November 1938

Tattle Tales

DR. FRANK HOWARD RICHARDSON, left, who inspired the straightforward message about tuberculosis and tuberculin-testing on page 42, has himself given many tests to children, and this includes his own, of which there are five.

ACROSS THE Editor's Desk

The Picture on the Cover: It's the garden side of the home of Mr. and Mrs. David S. Kruidenier, of Des Moines, which was designed by John Normile, architect-editor of Better Homes & Gardens. Recalling the sturdy, unpretentious craftsmanship of rural France and England, the details of its construction have been given thoughtful consideration both as to color and materials; on the dormers, for example, the face is timbered, while the side walls are finished with tiles to blend them more completely into the roof.

Faith...

THE DIARY of a Plain Dirt Gardener

Nov.1 All the gardening I managed to get done this Monday was to read the garden page in the Sunday New York Times. There isn't much more to do this year, except for a little more planting-- as will appear. Some years, tho, I've been quite busy, for it's the right month to get out shrubs, hedges, and small trees.

It's News to Me!

For building a shower stall simply and inexpensively in any unused space, a permanently leakproof, solid-rubber, complete shower floor comes all in one premolded piece. It's 3 feet square and has a 6-inch vertical wall to be overlapped by shower walls of any waterproof material. Floor weighs only 50 pounds, needs no lead underpan. Cross-ribbed surfacing is a safety-tread feature.

Get It Off Your Chest!

MY FRIEND Bill Howe recently explained to me why he and his wife got a divorce.

How to Cure Room-atism

MOST of our homes harbor little weak spots that make them uninteresting or even downright uncomfortable. They're minor faults at first, but they can sprout and grow up like weeds. They can give hostesses permanent apology complexes. They can drive husbands to join clubs. They can evoke cutting remarks from worldly adolescents on the dull hole in which they must entertain friends and live their eminently important young lives.

CONTINUED INDOORS

IT USED to be that you just grew your plants, and if they lived you put them in the window and if they died you didn't. But that's no good any more. Nowadays you turn artist, only you paint your picture with foliage and bloom, not brushes and oil. You add a delicate mistiness here with a Sprengeri Fern, a bold, sweeping stroke there with tuftroot. You choose and arrange your plants to achieve balance, a center of interest, rhythm, and color harmony, just as in making flower arrangements. It's as simple as that...

Better Homes for Less Money

HERE are seven major reasons why building a house now is the best investment you can make! Labor-saving devices on the job have offset what you may imagine to be high labor costs. Improved materials and equipment produce a vastly improved home compared to one built even a decade ago. Intelligent details and planning give you convenience and low maintenance unequaled heretofore.

A Cabin in the Woods

I dunno about the article, but.... Just s'pose you had been disheartened, sick of a lot of things your best efforts can't rectify; tired past expression in body and tormented by discouragement and disillusion; querulous of old friendships, distrustful of old associations; doubting, wondering, fearing; verily, out of sorts, out of step, and out of luck.

WALTZ NOTES

EVEN tho your music is limited to radio or phonograph, you'll find pleasure in this game of musical knowledge. The key to some of the questions will be found in the Staccato notes at the bottom of this page. Just check "True" or "False" after each question. You'll find the answers on page 69. Score 5 points for each correct answer; 100 is perfect. The average layman's score is 55. Can you do better?

Ideas Aplenty!

WHETHER your home is Cape Cod or Georgian, English or Modern, or just plain house, there's a good chance that you've a bay window or double windows to deal with-- windows you can curtain in any number of stunning ways, depending on the architecture of your house and the period of your furnishings.

Tailored for a Garden

WHEN some years ago the phenomenal development of the Southwest began, the historic Spanish architecture of the country started to dominate the building field; homes as well as other types of structures were invariably designed in close adherence to the details of the style that was introduced by the Spanish conquerors of several centuries ago.

FROM WASTE TO USE

IT WAS rather hard on the wasps; in fact, the whole swarm of them was dispossessed of home and fireside and left to shift for itself out on the streets-- but this intelligent bit of remodeling converted a wasted attic into some mighty useful living quarters for the Fred Nuttall family of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Indoor GARDENING GUIDE

THIS is a story of winter bulbs; squat, swelling bulbs, every one of them packing a soft, delicate bloom eager to burst out in your window this winter. This is a story of bulbs that grow in earth, in fiber, or just plain water and a handful of pebbles. A story of bloom for Thanksgiving, for Christmas, for Easter, and for all the days between.

Outdoor Gardening Guide

SPARKLING cool November is the time to do heavy work in the garden. Besides planting trees, shrubs, and evergreens, you can make that stone walk, build that stone wall, put in that pool or fireplace for next season's enjoyment. The wise person does everything he possibly can this month while the weather is good and the ground in excellent condition to work

1938 MODERN

LIKE a fresh, invigorating breeze, Swedish Modern has whipped across our furniture marts, bringing slenderness, lightness, and grace to Modern American furniture, grown too often ponderous and heavy-lined.

Color-Scheme Your Kitchen

WHEN efficiency, some years ago, breezed into the kitchen, loveliness, in too many of our homes, flew shivering out the door. Kitchens became laboratories, so immaculate in their mechanical slickness, so sterile and lonely-looking that there was no room for the softening homespun quality and intimate touches which used to make Grandmother's kitchen so livable.

So good meals

'Twas the Month Before Christmas

WHOA UP, Santa! What's your hurry? Dashing about with threaded needles and snipping scissors weeks before Christmas!

Let There Be Light!

Find the Microbe Trail!

EVERY year in this country nearly 70,000 persons die from tuberculosis. Grim figures, indeed!

The Man Next Door

Well, we've reached that giddy, blissful stage in wrestling with the mortgage on the house where, out of each monthly payment, twice as much goes for principal as for interest.

The QUESTION Before the House

When we build, we want a fireproof, permanent roof. Will these cast-asbestos shingles we've heard so much about endure?

BACK TALK

Dear Mr. Editor: There are too many folks writing who mistake publicity for poetry. They know nothing of the art. They've written four or five verses that have no rhythm, no concrete idea. These folks are only anxious to go to a club and say. "See my poem in Better Homes & Gardens."

We Parents

"There's Something Wrong With Our Radio!"

THAT'S what you say. But it's an even bet that the fog-horn effect, the lack of volume, and the irritating vibrations are the fault not of the radio itself but of its location. Hadn't ever thought of that, had you? After all, a radio is a musical instrument, but for all that, it can also be a graceful addition to your furnishing scheme.

Moderns Prefer Blonds

FINE furniture, like beautiful music, never loses its charm, never goes out of style. So don't relegate those lovely antiques and honest reproductions to the attic just because the Smiths have low-slung, streamlined Moderns. It isn't the graceful lines of the pieces that bother you, it's the old-fashioned dresses they're wearing --the stuffy upholstery and gloomy finish that make them seem out of step with today's simple architecture, restful wall treatments, and subtle rugs and draperies.

Tropical Seas at Home

FOR three days Butch and his missus had taken turns fanning water over their nest until they'd hatched out their youngsters. For three days they'd stood guard to make sure not a single baby wriggled away; they caught any wanderers in their mouths and gently spit them back into the nest, chastised.

Marica--the Mysterious

What Do You Know About Dogs?

Of course, paddling doesn't end the trouble. Not only is your Sally lonely, but with temptation in the form of fascinating objects lying about, how is Sally to know what to play with and what to leave alone? Bric-a-brac must be kept out of reach of a 2-year-old baby, too. How much more so of an irrepressible and lonesome pup?

A-quiver With Goodness Is Our PRIZE DISH of the Month

IF YOU can't paint a picture in oils, do it in gelatine! That's the advice of Mrs. M. M. Farnsworth, of Shorewood, Wisconsin. And Mrs. Farnsworth ought to know, for her Vegetable Salad Loaf-- crisp, fresh things shimmering in clear, lemon-flavored gelatine-- wins first prize of $5 in the Molded Salad and Hash Contest announced last May. Page 35 ushers in the loaf and its recipe-- pretty as a picture, child's play to make, exciting to eat.

Along the Garden Path

THE pungent fragrance of burning leaves, unfortunately, is as characteristic of November as roast turkey on Thanksgiving Day. "Unfortunately," I submit, not merely because of the possible fire hazard involved, but because the practice reflects a lack of thrift sufficient to cause my canny Scotch ancestors to spin in their graves. Fallen leaves constitute a potent source of an invaluable soil constituent-- humus.