You can still buy a Quonset hut

Q: After World War II, civilians had access to what the Seabees called Quonset huts. These were quickly assembled arch-shaped metal buildings that could be used for everything from offices to equipment sheds on farms. Are these still available? They seemed a great idea for the military.

A: They’re still a great idea for everyone, according to the folks at Quonset-hut.org. Since 2014, it has been connecting residential and commercial customers to the many building suppliers and contractors offering these multiuse, easily built galvanized steel shelters.

“This prefabricated building provides benefits that no other pre-engineered building provides, from high security and cheapest cost for the ability to withstand hurricanes, blizzards — whatever Mother Nature sends their way,” the website boasts.

It’s been that way since 1941, when the U.S. Navy began looking for an all-purpose lightweight building that could be shipped anywhere and assembled without skilled labor. The focus quickly turned to the Nissen hut, a similar structure designed during World War I by British inventor and engineer Maj. Peter Norman Nissen out of a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated steel.

The Navy signed a contract with the George A. Fuller Construction Co., and the first completed hut was turned out within 60 days. Because they were first manufactured at Quonset Point, a small peninsula in eastern Rhode Island, they soon became known as Quonset huts. But more than 150,000 were produced during World War II by independent contractors around the world.

The original design was a 16-by-36-foot structure covered by corrugated steel sheets and plywood fronts with doors and windows. The interior was insulated and had pressed-wood lining and wood floor, and the whole thing could be placed on pilings, concrete or bare ground.

When humid conditions called for a more rust-resistant version, a few all-spruce huts apparently were used in the Pacific Theater of Operations. As the war continued, the standard size increased to 20 by 48 with 720 square feet of usable floor space and optional 4-foot overhangs at each end for protection from the elements. They could be used as barracks, latrines, administrative and medical offices, bakeries, etc., as needed.

Some are still in use at U.S. military bases, including camps Red Cloud and Casey near the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

As you mentioned, surplus huts were sold to the public and are still in use — right here in Belleville, in fact, as the home of Bethany Place at 821 W. A St.

The days of acquiring one at Navy surplus prices apparently are gone. If you’re truly serious about buying one, a 2015 www.costdetectives.com article estimated that a medium to large hut for storage, workshop or garage use likely will run you between $5,000 to $35,000 depending on size, location and accessories needed. Having it installed with a foundation will run you $10,000 to $50,000 more. And if you’re looking for a residential-style hut, get ready to shell out $65,000 to as much as a half-mil.

Q: Medical and government experts are always nagging us to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, but newspapers never have any coupons for them except maybe an occasional one for those Halo or Cuties oranges. Why don’t we ever see them? Fresh produce is high, especially to people on fixed income or food stamps, so how do they expect us to buy these healthy foods?

A: I’d say that is an idea that’s hard to beet. I try to include three or four veggies at dinner (not to mention a Jethro bowl of ice cream with strawberries or peaches for a late-night snack), so I’d devour those coupons in a Tennessee Ernie Ford pea-pickin’ minute.

Unfortunately, if you know beans about coupons, you realize why the fresh produce variety are as rare as a tasty store-bought tomato in December.

Coupons are a time-consuming and expensive proposition. You have to have them printed and distributed. Then you have to pay someone a few cents per coupon to redeem them so that grocery stores are repaid for cashing them. In addition to the coupon’s, say 50-cent or 75-cent face value, you can add another chunk for the administrative costs, not to mention the entire bureaucratic hassle.

Companies like Kellogg’s or Procter & Gamble have the resources to take on this work and expense. They figure it’s a good tradeoff to build customer loyalty while luring new buyers as well.

Now think about many farmers. They would have to issue the coupons and pay to have them redeemed, which would cut into their profit. And, remember, they aren’t getting the price you pay at the store. The stores add a markup to stay in business. By the time you add the face value and the costs to the store’s markup. the farmer might be getting next to nothing for his broccoli or peppers. Besides, a farmer probably has enough work and worries without adding coupons to the list.

I suppose it’s possible that major companies like Green Giant or Grimmway Farms carrots could offer them more, but most of the produce I buy either has no label or the names change week to week and store to store. Well-known companies do offer them for their frozen products.

I’m afraid your best bet is to look for sales. Stores usually mark down various types of produce each week depending on the season or what’s in hot supply. For example, Schnucks this week is selling baby carrots at $1 a pound so I’ll try to buy enough to last until they go on sale again. I often find prices are not as high as they seem. For example, a small frozen box of cauliflower florets might run me $1 to $1.50 while a large $3 head will last me a week. I often see many of the discount grocers offering fire-sale prices, too.

And don’t forget to look for produce deals. For example, Farmer’s Market in Belleville offers five free bananas with a $5 purchase.

Today’s trivia

Of all coupons distributed, what percentage are redeemed?

Answer to Saturday’s trivia: Good? No, he was grrrrrreat!! Some may remember Thurl Ravenscroft best for his uncredited role of singing “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” in the 1966 TV holiday classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” (No, it was not Boris Karloff.) But for more than 50 years, generations of TV watchers came to love him as the voice of Tony the Tiger as his unmistakable basso profundo roared out the Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes tagline, “Good? They’re grrrreat!” Golden-oldie lovers also might remember him singing the bass part on the No. 1 gospel smash “This Ole House” with Rosemary Clooney in 1954 as well as “Devil or Angel” with Bobby Vee in 1960. He continued to voice Tony until just months before his death from prostate cancer at age 91 in 2005.

This story was originally published July 9, 2016 at 7:00 AM with the headline "You can still buy a Quonset hut."