The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-12-31

conveniences. But the good house.
wives out in the country, when
| queried about all such inconven-
fences, were found to be pretty re-
luctant to complain.
Typical comment from consum-
ers, repeated over and over, was,
After all. there's war on" And
great many Of those interviewed
volunteered the information that
they were getting along all right.
Another important disclosure of
,, the survey was that there isn't any
single item that can be described
as Americas number one short
age.' Instead, there are some SO
items which are at times hard to
get and cause temporary inconven-
fences.
WE'RE SHORT ON 294 ITEMS
What the surveyors had to check
was an 18-page list made up Of 294
separate items--35 in women'S wear,
from foundation garments to over
coats; 10 in girls wear, from ank-
let's to sweaters; "a In infants wear
from diapers and gertrudes To snow
suits; 80 mems wear items, from
shorts to overalls; 20 of boys wear,
from pajamas to mackinaws; is
household textiles. from mosquito
netting to blankets; 20 notions, from
garters to bobbie pins; AZ items of
houseware, from paper plates to
dinner sets and soap to garbage
pals; 10 items of furniture, from
cribs to refrigerators; Is household
APPLIANCES. from alarm clocks to bat
teries for grandpa's hearing aid;
five plumbing and heating gadgets,
10 household tools; Is transportation
needs, including bicycles and o
dozen auto parts! 26 farm supplies,
from milk strainers to ammunition
for the family shotgun.
The list Is interesting because 1t
shows how complete was the check
and how complicated life has be-
come. 1t is also useful in that any
one who wants to run the same
kind OF a survey on his own house.
hold or busted block can do so.
When 1t came to tabulating the
results, several lists were made up
to give different slants on this CIV
ilian shortage business. The first
free" question asked of all the
people was to the effect Of, Whats
bothering you most?" The score on
this one was surprising because five
out Of the first six items weren't
clothing or household supplies at
all, but things to eat. Ninety-nine
people out of every thousand miss
ed butter more than anything else,
and after that came in order, meat,
sugar. soap, canned goods and
fruits.
PREvIEW OF
POSTWAR WANTS
The next 10 items show what
really makes the wheels go round
In American life. In order or bother
they were: elastic tape. coal, wo-
mems hose, wash tubs, ration
points, bobbie pins. sheets, infants
underwear and gasoline.
A second breakdown was on the
basis of. What items have you
been unable to buy? What they
were after here was a list OF things
causing inconvenience. The first 10
items, in order Of hardship, were:
l., Elastic tape; 2. alarm clock;
3. wash tub; A. sheets; S. pail, 9,
iron cord: Z, clothespins; 8. boys
overallS; 8, radio tubes; 10, pots and
pans: II, tableware: ~, electric
iron; Is. ammunition; IA, women's
girdle: Is, washing machine; 10,
women's pants; II, zippers; IS,
scissors.
People who have been studying
this wartime civilian supply prob
lem believe that one OF the princi-
pal reasons more hardship was not
reported Is that inventories have
been sufficient to meet the most
pressing demands up to now. But
with store stocks now pretty we'll
cleaned out. particularly after the
big Christmas buying rush, the de-
mand going into 1914 Is going to be
greater. The inconvenience items
reported now are therefore the
shortage items for tomorrow, and
they offer flrst-class gauge on
what the immediate postwar buy
Ing demands are going to be.