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{
    "localId": "540802679",
    "label": "Letter from Miss Martha Josephs to Bess W. Truman with a Reply from Edith Helm",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Letter from Miss Martha Josephs to Bess W. Truman with a Reply from Edith Helm",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/540802679",
    "collections": [
        "White House Social Office Files (Truman Administration)",
        "Correspondence Files"
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "logicalDate": "1946-12-01",
            "month": 12,
            "year": 1946
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    "seq": 4,
    "pageIndex": 0,
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    "url": "https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-whsof/604408/170285919/170285919-41-004.tif",
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    "ocrText": "PRESS RELEASE NO. 12\nWASHINGTON November 30, COMMITTEE 1946 FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION - 819-13st n.w.\nMrs. Sarah Newman, Chairman, Woodley 2642\nGOVERN WENT\nIMMEDIATE RELEASE\n\"DON'T BUY HIGH\" is the warning of the Washington Committee for\nConsumer Protection in 1ts Christmas Shopping campaign. The cam-\npaign will be formally launched in the downtown shopping areas on\nSaturday, December 7, at which time volunteers will distribute cards\ncontaining the five basic points of the Committee's program. The\nvolunteers will be stationed at the entrances to the large depart-\nment stores and will wear for identification Christmas bells bearing\nthe \"Don't Buy High\" slogan.\nThe five-point program is:\n1. Limit Christmas gifts to immediate family and children.\n2. Buy only practical gifts whose prices are still reasonable.\n3. Send gift certificates, government bonds, or cash. (After\nChristmas when prices are lower and quality is better, your\nmoney will buy more.\n4. Don't buy refrigerators, radios, washing machines, vacuum\ncleaners and other consumer durables. (They are still\noverpriced.)\n5. Don't mortgage future pay. (Pay cash or charge only what\nyou can pay for in January.)\nIn arriving at this program, the Committee was influenced by the\nfollowing facts:\nThe trade press is repeatedly warning retailers to be prepared\nfor substantial markdowns after Christmas in order to clear their\nshelves for better quality and more abundant merchandise. In fact,\nthe newspapers are already full of advertisements for sales, even\nbefore Christmas. If consumers refuse to go on a Christmas shopping\nspree and refuse to buy at the present inflationary prices, their\nresistance will force prices down all aong the line and their dollars\nwill accordingly increase in value. Deferred buying means money\nsaved inasmuch as the consumer will be able to buy more for less\nmoney after Christmas.\nSince installment and credit buying were a contributing factor\nto the last inflation and consequent depression, the Committee is\ngreatly concerned that the recent lifting of credit controls will\nincrease present inflationary pressures. For this added reason, it\nis imperative that consumers not only reduce their Christmas buying\nbut that they pay cash for what purchases they do make or charge only\nwhat they can pay for in a month.\nAnother distressing trend is that during the first six months\nof 1946 the purchasing of Series E bonds fell off tremendously and\nthe cashing in of these bonds increased in far greater proportion.\nIf the consumer dissipates his reserves now, he will find himself\nwithout funds when production reaches its peak. The Committee urges\nconsumers to make every effort to leave savings intact and to con-\ntinue buying bonds. Buying less now means he will be able to buy\nmore later, at lower prices and higher quality. Lack of buying power\nat the crucial time of full production will lead to over-production\nand unemployment.\nThe fact that consumer resistance is powerful was demonstrated\nin the meat campaign. The committee feels that the present program\nwill have a beneficial effect in combatting inflation and urges all\nconsumers in the area to cooperate.\nPublicity Committee:\nMrs. Frances Adams, Woodley 1754\nMiss Martha Josephs, Emerson 6935\nMrs. Rhoda Greene, Georgia 3964"
}