October 1935

Across the Editor's Desk

WANTED-- a handy man. Specimen of a practically extinct species, once found in great abundance, especially in the New England states and the Middlewest. This is the substance of a lament recently made by a devoted Better Homes & Gardens reader, who said he had tried nearly a week to get some one to put up a dog-trolley, a sand-box, and a back-yard trapeze.

We Gather Around the Fireplace

THE Diary OF A PLAIN DIRT GARDENER

Oct. I Up this chilly morn and in to town to get the mail early, where I found a box with the new iris I had ordered the other day-- and that should have been bought in June or July, when I planted that other new one, except I didn't have the money at the right time. It isn't too late yet, if I give it a little covering this winter.

IT'S news TO ME!

1 Does your iron slither along swiftly, no entanglements? The cord (Sketch 1), elastic waved, avoids tangles and saves time!

Over Our Home-Furnishings Director's Shoulder

John is off to college, Carmel and Patricia are again in school all day, and my household is once more running on schedule after a disorganized summer of goings and comings. So at last I have a moment to sit down and answer your letter asking advice about your home's furnishings.

An Old Friend Surprises Us

TO MEET linoleum running up the wall instead of staying prosaically on the floor where we're used to meeting it is quite a surprise but one that's turning up more and more often these days. For appealing examples just study the charming Early American room on the opposite page-- walls as well as floor of linoleum.

BEAUTIFUL

IN FASHION

"I'D LIKE a silver-gray cloth and napkins to match," said the lady to the salesman. "But, madam, we have no gray cloth," was the surprised reply, "it's a most unusual--"

COLOR PLANS FOR YOUR ROOMS ... For You By Christine Holbrook, Home Furnishing Director

Three Centers Have Our Kitchens

SURELY the noses of bathrooms must be out of joint. A few brief years ago architects, manufacturers, and home-minded folks were lavishing endless pains on lavender bathtubs, glassed-in showers, disappearing toilets, and a world of glamorous new gadgets to make us whistle at our ablutions.

THE Tulips are Coming!

THERE'S no time quite like Tuliptime. Indeed, the best recipe I know for making next spring's garden a dazzling success is tulips-- lots of tulips. It never fails. And, really, it's hard to believe there can be so many kinds of gaiety in one plant family.

Let's Look at Your Heating System

WITH Old Man Winter just around the corner waiting to swoop down upon the land with his frosty fingers and icy breath, few things about the home loom so large in importance as that essential accessory to winter comfort-- the heating plant.

So You're Going to Build a New Home!

EVER since the first caveman proposed to his mate with a stone or club, people have considered masonry the most impressive of building materials --and with good reasons, for there's a certain solid, stable, enduring air about a masonry building, whether it be a cozy little home or a great public edifice, that gratifies some instinctive human need.

BULBS

Do you know your onions? You've noticed that your bulbs aren't all alike. Bulbs such as onions, hyacinths, tulips, lilies, Scillas, and narcissus are thickened bases of last year's leaves. They store the food to produce the bloom for next spring.

WHAT You Buy WHEN You Buy

GORGEOUS, enchanting new materials by the carload; every day they're piling up. Everything is pretty; nothing looks the same. Shades and colors from the spectra of a dozen lights. New things from old things with lifted faces; new things from unheard of combinations.

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

After an attack of sudden prosperity, a neighbor at last installed gas heating. Since she seldom shoveled coal, his wife thought this a sinful extravagance. She salves her conscience by doing some of her baking and roasting in the furnace.

Shall We Abolish Fathers?

WHO doesn't eat his spinach? Father! Who gives the children cookies just before supper?

Hearty Plants ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE Hardy Plants

THE question asked many times each spring is, "My delphiniums and roses are dead, tho they were perfectly healthy last fall. Is there any way I could have prevented this loss?" Yes, much of this loss could have been prevented if proper preparations had been made and precautions taken.

SNAP A Prize

"Eyes Floorward"

MAKE Friends WITH YOUR OVEN

MOST homemakers aren't very well acquainted with their ovens. In fact, most ovens get rather lonely. They're used for Saturday baking and perchance for a midweek pie, cake, or dessert, but even then they're seldom given a chance to "strut their stuff"-- seldom used to capacity.

Hardy Amaryllis

"Sturdiness in Stone"

Hearty Plants Are More Likely to Be Hardy

After all, our plants are not so different from ourselves-- they can stand the cold weather if they are properly dressed.

Mushrooms!

YOU'RE a remarkable home manager it you haven't at one time or another thrown away a cupful or two of mushrooms because they turned dark before you had a chance to use them. But don't do it again, for mushrooms need never spoil. The dark color they assume is due to the action of oxygen in the air.

Nursery Rhyme Quilts

''Give Me Hog Jowl,"

Ask--and You'll Save Dollars

DON'T be backward about asking the butcher, the baker, and the candlestickBaker for their ideas on ways to save money.

Extra Height

A Home to Grow With

MANY today are inspired with the building urge, but feel that their aspirations are not in accord with the limitations of their means, even tho their aspirations are not for air castles. They do, however, feel, quite properly, that in planning a home they should plan for the future rather than merely meet present requirements.

BILDCOST

Favorite Books

Corners COME TO LIFE

THERE are such clever ways to decorate spare corners and to make them come to life and be useful portions of the home!

It Makes the Silkworm Sulk

THERE are tour ways to make rayon. The original way was the "nitro-cellulose" process, which produces "nitro-silk." If you want to make some, and don't mind getting blown up, here's how:

The Best of the Chrysanthemums

EVEN yet, to many people, chrysanthemums mean the handsome flowers on the likewise handsome lassies at football games. Yet how far have the hybridizers gone in just a few years to give us a variety of types and colors!

Let "Dummy" Serve the Tea

Cutting It to Fit

FRANK M. is one of those conscientious salt-of-the-earth fellows. His earnings are good and he helps his mother and a young sister generously. Mary, his wife, is glad he does.

NEAT Clothes Closets

MOST homes need clothes closets made lighter and more cheerful, a joy to use. In reclaiming a closet, first, clear it completely. If walls are smooth plaster or plasterboard, paint makes a satisfactory coating.

University of Missouri Professor Speaks of Advertising

YOU undoubtedly know of the high standing of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, the first journalism school in the world. The first dean of the school was Walter Williams, who directed its activities until he was made president of the university a few years ago. Doctor Williams recently retired from active educational work, and he passed away in July of this year.

Sow Lily Seeds This Fall

SHADED beds or frames are suitable for lily seeds. The Regal, Philippine, and Coral Lilies grow quickly from seed planted almost anytime. The Easter Lily rewards you with flowers in a year. Lilium henry is another that will grow quickly

Confessions of a Good Cook

Whenever I didn't have anything else to do I used to spend time wondering how Mrs. Jones managed that grand soft crust of her quick breads and yeast-raised loaves. One day she confessed. She had simply been brushing the crusts, still piping hot, with melted shortening. It works!

Along the Garden Path

MIGHTY leaf! The largest manufacturing plant in the world today, producing tons of starch, sugar, tea, hay, fiber, drugs, tobacco, clothing, roofs, and fans!