Greenbelt cooperator., 1942-03-06
BalancingtheB Budget
By BERTHA MARYN
Buying Canned Foods

"Wh hen l use a word, HumpCy
Dumpty said, in rather scornful
tone, ''it means just what | choose
it to mean-neither more nor
less"
"The question is" said Alice,
whether you can make words
mean so many different things"
"Ah," smiled Humpty Dumpty,
"you should buy can of lima
beans"
Lima beans? My goodness,
was supposed to buy a can of lima
beans. But where can | buy lima
beans on this side of the Looking
Glass;"
"Over there" Humpty Dumpty
pointed, indicating a great blaze
of neon lights.
"Thank you,' Alice said, and
she walked over to the store,
nodding to the White Queen who
was emerging with market bas-
ket.
The store was as dazzling inside
as it was out. There were black
and white enameled panels every
where, and not a speck of dust.
Foods glowed under colored lights
that brought out their most appe-
tizing tints. Just waiting for
clerk, Alice became ravenously
hungry.
Finally the clerk appeared.
81 want a can of lima beans" "
Alice said to the clerk.
eyes, Madam" the clerk re-
sponded. ga can of select lima
beans?"
"Select lima beans sounds fne,"
Alice nodded. "There are no lima
beans choicer than select, are
there?"
"Well," said the clerk, 1--WE have
superb lima BEANS"
pardon me-" Alice stammered
apologetically. "Superb lima beans
would naturally be better than
select lima beans. If / weren't so
serious-m minded l would say superb
will suit me superbly. Since they
are your best lima beans, give
me some of them"
The clerk cut her off as if her
were short of temper. Alice, his
manner indicated, was acting
stupidity. Superb aren't necessar-
lily cur best lima beans at all. Of
course we have select and superb
lima beans, but then we have su-
perior lima beans, and supreme
lima beans, too"
ooh, dear me-" Alice cried, 81
just can't get this straight. Su-
perb, select, supreme, superior.
They all seem to me like they must
be the very best"
Every best" the clerk interrupt
ted. eve have them, too"
Alice suddenly reached into her
purse for the piece of cake she
always carried with her. Nibbling
on it, she Immediately became
very small, small enough to dis
appear through crack in the
floor. And without any delay, that
was what she did. 1t was all too
confusing.
Consumers Guide, March 1940)
"Humph," said Mrs. Noall after
reading the above, 81 don't get
confused. | buy by brand name
and then | know | get superior
quality"
"And l buy the most expensive
and so of course Pm sure | get
the best" put in Mrs. Nomore.
Sorry to disillusion you, ladies,
that may or may not be true.
Most packers or Gamers put out
different grades of the same pro-
duct under the same label. That
is well know practice in the
trade; and very often we may find
two stores side by side selling the
under the same brand name two
different grades of the same pro-
duct. If the merchandise you buy
is not graded how do you know
whether you are getting your
moneys worth?
Perhaps you have been buying
grade C products and paying
Grade A prices. If you've been
buying Grade A vegetables to use
in soup or stew or if you've al
ways bought Grade A fruit for
every occasion because you
thought that nothing short of
Grade A was good enough for your
family perhaps you haven't been
buying as wisely as your budget
permits. Perhaps like Alice you
pou find oil tbic Htoo cnpfucip0D -