Average Man

"The Average Man is more written about than anybody else, his opinions are more respected, his reactions are estimated for various purposes in all walks of life." The goggle-eyed London Daily Express, which admitted all this, wanted to put its finger on the Average Man. So the Daily Express reconstructed him, by winnowing statistics from libraries, cinemas, groceries, barbers, tailors. To the Britisher who could fit most exactly the dummy's specifications, the Daily Express then offered to publish his political views on the theory that this kind of reward would most please the Average Englishman.

Among 5,000 aspirants who panted for this crown of mediocrity, 33-year-old Robert Barlow Neve, Government radio operator, fitted most comfortably into the Average Man's shoes down to the funniest qualification--rheumatism. His wavy hair is brown, he is 5 ft. 7 3/4 in.; his nine shirts and three suits were bought without his smiling wife's interference. As England's Average Man he earns $18 a week, plus $2 War pension. Adhesions developed after his appendix was removed aboard a submarine off the Algerian Coast. He gets up at 7 a. m., cycles to work, smokes no more than ten cigarets, leaves punctually at 5 p. m. to cycle back again to his six-room, $5-a-week home, which he painted cream color. There he is greeted by his plump, pink wife and only child, Peter, dines lightly, reads a serious book, shuffles to bed at 10:30.

After staying up far past their average bedtime for several nights of shows, dances and a tour through British Broadcasting House, Mr. and Mrs. Neve were happily back in their comfortable obscurity last week. "I'm in a rut." said England's Average Man, "and I like it."

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