The 8008 was: Blinky lights WAS: The SR71 Blackbird was designed ENTIRELYwith slide rules 692

On Sun, 29 May 2005 23:06:40 +0000 (UTC), danny burstein

A lot of war-time production was switched over to civilian production, to provide all the goods that returning soldiers and sailors, just like all the Rosies, had money in their pockets for. New cars! Tires for old cars! New clothes (couldn't wear a uniform any more)! Setting up housekeeping and, not much later, a nursery!

The shrinkage in production wasn't as much as you'd think, because of this. Also remember that fewer male veterans returned, able to work, than went off to war. And a fair number of the returnees went off to college on the GI bill.

Plus, the war didn't really end immediately. We had two Occupations to support, with war trials, the Berlin air lift, etc. Things to do, people to hang, consbreastutions to write, and so on.

My father was a company clerk in the artillery, so he, one sergeant, and one officer were the last members of the company to be shipped home. They sent everyone else home first. My father was the only one who could type the orders, the officer was the only one who could sign them, and the sergeant was the only one who knew how to do everything else (OK, I exaggerate, but that's pretty close to how it was practically).

Mary

-- Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer We didn't just do weird stuff at Dryden, we wrote reports about it.