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Giving Consumers a Fair Chance: The Ideological Battle over Mandatory Grading in the 1930s and 1940s

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  • INGER L. STOLE

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="joca12029-abs-0001"> This article explores the more than decade-long fight to establish quality standards for consumer products. Drawing on archival collections, trade publications, congressional hearings, and relevant secondary literature, it traces the ongoing debates over grading standards for consumer commodities in the 1930s and 1940s. It explores the arguments behind the creation of a mandatory grading system that would have aided citizens in their role as consumers, helped fight monopolistic tendencies during a severe economic depression, and supported government economic policies during a time of national crisis. While consumer advocates and a majority of the American public applauded the idea, advertisers, believing that the system would undermine their advertising claims, fought the proposals tooth and nail .

Suggested Citation

  • Inger L. Stole, 2014. "Giving Consumers a Fair Chance: The Ideological Battle over Mandatory Grading in the 1930s and 1940s," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 34-61, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:48:y:2014:i:1:p:34-61
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/joca.12029
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tedlow, Richard S., 1981. "From Competitor to Consumer: The Changing Focus of Federal Regulation of Advertising, 1914–1938," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(1), pages 35-58, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Franklin Bailey Norwood & Glynn Tonsor & Jayson L Lusk, 2019. "I Will Give You My Vote but Not My Money: Preferences for Public versus Private Action in Addressing Social Issues," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(1), pages 96-132, March.

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