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There was a bright side, too. Credit Man William Murray of Chicago's Goldblatt Bros., Inc. department store, whose sales were off 20%, thought his business would actually be better because he would not have to repossess so many items. "Believe me," said he, "when a buyer has to put $100 down on a $400 item, he's going to make those payments." Furthermore, Murray, and many another retailer, thought that customers would be coming back again as soon as they got used to bigger installment payments.
Nevertheless, it looked as if credit had been cut enough, at least until actual arms production is a lot bigger than at present.
* One Detroiter had a special treatment for the knife wound. Arrested for a $100 robbery, he blandly explained that he "needed more money to buy a car under the new credit control."