YOUR DOLLAR
Union, Consumers
Your Dollar By CONSUMERS UNION STAY AWAY from those advertising eyeglass merchants who offer you a $1 eye examination or a pair of glasses at a "bargain" price... Thus warns Consumers Union in an...
...The Best Buys found were Fruit of the Loom white cotton at 39 cents and Leeds Deluxe white broadcloth at 50 cents...
...It still pays, however, to look carefully before you buy...
...Many manufacturers have dropped their 25 cents and 35 cents lines, while others have received OPA permission to raise prices...
...But the wider rib is more elastic and therefore may be more comfortable...
...On top of this, quality has gone down so that the 75 cent pair of shorts you buy this year may ndt be as good as those for which you paid 50 cents the year before...
...Print cloth," a lower grade cotton fabric, As used as a substitute for broadcloth...
...Adhesive Bandages Don't buy bandages impregnated with mercuro-chrome or sulfathiazole, CU advises...
...5165, $1 plus postage (Sears Roebuck...
...The same glasses would cost less at any ethical optician's...
...The mercuro-chrome is useless and the sulfathiazole may cause development of sensitivity to the sulfa drugs so that they can't be used at some later time when they are really needed...
...One common cause of trouble is the label...
...CU tested 27 brands of men's shorts for measurements, construction, and fabric quality...
...But if any optician advertises a low price and then tells you the glasses sold at that price are no good, walk out...
...Thus warns Consumers Union in an article in its May issue on "How to Buy Eyeglasses...
...Mansco white broadcloth, $1, and BVD printed broadcloth, 75 cents...
...Consumers Union tested 11 brands of adhesive bandages for ability to stay put, tendency to ravel, and resistance to dirt...
...Men's Shorts Last year, half the shorts CU tested cost under 75 cents...
...A typical firm in Washington broadcasts a $9.75 bargain offer, but actually gets $30 or more...
...Men's Undershirts Prices of men's undershirts have not gone up recently, and quality remains the same as last year, CU found in tests of 50 brands...
...Some labels are stitched down on both long edges, without allowing for the "give" in a ribbed shirt...
...Then, when the shirt is stretched in use, it tends to tear at the label...
...There are a few opticians who sell low priced glasses of good quality...
...When you buy shirts, look for a label sewed along the top to the shirt binding, with the bottom edge left loose...
...Most of the stronger fabrics used for shorts are scarce...
...The following were found acceptable: Macy's, Band-Aid Plain, Quick-Strips and Firstaid Quik-Bands...
...This year, less than one-third could be bought below that price...
...Such bandages will not introduce new germs into the wound, nor will they kill germs which may be already there...
...And the salesman will make every effort to get you to buy a more expensive pair than those which have been advertised...
...Plain knit or narrow rib shirts are apt to wear longer than a wider rib...
...Other good quality shorts were Pilgrim Nobility, Cat...
...Before putting on the bandage, therefore, wash the wound...
...Such an optician is likely to be associated with a health plan or fraternal organization...
...If you go to such an optician you will almost certainly be sold glasses whether you need them or not...
...If you insist on buying at the advertised price, the chances are you'll get "spite glasses"—purposely incorrect prescriptions, with poor, badly fitted frames...
...And most shorts are skimped in one or more directions, which means they'll be less comfortable than well cut shorts, and will wear out faster...
...Plain sterile bandages, individually wrapped so that they will stay sterile, are best...
Vol. 8 • June 1944 • No. 23
