Growing Up During the Depression
By the time Hank was seven, at the onset of the Great Depression in 1930, his mother was practically a single mom with a family to feed. But Lillie was remarkably resourceful. First, she moved the family to Garland and then to Georgiana, Alabama, where she managed to successfully run a series of boarding houses.
Source: Flickr
To help out, Hank was always picking up odd jobs. He sold peanuts and shined shoes on the corner to make a few coins. During the fall of 1933, when Hank was 10 years old, his mother sent him to stay with his aunt and uncle in a lumber camp 50 miles away in Monroe County, Alabama. It was there that the future country star explored what would become his two biggest passions: music and alcohol.