Get in the Scrap!
September 1942 Radio Retailing Today Article

September 1942 Radio Retailing Today [Table of Contents] Wax nostalgic about and learn from the history of early electronics. See articles from Radio & Television News, published 1919-1959. All copyrights hereby acknowledged.

Get in the Scrap!

"Precious" junk like this can be picked up from the average radio home.

One of radio's Victory jobs is the prompt and efficient collection of all scrap materials within the limits of the industry. The War Production machinery of the nation needs it badly, and the situation invites the energetic interest of everybody in the radio business.

Donald Nelson of WPB, in his currently "tough" mood, has declared that the collection of scrap is today as important as any problem we have in this country. He has made it clear that there must be a sharp acceleration in the coast-to-coast effort to "get in the scrap."

The activities of the radio factories themselves are already being organized under the direction of Larry E. Gubb, chairman of the board of Philco Corp, Mr. Gubb works with the American Industries Salvage Committee, 350 Fifth Ave., New, York City, of which Robert W. Wolcott is chairman, and is contacting all manufacturers in the industry. The emphasis is on the collection of such critically-needed materials as iron and steel scrap, scrap rubber, non-ferrous metals, rags, manila fiber and other materials used in war production.

Some radio manufacturers have already organized their plant personnel for important salvage drives and have collected great amounts of "waste" metal. The "mountain of metal" saved by salvage efforts at RCA plants is an example.

The Whole Trade

Cooperating with the all-industry scrap effort, Radio Retailing Today is helping to enlist the efforts of the thousands of radio servicemen and dealers who contact the millions of radio owners to "Keep 'Em Working." The suggestion is that local radio men clean up their own shops and homes; that they encourage the scrap collection idea in all the homes they visit on radio repair calls; that they use their trucks in hauling scrap whenever appropriate; and that they cooperate to the limit with all existing salvage plans and organizations already set up in their communities.

Donald Nelson says:

"I am not exaggerating in the slightest, when I say that the collection of scrap is now as important as any problem we have in this country. If we as a nation, allow a single furnace to go down for lack of scrap, we should, everyone of us, have a guilty conscience. The loss of one percent in our production of steel, for example, is immediately reflected in the arming and supplying of necessary material to our fighting forces."

The idea is that the collection of scrap should become a part of the radio man's wartime duties - it should be a part of his wartime patrol as represented on the front cover of this issue.

In a special statement to this magazine, Mr. Gubb describes the radio serviceman's salvage job as follows:

"The radio servicer can be Uncle Sam's right-hand man in the nationwide drive to get scrap metals and other materials out of homes, farms and business establishments and into the steel mills where it is drastically needed to keep the production of steel for tanks, ships, planes and guns running at capacity. Scrap iron and steel stockpiles have dwindled from the normal six weeks' supply to a 'two-weeks' supply. The War Production Board is swiftly organizing a network of Salvage Committees in industry, in farm communities and in town and cities, to handle the job of getting in the scrap.

Servicer's Job

"What can the radio servicer do, over and above his own contribution of scrap materials? First, he can take on his personal patriotic responsibility of asking - at the home of every customer he visits - if there is not some metal or other scrap which the householder would like to have hauled down to the scrap collection center in the radio man's car, on his way back. Second, he can notify the local salvage committee of his willingness to give this special service - a service to his customers and to the scrap metal drive.

"Inasmuch as production of new radio sets has been stopped by the Government, it is up to radio servicemen to do everything they can to aid the public by keeping existing sets in operation. Especially in wartime, it is important that every American family be able to keep informed of current developments, which they can no through the miracle of radio. In those cases, however. where sets are too old or obsolete to be repaired satisfactorily. the parts in them should be added to the nation's scrap reserve for service elsewhere in the war program."

Posted  August 29, 2013