December 1932

More Beautiful America Contest

NEWS!

CHRISTMAS EVE. I am waiting for the street car. A little figure whips round the corner, away from the cold sting of wind. Five, he is, not more. Under his arm, newspapers.

ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK

"SWEET are the uses of adversity," said Shakespeare, who showed that sometimes precious blessings may come out of what at first seems to be hardship. This furnishes a timely title for the article on page 9, which tells how one family rediscovered itself.

"Sweet Are the Uses"

IT WAS the day before Christmas, and all thru the house a fragrant odor was spreading, as of awfully good things to eat. It drew Jerry Allen up from the basement, where he had been pursuing certain mysterious activities, and led him straight to the kitchen.

Gifts for Us Gardeners

HERE comes Christmas! It's going to be a Christmas to remember. It can't help but be different. This year-- it's smart to be practical. And generous! If you still wince at the thought of giving useful presents, well, you're out-moded, that's all.

What a Florist Told Me About My House Plants

I LOOK forward to the inside garden with the same keen joy I feel just before the awakening of my outside flower-gardening in spring. Perhaps it is because of the friendly newcomers which grow on my window sills beside the older friends, or it may be that I understand house plants better now.

It Cost Us $35

FOR several years it had been our plan to add a sunroom to our house. We talked and figured the cost from year to year, till finally we got impatient and decided not to wait but to rearrange the rooms we already had.

The Juniors Prepare for Christmas

WHAT can our Junior Garden Club do for Christmas, Miss Blaine?" asked Jack, president of the Rockleigh School Junior Garden Club.

The True Story of Silent Night

THIS is the question which, with its answer in the form of a motto, is set high over the door of the simple old schoolhouse-residence in the tiny Austrian village of Arnsdorf, where this best loved of all Christmas songs had its birth.

A "Little Theater" at Home

FAMILIES whose members enjoy doing things together at home are always on the alert for new and lively entertainment, and, especially at the Christmas season, puppet, or marionette, shows are great fun. A full quota of house guests only adds to the entertainment.

We Plan an Open-House Christmas

THERE'S nothing which adds such joyous security to hanging out the holiday latchstring as a group of simple menus for a variety of occasions made out well in advance of the season and definitely planned ahead for.

The Question Before the House

In almost every case, if the house be small, blinds add an intimacy and a charm which few other outwardly applied things can do. We would suggest having them, provided the type of house does not clash with blinds.

The Diary of a Plain Dirt Gardener

DECEMBER 3. I'm traveling in Indiana now, on the home stretch of a business trip that has taken me away from home for two weeks. Today I stopped at the Linden State Bank, south of Lafayette, and found that the bank lobby and front window were filled with flowers. There was a window box, geraniums, begonias, asparagus, potted snapdragons, and other things. Why don't other banks do likewise?

Gifts for All for $1 or Less

Christmas-Gift Books for Your Nearest and Dearest

HERE'S, the Christmas book list I've made out for each of my nearest and dearest, from Aunt Libby to the Terrible Twins. (Most of the books are 1932 publications, and I consider them the cream of the year's crop.)

AMONG OURSELVES

DON'T you, every year, resolve to make this Christmas more memorable than the last-- greener wreaths, a more shining tree, and just the right gifts for your dearest friends?

Cookies to Admire and to Eat

MAKING and decorating Christmas cookies is as much a part of Christmas in my household as excitement, Santa Claus, and the fir tree! I admit we're rather foolish about Christmas!

ALONG THE GARDEN PATH

As soon as I thought of Christmas I said to myself, "I wish I were Santa Claus; then I would know the real joy of giving." Thru all the years old Santa Claus has been giving, but he has never boasted of his pleasures. I think he realizes that it is not the cost of the gift but the thought which inspired it that makes it most valuable. To some the gift of food might be most welcome; to others just a Christmas letter mailed with a 3-cent stamp; to others, a word of forgiveness.