150 YEARS STRONG

‘Nothing Could Have Astonished Me More’: The Challenge of Consumer Reports

Due to communist hysteria before and after World War II, many organizations and publications were under suspicion of being affiliated with or promoting the Communist party. One curious suspect of this scrutiny was Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, the product testing and consumer advocacy magazine. In the late 1930s, Consumers Union faced unsubstantiated accusations of communism.[1] Despite the fruitless claims, Consumers Union was placed on a list of subversive organizations by the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1944.

In 1951, representatives from the Better Business Bureaus drew attention to Consumer Union’s status on the House Committee’s list. As a result, Ohio schools banned the use of Consumer Reports in the classroom.[2] While the Ohio schools ban of the magazine was short-lived, the questions about it were not and the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) noticed the attempts to ban the publication.

Lynn G. Blaylock, a public librarian in Bryan, Texas, was shocked when a patron confronted her about the supposed communist magazine. In 1952, she wrote to the IFC about the patron, who identified herself as a representative of an “Americanism Committee,” telling her that Consumer Reports was a Communist front. Blaylock noted, “Nothing could have astonished me more, since I have always had a high regard for the magazine and its information. In fact, I felt that it was doing a great service to the American public.”[3] Blaylock asked for more information about Consumers Union from the IFC as the patron took her complaint to the library board.

Letter from Lynn Blaylock to the Intellectual Freedom Committee.
Letter from Lynn Blaylock to the Intellectual Freedom Committee, from the ALA Archives.

The IFC received inquiries from librarians from as far away as Hawaii, asking about the supposedly communist Consumer Reports. The committee provided librarians with information outlining the facts of the accusations against Consumers Union, concluding that “the case against Consumers Union is, at best, tenuous and without evidence of subversion.”[4] This wasn’t an endorsement of the publication, and the committee urged that library materials should be selected to fit local needs, recommending that “all librarians should resist the pressures of those who want to prevent American citizens from being informed.”[5]

In 1954, Consumers Union was successful in getting the House Un-American Activities Committee to remove them from the list, but questions about Consumers Union persisted. The IFC received a letter in 1956 from a high school librarian, Doris Carson, in McPherson, Kansas, about the publication. Carson wrote, “My vice-principal felt we might receive criticism if we were to continue to subscribe to Consumer Reports if Consumers Union is communist.”[6]

After the IFC reassured the high school librarian of the House Committee’s withdrawal of the Consumers Union from its list, Carson wrote back, “It is gratifying to us in the field to know we do not stand alone in problems of this sort, among others, but are sustained by the American Library Association through the good work of its committees.”[7]

 

Sources:

[1] ALA Committee on Intellectual Freedom, “Consumers Union Reports,” American Libraries 45, no. 9 (October 1951): 311-312.

[2] Paul Bixler, “Letter to Ohio Librarians on Intellectual Freedom,” August 10, 1951,

[3] Lynn G. Blaylock to Paul H. Bixler, May 22, 1952, series 69/1/5, Box 2, File: Correspondence, BA-BZ, 1952-56, folder 2, American Library Association Archives.

[4] “Consumers Union Reports,” 312.

[5] “Consumers Union Reports,” 312.

[6] Doris M. Carson to American Library Association, March 16, 1956, Box 2, File: Correspondence, CA-CZ, 1952-56, American Library Association Archives.

[7] Carson to ALA, March 16, 1956.

 

This story first appeared on the ALA Archives blog on March 29, 2024.

150 YEARS STRONG

THE OFFICIAL ANNIVERSARY BLOG

An index card tracking an ALA conference exhibition hall exhibitor from 1924-1947.

The Heartbeat of the Hall: 150 Years of Exhibitors Who Shaped Our Conference

ALA Conference Services June 3, 2026

Every year as the doors of ALA’s Annual Conference and Exhibition swing open, the exhibition hall comes alive. It is a ritual that has been repeated, refined, and reimagined throughout ALA’s 150-year history. And at the center of it all, providing the innovations, solutions, and partnerships that have propelled our profession forward, are the exhibitors. To mark this milestone, we look back at the rich history of exhibitors at the conference—where it began, how it grew, and why, 150 years on, the exhibition floor remains one of the most vital spaces in our professional world.

Librarian at the Reference Desk in Camp Johnston Library, from the ALA Archives.

Charles R. Green at Camp Johnston: ‘We Can Find Such a Man’

Cara Bertram May 28, 2026

During the summer of 1918, Charles Green, a librarian from the Massachusetts Agriculture College, served as the Acting Librarian for Camp Johnston in Jacksonville, Florida. While his tenure was brief, the Charles R. Green Papers in the American Library Association (ALA) Archives reveal Green’s rapid appointment and promotion. It also shows how quickly circumstances could change within the ALA’s Library War Service and the adaptability of its volunteers.

Detail of letter from Lynn Blaylock to the Intellectual Freedom Committee.

‘Nothing Could Have Astonished Me More’: The Challenge of Consumer Reports

Cara Bertram May 21, 2026

Due to communist hysteria before and after World War II, many organizations and publications were under suspicion of being affiliated with or promoting the Communist party, including Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, the product testing and consumer advocacy magazine. As a result, Ohio schools banned the use of Consumer Reports in the classroom. While the ban was short-lived, the questions about it were not and the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee noticed the attempts to ban the publication.

A detail from the Library Bill of Rights, 1967.

The History of the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund

Faith McConnon May 19, 2026

To financially support librarians who have been denied employment rights or discriminated against on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, race, color, creed, religion, age, disability, or place of national origin or denied employment rights because of their defense of intellectual freedom, ALA created the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund, named in honor of a staunch defender of intellectual freedom and editor of ALA’s Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom.

A Seat at the Table feature graphic

A Seat at the Table: Reflections from Eight ALA Trailblazers

American Libraries May 14, 2026

For 150 years, the American Library Association has shaped the landscape of libraries and the profession itself—but its leadership has often reflected the racial and gender biases of society at large. American Libraries spoke with eight barrier-busting Association leaders about their struggles, triumphs, breakdowns, and breakthroughs. The stories and lessons they share reveal how diversity fuels and transforms the power of libraries everywhere.