You could be right on some things being less stressful, but there were stressing problems of their time. Your grandfather bought only with cash, that was good, but realize at that time many farmers "heard" of a major banking problem at the time & "went to town" to get their money to find the bank building vacant...along with the money vaults. There went the cash to pay for the farmground they might have been living on. That happened here, I know. Remember, news didn't come instantaneously then. Probably no radio in rural areas. Newspapers were a week late, if at all, assuming the farmer could read. That, along with other aspects of the Great Depression. No jobs, no money. Relatives moved in with each other due to losing houses. It was bad for everyone.

Then, there was that occasional news coming out of Europe & the Orient on unrest  & border skirmishes. True, we didn't know what was ahead, but most knew it could be bad. Remember, we had just finished "the war to end all wars...." a mere 10 years before.