January 26, 1946 The Stocking Lines, The Steel Strike, The Cars and Please Send Eggs

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"I've been trying to think of something to write but there isn't anything new.  The weather is the same old stuff; rain, sleet and snow.  It thaws in the daytime and freezes at night so the streets are kept in a mess.  It is supposed to get real cold tonight and tomorrow so I guess we'll stay in the house and keep warm.

Have you been hearing about the first showing of the Kaiser cars in New York?  They had to carry the showing over a couple of days because so many people stood in lines for hours to get into the show room.  They said salesmen ran out of salesbooks every few minutes and lots of people had their cash with them to pay for their cars.  The Kaiser sells for $1150. and the Frazer for $1350.00.

This afternoon I'm going to a tea for a Dame that is leaving.  There are over fifty Dames this year and more keep coming.

It is almost impossible to get any kind of stockings here.  The stocking lines are as common as butter and egg lines used to be.  Clare B. Luce has asked for an investigation of the stockings so maybe before long we can get some.

Clare B. Luce, 1944

I haven't been reading very much lately.  I've read about a dozen books since school began.  The last one was the biography of Nathan Hale.  It was awfully good.  The life of Madame Curie was good too.  I never read my magazines through.  I don't care much for the stories but enjoy the short articles and pictures.

We're about out of eggs so I guess you better send a case when you have it.  They are selling for .48 at the A&P.  The meat strike isn't affecting New Haven at all as far as we can see.  It just happened that a lot of meat was in Hartford when the strikes began and since they couldn't send it on we have been getting the benefit.  The steel strike worries me though.  I wish something would be done.

I had a letter from Bessie this week.  She sent me Francis Jr.'s address so I made him a big box of oatmeal cookies.

Helen Pearcy wrote me a letter this week too.  She said Billy was in Japan now and is a corporal.  He had sent her a lot of silk but she was wishing he would come home.

I have all the cross stitching done on one strip of my afghan.  It wouldn't take long to finish it all if I was home all the time.

Hope you are both fine."

                              Lots of love,

                                    B & Bonnie

NOTES from Ann:   Clare Booth Luce, although outspoken about women's issues, apparently wasn't too thrilled to be associated with the stockings fiasco: 
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/awhhtml/awmss5/women_membrs.html

"As a member of the House Military Affairs Committee, Luce received letters from women in the military, and her congressional and subject files reflect her interest in wartime economic and labor issues, including universal military service for men and women and the concerns of military nurses. Other files relate to child care programs, maternity and infant health care issues, women diplomats, and women in politics. Much to her dismay, Luce found herself heading a crusade against
the shortage of women's stockings in postwar America."

In spite of her activities, she found time earlier in 1944 to be photographed and interviewed for Ladies Home Journal, November, 1944.

And about the cars:  http://www.allpar.com/cars/adopted/kaiser.html

"In January 1946, two well-kept secrets were revealed to the public in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City: non-running prototypes of the new Frazer and the revolutionary Kaiser K85 family car with front-wheel drive. While there ultimately was a running front wheel drive Kaiser (even driven by Tom McCahill in 1946), the development time was too short to bring it to production and the final decision was to use the same body and drivetrain for both the Frazer and Kaiser."