Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-02-23
Turn Tin Can
Openers Into
Spades, Hoes
Nation Forced by Ration
TO New Idea of-Food s.
By WESTBROOK PEGLER

KNOW whether ne COulu pray
a violin because he had never
tried, the American people are
attempting something new in
the rationing of canned goods
and may not do very well at
first. Spoiled we may be, IL
any one wants TO say so. but
nevertheless we have been living
out of cans more and more
these last % years or so and
the can opener is one OF our
most important tools. 81"
In some great production
areas whole crops were canned
right on the ground and as the
factory took over the job Of
cleaning. cooking and preserW
ing food, there occurred cor
responding decline of the tricks.
which, TO a frontier people. were
mere cabin routine.
The development OF the
canned goods industry and Of
the capsule city apartment &C.
Cured together, each promoting
the other. go"
The idea Of he little apart
ment was that the little woman,
would not bother TO preserve
food during the canning season
and the idea of the Gamers was
to simplify life for her and give
her more time TO spend at the
beauty parlor or the cocktail
den or make il easy for her 10
whip up something when She,
came home tired from her jot =
THE Gamers spent millions Of
Il dollars advertising the merits
Of their goods and we believed
them. Their soups and beans
were tasty and apparently as
wholesome as they said they
we're and as, from year 10 wear
they added hams and jellied
chickens. asparagus and varl-
ETY. of fruits TO their line. al
ways under competitive pressure,
economy and convenience were
strong selling points.
Their buyers in the field were
go intent on cheapness that a
tenth of a cent per unit became
a haggling point in contracting
for crops and a big chain would
buy whole seasons pack OF an
area in order 10 mark down the
price per can by cent or two
in the neighborhood branch.
The rationing plan seems 20
assume that canned food Is just
a household iron ration or sup
plement TO the kitchen-cooked
meal and of course il is true
none OF us have lived entirely
on canned stuff. One would like
10 be precise but that is impos-
sible.
Yet, considering the enormous
gross pack OF food that the
Americans have bought in cans
every year and the proportion
of canned and fresh food that Is
visible TO the naked eye in any
store. il must be that canned
food is more than a convenience
or luxury.
lay DARLING. the Iowa car
- toonist who. without con-
sciously knowing as much, Is a
veteran of frontier day in the
Midwest, has drawn another OF
his superb pictures dealing with
this rationing order.
He shows a plainsman squat-s
ting by his frying pan. his wife
and child peering from their
covered wagon parked close by,
remarking brightly 10 modern
city man who is yowling about
his canned food ration. Don't
take on so. sonny. your pa and
ma never heard of canned vege-
tables till long after you were
born"
That Is true enough. but the
plainsman's wife knew how TO
put things down in brine and
had lot of other kitchen proc
esses that have been forgotten
or never learned by most women
of today, and moreover, she and
her old man didn't feed as well
as they might have.
Europeans. particularly Ger
mans and Italians. know ways
of preserving vegetables and
meat that might be very helpful
here if our people could learn
them overnight and. possibly.
this summer, under pressure OF
necessity, we will.
Certainly our people will turn
TO and produce garden food in
Victory gardens and other small
plots, a gain which won't amount
TO much against the greater loss
If the farm industry doesn't get
its men. but there are still mill
lions of people who can't raise
as much as scallion.
Window-box and flower-pot
farming are not worth the bother
and the laws and the standard
lease forbid the keeping of a pig
or sheep in an apartment.
pUT IL things are as bad as
- these rationing orders indi-
cate, the people will make a
mighty effort to play that violin.
and we never can tell till we
try. There are many who in