Getty Images

The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression has investors everywhere wondering if to purchase, hold or bail. Though there is no telling if the current world recession will turn into a sepia toned, soup lined sequel to that historic calamity, it did get us thinking: If the whole point of stocks is to purchase low and sell high, then the Great Depression must Offered Many pretty good purchasing opportunities.

But what were they? SmartMoney.Com went in search of the Great Depression’s best buys, with help from the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. The CRSP crunched numbers to find the 50 best performing stocks from 1932 to 1954 by accumulative total return. The result: A dream portfolio for the greatest investors of the Greatest Generation.

More from SmartMoney.Com:

•, Five world Stocks for Bargain Hunters

• The Patriotic Investor: eight Stocks to Lift the USA

•, Think Your Money’s Safe?

We started with 1932 because, while the famous market crash occurred in 1929, it did not hit rock bottom till nearly three years afterward. Uglier, the Dow Jones Industrial Average did not regain its precrash level till 1954, meaning it took more than a couple of decades to make investors whole.

Looking over the list is a reminder of days gone by and a time when company names were straightforward and mundane. No Navistars or Altiras here. Fans of “The Simpsons” may recall that Mr. Burns had put money into the fictional Amalgamated Spats, but in real life he should Doubled Down on Electric ship and National Acme Co. The former, which still makes submarines to this day as a unit of General Dynamics, returned a whopping 55,000 over those 22 years. National Acme it made machine tools, not giant slingshots for perpetually irritated cartoon coyotes returned more than 10,000.

We’ve taken the complete list of 50 top investments and selected 15 of the most telling. One thing many of them share and a factor that may resonate with investors today, given the Obama administration’s stimulus plans is the affect of big shortage spending. New Deal, World War II and Cold War outlays fueled many of these stocks. Here, then, is our look at many of the greatest Great Depression stocks.

1. Electric Boat: Unsinkable Submarine Maker

Cumulative Total Return 1932 to 1954: 55,000 Rank in Top 50: 1
Where is it now? A unit of General Dynamics
Churning out hundreds of PT boats and submarines throughout WWII as well as building the U.S.S. Nautilus, the world’s 1st nuclear sub, throughout the Cold War more than kept this stock afloat.

2. International Paper &amp, Power: Paper, Not Plastic

Cumulative Total Return 1932 to 1954: 30,503 Rank in Top 50: 4
Where is it now? International Paper
Long before plastic packaging or the digital age, for that matter, paper Ked When it came to communication and containers. Indeed, four of the 50 best stocks from 1932 to 1954 were in businesses that made paper, paper bags and corrugated cardboard.

&bull, How to Prepare Your Finances for the Obama Era

&bull, Banks Make Rewards Plans Less Rewarding

&bull, What a Penny Saved Costs
Visit the Banking &amp, Budgeting Center 3. Zenith Radio: Tuned In

Cumulative Total Return 1932 to 1954: 24,146 Rank in Top 50: 7
Where is it now? Part of LG Electronics
Once upon a time radios were so big they were not personal buyer electronic devices, they were furniture. Back then American, not Asian, manufacturers dominated the market for civilian and military use.

4. Douglas Aircraft: Bombs Away

Cumulative Total Return 1932 to 1954: 23,586 Rank in Top 50: 8
Where is it now? Bloodline leads to Boeing
It is little wonder a military freelancer that helped make the B 17 bomber as well as iconic civilian planes like the DC 3 and DC 9, could fare well throughout WWII and the Cold War. North American Aviation P 51 fighter, B 25 bomber also made the list.

5. Minneapolis Honeywell Regulator: Thermostats Were Hot

Cumulative Total Return 1932 to 1954: 21,608 Rank in Top 50: 9
Where is it now? Honeywell International
Central heating is taken for granted these days, but only thanks to pioneering advances like the company’s original Butz Thermo Electric Regulator “damper flapper,” which helped keep offices and factories at just the right temperature.

Click here For a complete list of the 15 greatest investments from the Great Depression.