Apparently, back in WWII, everyone wanted to do something to contribute to the war. Here was an ingenious idea...


[blockquote]For a solution to the problem of the thousands of people crying "Give us jobs to do" (TIME, March 9), the "Button Sorters" job might be put back into operation.
In World War I the same old cry was being made, mostly by women who could have done their best job by just sitting tight.Their persistence finally got tangled in many an official's hair. In our neighborhood one busy executive in desperation finally worked out a beautiful plan.
He bought barrels of buttons, set up the large gym of a church with tables and issued a call for volunteers to sort the buttons into smaller boxes according to size and color.
The pigeons flocked in in droves and for the duration they sorted and cackled in their all-out aid for victory.
Every Saturday morning they were rewarded with a visit from the smart uniformed Major. . . . He sure was proud of their sacrifices and efforts, and they would never know the thousands of man hours they saved the Army and Navy for fighting service.
Neither did they know that each Saturday after the wow session the Major palmed a five-dollar bill off on the janitor for his effort: staying each evening until all the pigeons left the church and then mixing up all the little boxes of buttons back into the big barrels. . . .
This also might be a workable plan for the uniformed station-wagon monkeys now wasting money, wool, metal (uniforms, pins), rubber and fuel.
Excerpt Time Magazine (March 30, 1942):
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...3142-3,00.html
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