Patterns

The U.S. adjusted itself steadily to wartime. Some of the adjustments:

Nipples. Babies must still be fed. WPB decided to allow some of its rubber hoard to be used for nipples. But smaller nipples.

Stop Salvage. Zealous patriots, spurred on by Government salvage campaigns, have buried paper mills and junk collectors in wastepaper. Lack of further storage space made Lessing Rosenwald, chief WPB junkman, cry "uncle" last week. He begged collectors to hold their paper.

Nightshirts. WPB had already cut an inch and a half off men's shirttails, had forbidden pockets and pointed collars, to save material. Last week WPB discussed pajamas, considered restricting sleeping garments to three styles: one shortened version of the old-fashioned nightshirt (now worn voluntarily by only 1% of U.S. males), two types of pajamas stripped of collars, lapels, pockets, sashes, piping.

Outsize Women. WPB, in restricting women's clothes as to style, size and length, provided special exemptions for women of "unusual height." Badgered to define giant-size, they agreed last week on 5 ft. 8 1/2 in. and over.

Paper Clocks. A Connecticut Yankee clockmaker outwitted war bans and priorities, produced clocks in paper cases.

Amusement Out. All construction on amusement parks, race tracks, theaters, baseball parks must stop next week. Only exception: children's playgrounds.

No Information, Please. In quarter-page newspaper ads, Pacific Tel. & Tel. begged subscribers to make sure the number they want is not in the telephone book before they harass information operators. P.T. & T. wants to reform some 242,000 lazy characters who strain war-taxed switchboards by asking for listed numbers.

Thin and Uneducated. Thin women, without college degrees or white-collar experience, will soon hold more than half the jobs in the Chicago ordnance district's shell-production plants, Army officers announced. Officers predicted that thinness, lack of education and lack of white-collar experience would soon get women more & more of the jobs in tank production and other war work. Reasons: feminine dexterity and patience make them superior to men in assembly and inspection work; thin people are less troubled by the heat, and are faster workers; college graduates and white-collar workers do not like to get their hands dirty.

No Scorching. The National Safety Council, usually concerned with automobile safety (auto deaths recently dropped 11%), issued safety instructions to the million-plus new bicycle riders. Points: obey traffic laws; ride single file on right with traffic; don't zigzag; don't stunt; don't hitch rides on other vehicles; don't carry passengers on the handle bars; don't race cars; use the bell; remember arm signals; carry packages in a basket.

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