American television directory (1946)

OUR PROBLEM In 1929 11,059,000 workers — at 1939 prices — pro¬ duced $17,800,000,000 worth of goods. In 1944 16,300,000 workers — at 1939 prices — pro¬ duced $43,000,000,000 worth of goods. Query What medium other than television can be the mass salesman for mass production? When gas rationing was over, a seven-year-old girl received her firstremembered 100-mile automobile ride across the lovely New England coun¬ tryside. She exclaimed delightedly over the ever-changing vistas. She was amazed to discover that there were gas stations everywhere with attendants eager to serve. She expressed her de¬ light in the fact that automobiles could be used for something besides transpor¬ tation to store, church and school. Here, compressed in a few hours, is an experience which many of us went through in the period 1900 to 1930. We hardly realized then that anything was happening to us. But looked at from the vantage point of a few hours’ distance, the acquisition of a new standard of living and new outlook is a tremendous adventure. In like manner, most of us have sel¬ dom stopped to analyze what has hap¬ pened to life in the United States in the last 75 years. We do not inquire into the basic reasons why many unu¬ sual and advantageous things have happened to us. Seventy-five years ago, there were produced for each inhabitant of the United States, physical goods worth about $200 dollars per year, figured at 1939 prices. In 1941, our last prewar year, the comparable figure is around $800. The most commonly quoted explana¬ tion of this unusual growth is “mass production.” But sober thought will convince one that this really explains little. Before the products of “mass pro¬ duction” could be sold there had to be a means of communication which would make people desire the products of such concentrated mass effort. There had to be a means of national advertising to SIXTY MILLION JOBS . . . AND TELEVISION _ By PAUL RAIBOURN President, Television Productions, Inc. Economist, Paramount Pictures, Inc. allow everyone to know and appreciate a large factory’s products. This rise in worldly goods available each year to each of us has been paralleled and pre¬ ceded by a corresponding increase in postal receipts, the growth of magazines and of national advertising. To national advertising which, in a great measure, sponsored the others, must go much of the credit for making mass production possible and causing our per capita income in physical goods to increase so unusually. Those who are still doubtful as to these relationships should ponder for a moment on these facts: postage stamps were first authorized in 1847 ; city de¬ livery service in 1863; rural delivery in 1896; and parcel post in 1913. The “Chic Sales” encyclopedias — Sears Roebuck’s and Montgomery Ward’s catalogs — were products of the last decades of the eighteen hundreds. Production has risen just as fast and only as fast as demand existed which wished to be supplied. It will, in the future, continue to rise just as fast and only as fast as demand for its products increases. These last two sentences will be true whether we are functioning under an individualistic free or a man¬ aged economy. Jobs for All Who Wish to Work There is now much discussion of 60,000,000 jobs for Americans. Our able and analytical Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Wallace, is the apostle of the idea that we must reach that level of econ¬ omy by 1950. This figure appears to have been first used by the late Presi¬ dent Roosevelt in a speech at Chicago in October 1944. He probably selected it because it represented a figure some¬ where near the total of the number of people gainfully employed in the United States or in its military service at that time. It meant a job for everyone in military service and a level of employ¬ ment, as we all well know, where prac¬ tically everyone desiring it could have employment at a wage rate satisfactory to him. It thus represented the natural goal of an individual who never allowed custom or precept to cause him to swerve from his responsibility to all of the people. There are certain figures available, prepared by reliable sources, by which employment in the 1944 period can be judged in comparison with previous periods. The years chosen here are a period of prosperity, namely 1929, to which many look back with much long¬ ing; a prewar year, 1939, before our economy was modified by war, and 1944. Employment Peaks Compared Number employed (000’s omitted) Last pros Last pre 1944 perity period war year Partly 1929 1939 estimated Agriculture . .10,539 10,739 10,250 Forestry and Fishing . 267 198 175 Minerals . . 1.067 707 650 Manufacturing . .11,059 10,517 16,300 Construction . . 3,340 1,610 1,100 Transportation . . 2,465 1,871 2,800 Public Utilities . . 1.167 934 1.000 Trade and Finance. . . . 8,007 7,511 7,400 Service Industries . . . . 6.403 6,256 6,600 Government (prewar basis) . . 2,337 2,984 3,500 Miscellaneous . . 1,012 928 1,400 Total . .47,663 44,255 51,175 Emergency Government Labor Force — CCC, WPA and NYA . — 2,959 Military . . 263 369 11,500 Government (war extras ) . • — — 1,042 Total employed . .47.926 47,583 63,717 Population . 121,300 130,880 137,000 Percentage employed. 39% 36% 46% The Census Bureau estimates a pop¬ ulation of 143,000,000 in 1950 which, on a 60,000,000-job basis means an em¬ ployment of 42 per cent. To many these questions will arise: Where did the people come from who were at work in 1944? and where were they in 1939 and 1929? As the answers have a bearing on our future conclu¬ sions with respect to television it is well to digress a moment to explain. The Census Bureau figures for 1940 show the make-up of our population as follows: (000’s omitted) Male Female Total Under 15 . 17,753 17.240 34,993 15-19 . 6,180 6,153 12,333 20-65 . 38,749 38,596 77,345 Over 65 . 4,406 4,614 9.020 Total . 67,088 66,603 133,691 In 1939, there were around eleven million women employed. There were relatively few males or females em¬ ployed in the 15-19 year and over-65 year groups. So, when we have nearly 64,000,000 employed in late 1944, this means that the extra wage earners came, probably as many as 4,000,000 to 6,000,000, from the 15-19 and over-65 10