February 1945

Getting More Fun Out of Life

THE old man could play any musical instrument, after a fashion. He was also an amateur photographer, a painter in oils and water colors, a cabinetmaker, a sheet-metal worker, a telescope maker, an actor, and a banker. He made his living as a banker, and in that field only was he really proficient.

How to Pet Your Car . . . It Pays

SOME drivers open the throttle wide when starting their cars. This is not a way to pet it. Opening the throttle increases the amount of air entering the carburetor and leans the mixture down. The only time to open the throttle wide when starting is when the carburetor is flooding and the cylinders are full of raw gas.

Double-Duty Dining Room

"ABOLISH your dining room... tuck it into one end of the living room ... set up a cozy spot for eating in the kitchen."

While His Address Is A. P. O.

WHEN you go back home to Mother these days, it doesn't mean you've had a tiff with your husband. It just means that Johnny's gone overseas. You've closed up the honeymoon cottage, or surrendered the key of the furnished apartment. Baby under your arm and lip held so stiff it hurts, you're home with Mother and Dad for the duration only.

New TCP Kills Toughest Weeds

HERE is the story of a new horticultural chemical that forces the toughest weeds to absorb it and commit suicide. Its discovery promises that now man can dominate some of nature's worst pests instead of compromise with them.

Bedrooms for Grownups

Article

WE NEVER were convinced that a bedroom should be-- or even look like--- just a bedroom. To limit its use to sleeping and then let it stand loafing for 16 hours every day is wanton waste. "Make it an apartment," we asked our designers, "where a couple can relax while the kids and their gang whoop it up in the living room. Make it, in fact, a second complete living room for grownups."

For an Early Start

G. I.'s Garden Around the World

IT WAS not much of a scarecrow, as scarecrows go in Kansas, but it was pretty good for Assam. The little sergeant gunner had made it himself, he said, out of two pieces of bamboo lashed together, and on the crossbar he had hung the remnants of a Jap uniform. He had gotten the uniform at Myitkyina; he didn't say how he got it, but there was a bullet hole thru the left pocket of the Jap's blouse.

A Dozen Dahlias for Beginners

"DAHLIAS? Did you say dahlias?" If the answer is "yes," tho we're total strangers we'll stop. We'll plunge into conversation wholly oblivious to all that's going on around us. Soon we'll be speaking intimately of Jane Cowl, Ginger Rogers, Shirley Temple, Lynn Fontanne, Bette Davis, and Kay Francis.

Old Glass Loves a Sunlit Window

ln That Building Budget Plan for Your Furnishings

TODAY, there's a building boom in full swing that has Uncle Sam's hearty approval. We're breaking no priority rulings, for it's dream homes we're building, with blueprints, budgets, and magazine clippings, backed up by the War Bonds we're tucking away to speed up V-Day and insure our own bright plans for the future.

Sleeping Beauties

MODERN OR TRADITIONAL?

Houses are tools to add to the joy of living. There is more to be enjoyed in the world today than there was in the days of our ancestors-- more, even, than bathrooms. That is why the pattern of our ancestors' houses is inadequate for us today.

How to "Tool Up" Your Home

THERE'S a shattering racket down in the basement. Dogfight? Nope, it's only Dad, searching for that pair of pliers he laid away last June. Something needs fixing, and just a twist with the pliers will do the job. He remembers that he put them away with the bent screwdriver, but where in the shades of Hades is the screwdriver?

We Teach Our Children to Pray

A SMALL phonograph and a Bible rest on the buffet of our dining room. They are our "props" for family prayers. They help make possible what the children call "God's minutes."

Are Schedules Necessary?

WHAT are the actual facts about schedules? We thought we really had something when schedules became popular 20 years or so ago. But now they're under attack in some quarters. A book I read recently says they cause neuroses. Some doctors are telling mothers to feed the baby whenever it's hungry, to pick it up whenever it cries.

Young Mothers' Exchange

SHIRLEY HOLMES, 25 Dayton Avenue, Dayton, Ohio, would like to get letters from other mothers, and Mrs. E. G. Young, Jr., Box 174, Oakland, Oregon, would like to hear from other service wives. She has a little girl 3, and a little boy 1.

SPEED UP! With Places to Put Things

For a high auxiliary closet shelf, zigzag rows of strong cord or wire thru screw eyes about 3 inches apart. Pull taut, clothesline fashion. Makes storage space for light articles such as hats, gloves, and scarfs; easily seen from below.-- Mrs. M. M. Steigerwald, Brookline, Pittsburgh, Pa.

The Case of the Unwrinkled Traveler

IF you have to go a-tripping-- to meet Private G. I. Jones or to settle Aunt Susie's estate-- take a little extra care in packing, and your wardrobe will arrive unmussed by travel. Your luggage will last longer and your disposition stay sweeter if you observe some rules about suitcase care and railway baggage shipment.

Fresh Ideas for Back-Door Gardens

ABOVE, LEFT. Enormously useful is this gay spot beside the door at the home of Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Present in Santa Barbara, California. Flowers and fruit centerpieces are arranged here. Plants are repotted, and ivies sprayed. In the twin three- cornered cupboards there's plenty of space for flower holders, clippers, modeling clay, and other tools needed by the ardent flower arranger.

$10 Gingersnaps!

SHE dropped a cooky and won a prize-- did Mrs. Perry Brouard of Minneapolis! Your hungry crowd will approve her perfect little Gin-gersnaps (page 45) that walked off with top spot in our Cooks' Contest for Cookies-That-Drop and Dishes-Starring-Macaroni, waged last July.

Fire Brought a New House

LET'S not be Pollyanna and say that every time a house burns it does someone good. Let's just say that we know of one house that burned partially and forced the owners into a remodeling project that gave them a home which was, in the end, much better than the one they had before the fire.

Tempt Taste With Table Settings

LIFT winter-weary spirits of your family and friends with a special table trim. It's fun, it's practical. Meal preparation becomes a pleasure instead of drudgery when it's a part of the table picture you are planning. It makes simple foods interesting and more palatable. All it takes is a little forethought, a bit of cupboard scrutiny, and a wisp of imagination. A special occasion or holiday is a starter. February's full of opportunity, but the pleasure you'll give is reason enough.

Be Smooth When You Prune

The Diary of a Plain Dirt Gardener

Well, as I was saying when last month ended, Mr. Pvt. Donald arrived home last night on a week's furlough from Uncle Sam's Army. And believe it or not, he made himself most useful today doing chores for this PDG and wife.

Tips and Tricks for Beginner's Luck

To cut that precious butter for the dinner table, place a piece of waxed paper over the blade of your knife. Now you'll achieve even, clean-cut cubes without difficulty or waste.

Short Cuts to Home Repair

Dull files can often be sharpened into new usefulness by soaking them in a dilute solution of sulfuric (battery) acid for 15 or 20 minutes. Extremely dull files may take longer.-- B. G. Zollinger, Warrensburg, Mo.

How to Relax in Bed

"DARLING, would you bring me my slippers-- while you're up? And I'd love a drink of water ... and a match ... and that book I was reading last night."

The Man Next Door

A frugal householder is one who spills 90 cents worth of food off a tray and breaks three glasses while trying to switch off the kitchen light with his elbow to save electricity.

Scraps Made This Table

I HAVE found out that you can make a mighty beautiful table out of scraps of roof molding, 2×4's and stray pieces of 1×10 boards.

Article

February Plans Insure Better Gardens

IN FEBRUARY in between the blustering winds there come a few warm days to remind the enthusiastic gardener to lay good foundations for another harvest. If you fertilize a small area well and make a thoro plan for successive cropping you can raise a lot of plants with much less labor. Labor being the problem with most of us, this planning makes for a satisfactory garden.

It's NEWS to Me!

Sheds water. Sponge or spray this transparent liquid on any clean fabric you want to make water-resistant --a topcoat, felt hat, porch upholstery, shower curtain, awnings, sportswear. Cover goods thoroly, but no overdose. Dry outdoors or in a ventilated room until odorless.