Threadbare

In Chicago 35 discharged G.I.s picked over the slim stocks in a men's wear shop last week, found no suits or overcoats to fit. In stores all across the land it was the same: clothes racks were barer than at any time since war began.

Hopefully, OPA said there would be more goods, at lower prices, in November. But suit and overcoat manufacturers scoffed. In their opinion men's clothing will be in skimpy supply for another six months or more.

They had plenty of reasons for their opinions. Some of them: 1) production of worsted cloth and the tailoring of garments is crippled by a lack of labor (New England woolen mills need at least 15,000 more workers); 2) worsteds, unfrozen in August, will not reach the civilian consumer until early spring 1946; 3) textile mill machinery is wearing out, needs replacing.

Beset by these difficulties, garment makers had no idea how long it would take to get production up to 1941's 24 million suits (1945 output: eleven million suits). But they do expect that demand this winter will be greater than ever. One reason: several million veterans will need new suits and overcoats before Christmas.

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