MODERN LIVING: The Shoulder Trade

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The hobbyists have bought the new products so fast that industry is hard pressed to keep pace with demand. Almost anything new catches on instantly. Three months ago, Denver's Rocky Mountain News started a do-it-yourself column, In one of its first articles it explained how to build an aluminum carport. By noon the next day, the News switchboard had received 200 calls; seven local firms immediately went into the business with carport kits, and so far have sold 300.

The Toolmakers. In the fast-growing market, the fastest-growing business of all is in the basic machines for the do-it-yourself workshop. Before the war, the power-tool industry rarely topped $25 million in sales; now it is a $200 million business, with a 25% increase predicted for 1954, and its products are America's most popular gadgets. Old companies in the field have suddenly come to life, dozens of new ones have popped up. Such firms as the Rockwell Mfg. Co., DeWalt Inc. and Black & Decker Mfg. Co. have brought out whole lines of better, easier-to-use tools. Black & Decker alone has 150 models, now does a $35,648,000 business annually v. $5,346,000 in 1939. Other firms, such as Skil Corp., Shopmaster, Magma Engineering Co. (TIME, March 29), have brought out portable and stationary power tools to do half a dozen different jobs. Magma Engineering's versatile Shopsmith tool is a complete home workshop, with drill, lathe, saw and sander all rolled into one. Price: $269.50. But the real tinkerer who plans to do extensive woodworking likes to buy tools to perform each task separately and he generally has enough to outfit a small factory.

The Compleat Handyman. In his home workshop, the compleat handyman usually starts out buying a little $25 utility drill to act as a portable sander, buffer and saw. If he wants to make furniture, he discovers he needs a bigger, stationary tool for ripsawing heavy pieces of wood, buys himself an arbor saw for $150. Next he wants a jointer for cutting precise corners, which costs him $130. Then he wants something to drill deep, accurate holes, and so buys a drill press for $100. As he graduates to fancier work, and starts putting intricate filigrees in his woodwork, he needs a jig saw, and that costs $65. The heavy curved lines on his masterpieces now call for a band saw at $250. If his furniture is to have legs, he must buy a lathe for $200 to turn them. And if he really wants to turn out professional work (as he usually does), he looks around for a shaper to groove and plane it precisely. That costs another $250.

To this the do-it-yourself addict also adds a paint spray gun with an attached air compressor for $60, an exhaust fan to carry off the fumes for $20, plus a $200 collection of chisels, wrenches, hammers, screw drivers, vises and pliers. For outdoor work he buys a $125 power lawn mower, a $35 hedge trimmer, a $115 chain saw for work on his trees, a $250 tractor to plow his garden and shovel snow from his driveway. By the time he is finished, he has as much as $2,000 invested in his new hobby, and he can build anything from a toothbrush rack to a ten-room house, and landscape the land.