June 1944

Can Yon Command Your Ship?

A LANDLUBBER passenger, sure that all was lost when his ship's rudder broke adrift in a storm, was surprised to discover that his captain was more stimulated than frightened by the accident. Brisk work with a jury rig of spars and tackles brought the ship under control, and guided it safely to port. The captain's seamanship could not control the storm, but it could fight and conquer the destructive effects.

Beware . . . . Poison Ivy!

Dr. FRANZ PFAFF, of Harvard Medical School, once put some oil from poison ivy in a jar. Thirteen months later he found it was still virulent.

LATE TIPS ON Wartime Living

Some 68,000 new ranges will be divided between civilians and Federal housing tenants this fall. If your need is desperate, see your rationing board soon. To avoid rust inside your range oven, leave the door ajar after baking, and open a few minutes when lighting up, so that the moisture that forms won't condense.

Life Without Father

THE orders had come thru for John Smith. Not much time was given for closing up a business and going away for an indefinite stay. John and Susan, his wife, were so busy they scarcely thought of 4-year-old Joan. So far as they knew, nothing had been said to her.

This Is What I Mean . . .

Summer Offensive

THERE'S nothing to do but fight back with poisonous sprays and dusts when beetles and worms contest our rights to the crops we've planted.

A "Salt-Box" House for Modern Tastes

THO only a youngster, the "Salt-Box," home of the Edward F. Wheelers in Fairfield, Connecticut, has its ancestral roots deep in the soil of New England. For 300 years ago, on the same lot, stood the New England house of Roger Ludlow, first governor of Connecticut and a direct ancestor of Mrs. Wheeler.

Flower Fixin's Fun!

BANISH those bogeys of not knowing how to fix flowers. If you can place furniture so it's orderly and pleasing in your home, you can arrange flowers effectively in a bowl. And please don't shy from that word 'arrange.' It merely means order, the opposite of one of those hodge-podge, drop-in-a-vase bunches-of-flowers.

Bluff-Top Simplicity

Know when

Snap Beans. Pick before the beans show thru as knobby lumps. If the beans are allowed to ripen, the plants stop producing. Don't pick while the leaves are wet; this aids spread of rust. Can, salt, freeze, or dehydrate any you can't eat right away.

Your Garden Isn't Finished if You're Not

Another Way to Conquer Corn-Ear Worm

Happy Vacationing [ON YOUR PORCH]

Ps-s-s-st Your Calories Are Showing

SURE, you resent those extra pounds that have been sneaking up on your midriff. It's a kick to your pride every time you let out a belt hole or settle down another jog on the bathroom scales. What's more, a lot of that old up-and-at-'em you may have been missing is busy transporting your avoirdupois. It's easy to put up a front, but real work to push one around.

Let Your Refrigerator Save Food

Unwrap meat and hustle it into the coldest spot. This means right under the freezing unit. Either put it on the rack in your meat container, or lay it on a plate or pan, lightly topping it with waxed paper. Don't wash meat-- just wipe it at cooking time. Freeze ground beef, stewing chunks, or other small pieces if you're storing them longer than a day. Cover cooked meat snugly.

Quick-Freeze Your Garden

Hot Weather Ahead!

THANKS for the enthusiastic letters that are coming in about the Young Mothers' Exchange. Since you like it so well, we're going to turn over the entire Baby Department space for this month to your ideas.

Perfect Blueberry Muffins!

"BREAKFAST-- and it's fresh blueberry muffins!" Gold-brown, feathery, studded with juicy berries-- there's nothing better-- morning, noon, tea time, or night.

10 Minutes From January to June

A QUICK-CHANGE artist is this engaging living-room at the J. R. Baileys' in Kansas City! When snow's piled high outside the windows it's gloriously warm inside, with flowered chintz, yellow damask pillows, turquoise satin chairs, and logs crackling behind bright brass.

Creamless "Ice Cream" Wins $10

THE perfect dish for that first rosy-red, spring rhubarb-- it's a smoothie ice cream full of rich flavor yet takes only top milk-- the trick's in the mix-up. It's THE winner hands down and the cook's name is Samela K Parkhurst of Seattle, Washington. For her easy, grand-to-eat, dish-up she wins ten prize dollars in our Cooks' Contest Club, last November session, when Sandwich Stunts and Fresh Fruit Desserts were the come-on. Meet her masterpiece, Spring Creme Freeze, on page 45, photo, how-to-do, and all.

THE DIARY of a Plain Dirt Gardener

June 1 Brother, the weeds were growing amazingly well amid my early vegetable bed. There was just one thing to do.

Want to Do More and Feel Better?

TODAY, with the wear and tear so great on body, mind, and spirit, it's high time to examine anew a simple little way to do more and feel better-- that wise old custom of taking a nap every day.

THINGS TO DO WITH Houseplants in Summer

Insure Your Next Year's Tulips Now

PRICES have skyrocketed to a point where spring-flowering bulbs must be considered as an investment. Instead of discarding them after a year's bloom, we must do everything we can to keep them flowering year after year.

Garage Gives Seclusion

SOME folks are insistent about their privacy at home-- they buy several acres, build a high wall, and install a burglar alarm. But to people like you and me and the George Hemlers, of San Leandro, California, the problem may be quite different-- we may want our isolation in a small house on a 50-foot lot!

Remodeling Around a Chimney

TWO bedrooms were enough for our family until our daughter, Florence, reached 16-- the age where party souvenirs and overnight girl guests can crowd an ordinary bedroom past the comfortable stage.

The Man Next Door

In the midnight hush of the white, glistening kitchen, with the last leftover almost forgotten as the head of the family crouches over page 254 of a murder mystery, he's inclined to leap clear out of his slippers when the 14-year-old refrigerator goes on with a clatter.

Watch This Date!

We Had Fun Making It

Get Acquainted With Your Fuse Box

FEW of us know our home-wiring circuits well enough. If a fuse should blow or a circuit breaker pop out, tho we may know better than to risk electrocution or a serious fire by screwing a penny behind the blown fuse, still eight out of ten of us don't know which fuse or circuit breaker protects which outlets and fixtures.

June Outdoor Gardening Guide

IN JUNE every ardent gardener wishes he could prolong the color effect as long as possible. There are many things that help keep up full bloom. Cut flower heads the moment they've passed their prime. Let no plant go to seed except for making seeds you can't get otherwise. Keep plants well staked so that a sudden windstorm or downpour of rain will not flatten them.

'Summer-Condition" Your Furnace Now

THE last day you have a fire in your boiler or furnace this spring is the day to get it ready for next winter. The job should not be put off, as the harm which ashes, dirt, and scale do to the heating system will impair its efficiency in the fall.

Save Your Stolen Fruit

LITTLE BOYS are pretty hard on fruit trees. Most of us don't begrudge them the fruit. But the boys in their climbing often break branches and sometimes kill a tree by "ringing" the trunk with their shoes.

It's NEWS to Me!

Plastic shower fixture. Neat and available without restrictions, it adjusts for direction and intensity of spray. Plastic-covered arm is standard ½" iron pipe. Fixture comes in black or ivory. Hermes, about $2 thru plumbing-supply dealers. The A. G. Tompkins Co., 90 West St., New York 6.