The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1941-12-24
YOUR DOLLAR
By CONSUMERS UNION
ELECTRIC CLOCKS

-. Are far from foolproof, re-
ports GU. in it's Christmas buying
issue. If you live in small COM
munity where the electric generator
speed may wary, or where there may
be current Interruptions, you're better
off with an old-fashioned spring.
wound clock. Even in big cities, cur
rent may sometimes be interrupted
(although far less frequently. There
fore, a self-starting clock should have
a lost-time indicator, to warn you to
reset it when it has stopped. Since
a Misunderstanding clock won't start by
itself, it needs no indicator
Gu. tested 81 models, priced from
So to $40, and found most well built
except for alarm mechanisms which
rang too long, or interfered with &C.
curacy. If you pay as much as $40,
you're paying mainly for fancy case.
In general, more expensive clocks do
not have better movements.
| Best Buys were: Wards Cat. No.
1000 (S3.49 plus POSTAGE; GLE Ser
geant ($2.95); gle Troubadour ($395);
Westclox Country Club ($2.95).
FOOTBALLS
What you spend for football de-
ponds on how you plan to use it. For
all but official games, reports GU.
after testing 33 models, SIS and some
So footballs of good quality are as
satisfactory as SO ones. Two SIS balls,
the Spaulding Fighting Irish and the
Reach Fighting Irish, equaled SO balls
in every quality except finish. Two
So models-Sears' Official Conference
at $2.79 plus postage, and Wards Carl
Snavely at the same price, were al
most as good as the best SIS balls.
But some $3.50 models were no better
than 81 balls, and were suitable for
use only as children's toys.
RECORD ALBUMS
Record Albums have become SO
popular that Consumers Union asked
board of seven experts to recon-
mend the best of recent recordings
in classical, American song and hot
jazz albums The collections on
which number of consultants agreed
can be considered "Best Buys" for
most people.
Thirty classical albums are sug-
gested with two-the Columbia Bee
thoven Quartet in C-sharp Minor,
Opus 131, played by the Budapest
String Quartet ($5.5O) and victor's
Brahms Concerto No. 2 in B-flat
Major for piano and orchestra, played
by Horowitz with Toscanini and the
NBC Symphony Orchestra (S650),
ranking as "Best Buys" In the Amer
lean song list, best liked were Victor's
Midnight Special" album ($21O) and
keynote's Talking Union" ($275).
In he jazz field, five albums are sug-
gested Columbia's Louis and Earl"
(Iouis Armstrong and Earl Hines)
album at S2.62 got top rating.
Don't Buy by Brand Name Only
Are advertised brands the best
buys? mot necessarily" says GUS
-942 Buying Guide. In spite of the
volume made possible by advertising,
highly bally-hooed brands often fall
hort in scientific tests, while cheap
r. less conspicuous brands get top
lonors. For example, Gu. finds a
80 Coop Vacuum Cleaner performing
,etter than a number of $50 and $50
'rands. The best-known in canned
Gods are frequently far down on the
list for quality.
Foods, toilet goods, electrical ap-
liances, clothing, household supplies,
automobiles and accessories are
mong the products rated in the 1884,
age, pocket size Buying Guide.
YOUR DOLLAR is a regular
monthly feature. The facts and
opinions given are based on Con-
sumers Union Reports, the month
ly magazine of Consumers Union,
IL Union So. W., New York,
non profit organization W 8 e
main object is to safeguard buyers
by testing and reporting on con-
sumner goods. Note especially the
information on labor conditions
under which products are made.