British Housewives Irked By Shoddy Goods

Wanganui Chronicle, 4 May 1948, Page 5

British Housewives Irked By Shoddy Goods

(N.Z.P.A.—Special—Copyright) London, April 30 British women never hesitate to voice their criticisms these day, as has already been noted by Sir Stafford Cripps and Mr. Strachey. This week they have had some more to make. At. the annual meeting of the National Federation of Women's Institutes in London 4000 women demanded an end to shoddy household goods and clothes. One of them, Mrs. Pollard, of Essex, waved a washing-up mop. “Look at it,” she cried. “The first dip in the bowl and bits of it wrap themselves round the cups and block up the drains. It’s unfit for the only purpose for which it was made. It’s nothing but a stink and an irritation. It is typical of the shoes that corrugate their linings and tear their tongues, the tin-opener that bends before the tins, the hot-water bottle that. leaks, and the shovels that buckle when they meet hard coal.” Mrs. S. Baguley complained of the poor quality of some children’s utility clothing—“ The socks that are unmendable in six weeks, trousers that are worn out in six months, and tweed jackets that are through the elbows in five weeks." The women unanimously passed a resolution calling for better quality articles. There were hard words, too, about food cleanliness. Mrs. Swire, of Essex, advised the conference, “When you eat out whether in the humblest tea-shop or a swell restaurant, demand a higher standard of food cleanliness, and protest if you don’t get it.”