The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-07-28
BABY IS LOSING HIS PANTS AS
 WELL AS SHIRT
BY EMILE BASEL United Press Staff Correspondent

| Unlted Press Staff Correspondent
 St. Lotus, July 28-(UP)-Father
 may have lost his trouSer cuffs in
 this war, but baby is losing pants, shirt and slip, not to mention blan-
 kets and bathroom fittings.
 The War Production Board has
 promised immediate action on in-
 fant shortages (there is no short
 age on infants), but for the young
 est generation life at present is a
 bare prospect Not a diaper is to
 be found in many St. Louis stores,
 and the baby shop in one large department store has advance sales for all they can get until November. The system is rationing at its grim
 est. Babies already here get first chance and prospective arrivals get none until they actually make their appearance.
 Nights Are Tough
 Dresses are scarce and many are minus frills and embroidery. The largest shipments of baby dresses used to be the Philippine hand made type, cheaper and friller than the domestic made, but now almost entirely off the market since the Japanese cut off the source of supply. Knit underwear shirts, slips and panties are not to be found and Cottons are almost as scarce. Baby may still have his sox, but his shoes up to toddler sizes have gone the way of sterilizerS and metal toys.
 Even the small-fry's sleep has been invaded; his bed no longer of- ferS bouncing steel springs, only wooden slats. His night-life gets off in his LnderWear-if he has any underWear-because pajamas, gowns and kimonos are as rare as thick steaks. Only chosen few will have small-sized blankets, for the stores have few or none at all in stock. One baby shop recently received it's first shipment of baby blankets since the war began. Even as the infant sleeps, the hazards of rationing go on. There are no quilted pads to protect his now precious mattress.
 Baby items listed as necessities" have in many cases reached the vanishing point. High chairs, pint sized bath equipment, even baskets to transport the newest member of the family home from the hospital are difficult to find. One store will have no more training panties for month, but hopefully suggests that talcum and bath oil are plen- tiful.
 No Rest for Father
 Transportation facilities ve dWindled to parental arms, for aside | from a few carriages, mostly cum bersome wooden models, the other methods are zero. Several stores have been unable to obtain walkers or strollers for many months.
 The lighter side of baby's life has been equally curtailed by war econ- omies. His toys are more standard ized and there is less variety as well as less quantity. An infants shop reports that one manufacturer sold | his years allotment in one week | and ordinarily summer is dull sea- son for toys. The retail store buy CT didn't know whether people were | buying the toys to save for Christ mas, but prophesied that Santa Claus would have tough sledding if the present heavy buying continued.
 An official of WIPE textile divi- sion has said that the shortages of infants wear is due mostly to scarce buying and that there is no imme- diate need for raticning. Possibly with an eye to the future goodwill of the newest Americans, the offi- ,ial added that no steps had been taken to impede the manufacture of rag dolls and their clothing.