Plucking the Goose

Oh, Mr. Trimingham! Oh, Mr. Trimingham! These Americans have made me mighty sore.

We've done everything we know To relieve them of their dough, But the blighters seem to still have plenty more!

The bittersweet words of Mr. Trimingham and Mr. Trott, a jingle attributed to a U.S. Navyman on duty in expensive Bermuda in World War II (and sung to the tune of Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Shean), were being cheerfully chorused in Bermudian cabarets almost every night last week. In a crowded paradise almost 90% dependent on the money which tourists bring in, merchants and hotelkeepers were collecting their highest prices ever--while U.S. tourist traffic boomed along toward a record season.

During the week 640 pleasure-bent visitors arrived from New York aboard the luxury liner Queen of Bermuda, 1,323 more came in by Pan American clipper and other airliners. Confident that 60,000 tourists would flock this year to their shops and hotels, their pink beaches and hibiscus-hedged lanes, a few Bermudians had even given hotel prices another boost as the spring season opened.

It now cost $12 to $28 a day, American plan, to stay at one of the bigger hotels in the Bermuda Hotel Assn. (president: Sir Howard Trott). This was less than Miami or Nassau charge, but far more than people paid in Bermuda's prewar horse & buggy days. Some of the fanciest price-boosting had occurred along Hamilton's staid Front and Queen Streets. Trimingham Bros, asked $24.24 for English flannel slacks that sold prewar for $9.60.

The Bermudians were only following U.S. resort practices in charging what the traffic would bear. They also had to pay higher prices themselves for their imports from England. But there were some who suspected that automobiles and inflated prices were spoiling the old place. "They're killing the golden goose," growled an old U.S. visitor. "It costs us 150% more to live here than at home." A warning came from H. J. ("Jack") Tucker, manager of the Bank of Bermuda: "Tourists don't need to come here." Some Bermudians had bought West Indies real estate to the south, with a view to clearing out before the bust. But for the time being, with more & more tourists ready to pay fancy prices, the Bermuda boom was on.

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