January 1938

ACROSS THE Editor's DESK

The Picture on the Cover: This basement recreation room in the home of Mr. and Mrs. David S. Kruidenier, Better Homes & Gardens readers of Des Moines, is the fun spot, as you can see, for all six members of the family. It has warmth in its background thru the use of much color against the pine-paneled walls, and informality thru the personal touch of the hobbies and tastes of every member of the family. The ping-pong table, by the way, serves as a place to work as well as to play.

IT'S News TO ME!

WE BRING popcorn into the living-room, with an electric popper, for inexpensive fun! With popper, and with salad oil and salt for seasoning, a can of unpopped corn-- and several individual wooden service bowls all on the coffee table-- we like to pop corn while chatting with company. If youngsters come visiting, it's a hi ho time! The popcorn aroma is part of the fun.

THE Flaming Drama OF THE SOUTH

THE Grand Canyon in its most prismatic mood, the distant dream palaces and minarets of the Painted Desert at sunset, and the cathedrals of the Sequoias are the only scenes in the United States that have stirred me as deeply as the azalea gardens of the great Southland.

HERE'S A HOBBY You Can't Touch

CACTI are my consuming hobby, and I'm proud of it!

BEAUTY SPOTS THRU KITCHEN WINDOWS

"I SEEM not to get half as tired doing kitchen work when my morning-glories are in bloom out there," said my neighbor when I dashed in on her early one morning last summer to borrow some eggs for breakfast.

I LIKE Wives WHO

THE woman of my dreams never leaves the cap off the toothpaste. She's versed in a Magic whereby she can keep a house speckless, dustless, and in order without ever getting caught in the act.

DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT!

I LIKE Husbands WHO

THE husband of my dreams trails a few clouds of gallantry into the married state-- such as, for instance, those activities with overshoes, a helping hand into the car, a shove of the dining-room chair.

RESTORED TO Antiquity

WHEN my wife gets to Heaven-- long before she's decided upon the most becoming angle for her spring halo-- she will have considered the advisability of changing into a guest room the pantry of her new abode and, perhaps, of adding a wing. Remodeling has always been her besetting virtue.

Built-ins for Growing-ups

The Quints' Future

THE Dionne quintuplets played happily last Halloween, while at Toronto, two hundred miles away, their fate and their future were being discussed in the strangest family council ever held.

THEY BUILT TO A Budget

FOUR thousand dollars is a lot of money piled dollar on dollar, but it's often considered rather little when it comes to building a house --a really interesting house. There are so many new modern conveniences and attractive features available, and we want them all!

THE Question BEFORE THE HOUSE

Asphalt shingles of today are quite satisfactory and economical. When not completely fireproof, they're fire-retarding-- that is, flowing sparks from a neighboring fire or chimney won't ignite them.

3,000 MILES APART

Shelves THOSE SMART SPACE-SAVERS

WHAT this country needs is more places to put things; not more drawers, and cupboards, and tables, but more shelves, more deep window sills, more cased-in radiators-- in short, more usable surfaces that don't have to be cleaned under and don't add extra pieces of furniture to an already well-filled room.

A GENUINE CAPE COD HOUSE

A CAPE COD house, with all its quaint and subtle charm, has developed an identity that can't be mistaken. The shingles, the shutters, the white picket fences, the low eaves with simple doorways and windows snuggled up under them-- all lend to the charm of the infinitely livable houses found on Cape Cod.

THE MEXICANS HAVE A WORD FOR IT-Fiesta!

MARCO POLO reported his wanderings with no more enthusiasm than today's traveler returning from Mexico. Exotic Mexicana, from serapes to baby monkeys brought home by our friends, and pictures and stories of this land of color and native charm are Potent props in our "good neighbor policy."

THE UNFORGETTABLE Hostess

SIX years ago she was giving modest dinner parties in a rented house in an obscure middlewestern town. Today she entertains in the magnificence of her vast estate on Long Island.

Fun With Maple Bowls

IN MOST department stores you find waxed maple bowls of varying sizes. These come from several sources, but they have one thing in common. They're turned on massive lathes, close to the wood's source, and cost, over the counter, usually less than if you were to buy the maple, have it glued up locally, then turned the bowls yourself.

Back Talk!

GOODNESS! How you responded! Letters on the right of us, letters on the left of us-- volleyed and thundered --and pleased us beyond expression. Many thanks.

LABOR'S SEVEN-LEAGUE BOOTS

"I'D like to build a home similar to this," I said, opening an issue of Better Homes & Gardens to a house designed by Architect Silas E. Nelsen. "But I'm afraid I can't afford to. Labor costs seem too high."

SALLY GOES TO THE Hospital

SALLY the Pup was romping into her fourth month-- remembering her scheduled treks into the yard, knowing for certain when it was time to eat-- when suddenly she turned the first bend in the highroad of her life. She was loosing her teeth! We made this discovery when it was apparent that something was bothering her mouth. Looking into the matter, we found one tooth dangling by a thread of gum, several others wobbly-loose.

NEW TEXACO MOTOR OIL

Mantels RICH IN Charm

WHEN YOU Talk Building

Marquetry (marr'-kett-tri)-- A kind of mosaic or inlaid woodwork. Usually applied to flooring.

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

Most of the virile outdoor types who flock to Sun Valley and San Moritz and other winter resorts to ski usually have a swell time-- even if they forget to notice whether there's any snow on the ground or not.

THE Diary OF A PLAIN DIRT GARDENER

In beginning another year of this DOAPDG for you, I've been wondering if in past years-- eight of 'em by now --I've always given a correct picture of myself and of the family and of our activities and interests. Perhaps I've conveyed the impression that gardening and flowers is our sole interest-- well, my sole interest, anyhow.

Let's Face the Stethoscope

RALPH G. waited four long years before an insurance company would accept him as a "standard risk," the medical examiner's term for a person in sound health, One morning he had coughed and up came a few drops of blood. He was examined immediately by the family doctor, a second physician, and a lung specialist.

Good Cooks

JANUARY'S Cooks' Round Table Contest has left our judges in a genial frame of mind, in spite of the fact that they were a bit overworked. Our judges were educated, too, and surprised, to see all the good things that could be done in the name of either cookies or tarts. In fact, it was great fun being around the Tasting-Test Kitchen where the cooky jar was kept overflowing with prizewinners.

ALONG THE Garden Path

THE late Rudyard Kipling-- a gardenminded man, like so many of the English --once made in type the following observation: