Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-03-23
ID. c. Housewives Are Coupon Thrifty

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keeping one eye trained carefully
on the OPA, has been slow and
thrifty about spending her blue
coupons for canned goods, it was
indicated today.
Omcials of large chain grocery
stores in the District conceded
canned goods are moving from their
shelves much more slowly than was
anticipated when rationing first
went into effect March /. This is
especially true, they say, of canned
fruits and fruit juices. Some of the
large-size juices. it was reported.
are being ignored almost completely.
National OPA officials admit this
condition Is not confined to the Dis
trict. Reports coming in from all
over the Nation show that con-
sumers have been using their blue
coupons with remarkable reserve.
The situation, the OPA said, was
mot critical" but housewives are
undeniably holding off to see how
the wind might be blowing at some
later date.
Attitude Explained.
The thrifty attitude of the Ma
tons citizens, one OPA spokesman
said, was undoubtedly due, in part,
to the fact that the point values on
dried raisins, prunes, beans and len
ills were materially reduced not
long after the first of the blue cou-
pOnS became valid. The impression
got around, the official said, that
OPA would certainly make other
downward adjustments before the
A, B and C coupons became invalid
and that it was, therefore, absurd to
buy anything that wasn't absolutely
needed
The OPA official said there was
absolutely no chance that this
would happen before April l, when
the first set of stamps expire. Even
with that assurance. though, many
housewives will probably smile
smugly and hang on to their cou-
pons little longer.
After all, the OPA says, the new
point values for April will have
to be announced soon, and a smart
housewife can adjust her March
purchases to the schedule of values
announced for April. For instance,
112- pound can of peaches now
costs 20 points. In April, maybe it
will be only Is points. So why not
wait few more days. A 10-ounce
can of peas, which now costs 10
points, may 60. up to II next month.
So the housewife will spend her
March allotment on peas, instead.
These examples. remember, are
strictly hypothetical and have no
known basis in fact.
Valid Thursday.
Even though blue coupons D, E
and F will become valid Thursday.
the new schedule of point values
will not be announced at once.
April coupons spent beginning to-
morrow will have to be used on the
same basis as March coupons until
the new values are posted.
The chief purpose of making
April coupons valid week earlier
is to allow housewives to get the
full benefit of the March coupons.
Thus. If she has five or six points
left over and really needs some
thing costing eight or 10 points,
she can buy 'it by making up the
difference out Of her d, E and r.
stamps. Without this overlap, the
consumer might hsM p buy lcx.
poiht atems shes e warn u 81
the stamps go .tasMAste. a,,ss st=,;s
Two factors VII ~ TAKEN 1lit6
consideration by the OPA in setting
up the new point values-dcmand
and total supply. The fact that
grocers' inventories may be heavy
in certain items will not count, ex-
cept in so far as these stocks are
part of the Nations total available
civilian supply. Even If every grocery
store In Washington is overstocked
with canned apricots, for example,
the point value of apricots won't
necessarily 60 down next month.
But if the country as whole has
plenty of apricots and they have
been moving slowly. they will be
cheaper in points next month.
Month End Buying.
The OPA will get its information
on demand from grocers throughout
the country, from its regional
offices, and from the Consumers
Panel Of 5000 housewives who make
regular reports to the Census
Bureau. Information on supply will
come from other governmental
agencies, like the Agriculture De-
partment.
There is a chance. of course, that
the OPA might be thrown COM
pletely off its course by the unex-
pected tendency of housewives to
concentrate their stamp spending
late in the month. The OPA can't
wait until the end of the month to
get its reports and work out it's new
schedule. So it may issue new values
under the impression that they &C
curately reflect supply and demand,
after which it may learn that house
wives suddenly turned heavily on
commodities which have been going
slowly earlier in the month.
II necessary. under such circum-
stances, the OPA can revise its
values-just as 1t did for raisins,
prunes, beans and lentils this
month. 1t would rather not, of
course. 1t would be better, oficials