anaheim-gazette 1943-01-21

Page Four Anaheim Gazette, Thursday, January 21, 1943 THERE IS PATRONIZE YOUR HOME OWNED BUSINESS GREATER ON FRESH F Fill your table with Fresh ON FRESH Fill your table with Fresh appreciate your efforts to Greater Anaheim Market Furetis AVOCADOS 1b. 19¢ U. S. Selected No. 1 RUSSETS 15 lb. Sack 69¢ Solid Heads 15 lb. Sack 69¢ Solid Heads CABBAGE 1b. 5¢ SNOWBALL Cauliflower 1b. 9¢ IS NO LIMIT TER ANAHEIM M 225 EAST CENTER ST. SH FRUIT AND VEG le with Fresh Produce, your family will enjoy it and the boys “Over HOARDERS CAN'T FOOL GROCERS ALL THE TIME Some of Them Try Though by Telling Sob Sisters About Starving Children By Alma Whitaker When those little pigs went to market a great many other little pigs wailed, "Where's my share?" There’s been an awful slump in the civilian honor market. Quotations were as low as a pound of coffee, a quarter of a pound of butter, an extra tire, a few gallons of gas. Many otherwise patriotic citizens sprung the weirdest alibis on their own consciences, while hoarding to the limit of their turpitude and wherewithal. If theres any notable reform pending, the credit must go to the grocers, not the preachers. An imperfectly deceived conscience gets quite a jolt when the grocer says, "Oh, yeah!" I visited several markets and found the harassed grocers pretty cynical. "We have about 1200 regular customers," one told me. "We try to keep them supplied with their usual purchases. Hundreds of new faces have appeared during this panic buying. HAD NO BUTTER "For a whole week we had no butter. One new customer came in begging for a pound. 'Sorry, no butter, lady,' I told her. But just then 15 pounds was delivered to us, and she saw it come in. That meant I could give 60 of our regulars a quarter of a pound and I wanted to save it for them. But this woman pleaded, saying her big family had had none for so long and, oh, her husband was awake and try to put this over. But the grocers are getting cagier and cagier, especially those who have boys of their own in the service. Once in a while such a grocer will get good and mad at this type of little pig that goes to market. But it isn't only the ladies who rate their honor so cheap. There was a certain well-known bachelor to whom coffee meant more than honor. He stocked up with 20 pounds just before the rationing started, stored it in a big deed box and labeled it "legal papers." When his landlady sniffed the duplicity and cast a scornful eye upon him, he decided not to use his ration stamps. It seems she took the awkward incident rather personally, having both a husband and son in the service. Numerous housewives have confided their embarrassments about spouses who insisted upon bringing home extra things of which there were painful shortages, and seemed to feel quite triumphant." HAD NO BUTTER "For a whole week we had no butter. One new customer came in begging for a pound. 'Sorry, no butter, lady,' I told her. But just then 15 pounds was delivered to us, and she saw it come in. That meant I could give 60 of our regulars a quarter of a pound and I wanted to save it for them. But this woman pleaded, saying her big family had had none for so long and, oh, her husband was awful sick. Well, I agreed to give her a quarter of a pound and started to put it in the top of her shopping bag. Right on top was a whole pound of butter! "Right then her husband came in, looking pretty healthy and saying, 'You'd better stop buying, there's no more room in the back of the car. You've already got enough to feed a regiment.' She sure gave him a dirty look, and I gave her one. I just took the butter back and handed her her money, saying sarcastic like, 'Thank you, lady.'" Another grocer told me about a dame who wanted a case of milk. "I couldn't spare you a case," he said, "but you can have two cans." FOR CHILDREN "Oh, but I have so many children,'" she almost cried. "How many?" I asked her. She hesitated and gave me a queer look. "Oh, add a few of the neighbors' kids," I tell her. "'O.K., you win,' she laughed, and walked out." One overworked alibi is to say they ar eshopping for neighbors as well as themselves, when they want to hog everything on the shelves. Any number of them claim to have lots of children. They'll go from market to market When his landlady sniffed the duplicity and cast a scornful eye upon him, he decided not to use his ration stamps. It seems she took the awkward incident rather personally, having both a husband and son in the service. Numerous housewives have confided their embarrassments about spouses who insisted upon bringing home extra things of which there were painful shortages, and seemed to feel quite triumphant about it. "But, George, dear, why . . .?" they'd ask, with troubled consciences. "Gosh, everybody's doing it. What are you squawking about?" the Georges would invariably reply. So you can see how there was a spot of righteous malice in one wife's eyes when her hubby, who had acquired four extra tires and concealed them rather well, suffered pangs of conscience. He'd paid from $6 to $10 apiece for 'em. As horrid black market items began appearing the papers, he decided to turn them in to the government. Uncle Sam sent him 80 cents for the lot. "Crime," murmured the wifey, "never pays." And oh, the fellows that secured B and C cards for gasoline by inserting some very dubious items on those ration forms! But right now ration boards are becoming as "Oh yeah!-ish" as grocers. They can only be fooled some of the time. Interesting to learn that lady B and C card holders usually achieved it exclusively on "charm," while filling out their forms with naive verity. As one such charmer told me, "Gentlemen on ration boards can be so understanding." IT AT THE MARKET PATRONIZE YOUR HOME OWNED BUSINESS VEGETABLES boys "Over There" will FOR VICTORY BUY VEGETABLES boys "Over There" will produce is grown the Top Quality at Fair Prices. PIPPINS APPLES 1b. 8¹³ FRESH TURNIPS Large Bunch 6¹² ICEBURG Large Bunch 6½ ICEBURG CARROTTS Bunch 6½¹¢ FANCY EXTRA LARGE ARTICHOKES 16¢ EACH