November 1934

Across the Editor's Desk

THE Rev. Irwin St. John Tucker, pastor of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Chicago, has undertaken a project unique in religious fields.

If You Want to Build or Buy A New Home--

AS THIS issue of Better Homes & Gardens goes to press, the mortgageloan phase of the National Housing Act is still in the formative stage. But this much is certain-- within the next month or six weeks some radical changes will have been initiated in what are now the common methods of making first-mortgage loans for building new homes or financing purchase of existing homes.

The Diary of a Plain Dirt Gardener

Nov. 1 Each morning the thermometer stands a little bit higher. Each midday sees it more like summer. Each evening the paper keeps saying rain and colder-- and always misses. This was maybe the warmest first day of November in recorded weather history hereabouts. That's why I couldn't keep in.

IT'S News TO ME!

Ah, this jolly green tub (sketched), 14 inches wide, is for your Christmas tree! The cross-piece clamps onto its trunk, takes any size up to a tree 12 feet high. To keep the tree fresh and prevent needles' falling, the tub holds 14 quarts of water. Or, Alfred Hottes suggests, fill it with wet sand.

All With My Own Two Hands

WHO knows the thrill of building his own home? Who has experienced the complete satisfaction of wandering around his home in the gloaming, surveying its sturdy walls and sloping roofs, contemplating its collapsing eaves, and realizing that every nail in that home was driven with his own two hands and probably one thumb?

My Garden Came Indoors

THE first year I had a garden those months between October chrysanthemums and April crocus were the longest I had experienced in my whole life. Something must be done, I said, and along towards fall of the second summer I kept trying to think of some way to take my garden indoors. I couldn't bear to think of going thru another winter without flowers.

For His Little Sons

KURT AND LEE, 3 and 5 years old respectively, are the young sons of Gilbert Rohde, industrial designer, especially interested in furniture. Mr. Rohde studied the needs of his normal, healthy growing youngsters, and this furniture he designed for them has proved so successful that it is now available, at the stores in most large cities, for all young girls and boys.

SHUTTERS TO THE RESCUE!

PERHAPS you'd weep, too, if you were a drab home without shutters and knew that with them you could be as attractive as your neighbors.

Rhododendrons Their Kith and Kin in Limestone Regions

MIDDLE WESTERNERS, after seeing the beauty of the mountainlaurel, rhododendron, and holly in the eastern mountains, have brought these gems of the plant world to their own dooryards, only to find that they soon wither and die in spite of painstaking attention.

Full of Old-Fashioned Charm...

NATURE has fortunately provided just the right setting for this moderate-size home, for while it is built on a comparatively small lot (60 feet wide by 100 deep), the property faces south, there are several fine old trees to shade it graciously, and there is a charming vista of Long Island Sound from the porch in the rear.

The Home Was Substantial But Its Design Was Mediocre

AMONG the prizewinners in the larger houses the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harry G. Kable, of Mount Morris, Illinois, is one of the most interesting. The home itself was substantial, but its design was mediocre. The great overspreading roof and the emphasis on horizontal bands follow a style which was briefly popular some years ago. Its innovators called it "prairie architecture." The alterations were rather extensive, but the results certainly justify the expense. The center part of the main roof was raised, as you can see, to help the exterior proportions and to provide additional room in the second story.

It Looked Like an Old-fashioned Country Schoolhouse

THIS small house, the home of Mrs. Geraldine A. Thayer, Park Ridge, Illinois, looked, to begin with, like an old-fashioned country schoolhouse. Mrs. Thayer did, as you can see, an exceptionally clever remodeling job. She dropped the house about two feet, bringing it closer to the ground, thereby greatly improving its proportions. She then added a wing, the roof of which has been well tied in with the main house, and the porch roof curved gracefully so that the addition adds considerably to the whole scheme. The spacing of the windows and doors she completely revised, and the dormers cut into the second story add both beauty and comfort to the now beautiful and more comfortable Thayer home. As you see, a two-car garage has been neatly included in the arrangement.

Susan Gets The Stage

SCENE: The front yard of almost any home. Time: Almost any Sunday afternoon.

Alice IN WONDERLAND Toys

HERE'S dear inquisitive Alice herself, a bit larger and smaller than she really was betimes, but 16 inches tall is lovable height for a dolly. She comes stamped on firm flesh-color material with felt for her shoes, yarn for her hair, embroidery floss, and the organdie all cut for her puff sleeves, pinafore, and collar.

Community-minded?

WHEN twenty women in a small town in the South discovered their pocketbooks did not contain as many dollars for recreation as in other years, they determined to provide fun for their families anyway. They started with a series of monthly parties financed by very small assessments, devised ingenious games, gave small mirth-provoking prizes, served simple refreshments.

Exit Kitchen Toil

SINCE the day when kitchen-bound Pilgrim dames freighted their rugged pine tables with the first harvest-feast, many things have come to pass-- steps of kitchen progress which, for the modern foodster make the holiday one of genuine thanksgiving.

Rainbows IN DISHWATER

THE inevitable end of every meal is dishwashing and the path of happiness in eating leads but to the dishpan and the sink.

Rainbows in Dishwater

Confessions of a Good Cook

Can you make good gravy? To about 5 tablespoonfuls of fat and fryings left in a skillet, add 4 tablespoonfuls of flour and stir to a smooth paste, allowing it to brown lightly if you want a brown gravy. Then to insure gravy smoothness, add one-half of the liquid and stir to a smooth thick sauce.

The Secret of Silver Polishes

YOUR silverware! When you polish it until it glistens, do you ever wonder what it really is that works such a miracle on it?

Now for a Bird Day

WHAT kind of a world would it be without birds! "A barren battleground of the bug boys!" Pan warns us. "You can't have plants without birds any more than you can have man without plants. So it's up to the Aces of the Green Triangle to educate their communities to appreciate and conserve the bird life as well as plant life."

HOME

Now for a Bird Day

of bird tails. A bird's wings are called his oars and his tail the rudder. The bird bends its tail right or left as it turns in flight, or spreads and drops it to check its speed when alighting or making a quick turn. It is said that most strong fliers have rather Iong tails, such as the scissor-tailed flycatcher and the pin-tailed duck.

COMING in the December

Gifts for 8 to 18, by Beulah France. What do girls like? What do boys like? What are suitable gifts for both? Mrs. France knows. She has scoured the markets for us to find these interesting gifts. Illustrated will be gifts: for girls 8 to 12; for boys 8 to 12; for girls 12 to 18; and for boys 12 to 18.

Modernize Your Living-Room

THE other day I sat in my living-room and regarded it carefully. I just asked myself "Now what shall I do to make this room smart and interesting yet comfortable for a family gathering-place thru the winter?"

"Life More Abundant"

CONTINUING, Mr. Sheehan says most eloquently: "Most of us tend to get into ruts in our household lives, and we need the allure of modern, attractive advertising to instill into our sluggish imaginations new ways of thinking about home life. Just this inspiriting flow of new ideas has come to me from your advertising pages.

Notice to 1934 Contest Entrants

Garden Tips

Along the Garden Path

FOR several months now we have been discussing definite subjects and I haven't had a chance to have a chat with you about things in general.