Facts & Figures

Willow Runs Slower. At Willow Run this week, four new lines of Kaiser-Frazer cars (a taxi, four-door convertible, "hardtop convertible," and "utility sedan") were rolled out in an atmosphere of deep gloom. Since early fall K-F had had to cut production from 800 cars a day to a current 675. It was seriously thinking about cutting back still more to 400 cars a day. Henry and Joe blamed the cutback on the Government's Regulation W under which car buyers must pay at least one-third down and the rest in no more than 18 months. In asking that Regulation W be modified, Joe Frazer said: "It is the greatest indignity ever perpetuated on the American people in time of peace."

Parlor War. The television price war (TIME, Jan. 3) got hotter. RCA unveiled its big new 16-in. set at a price of $495 ($200 below today's closest competitive model). Emerson Radio & Phonograph Corp.'s President Benjamin Abrams promised a 16-in. table model "within 60 days" for only $400, and slashed the present price of the loin. table model by $30. The Hallicrafters Co. said it would do even better; it promised a 16-in. remote control receiver for $395.

Woo Weeks. The Department of Commerce brought out a calendar solemnly listing the "Special Days, Weeks and Months in 1949," with which U.S. admen will woo consumers this year. From "Idaho Potato & Onion Week," which growers are plugging this week, through "Woo Woo--National Sweater Week" starting Sept. 26, there will hardly be a letup. The week of April 1, said the department with tongue-in-cheek, will be known as "National Leave Us Alone Week."

"Proto" for "Plomb." Los Angeles' Plomb Tool Co., which closed its plant after a U.S. district court ruled that it was illegally trading on the reputation of Philadelphia's Fayette R. Plumb, Inc. (TIME, Dec. 6), reopened--with a new trademark. Instead of "Plomb," it was now "Proto." Plomb President Morris Pendleton, who is appealing the decision, said the new trademark was just a temporary expedient (estimated cost: $130,000) to resume business. "We have been handed a lemon," said he, "so we are making lemonade."

Down Prices, Down Pay. Cleveland's Lincoln Electric Co., whose wages are tied to living costs, cut the pay of its 1,089 workers by 2 1/2% to 3% to match the recent drop in the cost of living. The employees could afford it: under its incentive payment plan, Lincoln Electric, only two weeks before, had given out bonuses oi $3,821,973, equal to 104% of the annual payroll.

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