Evening star., 1942-07-27

nen'f "cLem"re. TWO great forces
are. al work for the good of our
morale.
One is the Government. 1t keeps
goodneSs-knows- -how-many men and
women working all day over hot
mimeograph machines and type
writers turning out inspiration mes
sages, brochures, communiques and
other carbon copy shots in the arm
for those of us in the home army.
1t awards flags, pennants, stickers,
buttons and other tonic bric-a a -brac.
For every United Nations setback,
there Is a Governmental bluehird
ready to chirp good tidings in your
| ear and to lend you a pair of rose
colored glasses.
The other-and even greater force
devoted toward the upbuilding of
civilian morales composed of the
| merchants of this country. Yes, the
merchants. the men who sell Amer
leans the things they eat, wear and
use in the business of living.
Everything Has Morale Value.
A man can't buy anything in this
| country now that isn't good for
morale; that is, If the advertise
ments of the merchants are true.
And who is to say they arent2
Every blessed thing has morale
value.
Merchants who sell women's
clothes urge their purchase on the
grounds that well-dressed women,
women with chic, are a vital asset
| In crushing the Axis horde. Look
your best in time of stress, they ad-
wise. 1t will make you feel better,
| give you confidence in doing air raid
warden work, increase your value as
a spotter OF enemy planes. 1t will
make the soldiers happier, too. So,
in buying one of their super stink
evening gowns, with a cut on the
bias back and a bunch OF lace at the
middle you are really striking a di-
rect blow at the submarine menace.
Around the corner from my home
| is a florist shop. Do you think that
| florist recommends flowers on the
simple grounds that roses are lovely,
that gardenias have an equisite
smell? No. His motto is that flowers
build morale, and that Americans
owe it to their country to visit their
florist as often as possible and hit
the Japs by investing In orchids.
lilies of the valley and an occa-
! sional potted plant.
Bouquets to Win War"
One gets the feeling. after reading
the florists pep talks in the window,
that 1t is only matter of time until
he sells enough bouquets and cor
sages to chase the Germans out Of
Egypt and stall the Nazi drive in
/ the Caucasus.
There was time when an Ameri-
can could eat a cereal or bowl of
canned soup purely because they
tasted good. But that day is past.
The smoke had scarcely cleared
away from the December I attack
on Pearl Harbor before the manu-
facturers of food miraculously dis
covered that their products con-
tanned the ingredients Cd to make
a man a whale of fighter. 90
superb armament worker, (3| a
stalwart, farsighted business man
whose wisdom and energy would
keep the economics of this country
at an even keel. The chances -are
that it won't be long before some
manufacturer discovers that his
product makes all three of a man,
enabling him to carry on his busi-
ness with one hand, weld a ship
with the other, and shoot Jap
with machine gun with his teeth.
With such help as this the Ameri-
can civilians can scarcely fail to
have good morale. He combs his
hair with brush that improvesathe
morale of the scalp, brushes his
teeth with mess of bristles that
were designed to make the gums
and eye teeth strong and belligerent,
puts on a shirt and tie guaranteed
to make him feel stronger and pep
pier and ready to face any bad news
from overseas. wakes up his diges-
tive organs with swig OF medicine
that tones the system for trying
days like these" polishes off a break
fast Of food that is so packed with
morale vitamins that it would make
a mouse cuss out puma. and goes
to work in an Office equipped with
furniture designed to meet and
overcome the strain and fatigue Of
war time work. "a