LAST-MINUTE RUSH

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 32376, 24 December 1943, Page 5

LAST-MINUTE RUSH

SHOPPING FOR CHRISTMAS HOPEFUL SPIRIT ABROAD Another wartime Christmas perhaps, but in the busy, jostling crowds besieging Paeroa shops there is an air of greater cheerfulness than was evident among the shopping crowds of any previous wartime Christmas. The spirit of*' hope that has been breathed into the land by the news of victories overseas, with the thought that final peace has become something infinitely more tangible, has brought with it a very noticeable return of confidence. The present shopping rush confirms the impression that the general public is going to make a very merry Christmas in 1943. Although conditions are still very far from normal, there have been more goods available for the buying public, although usually at prices that impose a limiting factor in the purchase of gifts. Whatever else may have been stabilised, there is evidence in all shop windows that articles suitable as gifts have apparently not come within the scope of the Stabilisation Order. Of course, there are many articles not obtainable and there is a host of others in very short supply. Christmas shopping is not the delightful, hap-hazard business it was in pre-war days, for to-day it is not so much a question of picking and choosing but of obtaining an article that is required. Busy Shop Workers Although more early shopping seems to have been done this year, there has been a noticeable quickening in tempo this week and shop staffs supplemented by temporary workers have had a particularly busy time. Apart from Christmas shopping householders have had to obtain extra provisions to tide them over the periods when the shops will be closed. Paeroa shops will be closed on Saturday (Christmas Day) and also on Monday and Tuesday. Next week, Saturday will again be a holiday and shops will also be closed on the Monday and Tuesday. On Christmas Eve shop premises will remain open until 10 p.m. and until 9 o’clock on New j Year’s Eve.