Read the excerpt from the interview with E.Y. (Yip) Harburg. I was walking along the street at that time, and you’d see the brea
d lines. The biggest one in New York City was owned by William Randolph Hearst. He had a big truck with several people on it, and big cauldrons of hot soup, bread. Fellows with burlap on their shoes were lined up all around Columbus Circle, and went for blocks and blocks around the park, waiting. Which statement explains the irony of Harburg’s description of the bread line? While millions of Americans were suffering from the effects of poverty, Hearst remained one of the wealthiest individuals of his time. Harburg was eating and living well while these individuals had to stand in bread lines to receive food. The men who were distributing the soup from the trucks did not receive any of the food themselves. The individuals, dressed in burlap shoes, needed new footwear more than they needed hot soup and bread.
