Consumers' Research was incorporated in New York City in 1929 as a result of the success of F.J. Schlink's and Stuart Chase's book . The organization was first formed as the Consumers' Club in 1927. Consumers' Research, Inc., tested and rated consumer products and disseminated the results of those findings to subscribers. The organization moved to Washington, N.J., in 1933. Under the direction of F.J. Schlink, Consumers' Research pioneered consumer testing in the United States. Authors of several "guinea pig" books exposing the deceit of many manufacturers in the early 1930s, Consumers' Research's staff contributed the bulk of its efforts to the publication of , , and and annual guides to consumer products. Early alliances with liberal groups and publications ended with a violent and unsuccessful strike by Consumers' Research employees in 1935. Because Consumers' Research board members believed the strike was Communist led, the political focus of CR became stridently anti-Communist. In 1936, the dismissed strikers and their supporters formed Consumers Union which publishes . Throughout the 50 years between 1930 and 1980, Consumers' Research consistently tested and rated products ranging from toasters to lawn mowers, automobiles to cameras. Consumers' Research tested products until 1983 in Washington, N.J., although the was published in Washington, D.C., beginning in 1981. This collection documents the operations of Consumers' Research, Inc., a pioneering consumer testing and rating agency, the evolution, and reliability of hundreds of consumer products throughout the twentieth century, consumer education and organizations, and a wide spectrum of left-wing and anti-Communist political views held or investigated by CR. The collection consists of Technical Files (339 cubic feet) relating to products tested and rated by Consumers' Research including product information, many product photographs, packaging, advertisements, and specific test results; General Files (425 cubic feet), relating to foods, food adulteration, cosmetics, medicine, tobacco, politics including anti-Communism and fellow travelers, the consumer during World War II, consumerism, Consumers Union, merchandise marketing, government and the consumer during the New Deal, the Consumers' Research strike (1935), and Food and Drug Administration legislation; and Administrative Files (105 cubic feet) concerning the operation of Consumers' Research, organizational goals and history, and circulation of CR's publications including subscriber correspondence, policies, legal matters, speeches, personnel files, Board of Directors minutes, financial materials, publicity and promotion, manuscripts and reviews of books such as F.J. Schlink's and Arthur Kallet's , and CR's assistance to educational and other organizations. Records relating to products, services, theories, and individuals investigated include advertising, automobiles, cameras, cleaning products, clothing, cooperative organizations, economics and business, electric toasters, fraud, front organizations, household appliances, insurance, labor law, lawn mowers, paints, product standards and standardization, poisons, radios, razor blades, science and engineering, televisions, trade unions, and washing machines. Other organizations represented include Consumer Federation of America, National Labor Relations Board, National Recovery Administration, Underwriters Laboratory, and American National Standards Institute. Persons represented include Frederick J. Schlink, M.C. Phillips, J.B. Matthews, Dewey Palmer, Arthur Kallet, Ralph Nader, Stuart Chase and Consumers' Research lawyer William A. Consodine. Your Money's Worth Consumers' Research Bulletin Consumers Bulletin Consumers' Research Magazine Consumer Reports Consumers' Research Magazine 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs
