial boom that ended the Depression.

Lifelong frugality

Those who lived through that era never quite got over it. Many remained frugal for life.

The mantra ''Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without'' was hard to break.

People saved butter wrappers to grease pans. They filled drawers with empty bread bags. They washed foil to use again.

Such thriftiness seemed amusing to later generations. In today's society, people throw away nearly everything in sight.

If the United States should ever fall into another depression, could we go back to the old ways? Would we learn how to save? Would we help each other?

''Sometimes it seems that life swings in cycles,'' Weyrick said. ''Maybe you go from one end to the other. As the economy seems to be sliding down a little bit, we may see more of a tendency for people to try to be more helpful to others in need.''

Nicholas, who refers to her childhood as ''the happy days'' despite the Great Depression, offers this advice for people coping with today's tough times.

''Just know that God will take care of us somehow or another,'' she said. ''Just watch how you spend your pennies.''