breathe. Mostly it sat on coffins, because there
wasn't space in the living rooms for any other furniture.

There was hardly an individual in the United States who didn't have,
in case of sudden sharp pains in the chest, several boxes to choose
from. As for the rest of the world, it had better not die just now or
it would be literally a case of dust to dust.

[Illustration]

* * * * *

Of course everyone expected a doozy of a slump after Christmas. But
our Advertising Manager, who by now was of course Sales Manager and
First Vice President also, wasn't settling for any boom-and-bust. He'd
been a frustrated victim of his choice of industries for so many years
that now, with his teeth in something, he was going to give it the old
bite. He gave people a short breathing spell to arrange their coffin
payments and move the presents out of the front rooms. Then, late in
January, his new campaign came down like a hundred-megatonner.

Within a week, everyone saw quite clearly that his Christmas models
were now obsolete. The coffin became the new status symbol.

The auto industry was of course demolished. Even people who had enough
money to buy a new car weren't going to trade in the old one and let
the new one stand out in the rain. The garages were full of coffins.
Petroleum went along with Autos. (Though there were those who
whispered knowingly that the same people merely moved over into the
new industry. It was noticeable that the center of it became Detroit.)
A few trucks and buses were still being built, but that was all.

Some of the new caskets were true works of art. Others--well, there
was variety. Compact models appeared, in which the occupant's feet
were to be doubled up alongside his ears. One manufacturer pushed a
circular model, claiming that by all the laws of nature the foetal
position was the only right one. At the other extreme were virtual
houses, ornate and lavishly equipped. Possibly the largest of all was
the "_Togetherness_" model, triangular, with graduated recesses for
Father, Mother, eight children (plus two playmates), and, in the far
corner beyond the baby, the cat.

The slump was over. Still, economists swore that the new boom couldn't
last either. They reckoned without the Advertising Manager, whose eyes
gleamed brighter all the time. People already had coffins, which they
polished and kept on display, sometimes in the new "Coffin-ports"
being added to houses.