January 1930

Spending for Thrift

THE old meaning of thrift implied hoarding. The new meaning has to do with spending.

ALONG the GARDEN PATH

JANUARY was named for the god Janus, who had, so the legend goes, two faces-- one looking behind, the other ahead. So the month leads us to look back at our garden accomplishments and shortcomings. It should cause us to look forward to better planned gardens next spring.

The Roving Gardener

ONE Sunday afternoon last summer, as I drove my half-brother-to-a-flivver into the town of Morton, Illinois, I noticed flowers in every yard-- front yard, back yard, along drives, everywhere. I saw a man standing on the sidewalk, so I stopped and asked him why all the flowers.

A Budget That Makes Saving A Pleasure

CONTROL of expenditures is the chief reason for keeping a family budget. It is by such control that you may save money, and the saving will come so easily that it will seem almost like finding money.

Anyone Can Grow Roses

ROSE culture is quite simple and the road to success an easy routine.

A "Shirtwaist" House Gets a Modern Dress

IF YOU are house hunting, finding the perfect house in an ideal situation is not an easy matter. Everyone has his special likes and preferences. Ours were for privacy, and yet we wished to be near transportation and the busy world of every day. We did not wish to undertake the expense of building, and dreaded to give the time that it takes before a new house is completed.

Fitting the House to the Landscape

AN OLD proverb says that the child is father of the man. It might be said with equal truth that the lot is the architect of the house. It is oftentimes, in any event, that which determines the placing of the rooms, the outbuildings, and, in fact, the plan, almost to its smallest detail. An unusual lot, therefore, is oftentimes the reason for an unusual house, but to be unusual just for the sake of being unusual, is more often than not the reason for an unhappy result.

For Amateurs Only

THIS is going to be a heart to heart talk, very outspoken. If you don't feel in the mood for such a bit of a visit, then let's take this up some other time. I want to talk about the question of better gardens.

Homemaking Ideas From California

MY GOOD friends the Thistles, who live in Indiana, have some queer ideas about California, which they have yet to see.

Are Your Husband's Friends Welcome?

"A HUSBAND'S business," said my daughter Harriet after reading my article on how to adjust the home to the locations necessitated by a husband's business, "affects more than the location. It has turned my home into a restaurant.

Remaking the Old Interior

IN DETERMINING the color or colors to be used in the remodeled room, there are two things chiefly to be considered-- personal preference and the exposure. And the latter, for purely physical reasons which cannot be set aside nor changed at will, must be given the first attention; there will still be plenty of scope for personal preference to play its part.

How to Manage the Lawless Age

AT ABOUT this point in our series on building mental health in children, some parent is going to arise with wrath in his or her eye.

How to Know the Evergreens

TO IDENTIFY an evergreen by oneself is lots of fun, and it is not difficult either. For instance, when your automobile stops, you look for trouble-- first the gas tank, then the spark plugs and electric connections, and so on until the difficulty is located. When trying to find the name of an evergreen, however, you are looking for pleasure, and so we go thru a logical procedure, as in the case of the automobile difficulty.

Winter Wild Life At Our Very Doors

PLOWING your way across a field thru the deep white fluff, you may see a flock of Snow Buntings settle on the ground for a moment, and then, suddenly, with sweet, tinkling notes, go whirling away and vanish in a cloud of windblown flakes.

How the Homemaker May Judge Quality, Which Means Beauty and Economy for the Future Years

TIME was when the household-linen closet was an accepted matter in every household, but the pressure of modern times and its all-too-frequent problem of lack of space has resulted in a somewhat easy-going attitude toward the once proverbial "linen closet" of our grandmothers.

Linens to Match Your Dishes

WE WOMEN have always had an innate sense that told us that tans and browns were friendly kin, that certain reds and pinks were unspeakable relations, and that a flash of black worked miracles with almost any color scheme. That's why the ensemble idea intrigued us so universally; a bag and shoes, coat lining and frock, ensemble jewelry-- we naturally reveled in the happy justice of such groupings.

With the Junior Garden Clubs of America

BEFORE we start on the new gardening adventures planned for you this year, don't you think it would be fun to have an indoor garden party for Junior Gardeners and their friends?

Dinner Appetizers That Are Different

THE preface of a dinner, as of all good books, establishes the atmosphere and whets the appetite for what is to follow. The gleaming crystal and slender, graceful stems of cocktail glasses, the colors of the fruits or piquante sauces, bespeak a dinner that is distinctive and in good taste, while the fresh-fruit acids, the chilled and tart or nippy dressings, stimulate the flow of digestive juices and sharpen the anticipation of the food to come.

Aids to Better Housekeeping

DO YOU have trouble knowing just where to put things-- just how to store them most satisfactorily? If you have built your kitchen round a kitchen cabinet with one additional cupboard for larger utensils, you have probably had your problem, for the most part, solved for you.

Garden How-to-Do

Watering plants in winter is a rather exacting operation. The plants which are growing actively should have the most water, whereas those which are quite dormant can get along with very little. The plants that are most affected by drouth injury are the ones that show it the least.

New Books to Read Aloud

I DON'T know why it is, but whenever I think of books for family reading, for outloud reading, I always find myself considering father first. I suspect (hush! let's whisper it!) that it is because he is harder to satisfy than mother and the girls-- yes, he and the boys, too, are harder to please.

FOR FAMILY READING

Article

Handy Helps Round the House

NOT with furniture alone is the home made habitable, but with the myriad small useful things which we refer to all day long --the whisk-broom, the tack hammer, and the hot- dish holder.

Tips for the Handy Man

MORE people are killed and injured in the home each year than by wartime activities. Many people are injured by heating foods in sealed cans. Never allow members of your family to heat even sealed cans in water. The water soon boils away, and sirup and other liquids explode, throwing the hot liquid in the face and eyes of those near the stove.

The Children's Pleasure Chest

I ADORE vacations in summer, wiener roasts in the fall, also presents at Christmastime-- don't you? But on January evenings, after a day of study and a grand romp in the snow before dark, doesn't a warm supper taste good? And afterwards isn't it fun to stretch out on a rug or a couch, or curl up in an armchair and snuggle your toes by the fire?

Five Pleasure Chestfuls of Birds

BIRDS with houses and birds without; birds in booklets and birds on cards; birds printed and reprinted, mimeographed and hand-drawn, crayoned and water colored-- whole flocks of perfectly excellent birds! And each group of six, with its story of your favorite bird, was the handwork and headwork of one of you-- hundreds of boys and girls all trying hard to be winners in the Children's Bird Contest.

ACROSS The EDITOR'S DESK

CARRYING out the idea of packing a lot of practical information into the magazine, we are presenting this month a modified continuation of the "Garden Diary," in the form of "The Roving Gardener," which is the beginning of a new series. Harry O'Brien is the author, and he emphasizes the "how-to" of his hobby. And then the "Garden Clinic" has been changed into the "Garden How-to-Do," with a similar purpose in view, but in different vein.