Boosted by savings, maturing bonds, and low-interest loans from post-New Deal agencies, thousands of white middle-class families bought new homes in new suburban tracts after the war. Major companies like General Motors helped furnish, while advertisers portrayed this post-war age of mass consumerism. Suburban women received special recognition from the ad men who continually urged them to upgrade their kitchen appliances. With war-tested equipment, any suburban ranch-style house had the technological potential to feed a small army — of children, as it turned out for many.