PRE-WAR MYTH.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4672, 10 March 1924, Page 3

PRE-WAR MYTH.

(11IAL1TY OF GOODS.

When are people going to cast aside ihe superstition that all things belonging to pre-war days were better than the things we get to-day ? Whatever the topic of conversation may be. ihe pcst-war present is sure* to oe compared detrimentally v,-ith the preVar past. Whether it be' boots, household linen, clothes, or any other necessity of life, someone is-pretty, certain to say regretfully, “Ah, they're not'like the ones I got before the war.’’ Or. triumphantly, “ Yes, they’re pre-war; you don’t get stuff Bke that nowadays.” Many people seemed convinced that, i 'lings will never again be produced in : itch good quality as they were produced before the war. At a recent i arty the word went round that the host’s whisky was pre-war. At once the magic words passed from one to 'mother, and in a. short time the attests were praising it like connoisseurs, though the truth was that the v hisky happened to be early postwar. When one reflects on how much education the war itself gave us in all kinds of productive work’, and what < normous advances have been made during the last decade in almost every branch of industry, it is astonishing lo find the prevalence of this idea. A colossal amount of research has been 7 'carried out by manufacturers, and the results of the last few postwar vears have shown that England < an produce goods that are certain!** as good as, and in many cases bette? I han, those of any other country, while we make to-day many materials for which, pre-war, we had to go to ether countries. So far as variety goes, in 1913 if a woman wanted an evening gown she rang the changes on ninon, net, crepe de chine, crinkle-backed satin, taffetas, or chiffon velvet. For the 19?4 < vening. frock she can have a fine, and . npple -crepe, taffetas scientifically made to stand long wear, crepe mar«eain, crepe romain, georgette, a brocaded ninon that far surpasses l in loveliness the old kind, chiffon velvet, a delightfully silky repp, charmeuse, fascinating crinkly stuffs, gold and silver tissue, silk stockinette, silk moire, besides the richly-coloured lace materials and many others, all totally different in character and all in the most exquisite shades and halfshades. some of them, such as almondgreen, new inventions since the whr.

German binoculars and Jena 'glass are still a fetish among sportsmen and others, yet the English instrument makers and glass workers, who have been making them since che German supply ceased, have mastered and improved oiTthem. And. it is the same with practically everything else. — Overseas Daily Mail..