Compared with Paul Keating's "recession we had to have" and the global economic crisis we seem to have sidestepped, the depression of the 1930s had a profound impact on Australian society. It was reported that by 1932, more than one-in-three Australian breadwinners were unemployed. Those who still had jobs found themselves with large extended families to try to support.

Skint! Making do in the Great Depression, a Museum of Sydney exhibition that opens on March 27, traces this period, which began with the New York sharemarket crash of 1929. More than 80 years later, mementoes of this period still draw an emotional response, even from those not directly affected.

An example of the items from the era is a Depression peg, which was fashioned from remnants of wire and sold door-to-door by the unemployed. In some cases men would steal wire from farm fences or suburban gates. It's a grim reminder of how desperate people were. Another poignant symbol is the toy train made from scraps of timber, including a fence paling. It's a prime example of the "making do" philosophy.

There are dedicated collectors of such objects, which fit into the general category of folk art or bush furniture but tend to stand out because of their social context. During the Great Depression, throwaway items such as jam tins and kerosene containers were turned into pincushions and flowerpots and either used at home or sold door-to-door.

Packing boxes were another popular source of furniture, often decorated and carved to disguise their origins. Soap boxes were also used to make billycarts.

Also featured in the exhibition are "wagga rugs", a style of quilt made from odd scraps of material, and aprons that were created from hessian bags. These items are beautifully made and, as the exhibition curator, Annie Campbell, notes, served many purposes.

"These creative activities not only helped many people to brighten their homes but also provided an enjoyable diversion to pass the time," she says.

She adds that the Depression tradition of "making do" continued to thrive after the recession had passed.

There are several specialist collectors of Depression-era art (see My Collection) plus those who include objects from this period as a sideline to their more general collections. One example is Mike Bradley, the self-confessed "pegalomaniac" from Melbourne who featured on the ABC's Collectors program in 2008.

"I've got 2000 pegs from around the world," he says with some pride.

Yet he modestly admits that when he visited the Susannah Place Museum in The Rocks he was astonished to see a cabinet full of pegs unlike any even he had seen before. These were Depression pegs and he hunted some down for his own collection, some of which are on loan to the Skint! exhibition.

The Pioneer Women's Hut in Tumbarumba proved to be a good source of information on the wagga rugs. These quilts are now very collectable. Depression-era toys and furniture have also been keenly collected for some time, most notably by Lord McAlpine who sold a large quantity as part of his auction of Australian bush furniture in Perth in 1990. Sydney art gallery owner Ray Hughes is another enthusiastic collector.

Prime examples of this style have fetched hundreds of dollars in specialty Australiana shops and at auction but for those with the patience they can still be found cheaply, especially in the country.

Collector Gary Crockett found his wonderful Depression shrine at a garage sale on the road to Sofala and paid less than $20 for it. His Sydney Harbour shell art box was found cheaply in a junk shop in Newcastle.

They're not easy to find but they are out there and affordable if you know what you're looking for.

Skint! Making do in the Great Depression opens March 27 at the Museum of Sydney, corner Phillip and Bridge streets.

My Collection

Gary Crockett is curator at the Hyde Park Barracks Museum in Sydney. Collecting Depression art is a personal passion that sometimes crosses over into his professional career.

He agreed to lend a few of his treasures to the Museum of Sydney for its Skint! exhibition and has previously staged displays at other museums. Although he says his family wasn't personally affected by this period (his grandfather, he points out, worked as a travelling underwear salesman in the 1930s), he has always been attracted to the spirit of these objects.

"There's a cleverness and a meagreness about them," he says.

"A sense of warmth amidst all the gloom."

Crockett's two main areas of interest are shell art and objects made from tin cans. Baked-bean cans were also widely recycled.

Although some items have appeared for hundreds of dollars in the past, he places a limit on what he buys, usually $20, although he did stretch that to $50 for a toy train. That would be a bargain these days, with objects from this period proving increasingly hard to find.

"It's kind of rare to find them these days," he says. "They sometimes turn up at markets if the stallholder has an eye for them."

$15

This map of Australia has all the trademarks of Depression Art and may well have been sold door-to-door by the unemployed.

$50

Toys from the Depression era are especially desirable. This train would be likely to fetch much more if sold at auction.

$25

This unique shrine was picked up from a garage sale on the road to Sofala. It's made from an American Oil timber crate, with cotton reel pillars and crucifix.