October 1944

Are Children Necessary?

THE young fellow who lives in the little house with the vines on the porch used to be quite a "stepper." He didn't change his ways much when he married his little redhead. Nor, for that matter, did she. Her bright mop of hair was a danger signal, all right.

Tomatoes for Thanksgiving

YOU don't have to have a greenhouse in order to enjoy nutritious red tomatoes after frost has killed the vines. Properly handled, tomatoes from your own garden can be stored successfully over a period of several weeks.

Wartime living

The fall poultry picture is satisfying. Armed forces and civilians should have ample turkey for Thanksgiving dinners.

What Does He Want of You?

THEY'LL be coming back soon. They'll be returning from all the battlefields, stations, and camps of a global war, to the quiet of Main Street and Chestnut Road, to pick up life where they left it.

Family Hobby Rooms

THAT the rooms shown on these pages and the four pages following don't even vaguely resemble yesterday's "amusement rooms" is the result, not of fabulous materials or fantastic structure, but of studied planning.

Live Later in Your Garden

NOT many of us can go gypsying away to the South when the blue haze comes, the leaves turn gaudy, and topcoats come out of storage.

Plant Your Roses in the Fall

THE best way to insure success with roses is to plant them in the fall. The practice has been advocated for years by commercial growers and skillful amateurs alike.

You Need a Coldframe

A COLDFRAME is just what its name implies, and no home gardener can claim to be efficiently equipped unless he has one. It can be the most fun you have in gardening and it will pay for itself in just a short time, if you remember the cost each spring of potted plants to start out with. It will give you a blooming start at least a month ahead of season.

Make These Gifts

THESE engaging needlework gifts in Groups I and II are ready for your order, many partly made for you to finish.

Good Taste in a Traditional Home

GOOD TASTE in home decoration is something we often talk about-- but usually manage to evade defining. That's because it's hard to explain and artlessly intangible unless you can offer an example as a proxy for a definition and say, "See, this is exactly what I mean."

Delinquents--OR JUST KIDS IN TROUBLE?

HERE at the bar of justice stand your city's leading outlaws. For weeks they've cut a swath of crime thru your war-busy community.

Big Living for a Small Family

"FIRST, we wanted a comfortable house, one that would look inviting to our friends. We wanted it placed so the front of the house would face the west and give each bedroom a southern exposure. There would be an attached garage on the north. We wanted a living-room big enough to accommodate our many friends, yet informal and cozy enough for only two.

LUX

Meat for Future Meals

Have a Cookout for the Crowd

THERE'S wood-smoke magic in autumn picnics-- in soft air and brindled leaves, in haze-hung skies and the sweet crisp promise of frost. And what that magic can do to family appetites and the goodness of just plain food!

How to Take Out Spots

READING time's about two minutes, but spotting time can be less if you'll follow these simple directions for helping to keep the family's wardrobe well groomed. Your best woolens and rayons you'll not tackle, maybe; they'll be safer in the hands of a reputable cleaner, but you can do these simple spot-jobs yourself.

The Man Next Door

There'll never be an easier autumn for teachers to stuff a little geography into their pupils' busy little brains. It's easier to remember an island that's bombed than an island that produces copra and sisal.

THE DIARY

Oct. 1 It dawns on me that at the end of last month's installment of these uneventful and expurgated memoirs of the lives of a poor but worthy PDG and family, I neglected to set down a vital job I'd been at. I've lately been hoeing over my fall crop of spinach, carrots, beets, chard, Chinese cabbage, last planting of common cabbage, leaf lettuce, winter radishes, gamble-with-frost row of snap beans, and turnips.

Peonies

ONE of the best investments a home gardener who loves color can make is in peonies. And if you don't insist upon the still-scarce newer varieties, fine peonies are certainly not expensive.

Room for a Railroad

WE USED to set up son Richard's model railroad' every Christmas-- right in the living-room-- and then stumble over it for days after the holiday season was past, just because we hated to put all that fun away. If ever we bought a home, we promised ourselves, we'd fix a permanent place for the train.

Paper for Jeeps

Young Mothers' Exchange

NO NEED for Nudism! Tho of all the shortages induced by the war, that of children's clothing seems to be the worst. Many of you, I know, return from shopping expeditions weary and empty-handed.

Plant Spring Flower Dreams Now

TRUE, spring-flowering bulbs aren't as plentiful as in the good prewar days. But our nurserymen have made brave efforts to supply us with American-grown bulbs despite the trying labor shortage and increased growing expense. They know that somehow it doesn't seem like spring if there aren't a few colorful tulips and daffodils and flowering shrubs to be anticipated.

Before You Call Baby's Doctor

"Sorry"--40,000 Times!

Come-Sit- by-the-Fire Welcome

IT'S the friendliest, merriest spot I know-- this little bungalow of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Flarsheim in Kansas City, Missouri. Yet once it was just plain awful!

"Cracker Box" Remodeled

ANN M. BIEHLER, who lives with her sister, Mayme, in this Ionia, Michigan, home, says that it used to look like an overgrown cracker box on a pedestal. Its high perch on a terraced lot, its unplanted foundation, blank windows, and symmetrical porch didn't help improve its looks, either.

Your Old Lamp Shades--Nicer Than New

IF YOUR old lamp shades are tattered and torn, soiled and worn, you've got lots of company these days! And likely, like the rest of us, you've already discovered that shades are one shortage you'll have to fill yourself. But here's the bright side. You really can make as pretty or prettier lamp shades than any you have ever bought!

October Outdoor Gardening Guide

PROPER harvesting and storing of vegetables is of prime importance this fall. Let the squash and pumpkins ripen as much as possible before storage in a warm dry place. Onions should be completely formed, ripened, and thoroly dried. After digging spread them out in a dry shady place; when ready store them in a dry place but one not so warm as that needed for the squash.

People smile broadly when they say "It's an apple year."