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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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last week, what they bought last month, and so on. The investigator finds out what they bought in the way of clothing, what they bought in the way of children's materials, what their quality standard was, whether their husband bought a $37.50 suit when he bought a new spring suit, or whether he bought a suit made of shoddy, which could be had for twenty-odd dollars in the thirties; what kind of a shirt he bought, whether he bought an Arrow shirt made with button-down collars, or a shirt with a collar that didn't button down. There was a great difference in the pricing of all these things, and that indicated quality. Quality did enter in as they made their pricing studies.

A survey of the spending habits of the working people of America is what they start with. When they've got that, then they decide to put things like electric toasters on the price list, because they found that a large proportion of the people bought electric toasters. The decision to put automobiles on the cost of living index had been talked about before 1933, but hadn't been done. When Lubin came in that was one of the first things he added to the list. He was concerned also with the way in which they were paid for, which, of course, has to do with the installment plan,





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