Evening star., 1943-05-02
Friday Rush Leaves
Butchers GroggY but
Hopeful Of Future
Most Dealers Doubt Point
Value. .choneesW Alter
D. c. Eotine Habits

D. G. Eutinq Habits
Still groggy from Fridays battles
with "point-crazy" customers Dis
trict butchers looked back on the
first month of meat rationing and
wondered whether they were physi-
cally and mentally constituted to
hold out much longer.
Many meat dealers indicated sadly
that if the supply and demand sit
uation during the past few weeks
Is any indication Of the permanent
pattern of rationing, they would just
as soon have no part in the busi-
ness for a while. With discouraging
irony, the supply of meat has been
most plentiful when demand was
slightest. When points piled up and
potential customers began to hunger
for steaks and roasts once more,
shipments fell off.
Dealers are hoping that things will
settle down to some semblance OF
normal operations once more, even
if sales are decreased. They won't
mind the decrease so much as they
do the disruption of time-honored
buying habits and the recent vag-
aries of supply.
Tell of Troubles.
They cite this weekend as an ex-
ample: Friday should have been a
good fish day, fair meat day, Sat-
urday should have been heavy day
for the sale of all kinds of meats.
But not this time Friday was
day of wild meat buying by custom
ers who clutched uneXpired coupons
and demanded anything, just so
they could spend" their coupons by
midnight, when four sets OF red
stamps became valid. Yesterday,
with only red E stamps valid 4or
meat, butter, cheese, fats and oils
butcher shops did comparatively
light business. 1t was probably just
as we'll, since there was very little
meat left in town anyway.
Immediately after meat ration
ing started most dealers found they
were able to get generous quanti-
ties that had been scarce during
pre-rationing weeks. Some built up
stocks and discovered after a week
of almost no business that they
would have to hold point sales to
keep meat from spelling.
Things Seemed Better.
After that, it appeared for awhile
that things would level of. A few
more customers began coming In as
more of the red coupons became
cumulatively valid. Meat supplies
we're holding up. Butchers breathed
a little more easily.
As the month wore on, business
accelerated. And then deliveries
of meat to retailers began to fall
Off again. During the last week or
two, dealers have complained with
increasing frequency that they have
not been able to get enough meat to
take care of the demand properly.
Beef, especially, became scarce.
One dealer yesterday said the
supply situation now was "just as
bad as it was before rationing." His
orders, he said, are still cut by about
one-half and deliveries often are
delayed for two or three days.
The OPA decided that the ra-
toned public wanted too many
steaks and roasts, not enough Of
such products as. brains, sWeetbreadS,
kidneys. liver, pigs knuckles, scrap
pie and sausage. Point values on
some of these products were lowered
a couple of weeks ago, and reduc-
tions in the point values of others
are to go into effect today, along
with increases on certain kinds of
steaks and roasts.
Whether these changes actually
will encourage Americans to eat
more sweetbreads, brains, liver and
other SLOW" items is doubted by
most butchers. Some wholesalers
and retailers have pointed out that
the supply of these products in the
Washington area, at least, is not as
plentiful as the OPA point value re-
visions would indicate. Washington,
1t is recalled, was always much more
Of a steak town than one that de-
manded pigs knuckles and sweet
breads.
Wary of Point Bargains"
Furthermore, most butchers said
they would continue to buy these
point bargains" cautiously because
they are highly perishable and must
be moved quickly. Besides. winter is
the season, if any, for sweetbreads,
brains and certain other of these
items.
All in ALL, butchers don't believe
the OPA's campaign to turn the
public appetite away from steaks
and roasts will be a huge success
In the District.
"If people can find steaks" one
dealer said. somehow they'll man.
age to find an extra point to pay
for them
The OPA had hoped by now to
have been able to place red coupons
on a monthly basis instead of on
the weekly cumulative system.
whereby new row of is points be-
comes good each week until by
the end of the month, four or five
sets of stamps expire at once.
Dealers believe the monthly system
would help to level off buying habits
oroir, h,.fy NDA I,oc ~,,4