168. Never Never Nest. Cedric Mount Play Reintroduced By P S Remesh Chandran

168

Never Never Nest. Cedric Mount Play Reintroduced

P. S. Remesh Chandran

Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum

01. Article Title Image By . Graphics: Adobe SP.

02. Breinig & Bachman Tailors Clothiers Pennsylvania 1895 New Building Closed In 1920 Due To Recession.

Aero planes can be purchased under installment schemes. Large airline companies have been formed this way and when repayments failed whole fleets have been grounded and confiscated by their financiers. Satellites, ships and rockets can be purchased this way and even children born. Nowadays people can purchase anything from a car to hospital treatment through installment schemes. Now banks and loan sharks are there ready, to give money to anyone for purchasing almost everything. But till the installments are completed, the property will not be ours. The title of the play means that neither will an installment house ever become our own till the installments are over nor will the installments ever end during our lifetime.

 
1. INSTALLMENT SCHEMES AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF 1929:

Humans are like birds, craving to build a nest somewhere, and once it is lost, wandering the world grieving homeless.

Cedric Mount’s play Never Never Nest is a satire on purchasing things under installment plans. Nest here means home, the last place to which all human birds return- an apt simile considering the fondness and affection and love these wandering birds who toil in the world for a living have for their permanent final resting places. They are like birds, always craving to build a nest somewhere, lay eggs and raise a family, and once it is lost, wandering through the world, grieving for the home. We do not know whether Cedric lost a home or got a home, but we must know how people value a home. The play is written against the background of the Great Depression of the 1920s which gripped the world, continued through years, and wrecked many industries and businesses, and the lives of people throughout the world. Even though the play is a very short one, the background is broad. That is what the playwright also meant- to open eyes to the background, which the world still dreads to remember. So in this article also, we will explore that dreadful period of recession more, considering certain aspects of the playwright’s life. 

Many things which now sell fast in the market were considered non-essential luxuries by people once.

  
03. 1926-Ford-Coupe Car On Installment.

A house, car, boat, children, family, doctor’s assistance, etc, are everyone’s dream or necessity. When these things cannot be bought due to lack of money, people borrow. In the past, if these things could not be bought, people learned to live without them. Many things which now sell fast in the market were considered once non-essential luxuries by people. Conservative-minded people did not even dare to think about borrowing money for purchasing any of these things. If people wanted to possess these things, they saved money penny by penny or did buy them from the fortune they sure had to spend. Such social convictions and guard were what prevented people from purchasing things on credit and later falling into debt in the past centuries. 

Since the buying power of people will not increase dramatically, production companies devised this system of ‘purchasing now and paying later in installments’.

  
04. A 1920 Studebaker Car On Installment.

Production volume brings down production costs in industries. When greater production and sale of products can be assured, market prices will normally come down and more people will become able to purchase these products. Since the buying power of people will not increase dramatically, production companies in the beginning of the 20th century devised this innovative system of ‘purchasing now and paying later in installments’. Production quantity of ovens, radios, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, gramophones, pianos, refrigerators and cars increased, their market prices came down, and people began to purchase them under installment plans. Soon these things became no more luxuries. Installment plans of manufacturers began to be taken for granted by people which continues to be so even today. Sales multiplied and the fact is things became affordable. 

Mr. Henry Ford remained obstinate to the idea of selling his motor cars in installments.

  
05. A Camera On Installment.

One of the most conservative industrialists of those times was Mr. Henry Ford. He was a very considerate and generous person who also cared to run the Ford Grocery Stores on the side for exclusively helping his factory workers in Detroit. He remained obstinate to the idea of selling his motor cars to people in installments. He even refused part credit even to his dealers. Finally even he too succumbed to the temptation and the changing marketing trends in the car industry and began to give cars on installment plans. Ford Weekly Purchase Plan allowed people to own a brand new car on an initial down payment and the rest was to be paid in weekly installments, saving from their family budgets. 

The atmosphere in those times was filled with questions addressed to women and they finally succumbed.
 

Housewives were the primary targets the manufacturers aimed at. They were asked in advertisements and by company representatives in person, why they paid rent when they could buy a house in installment scheme and live in one of their own, with the installment amount equaling the rent amount. Why labour in their kitchen when they could have an oven? Why manually labour on washing and drying when they could have a Laundromat in easy terms? Why walk when they could drive brand new cars which others in their street with even lower incomes own? Why go to photographer’s studio for pictures when they could possess their own cameras and take pictures at their leisure, repaying with the exact sum they spend on photographers? Why not purchase Mark Twine’s Complete Works and pay in portions with the money they spend for library memberships? Why not clothe their husbands and themselves decently with installment purchase and make up the expenditure by infiltrating higher social circles of esteem early, rise in esteem and get hold of the resultant lucrative job opportunities? The atmosphere in those times was filled with questions like these addressed to women and they finally succumbed. 

Some sold their cooking oven for the down payment for purchasing refrigerator in installments.

   
06. Mark Twain Books On Installment.

People very much like to use new utensils and appliances in their homes. Even where the old ones efficiently work, they will wish for brand new ones using which is a pleasure. Using new appliances saves the money spent on repairing the old ones. Sometimes, new appliances can be bought with the money spent on repairs of old ones for two or three years. Using new articles will also most often reduce the cost of operation and maintenance, like a new radio or television using the latest technology consumes less electricity. Readymade food will save time spent on cooking. So on and so on were the many arguments carried on my installment scheme managers before house-hold women in the 1920s. It was a dam burst of arguments from installment managers to household women. So, some sold their cooking oven for the down payment for purchasing refrigerator in installments. We needn’t wonder how they managed cooking in their houses without ovens; they purchased brand new ovens simultaneously in installments. 

Finally installments came to be paid not from savings but from earnings, all earnings went to marketers, and there was no money for milk, food, groceries and hospital.
 

In the olden days, i.e., till the advent of the twentieth century, people purchased these things out of their savings, taking its time. So these people were secure in life financially. But now, i.e., after the 1890s, after the advent of the installment age, all savings were spent to pay installments on things already purchased, gradually eating into money reserves, and finally getting people to the position that installments were to be paid not from savings but from earnings. All earnings went to marketers and sellers and there was no money left to pay for milk, food, groceries and hospital treatment. Every agreement which accompanied an installment sale had small prints which the purchaser ignored to read but which invariably stipulated that the article belonged to the seller until paid for in full. When default in repayments occurred, the things were confiscated without refund of whatever amounts were already paid, the whole amount being adjusted against the use of the article. To avoid this confiscation, other assets were sold to pay the defaults and this vicious circle engulfed the people of the 1920s and 30s. 

Thousands and thousands of families vanished without a trace. No one knows where they went.

  
07. Clothes On Installment.

Thus Pianos and Kelvinators found their way into poor man’s homes this way. They all hoped they could repay this debt out of their earnings and savings. But they did not think that tomorrow their wages may plummet, or that they may loose jobs. Nor did they expect something like the stock market crash of 1929. Economic depression engulfed the world for the next several years. Unemployment increased, incomes plummeted down and those who had debts became bankrupted. Things sold in installments were confiscated by the sellers and sold in auction, which included houses and home utensils. People simply took to the streets with no possessions at all. Only those people who were reluctant and conservative enough not to buy things without saving enough money and paying in full escaped from debts and survived this depression. Thousands and thousands of families vanished without a trace. No one knows where they went. It was proved plainly that hard times ahead should also be anticipated when we buy things in advance, agreeing to pay for them later. 

2. THE PLAY NEVER NEVER NEST:

Had she written Two thousand Pounds on the cheque instead of Two hundred Pounds?
 

Jack and Jill in the play own a car, a house, a piano and a radiogram, all purchased on installment plan. One day, Aunt Jain is visiting them. She is surprised to see that the couple is leading a very luxurious life, with all modern comforts. In her knowledge, knowing their background, they can never live that way. She asked them how they could live in such luxury with all those amenities. She is told that it was to her that they owed all this luxury. She wonders how that could happen. She had given them a wedding present of only Two hundred Pounds. How can they purchase all these things with just Two hundred Pounds? Then she began to worry. Had she by mistake written Two thousands Pounds on the cheque instead of Two hundred Pounds? Then she was told by Jack that everything was purchased on the installment plan. Why should one be a tenant who pays rent for a house when one can be the owner of one? 

Pay off the doctor’s bills so that at least the child would be theirs.

But Aunt Jain does not like the smell of things. She refuses to neither sit on the furniture in the house nor travel in Jack’s car. How can one do it decently when their prices have not been paid for fully? Cash down, is her motto. She advises the young couple also to follow her motto. Before returning, she handed Jill a cheque and asked her to pay off any one single bill fully, so that at least one article in the house would really belong to them. Jill is only wise to follow the advice. She paid the doctor’s bills completely so that the child at least would really be theirs. Their child also was born in the installment plan since the hospital charges for the delivery also were paid in the installment plan. 

The three main elements in the play.

  
08. Mr. Henry Ford's Views On Installment. From The Henry Ford Org.

The conservative attitude of a few people who always remain suspicious of new discoveries and marketing plans in the world, the easiness with which people from the working class fall into the ruthless greed of market-commercialism and consumerism, and what happens to people who passes through turbulent times of general impoverishment, are the three elements incorporated in the play. The fact is the playwright Cedric also vanished without a trace in such a turbulent time of general impoverishment. Can a very good writer who is fairly better known in social circles and the publishing field totally vanish with a family if he had any without leaving a trace? 

3. WHAT HAPPENED TO CEDRIC MOUNT, THE AUTHOR, IN THOSE TIMES?

Those who recovered from the Great Depression found themselves in the midst of the First World War.
 

Cedric Mount’s plays were almost all published in London in the 1930s. We know the ten years from 1929 to 1939 were the period of the Great Depression from which most people in most countries never recovered. Even those who were persevering to rise up again from that crushing blow found themselves to be in the midst of the Second World War, another mountain of havoc that fell upon the people of the world. The people who lived in those times could not purchase many things which they so much needed for want of money. Wreck of businesses, industries and agriculture made millions of people take the beggar’s bowl. Unemployment reduced families to nothingness. So many families vanished from the face of the earth. Those who borrowed could not repay and all their assets were sold in auction. The life of everyone who had debts was lost for ever. Only those who were moderate in spending or had a fortune to spend survived that period of hell. 

Did he also vanish with those thousands sucked into the vortex of that economic depression?

  
09. Hot Water Bath On Installment.

It was at the time of the culmination of this havoc that Cedric Mount’s play Never Never Nest was written. Even though Cedric’s plays were published in print and are still available to read, not a piece of his biographical information is available now, wherever we search in including the information repositories like the American Library of Congress, Wikipedia or any other data base in the Internet. How this happened is yet to be explained. We only know that besides Never Never Nest, he also wrote plays like Twentieth Century Lullaby (1935), Cavalcade of Christmas (1935), The Long and the Short of It (1938), Jonah: A Biblical Play, Dirge without Dole and Such Sweet Sorrow. Did he also vanish with those thousands of human beings, sucked into the vortex of that economic depression? 

4. THE GOOD AND THE BAD OF INSTALLMENT SCHEMES.

Businesses and industries which are on the brink of ruin survive, come back and flourish through installment sales.
 

Many people look at installment buying as a sin. Compared to direct cash sales, it has had many benefits and advantages in the industrial, business and consumer fields. Things can be enjoyed and used even before paying for them. Because amounts have to be paid each month or each week, people who otherwise are not in the habit of saving money will become healthily thrifty. If controlled to the limit of repayment period not exceeding the saleable time or even the life time of a product, it will not cause undue inflation and wreck the economy. Since demand increases, production and supply will increase proportionately, bringing down cost. Even though interest for financing will have to be borne by purchasers, they will be more than compensated for by the reduction in prices. Businesses and industries which are on the brink of ruin survive, come back and flourish. Generation of jobs and eradication of unemployment is a result. Things which only could be enjoyed by the rich, aristocrats and the privileged classes could be accessible to all, eliminating effectively class distinctions through consumerism. Industries and businesses in countries like America survived and prospered solely due to introducing installment system for sales. If this system is removed, their economy may even suddenly collapse. 

Mortgaging more than one third of future earnings leads to stillness in industry and business and loss of purchasing power of the working class.

  
10. Typewriter On Installment.

Automobiles, homes, household equipments, furniture, ornamental items, pleasure items and clothes are the major items, in the decreasing order of their percentages, which people buy under various installment schemes. Mortgaging future earnings and salaries is what is actually going on in the name of installment schemes. Financial experts warn that mortgaging more than one third of future earnings will ultimately lead to stillness and collapse in industry and business, for it would lead to loss of purchasing power of the working class eventually. Saving money, keeping it in bank and buying things when there is enough money is the method they advise, but it is not practical because the whole society cannot be taught and trained to be thrifty and it is also not in the human nature to be thrifty. 

More than 30 % of all purchases are under installment and 2800 million dollars outstand as installment debt any time in America alone.
 

Automobiles, television sets, home furniture, washing machines, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, jewellery, clothing and homes are the major installment purchases in the world. Many of these things may be pointed out as unnecessary luxuries by many, but not all people will agree. ‘More than 30 % of all things purchased in this world are under installment plans. 2800 million dollars outstand as installment debt any time in America alone.’ Banks have entire departments and fleets of financial officers for dealing with this scheme alone. Large financing companies exist for this sole purpose. People’s wish for enjoying things before paying for them supports these huge companies, leading to trillions of dollars of business. Some economists consider this scheme as systematic exploitation of the working class, leading most of them to being in debt in their old age or when earnings and salaries fall. In their estimate unnecessary over-production resulting from industrial greed is what results in this mortgaging of mankind. 

This situation of depression, wreckage and collapse occur periodically, perhaps in every twenty years as a cycle.

  
11. Washer & Dryer On Installment.

When repayments faltered and articles were confiscated, retailers sold them in auction, flooding the market with second hand articles, constricting normal market and toning production. Manufacturers suffered nothing except shrinking of their markets. It was retailers who were affected badly. Manufacturers came up with relief measures and intervened, only because for fear of loosing distribution networks and sales channels. Loss of purchasing power of consumers made even confiscated items unsellable and many retailers had to close shops permanently. It has been predicted that because of the inborn fallacy of this installment system, the situation of depression, ruin and caving in will periodically be repeated, most probably every twenty years as a cycle.

[First prepared in September 1990 as a lecture to literature students]

First published on:

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Pictures Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
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Picture Credits:

01. Article Title Image By . Graphics: Adobe SP
02. Breinig & Bachman Tailors Clothiers Pennsylvania 1895 New Building Closed In 1920 Due To Recession
03. 1926-Ford-Coupe Car On Installment
04. A 1920 Studebaker Car On Installment
05. A Camera On Installment
06. Mark Twain Books On Installment
07. Clothes On Installment
08. Mr. Henry Ford's Views On Installment. From The Henry Ford Org
09. Hot Water Bath On Installment
10. Typewriter On Installment
11. Washer & Dryer On Installment
12. Author Profile of P S Remesh Chandran By Sahyadri Archives

About the Author P. S. Remesh Chandran:

10. Author Profile of P S Remesh Chandran By Sahyadri Archives.

Editor of Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum. Author of several books in English and in Malayalam. And also author of Swan: The Intelligent Picture Book. Born and brought up in the beautiful village of Nanniyode in the Sahya Mountain Valley in Trivandrum, in Kerala. Father British Council trained English teacher and Mother University educated. Matriculation with distinction and Pre Degree Studies in Science with National Merit Scholarship. Discontinued Diploma studies in Electronics and entered politics. Unmarried and single.

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E-Mail: bloombookstvm@gmail.com

Post: P. S. Remesh Chandran, Editor, Sahyadri Books, Trivandrum, Padmalayam, Nanniyode, Pacha Post, Trivandrum- 695562, Kerala State, South India.

Tags:

Cedric Mount, The Never Never Nest, Installment Plan Scheme, Credit Basis, Great Depression 1929, Economic Recess, One Act Plays, Playwrights, Modern Drama, Mortgaging, First World War Literature,