Flattening the Curves

"Hard times aren't coming, but easy times are going." As the old year gave way to the new, that was the feeling of most Canadians from Cabot Strait to Juan de Fuca Strait.

Practically everybody who wanted a job had one. Almost everybody was taking home more dollars each week than ever before. Nearly all business indexes were hovering around their high marks. But the curves on the wall charts in executive and sales offices were flattening out. And if allowances were made for the decreased buying power of the dollar (9.3% less than a year ago), many lines of business showed a drop in the actual volume of goods handled.

Looking for Bargains. The people of Canada had ended World War II with swollen savings accounts. Now high prices had rubbed down the swelling. People wanted to hold on to what savings they had left, if not for a rainy day, then for cloudy days.

Shoppers were looking for bargains, whereas a year ago many did not even bother to ask the price. Tips were smaller and waitresses were being polite to customers again. Just as in the U.S., the bottom had dropped out of the "used (new) car" market.

In the Maritimes, housewives were buying more medium, fewer large eggs. Men's tailors were busy turning worn trouser cuffs and shirt collars. In Montreal, a top ski-suit designer found customers buying for price. Said he: "I'm doing a lot of Ford business, but my Rolls-Royce trade is dropping off."

Saskatchewan farmers were cautious about taking delivery of cars, trucks and tractors they had ordered when the world wheat famine seemed to assure endless prosperity. Many took delivery simply to resell--and then found that there was little or no profit to be had. At Edmonton fur auctions, ranch mink and ermine prices were down 35%. British Columbia lumbermen were cutting the price of lower grades, and they saw more cuts in prospect.

Asking for Credit. Everywhere, installment buying was on the increase, a sure sign that cash reserves had been thinned down considerably. At the same time, credit (at banks and loan companies) was harder to get. Graham Towers, head of the government's Industrial Development Bank, sounded the keynote: "We must scrutinize applications for credit with ever-increasing care."

For wage earners, a Canadian Pacific telegrapher named Alex Nudelman summed up the mood of his 12 1/2 million countrymen: "We've been so used to good times, it's this coming back to normal that hurts. I'm no pessimist, but I don't think that 1949 is going to be so hot."

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