Word: silks
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...blooms, next 43 more. Visitors were disappointed by the little yellowish blossoms, scarcely more spectacular than the buds. Last week's New Yorker, going to press before the four-weeks-overdue plant had put out its first blossom, beat Manhattan newspapers by printing a cartoon of a silk-hatted committee timing the blooming of a century plant with the cracker, "It's been a hundred years and ten minutes exactly...
...appointment to see him. Returning later, they were ushered into the office of a dignified, white-haired executive. Straightway they fell to questioning him, accused him of operating a chain-selling racket, collecting $2,000 a day from deluded women who sent in $1 for six pairs of silk stockings. Untycoonlike confusion came over the venerable businessman. He stammered as if with stage fright, finally broke down, confessed he was not Maxwell H. Brown but Theodore C. Packard, 65, unemployed actor. He said he had accepted an offer of $250 to play the part of a big businessman for half...
...silk made Mr. Imai rich (today he is a tycoon of banking and insurance as well), so it also made him important. For silk represents one-third to one-half of Japan's exports, and 40% of Japan's farmers raise silkworms. Therefore Mr. Imai was long ago elected to the Japanese parliament as representative of the silk industry. A few years ago he felt that it was time for him to retire, but when word of his intention reached the Emperor, Mr. Imai was promptly made a member of the house of peers (senator) for life...
Cause of Senator Imai setting out as a silk suitor was Depression in the silk industry. In 1923 (after the Japanese earthquake) silk touched a high of $10.20 a pound. From then till 1930 it remained mostly in the $5-$7 range, but Depression put it on the skids. In the winter of 1931 when silk fell to $1.91 a pound Japan went off gold-but silk prices still went down. In June 1932 they touched $1.21. Last March silk was selling at $1.10. U. S. silk mills were operating at only about 55% of normal. Then came threat...
Well aware that silk could make a permanent comeback only by regaining its market, spry Gosuke Imai as president of the Japan Filatures Association decided to forget his years, to woo America in the name of silk. With seven fellow ambassadors he landed at San Francisco four weeks ago. All were clad from head to foot in silk-silk suits, silk shirts, silk shorts, silk socks, silk everything save shoes. Their chief object was to persuade U. S. males to wear suits of heavy silk, rlbbed weaves, diagonals, failles (which at present prices could be made...