[Leica] Leica manufacture during WW2

[douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas Sharp)]

Peter,
that was in the days when cigarettes were still good for you (grin)
Seriously though, a couple of cigarettes was enough to cut down the ever 
present feeling of hunger for a few hours.
Douglas

Peter Dzwig wrote:

> Yep, it has a lot to do with "purchasing power parity" in the post-war 
> economy. A camera for which you probably couldn't get much film was 
> tradable for something apparently more valuable - $20 worth of 
> cigarettes, probably 2,500 cigarettes in total. Cigarettes had a value 
> either collectively or singly, so it wasn't such a bad deal if what you 
> wanted to do was trade for food fort you and your family. Shame about 
> the lung cancer though...
> 
> It was the intersection of two very different worlds. For the victors, 
> they could get most things easily especially if you were a GI. For the 
> vanquished it was a completely different world.
> 
> Peter Dzwig
>