The Great Depression: The Great Depression was an era of apple sellers on city streets and Hoovervilles, bread lines and soup kitchens. People were temporarily distracted from their dire straits by news of the Dione quintuplets, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and the antics of a comic-strip character, Little Orphan Annie. The stock market crashed in 1929 with serious repercussions for most people. By the following year, 4.5 million people were unemployed and 1,300 banks had failed. Unemployment would double the next year and reach 13.7 million by 1932, the year that Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected 33rd president. On a positive note, the U.S. Post Office Department offered a reasonable way of saving money: The Postal Savings System. Established by Congress in 1910, this System offered depositors 2% interest and accepted deposits from $1 to $2,500. By 1929, the year of the Great Stock Market Crash and the beginning of the Great Depression, $153 million was on deposit. These savings grew to over $1.2 million during the 1930s.

Now, the era when America overcame adversity is reflected in a vintage 1932 Ford Model AA Postal Truck. Precision-engineered in 1:43 scale, this classic die-cast model is meticulously detailed and advertises "Airmail Stamps for 5c" - an estimable price at a time when 5c was not always easy to find. An authentic re-creation of a classic vehicle, your 1932 Ford Model AA Postal Truck is produced by - and available only from - Matchbox Collectibles.

(1999)

Scale: 1:43