Advertising on Trial: Consumer Activism and Corporate Public Relations in the 1930s

4. A Consumer Movement Divided: The Birth of Consumers Union of the United States Inc.

4 A Consumer Movement Divided: The Birth of Consumers Union of the United States Inc. By the mid-1930s even the most optimistic consumer activist had come to realize that consumer protection in the form of strict federal regulation was not forthcoming. Given that its key objectives had served as a model for the original Tugwell bill, Consumers’ Research Inc. (CR) was greatly disappointed by the battle’s outcome. As if the legislative limbo was not enough, summer 1935 brought yet another challenge to the budding consumer movement. A labor strike caused CR to split into two distinct fractions, each fighting for consumers’ loyalty. Those who remained at CR became increasingly insistent on viewing consumers as a distinct group that shared few interests with U.S.manufacturers and almost none with organized labor. More than ever CR focused its efforts on securing consumers’ right to cost-effective products of high quality and gradually removed itself from direct involvement with the advertising regulatory struggle in Washington, D.C.1 Consumers Union Inc. (CU), the new consumer group born from the strike, took the opposite approach. Much to CR’s dismay, CU sought to link consumer issues with broader social concerns and showed a strong desire to cooperate with labor interests. The mid-1930s also brought yet another perspective on the best way to educate consumers. The split in the consumer movement suggested a lessthan -unified approach to this issue, and business quickly recognized this as an opportunity. The result was a large campaign to create an explicitly probusiness consumer movement designed to educate U.S. consumers on the benefits of free enterprise, including advertising’s value. In the second half a consumer movement divided · 81 of the decade, three major approaches to consumer education, each opposing the ideology of the others, emerged. The CR Strike From its modest beginning in the late 1920s CR grew steadily. By 1935 the organization boasted fifty-five thousand members and had made a social and economic impact that belied its numbers.Although established to run a testing service and publish newsletters,CR regularly responded to individual requests for help and information.By 1933 the pressures on the relatively new organization were such that Frederick J. Schlink moved CR from New York City to much larger facilities in a vacant piano factory near Washington, New Jersey, some one hundred miles away. Many workers, upset over having to pay for their own move, decided to quit, whereas others, considering themselves fortunate to have work at all during the Depression, hung on. Unfortunately for Schlink, the locale change did not stop the flow of public requests.Before long the journey to CR’s New Jersey headquarters had turned into a pilgrimage for people interested in consumer issues.2 Schlink’s strategy for handling the many demands and pressures was to run an unusually tight ship. A lot of responsibility rested on his shoulders, and he often found himself in situations in which swift and far-reaching decisions about the group’s future, goals, and potential allies needed to be made. One approach for maintaining the fullest possible control involved constantly altering CR’s corporate composition. Early on he had dropped Stuart Chase because the author did not spend enough time on consumer issues, and he frequently fired members appointed to the advisory committee , called the Council of Advisors, if he did not like their advice. By 1933 the board had been reduced to only five members.3 The board was further altered in fall 1934 when longtime member Arthur Kallet was removed while he was away on a lecture tour and replaced by M. C. Phillips, the author of Skin Deep, who had married Schlink in 1932.4 Not everyone supported Schlink’s leadership methods.Many board members resigned after run-ins with the brash CR head, who showed an intense determination to build a consumer movement strictly according to his own precepts.5 Although some found Schlink’s philosophy off-putting, others were fascinated by his drive and convictions. Belonging to the latter group was J. B. Matthews, a colorful character who upon being appointed to CR’s board in 1933 would emerge as one of Schlink’s strongest supporters. After 82 . advertising on trial a stint as a missionary in Java, Matthews had returned to New York and had undergone a series of transformations. He first embraced pacifism but later turned his attention to...