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About Reading

While the census searching was borne out of a sense of fun... the glee of finding someone we all know from history or media. However, there is a serious side to exploring famous people in the very public census records. The records provide a rare occasion to learn about celebrities and historical figures lifestyle and living situations.

Financial Status: The 1930 Census taken less than a year after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. As America was falling into the grips of the Great Depression, business magnets and industrialists were still living lavish lifestyles. John D. Rockefeller and his family of six were living in a $900,000 mansion (that's $900,000 in 1930's dollars). The Rockefeller family was notably out-numbered by their 19 servants.

Birth Order: I was told by a reader of Notable Americans of the 1930 Census that they became obsessed with "middle child" or "second child" syndrome, where birth order effects acheivement and personality. They found it fun to look at census entries and note the position in birth order the famous person occupied. According to Wikipedia.org states that elevated development of first borns may be dependent upon additional factors, such as greater parental evolvement with a first child.

Age to Birth Date: If you're a real sleuth, you'll enjoy comparing celebrities' "public" ages with the ones recorded on the census. Joan Crawford who reported her age as 21 in 1930 (born in about 1909), was more likely 25 years old as she was recorded as age 5 on the 1910 Census.

Country of Origin: My personal favorites are the immigrants and children of immigrants who mastered the language and the culture to become iconic Americans. The 1930 Census shows Isadore, the thirteen year old son of a Russian immigrant living between the tracks and the river in Amsterdam, a small up-state New York town. His father was working as a "rag picker" to support Isadore and his six siblings. A decade and a half later the world would know Isadore Demsky as Kirk Douglas, Hollywood star.