[ARC5] And again about them costs...

[Gordon White]

    Whatever the profit on the Command Sets was for A.R.C., they did not 
keep much of it.  In 1942 their sales were $17 million, virtually all of 
it to the Navy, their expenses were $13 million and their gross profit 
$3.9 million.  Normal federal income tax was $84,472.00 but the excess 
profits tax was $2.68 million, leaving the company with $380,000 net, or 
2/10 of one percent after-tax profit. on sales

        And you thought defense contractors got rich during the war.  
Frederick Drake and Lewis Hull earned $35,000 each in 1942 but probably 
paid income tax at a 91% rate.

    Having labored during the lean thirties, doing most of the research 
for the Command sets out of their own pockets, A.R.C. did not have the 
track record of pre-war profits that would have helped in the 
calculation of the excess war profits calculation.  Those who benefited 
most during the war were those who came into manufacturing only in 1941 
or 1942 with no profit record and had the government build plants for them.

- Gordon White