Permanents, 1938
Getting a permanent wave is "almost a national pastime" and the price has dropped to a dollar. But beware of shops that cut corners: "The felt pads between the curlers and her head . . . can be excellent carriers of scalp disease.

Checking the tires, 1940
For a short film, "Getting Your Money's Worth," we show audiences how to examine the tires on a used car.

Pudding and gelatin desserts, 1945
These packaged desserts do enable the busy housewife to whip together a more-or-less tasty dessert in a very few minutes," we say. But that taste doesn't vary much. Anything colored red is equally likely to be called cherry, raspberry, or strawberry. And in a blind(folded) taste test, even some lemons and limes are mistaken for strawberry.

Thread, 1945
A special thread tensile strength apparatus is used to test how strong different threads are before they break.

Canned meats, 1948
Our fat-extracting apparatus helps us analyze various brands of canned hamburger. These products cost as much per pound as fresh ground round steak. But they don't taste as good.

Men's shoes, 1948
The major determinants of shoe quality are hidden inside. We disassemble each shoe, piece by piece, and judge it for materials and workmanship.

Small cars, 1948
The tiny Crosley, at about $1,000, is the least expensive American-made car and has never received very high marks from us. "It has a spunky engine of unique construction in a poor and too-narrow chassis." But unlike small cars from overseas, the Crosley at least is familiar to some mechanics.

Ballpoint pens, 1949
The average price has recently dropped from $9 to less than a dollar. One of our tests uses this device, which measures how long each pen lasts before running out of ink.

Rug and upholstery cleaners, 1949
Segments of rug material are soiled with a special mixture of greases and carbon to test rug cleaners.

Toothpastes, 1949
Pepsodent and several of the other toothpastes we test don't meet the federal specifications for consistency. But although they're somewhat thin, all do an acceptable job of cleaning teeth.