On October 29, 1929, which would come to be known as Black Tuesday–the
New York Stock Exchange crashed, sending stocks into a dizzying
tailspin. The Twenties had been a decade of industrialization and
huge economic growth. Because the Stock Market seemed so healthy,
many Americans invested their life savings and took risks. On October
29th, however, the bottom fell out of the stock market, and prices
dropped dramatically. When the final bell rang that Tuesday, the
New York Stock Exchange had lost four billion dollars. Within days,
panic ensued, and banks failed. Many people lost their life savings.
More than any other day, October 29th marked the beginning of the
Great Depression.
It did not take long for sectors outside of the finance
world to be affected by the severe economic downturn. Record sales
began to plunge and TOBA shows were canceled. By 1930, Bessie Smith found
herself adjusting to a new touring schedule. Record sales had slowed
considerably and she had to rely entirely on shows in order to
make ends meet. In the past, while passing through Chicago, Smith
had always shared a drink or two with a bootlegger named Richard
Morgan. In the early years of the Great
Depression bootleggers were among the few people
still making money. Morgan had long been an admirer of Bessie Smith's,
and when they reunited in 1930, they began a relationship. Morgan
proved a better match for Smith in temperament than Jack Gee. Morgan
was a quiet, tolerant man who took her raucous behavior and heavy
drinking in stride.
Meanwhile, Vaudeville theaters–Bessie's main venue–were
closing all over the country. The struggling TOBA was forced to
fold, and Smith was left to book her own shows. Ethel Waters, who
was in Paris during the crash, returned to star in "Rhapsody in
Black" on Broadway. While Smith cut corners to get by, Waters was
making $2000 a week in the middle of the Great Depression. For
the first time, it became apparent how Smith's earlier rejection
of the white world could hurt her.
In July 1930, Smith recorded "Black Mountain Blues" for Columbia.
Columbia, however, hit hard by the economic crisis, only printed
2095 copies. It was a far cry from the 780,000 copies of "Downhearted
Blues" that Bessie had sold in 1923. In 1931, Smith began her ironically
named "Broadway Revue" tour, and in November of that year, she
recorded her last two songs– "Safety Mama" and "Need a Little Sugar
in my Bowl"–for Columbia Records. After nine years, 160 songs,
and hundreds of thousands of records sold, Columbia terminated its
contract with Bessie Smith. Because of the royalty clause in her
contract, Smith received only a fraction of the money that she
should have received for her hits.
All through 1930 and 1931, Jack Gee, Jr.. was in a boy's
home in Maryland, away from his mother. In 1932, he was discharged
to Jack Gee. Jack Gee, Jr. wrote to Smith, telling her how miserable
he was. Smith, accompanied by a sizeable group of male friends,
traveled to Gee's at once to fetch Jack, Jr. and brought her son
back to Philadelphia. Although Smith had high hopes for Jack, Jr.
–in particular, she wanted him to be a lawyer–Jack, Jr. had no
interest in school or in settling down to a regular life. Like his
mother, he was apt to disappear for days at a time.
Bessie's hatred for Gertrude Saunders continued despite
the fact that she was in a relationship with Richard Morgan. When
Smith and Saunders ran into each other in a small midwestern city,
Smith beat Saunders badly.
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