Great story! Many people today have no idea what folks went through back in the 30s and 40s. We're so used to having everything we want "right now", that it would be difficult to do without as people did then. Growing up in the 40s and early 50s, I experienced some of what your riders described. My dad still saved balls of string, foil wrappers from candy bars, and he even spent hours retrieving bent nails from a nearby construction project and straightening them with a hammer to use for himself. In a way, I think that simple life was better for people. It taught them self reliance, thrift, and the value of things. I'm glad I experienced it.
Richard