75 years bold
Consumers Union's famous labs stand the test of time
This article appeared in 
Some 155,000 products have been put through their paces in our test labs since 1936, the year Consumers Union was born. They include the highfalutin and the ho-hum. Sports cars and sneakers. Computers and corn poppers. Cognacs and colas.
CU's engineers and technicians eyeball, heft, measure, weigh, taste, use, and abuse those products. They take them apart, leave them out to weather, drop them, crash them, and put them through accelerated-wear tests to assess their durability. Sometimes they find hazards: Vehicles that tip in sharp turns. A grill with a firebox that drips molten metal. Kerosene heaters that emit deadly carbon monoxide.
This brief retrospective—the first of many articles this calendar year that will underscore our history—highlights some of our successes, amusing experiences, and, inevitably, disappointments. We hope it conveys the excitement, ingenuity, optimism, and sense of purpose that have defined our work throughout the past 75 years. Here's to the next 75.
