Step Back In Time

November 15, 2003

(From the November 1932 National Wool Grower Magazine)

LAMB PROMOTION GAINS NEW SUCCESS

Having for its purpose the dissemination of up-to-the-minute information relative to the merchandising of new and attractive cuts of lamb, the educational campaign on behalf of lamb is still in progress and is still winning wide favor.

Over a far-flung territory methods of merchandising lamb and methods of serving lamb demonstrated before retail meat dealers, housewives and others have proved highly effective on behalf of this great industry.

It is of interest to note that at the time the nation-wide effort on behalf of lamb was begun, the consumption of lamb averaged 5.4 lbs., per capita. This consumption has increased to 7.1 lbs., per capita, or an increase of 30 percent. Government figures just made public show that the consumption of lamb for the first eight months of this year is 2 percent greater than last year. The increase in the use of lamb may be due to a variety of factors, but it is pretty certain that the extensive and intensive lamb program has had a stimulating effect.

?Lamb chops have displaced broilers in popularity.? This statement recently appeared in an egg and poultry publication. It was a tribute to lamb, which, coming from a rival industry, should be of interest to every man who feeds lambs. It should prove heartening to the entire industry.

Just recently, the National Live Stock and Meat Board was attracted by an advertisement for lamb in a Chicago daily paper. It was the advertisement of a store in Chicago which has an extensive meat trade, a meat trade that is on the increase. The advertisement reads as follows:

Sixty thousand ate Stop & Shop lamb last month. Two thousand a day for every day in September. Of course they didn?t eat lamb every day, but enough lamb to feed this many people left our counters. Only consistent good quality could build such a lamb business. What not serve a tender, sweet Stop & Shop lamb roast?

An interview with the manager of the store revealed the fact that, in the meat line, beef leads in sales, but, representing the sales of beef at 100 percent, the lamb sales are second at 75 percent, with veal and pork sales trailing. The manager stated that the sales of lamb, in proportion to the sale of other meats, had been on the increase, especially during the past two years. When one considers a 30 percent increase in lamb consumption in this country, the direct effect of the information being conveyed to retail meat dealers and to housewives, students, etc., through this campaign is better realized.

Thousands of persons in scores of cities in nineteen different states have been reached by lamb demonstrations in recent months. These demonstrations presented the attractive modern lamb cuts.

In the month of September, P. A. Goeser, meat cutting specialist of the Meat Board, carried the lamb cutting demonstration work into Massachusetts. Representative audiences of meat dealers were in attendance at these meetings, and were keenly interested in the information gleaned and in the way it was presented. Mr. Goeser was in charge of a lamb exhibit at the recent Eastern State Exposition at Springfield, Mass. During the week 275,000 people attended this exposition and most of them saw the exhibit which featured the latest styles in lamb cuts.

Since the Massachusetts meetings, Mr. Goeser has carried the program into New York State, giving demonstrations before housewives, students, retail meat dealers and others. Five thousand five hundred housewives attended two lamb cutting demonstrations in Buffalo, N.Y., on October 11 and 14. These audiences showed real interest in the modern cuts. Many of the women stayed after the meetings to get more information. During the Buffalo program, 110 home economics students of the State Normal School also attended a lamb demonstration.

In other cities of New York State visited during October excellent audiences also have turned out for the lamb meetings. In Schenectady, for example, 125 retailers and packers were present at a demonstration. In Troy an assembly of 800 high school students saw the demonstration. In Albany 100 housewives attended one meeting. In Jamestown 165 high school home economics students and their teachers were present. The part played by the state fairs in bringing the story of lamb to the nation cannot be over-estimated. A state fair is a veritable show window. The people who attend are studious and receptive. They carry ideas back home.

At the recent Nebraska State Fair at Lincoln, the lamb exhibit called attention to the fact that ?Lamb may be served in many and attractive ways.? The newest in lamb cuts were presented.

Other state fairs having novel and attractive lamb exhibits this fall included Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Kansas fairs.

A ?Meat of Health? week in Wichita, Kansas, featured lamb to excellent advantage. Texas set aside the week of October 8 as ?Meat for Health? week in which the use of lamb received state-wide attention. Every such effort has a far-reaching influence.

In an analysis of the reasons for the success of this nation-wide effort on behalf of lamb, the part played by the housewife should be stressed. Up-to-date facts on lamb cookery were a closed book to her a few years ago. Previous to the beginning of the nation-wide educational campaign on behalf of lamb, the average housewife of this country regarded lamb as a seasonal meat, available mainly in the spring of the year.

The general idea was that a lamb consisted mainly of loin chops and legs. These were the cuts asked for when a housewife went to her meat shop and ordered lamb. It is not in the least to be wondered at, therefore, that meat retailers found other lamb cuts moving rather slowly. In fact about 40 percent of the lamb carcass, not represented by the two most popular cuts, moved with difficulty.

Housewives have now learned that lamb can be served in many attractive ways, most of which were new to them. They have found that lamb offers the opportunity to make use of their two favorite methods of preparation ? roasting and broiling. It has been demonstrated to them that the entire lamb may be cooked by these methods.

Housewives today know that lamb shoulder chops may be broiled just as effectively as the so-called rib and loin chops. They now know that a shoulder roast is just as satisfactory as a leg of lamb. The campaign on behalf of lamb has made the ?versatility of lamb,? if the expression is permissible.

Knowledge is power. The facts which have been continually hammered into the minds of folks for the past five years are reacting and will continue to react to the benefits of the entire lamb industry.

(From the November 1940 National Wool Grower Magazine)

GOVERNMENT WOOL ORDERS

The United States Army during the last week in October awarded contracts to mills for 8,515,000 yards of wool flannel shirtings, 6,000,000 yards of light shade serge, 1,000,000 yards of dark serge and 775,000 yards of elastique, according to the New York Wool Top Exchange Service. Most of these goods will be manufactured and delivered in the first six months of next year and afford mills a solid foundation on which to plan manufacturing operations for the first half of 1941.

?The contracts brought unfilled orders in the hands of mills to an estimated 55,000,000 to 60,000,000 yards and assured continuance of the present high rate of operations well into the new year,? says the Exchange Service. ?Unfilled orders at this time last year were estimated at about 36,000,000 yards. About half of the backlogs of mills, however, consist of military requirements. Civilian orders are still smaller than they were at this time last year. In the event that sales of civilian piece goods reach last year?s total over the next few months, it is certain that the majority of mills will continue to operate at double shift capacity for the next four to five months. Women?s wear commitments are estimated at about 10,000,000 yards or about equal to last year?s figures. Prices were strong throughout all sections of the markets. Indicative of the price trend were the bids submitted on Army contracts, which ranged from 35 to 40 cents a yard above the previous opening on similar fabrics.

The statement continued:
Business in men?s wear piece goods was difficult to arrange because of a large number of mills. Producers who withdrew quotations for revision were still out of the market and were obviously in a quandary as to what prices to put on their offerings. With domestic wools of certain grades being largely diverted to government contracts, it is apparent that spring piece goods will contain a larger percentage of foreign fiber, especially South American. A number of mills were endeavoring to speed up spinning and weaving operations but were being restrained by the congestion in combing departments. Spot tops are scarce and until this situation is relieved a number of mills will be unable to expand production as sharply as they wish. Buying of clothing at wholesale continued to gain, and purchases were estimated in the trade at about 10 to 15 percent larger than in the previous season. Meanwhile, the drawing for the draft eliminated one element of uncertainty. With thousands of young men knowing they probably will be drawn into the service, it was expected that sales of clothing over the next few weeks will show a pronounced upward turn.

Buying of women?s wear fabrics was fairly active and unfilled orders were reported fully equal to a year ago. Stores reported a brisk business on women?s coats and suits by garment manufacturers complained that buying at wholesale failed to keep pace with the trend of retail sales. It was obvious that stores were holding down stocks in the hope of obtaining supplies at easier prices later on in Seventh Avenue markets. Mills continued busy and reported a steady flow of orders on spring materials. In the event that the government purchases additional supplies of overcoatings, it was thought possible that a number of women?s wear mills would divert machinery to Army materials. A number of mills have already done so.

The Army opened bids on 3,200,000 wool undergarments during the week. The awarding of contracts on these will keep mills busy for months and will reduce the amounts available for consumption.

(From the November 1932 National Wool Grower Magazine)

SOMETHING NEW IN WOOL BAGS

A serviceable paper wool bag has recently been placed upon the market for the first time. This is the ?Visinet? wool bag, manufactured by the Bemis Bros. Bag Company of St. Louis.

Following several years of experimental work, this company has finally been able to put out a paper bag that has stood the test of shipping from Texas ranches to Boston.

The bag is made in the usual size and shape. By weaving with a rather fine and very strong paper twine, a net-like appearance has been given to the finished bag, indicated in the name ?Visinet.?

A special needle is being furnished to permit the sewing of this bag with paper twine, thereby removing every possibility of any injurious fiber being found in the wool when opened up at the market.

The use of this bag is highly advantageous to all those connected with the handling of wool because it renders impossible the presence of any jute or sisal fibers in fleeces. In the past this has been a serious problem at the mills, second only in importance to the difficulty formerly experienced when the fleeces were tied with sisal twine. It is understood that the wool manufacturers are strongly endorsing this new style of wool bag and it seems probable that it will be in general use within a few years. The price has not yet been announced.

(From the November 1940 National Wool Grower Magazine)

LIVESTOCK THEFT BILL VETOED

Three times western members of Congress have succeeded in having a bill passed that would make it a federal offense to transport stolen horses, cattle or livestock of any kind, or livestock products across state lines, and three times President Roosevelt has vetoed such measure. This year the bill has made its way through both houses of Congress and been handed to the President by October 7. On the 21st the President vetoed it.

The reasons given for vetoing the two previous measures were that the penalties, which rose to a maximum of a $5,000 fine and five years imprisonment, were too severe for the offense and that the cost of administering the law would be too great. By excluding chickens and poultry from the provisions of the latest bill, its approval by the President had been hoped for. But according to newspaper reports of the statement accompanying the veto, the President holds that cattle rustling is not a serious enough misdeed to be made a federal offense.

Argument on behalf of the measure in Congress was based on the difficulty of state officials in dealing with cases of livestock theft in which the stolen property, either alive or in carcass form, is shipped across state boundary lines.

(From the November 1939 National Wool Grower Magazine)

THE STORY OF WOOL ON THE AIR

Dramatized stories of interesting historical and current events in the American wool industry are being broadcast from K.S.L. in Salt Lake City every Saturday at 6 P.M., the first of the series having been given on November 4.

The twelve quarter-hour electrical transcriptions used in these broadcasts are, we understand, available for use in other areas and can be secured by application to the Farm Credit Administration in Washington, D.C. The titles of the twelve programs are listed below:

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