{"id":7831,"date":"2024-03-29T21:43:57","date_gmt":"2024-03-29T21:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/?p=7831"},"modified":"2024-04-01T18:04:39","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T18:04:39","slug":"consumer-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/2024\/03\/29\/consumer-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"“Nothing Could Have Astonished Me More”: The Challenge of Consumer Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Due to communist hysteria before and after World War II, many organizations and publications were under suspicion of being affiliated with or promoting the Communist party. One curious suspect of this scrutiny was Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports<\/em>, the product testing and consumer advocacy magazine. In the late 1930s, Consumers Union faced unsubstantiated accusations of communism.[1]<\/a> Despite the fruitless claims, Consumers Union was placed on a list of subversive organizations by the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1944.<\/p>\n

In 1951, representatives from the Better Business Bureaus drew attention to Consumer Union\u2019s status on the House Committee\u2019s list. As a result, Ohio schools banned the use of Consumer Reports <\/em>in the classroom.[2]<\/a> While the Ohio schools ban of the magazine was short-lived, the questions about it were not and the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) noticed the attempts to ban the publication.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Letter from Lynn Blaylock to the Intellectual Freedom Committee.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lynn G. Blaylock, a public librarian in Bryan, Texas, was shocked when a patron confronted her about the supposed communist magazine. In 1952, she wrote to the IFC about the patron, who identified herself as a representative of an \u201cAmericanism Committee,\u201d telling her that Consumer Reports<\/em> was a Communist front. Blaylock noted, \u201cNothing could have astonished me more, since I have always had a high regard for the magazine and its information. In fact, I felt that it was doing a great service to the American public.\u201d[3]<\/a> Blaylock asked for more information about Consumers Union from the IFC as the patron took her complaint to the library board.<\/p>\n

The IFC received inquiries from librarians from as far away as Hawaii, asking about the supposedly communist Consumer Reports<\/em>. The committee provided librarians with information outlining the facts of the accusations against Consumers Union, concluding that \u201cthe case against Consumers Union is, at best, tenuous and without evidence of subversion.\u201d[4]<\/a> This wasn\u2019t an endorsement of the publication, and the committee urged that library materials should be selected to fit local needs, recommending that \u201call librarians should resist the pressures of those who want to prevent American citizens from being informed.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

In 1954, Consumers Union was successful in getting the House Un-American Activities Committee to remove them from the list, but questions about Consumers Union persisted. The IFC received a letter in 1956 from a high school librarian, Doris Carson, in McPherson, Kansas, about the publication. Carson wrote, \u201cMy vice-principal felt we might receive criticism if we were to continue to subscribe to Consumer Reports<\/u> if Consumers Union is communist.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

After the IFC reassured the high school librarian of the House Committee\u2019s withdrawal of the Consumers Union from its list, Carson wrote back, \u201cIt is gratifying to us in the field to know we do not stand alone in problems of this sort, among others, but are sustained by the American Library Association through the good work of its committees.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> ALA Committee on Intellectual Freedom, \u201cConsumers Union Reports,\u201d American Libraries<\/em> 45, no. 9 (October 1951): 311-312.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Paul Bixler, \u201cLetter to Ohio Librarians on Intellectual Freedom,\u201d August 10, 1951,<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Lynn G. Blaylock to Paul H. Bixler, May 22, 1952, series 69\/1\/5, Box 2, File: Correspondence, BA-BZ, 1952-56, folder 2, American Library Association Archives.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> \u201cConsumers Union Reports,\u201d 312.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> \u201cConsumers Union Reports,\u201d 312.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Doris M. Carson to American Library Association, March 16, 1956, Box 2, File: Correspondence, CA-CZ, 1952-56, American Library Association Archives.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Carson to ALA, March 16, 1956.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Due to communist hysteria before and after World War II, many organizations and publications were under suspicion of being affiliated with or promoting the Communist party. One curious suspect of this scrutiny was Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, the product testing and consumer advocacy magazine. In the late 1930s, Consumers Union faced unsubstantiated accusations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":706,"featured_media":7832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[257,258,249,251],"class_list":["post-7831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ala-history","category-library-history-not-ala-specific","tag-banned-books","tag-consumer-reports","tag-intellectual-freedom","tag-intellectual-freedom-committee"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/706"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7831"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7834,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7831\/revisions\/7834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/ala\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}