The Business Section of the Sunday Herald Tribune

Section Four of the Sunday Herald Tribune covered finance, business, commodities and real estate.

The lead story celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Pennsylvania Railroad, chronicling the highlights in its expansion over the century. According to the story. at the start of 1946 the railroad had 7,209 passenger cars, 240,293 freight cars, 5,614 pieces of work equipment and 378 units of equipment for marine operation in service. Mid-century reporters and press agents were fascinated with statistics and numbers. From 1910 to 1963 the railroad's New York City hub was Pennsylvania Station, a landmark Beaux Art edifice designed by McKim, Meade and White, that also was the Manhattan terminus of the Long Island Railroad. Prior to 1910 Pennsylvania Railroad passengers to and from New York had to take a ferry across the Hudson to Exchange Place in Jersey City. The company also owned and operated the Long Island Railroad whose passengers prior to the construction of Penn Station and the tunnel under the East River had to take a ferry to Manhattan from Long Island City.

The newspaper reported that a research committee set up by the Committee For Economic Development had recommended that some price controls remain in effect until spring of 1947 to prevent a dangerous rise in prices. The report also recommended that rent controls remain in effect even longer. However the statement warned that continuation of peacetime price controls for a longer period would present a threat to individual liberty. Present procedures would need to be streamlined with the restoration of an economy of free prices a top priority. Too much central control for too long would produce inefficiencies as well as danger to political and personal freedom. The Council was founded in 1942 as a non-partisan, non-profit policy organization whose membership was made up of senior corporate executives and academics. It was founded by Paul G. Hoffman, president of Studebaker, who issued the statement, William Benton of Benton & Bowles advertising agency and Marion B. Folsom, treasurer of Eastman Kodak Company. The Bowles of Benton and Bowles was Chester Bowles who was in charge of overseeing price controls for the federal government.

The New DuMont Television Studio

In other business news:

The SEC issued a report showing that liquid savings by individuals had declined in 1945 over the levels set the prior to two years. Savings had soared during the war years due to increased income and lack of goods for sale. The 1945 rate of savings still was substantially above prewar levels. The report attributed the decline to increased consumer spending as controls were lifted and more merchandise made its way to store shelves.
Chemical Bank had a branch at Hunter College in the Bronx for the United Nation and its personnel with interpreters on staff. It had open counters in the “modern style,” wood paneling, carpets, light-toned furniture and fixtures in keeping with the contemporary design of the Council meeting room, lounges and offices. Chemical Bank was not sure what would happen with the branch after the UN moved its administrative offices to Lake Success on Long Island. The bank was chartered to operate only in the five boroughs and would need a special waiver from the banking board to operate a branch in Nassau County. The article mentioned that "ideologists hoping for a better and brave new world through the UN" thought it inappropriate the organization soon would be in close proximity to a factory still partially devoted to secret military and naval work.
Three thousand workers were feverishly attempting to convert the Willow Run bomber plant into an auto plant in time for Kaiser Frazier to start automobile production at the facility in May. The plant later was sold to GM, which announced in June 2009 that it would be closed as part of the company's bankruptcy proceedings.
Action was due on Truman's plan to stabilize the US wool industry.
The National Housing Agency received $253,727,000 to provide localities and educational institutions with 102,000 additional housing units for veterans and service men. In part the funds were being used to dismantle and relocate former barracks. An earlier allocation in 1945 had provided 100,000 temporary units.
An article reported on the claim by the Secretary of the Real Estate Board of Baltimore that the recent amendment to the GI Bill of Rights raising the government guarantee on loans to $4,000 from $2,000 was responsible for the recent inflation in real estate prices. The market was being swamped before it had an adequate supply of housing to meet the demand. This statement was in response to a charge by the Veterans Administration that some real estate brokers and dealers were engaging in “sharp practices” that took advantage of veterans. “Sharp practices” was a commonly used phrase in business parlance for unfair dealings that were unfair but not necessarily illegal.
The Westover Hotel at 253 West 72nd Street between Broadway and West End was sold to new owners. According to an article it was one the largest hotels on the West Side, it was 22-stories high and had 429 rooms divided into 251 suites all of which had kitchenettes. It is now an apartment house, the West Pierre. Apartment hotels for the city's newcomers, and its temporary and part-time residents were a common feature in Manhattan at this time. They existed in sizable number at all levels from seedy Times Square dumps to luxurious, full-service midtown digs. Some people made them their longtime home, moving in their personal items. In the postwar era most became conventional hotels or apartment houses. were demolished for new construction or were converted into welfare housing.

An ad placed in the Sunday Herald Tribune by the Wall Street form of Thornton & Co. touted the stock of a company called Howard Industries that was making an amazing new product, the electric toothbrush, and already had orders in excess of its capacity. It planned to step up production within the next few months. However, according to Wikipedia, the first successful electric toothbrush wasn't invented until 1954.

A number of investment newsletters and services were among the advertisers in the business section. One of them, the American Institute of Finance in Boston, offered “a searching discussion of the near-term inflation risks for men of substantial wealth by one of the country's oldest and most conservative investment counsel organizations.” The report was available by mail-in coupon for $3. The ad warned that the report was "not of interest to speculators.”