(2 of 2)
A farm-committee poll concluded that the first postwar year would put $19,416,000 into the farmers' jeans, 165% above 1939 and only 4% below booming 1943. A banker's committee discovered that the 75% increase in Albert Lea's liquid assets in 1943 over 1941 was enough to pay outright for 55% of the new cars, homes, etc.
Where Do They Go from Here? Albert Lea's planners did not think they were anywhere near through when the last figure was added up. Said their report: "If jobs are not found for Albert Lea's 593 unemployed and for the men in the Albert Leas all over this country, private enterprise may lose its stake in the national economy. . . . Albert Lea is at work on that job."
*Its name came from an Army colonel who fell in love with its lakes and forests a century ago, wrote a pioneer book on Minnesota.
*The U.S. Chamber's similar estimates for the U.S. as a whole: an immediate postwar demand for $3.3 billion of automobiles for 3,675,000 families; 1,540,000 new homes ($7.2 billion worth) plus $7.5 billion in improvements and repairs; $1.2 billion of appliances (2,625,000 refrigerators, 1,085,000 kitchen mixers, etc.).