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Information for Consumers By Ruth Moyle HE OTHER DAY I ran across one of I the most comforting statements I’ve read for quite some time. The article begins “What the appliance industry needs today is a truly sophisticated customer."’By_ “sophisti- cated." they went on to explain. ts meant a customer who I â€"prics and probes into an appliance before buying. ’Ltfikfi questions about guarantees and war» rantces. -â€"insisls on a clear statement from the deal- er un his service policy. demands quality in a safe and truly func- tional appliance (which is covered by a proper warranly and is backed by a dealer with a reputation for service). I hasten to agree with you that, up to this point. this can hardly be considered comfortâ€" ing. Rather, "prying and probing”, “asking questions". “insisting on clear statements", “demanding safe. truly functional qualitx reads as a decided challenge. calling for great deal of effort and much thoughtful u cision-making. The comforting words come at the tin a sentence which I believe gives us a reCh to congratulate consumers in Canada tod for this reads: “This group (of sophistica: consumers) is growing all the time. They . coming into our stores in ever increasing nut bers armed with reports and questions and. is quite obvious, with more information th the sales persons.“ According to the trade, it would seem 1! the number of informed, questioning consu. ers is growing steadily. The fact we Cu overlook is that to maintain, or improve. [I standard of buymanship requires constant ilance and a Concern to keep informed on r whole field of consumer buying. Ontario’s Pennies for F riendshif S REPORTED IN the article “World A President Visits Ontario" in this issue. following Mrs. van Beckhoff‘s address at the Ontario Institutes' mass meeting in (iuulph. the F.W.l.0. Secretary. Mrs. Holder presented Mrs. van Beekhoff with a cheque for $2600 which had been collected at In- stitute meetings over the province for the A.(‘.‘vV,W. Pennies for Friendship fund. The cheque was forwarded to the A.C.W.W. head ottice in London. England and Mrs. Holder received this message from the Secretary Mrs. John Bell: "Thank you so much for your letter en- closing the magnificent donation of $2600 hunt the Federated Women's Institutes of On- lanu for our Pennies for Friendship fund. Please do convey to all your members our most grateful thanks for their outstanding and practical support of the work of A.C.W.W. I know that it must have been a great joy to Mrs. \an Beekhot‘f to have this cheque pre- sented to her personally during her visit to Ontario. We were all so delighted that she was able to visit Canada this year. We knew she \muld receive a wonderfully warm welcome 20 and it was indeed good news that so many your members were able to see her and h her speak. We were very sorry to hear ti so many were unable to get into the buildi This is surely a sign of the life of the We en's Institute movement. Although the 1‘ objects of the movement have been achie' this outward sign of the interest of the m bers shows that the movement is meeting challenge of our times and working in in fields. “Once again, please accept our thanks ‘ the wonderful donation to our Pennies Friendship. It will be of tremendous helt‘ carrying out the program of work accer at Melbourne." And the Honorary Secretary of A.C.W.« Mrs. Mungo Barr wrote: "Such a contribution is truly magnific and I can assure you that not only is it v much appreciated but it is yet one more minder of the 1953 A.C.W.W. conference Toronto when we were privileged to meet many of your members and to enjoy lli wonderful hospitality and friendship." HOME AND Cl'.‘rUN'i