Unless your memory is abnormally short you recall that 1932 was the year the roof of the world nearly fell in. Civilization appeared to be crum bling to bits. The least pessimistic could foresee some such crisis as that which culminated in the bank holiday of 1933. I have never been a bull on the United States nor, in fact, of bullish tem perament. My way is to expect the worst and pre pare for it. So it was in the fall of 1932 that I took serious thought of what I, and my family, could do to hedge against the economic and social disaster that appeared about to engulf the nation.