1.4. The Rise of Scientific Testing and Quasi-Quantitative Ratings
From its beginnings, CU was eager to use scientific testing to pin down the properties of consumer goods. Consumers Union had always emphasized the scientific nature of its work, describing itself as above all else “a technical organization.” The first issue of Consumer Reports set out its primary goal as follows: “The main efort of its staf, and the main use of its funds will be to conduct research and tests on consumer goods,” with the aim of “giving technical aid” to the consumer. Products were to be systematically rated based on “laboratory tests.” At the same time, it was acknowledged that both objective and subjective criteria are important in establishing the quality of a given product, and there was some recognition of the limitations of scientific testing. An editorial preface to an early issue admitted that while for example, “stockings may be carefully tested in the laboratory . . . experts are far from being in agreement as to the value of such tests in determining how well a pair of stockings will wear.”24 Nonetheless, the mission of the organization was, as far as possible, to promote consumption decisions made on a purely “technical” basis, and the organization was eager to assure the buying public of the rigor of its methods. The introduction to the yearly guide published by the organization set out the mission of the organization in the following terms: “The technical staf gives its assurance to members of Consumers Union . . . that it will exercise greatest care in testing and judging products, in checking data, and in preparing ratings . . .” [with the objective of substituting] “. . . the best technical knowledge that can be made available for haphazard guessing; and it does give the consumer the satisfaction of having his buying choices determined by technical tests rather than by the cleverness of an advertising copy writer or the ingenuity of a manufacturer in making a shoddy product look like a good one.”
Over time this emphasis on the technical, scientific side of product testing intensified. The concern to conduct rigorous scientific testing led CU to make increasing investments in sophisticated laboratories and testing facilities, and between 1944 and 1954, the laboratory space at CU underwent a massive expansion. The scientific prowess and technological sophistication of CU increasingly became the major selling point of its publication, Consumer Reports. As the century wore on an increasing amount of space in Consumer Reports was given over to elaborate descriptions of testing procedures, in order to indicate their rigor and objectivity. Greater prominence was also given to the scientific credentials of those doing the testing. Also evident over this period is a move from loose assessment of objects as imagined under conditions of daily use, to subjection of tested items to extreme conditions, to chart the ultimate limits of their useful properties. In pushing products to their breaking point, testing moved away from the conditions under which products would likely get used, to focus instead on probing their physical limits. A further change in CR’s testing objectives between the pre- and postwar periods was a shift in emphasis from protecting the public from dangerous products, to making fine distinctions between acceptable ones—distinctions which, for an average user, would often be of little practical consequence.25
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Time for Things