October 1946

The Vest-Pocket Home Returns

IN THESE days when a minimum house is a maximum house to the budgets of many people, Better Homes & Gardens again offers Five Star Home Plan No. 1112 as a practical answer to the need for the most of the best for the least.

Among Ourselves

Trim, dark Ann Usher, recently of St. Louis, is rapidly becoming acclimated as BH&G's new Child Care & Training Editor. Acclimated, that is, to the extent of a glossy new desk, a telephone, a secretary, and daily correspondence with BH&G families.

Vermiculite Wonder Aid for Gardens

SINCE Better Homes & Gardens introduced vermiculite to home gardeners last November, acceptance of it has boomed. Secret of its popularity and versatility?

Come and Bring a Rake

Who Wins in This Stupid Game?

EVERYBODY tells us to be "realistic." Possibly by this they mean that we should abandon our visions and aspirations, and live on the basis of immediate personal advantage, without faith in anything, or thought of any person other than ourselves. Well, life can be lived that way-- it is perhaps the oldest way of life-- but it is the life of the jungle.

Here's an Idea-- for Your Hall. Keynote of Your Home

NEW UNDER THE SUN

We Share Our House--And Love It!

Just a little more than a year ago we decided to beat the housing shortage.

How to Sleep on a Studio Couch

MAC and Dorie are delighted to have you and your wife spend your vacation with them. Or your mother-in-law will gladly take you in until the housing shortage is over. Nothing easier. You can sleep on the studio couch.

Tips to Take You Places

IF YOU'VE been contemplating far fields for pheasant this fall, you'll want to investigate the several air specials designed especially to let hunters from all over the country in on South Dakota's plenty.

The Town That Tested Television

THIS is the story of television a la Newburgh. An intriguing, more-or-less imminent mystery to most of America, television is old stuff to residents of this typical New York community, 54 miles up the Hudson.

Gingerbread to Brass Tacks

"IN A year or two we'll build," said Mother and Dad DeTray (my parents) some 30 years ago, when they bought the oldest house in their neighborhood in Napoleon, Ohio. But they never quite got around to it.

Two Army Chaplains Discuss: Military Training for Your Son?

THE ONLY possible justification for compulsory military training for our teen-age boy is national necessity. Unless it can be shown conclusively that military training is essential for the preservation of the peace and the protection of our shores, the arguments for it are vicious and false.

New Colors, Patterns

THE new colors and patterns in prints, plaids, and textures are on their way into your stores. To give you an all-over picture we have used these new fabrics, wallpapers, and paint colors in six rooms. In them you will see for yourself the unusual combinations now possible, the new decorative effects you can achieve.

Do's and Don'ts

DON'T-- select a stripe which is too broad for your Early American sofa or colors which clash with its wood.

Biggest Show on Earth Is Under It

SO YOU think the earth is solid! There's scarcely a state in this nation but boasts at least one cave. In many states, vast areas are literally honeycombed with intricate underground passageways, on not just one level, but several, each miles long.

They Took Nine Years

Good Sleep for Good Living

YES, that's right! You spend four months every year flat on your back (assuming you sleep eight hours a day)... and the kind of sleep you get has much to do with the health and energy you enjoy the other eight months. So the mattresses and springs in your household are truly important! Cotton which has been felted into layers is preferable to loose or "fluffy" cotton. This layer type is highly resistant to shifting and matting or lumping, which is the weakness of most cotton mattresses. Sometimes felted cotton is combined with loose cotton into what is called a "plater" mattress.

House With a Built-in Garage

BRICKS are scarce, but cement is available. Wood siding is even scarcer.

The Tulips You Want

JUST to talk of tulips brings the feel of spring sunshine, the robins' cheerful chatter, and visions of clean sweet cups of color swaying ever so slightly along the edge of the lawn.

Enjoy Your Fall Garden Indoors

Better Than Built-ins

Operative Building-One Way Out

IN HOUSTON, Texas, the largest privately financed housing development in the history of the United States is under way. The Frank W. Sharp Organization is building 5,333 homes on 1,323 acres of land, an undertaking involving an investment of some $37,000,000. Homes to sell for about $6,700 are being finished at the rate of 20 per day, and by September, 1947, the development will house 25,000 persons.

14 Tested Kitchen Plans

The 15,000 Songs YOU Wrote

FOR the first time as a nation, we're becoming conscious of our rich heritage of folk songs, exceeding in number and variety that of any other country, according to Burl Ives, the famous minstrel. Burl has sung these songs, all over the country, since he was 5, to anyone who would listen; of recent years to the swank and sophisticated audiences of large cities.

Here Are the 1946 Electric Ranges

NOW you can know the thrill of having a shiny new range in your kitchen. Busy as manufacturers have been, converting from weapons of war to home equipment, you'll still find some surprises along with all of the excellent features which have been incorporated in electric ranges thru years of research and use.

What Started That Quarrel?

DOES your 2-year-old pull your 4-year-old's hair? Are kicking and slapping the favorite indoor sports in your home?

Kitchen Friends Back Again

Kitchen Curtains

HERE are new frocks for those kitchen windows that shine sobrightly after fall house cleaning. Make them yourself-- you'll be twice as proud of them. For a professional touch, add a piped scallop, a cretonne appliqué, ruffled rosettes, or gay braid and edging.

"The Most Fun We Ever Had"

EVERYONE thought we were foolish to buy the disreputable old bungalow in Summit, South Dakota, where we own a drugstore. It had been occupied by tenants for years, with only another layer of wallpaper added from time to time.

Article

Cash and Fame for You

YES, $70 has been reserved for our Cooks' Round Table and Honor Roll cooks of next May. Contest opens now, closes October 31 First Prize--$10!-- will go to the good cook who sends the best lamb or Custard recipe for magazine presentation next May. Besides, $3, six copies of her endorsed recipe, and Honor Roll listing await each of the 20 other winning cooks.

My Wife's an Angel!

DlVORCE figures testify that marriage is hard on love. And, short of divorce, too many other unions are endured as galling bondage. This is a destiny I have escaped, thanks to certain qualities my wife brought to the gamble.

Not All Our Visitors Are Guests

WHEN there are flowers on the mantel, when my hair is combed and my husband has on a respectable lounging jacket instead of dingy dungarees, we never have a guest.

Article

Coming: Heatproof Enamel

October Is the Time to Prune

FALL is the ideal time to remove all deadwood from trees and shrubs. The sooner you do this, the simpler the job. Until the leaves fall, you can easily tell which branches are dead. Even after the leaves fall, it's not hard to detect deadwood. The fresh new growth on live branches is a brighter color than that on the older wood. New buds are plump. New wood is pliant and its under bark is freshly white.

How Good Are Your Manners?

GOOD manners have a great deal to do with your being liked or disliked. They can add a lot to your success and happiness. Yet, how few of us take time to check up on ourselves!

Article

Should He Read at 5?

"DICKIE could read long before he started to school!" Mrs. B. boasts to her bridge club.

Here's an Idea

THE DIARY OF A Plain Dirt Gardener

Only news from the day's labor is that I'm still digging away in the peonies. I have three beds of them, at places around the edge of the garden. Any gardener worth his salt took proper care of his peonies along in the summer. Here I have to work hard of evenings to catch up. I like to leave the soil about peonies dug up and loose in the fall, anyhow. I think it does them good. Even tho the tops are by now somewhat the worse for weather, the roots are growing and the eyes from which cometh next year's blooms are getting bigger day by day. Oct. 2 Each evening now, first chore is to cut an armload of fodder from the sweet corn. You see, on the other side of the fence Neighbor

The Merry Go-Round

LITTLE Pumpkin and Big Pumpkin lay side by side in the autumn sunshine. "See how round and fat I am growing," said Big Pumpkin proudly.

Seeing Doctor Can Be Fun

Look forward to seeing Doctor. Billy should think of Doctor as his friend, one who likes him very much. But you can't wait till you're on the way downtown to convince him. Be careful that every reference made to Doctor in your home helps build this attitude. Talk about your "visit," not about a "checkup" or "appointment." On the day of the visit, plan only quiet, relaxing play, allowing time for his nap before you go.

Here's a Feather in Your Cap

For a Greener, Thicker Lawn Next Summer

MANY lawns receive fond care in the spring, neglect in the fall. Actually, more good can be done in the fall than at any other time of the year. Grass will grow rapidly during the cool days and nights of fall. Most weeds make little growth until spring.

Christmas Gifts to Make

If There's Anything We Can Do A Quiz

HOW thoughtful a friend or neighbor are you when someone is ill? Do you merely send a bouquet of flowers or do you show real neighborliness? Check yourself on the following questions and find out whether you just "mean well" or whether you are one of whom the sick person will think with gratitude the rest of his life.

HOBBIES

Young Mothers' Exchange

READING your letters and suggestions for the Young Mothers' Exchange has been such a pleasure! By now I feel I know all of you personally. Your fond descriptions of your babies and your desire to help other mothers have been an inspiration to me.

Maine Moves to Missouri

FOR two such thoro Pine Tree Staters as Mr. and Mrs. Gordon W.Johnson, transplanting in Kansas City came hard. When the move became permanent (after six years of apartment life), they decided to build, incorporating as much of New England as possible in their new home.

They Also Gave

An English music lover willed 1,000 pounds to Johannes Brahms. Hearing of his legacy, Brahms replied: "As I do not need to invest the money, I will enjoy it in the most agreeable manner: by taking pleasure in its distribution."

THE ARTIST

Fall Planting--Is It Safe?

FOR most of the country, fall is a good time to plant trees, shrubs, and perennials. You will be especially successful in regions where winters are mild and humid. Even in regions of severe winters, if snow comes early and stays all winter, there's not much danger of winter injury to recently moved plants.

Jimmy's Train Hides Behind a Bulletin Board

JIMMY'S toy train is up off the living-room floor forever! It was really Dad's idea.

I Gardened for My Life

OFFIZIERLAGER 64 was just like any of a hundred German prison camps-- crowded, surrounded by barbed wire and trigger-happy guards, and with water available only a few hours each day. Standard cooking equipment consisted of a soup pot and a potato boiler-- all there was.

We Said Good-Bye to the City

NO MAN with any common sense would have moved his wife and children to Thistledowns. That is, not unless they asked for it.

I Had Squirrels

WHEN you buy an old house, be ready for anything. No matter how closely you eye it beforehand, you'll find surprises after you move in-- a leaky laundry tub in the basement, a crippled lamp shade in the coat closet, or squirrels in the attic.

Up to Paradise in October

DID you ever meet a mountain in midseason-- in October, when summer's blue carpet of lupine, mottled with red paintbrush and edged with yellow daisies, has been rolled back for an even-bolder covering of crimson huckleberries on the meadows? When the flaming gold of mountain ash studded with scarlet berries stands in brilliant; contrast to the year-round green of the firs and hemlocks, the eternal blue and white of a peak like Mount Rainier?

How to Clean YOUR Venetian Blinds

ALL the beauty of Venetian blinds fades for many homeowners when they think about cleaning them.

THE LITTLE CLAUSE THAT Insures YOUR Insurance!

HOW can you continue to be fully insured-- for years, perhaps-- if you get sick, lose your job, and can't pay the premiums due on your life insurance? You know that borrowing on your policy offers one way to secure money for paying premiums. However, you may feel that you are in for a long illness and that borrowing is a temporary expedient that will not answer.

Does Your Voice Win Friends?

TOLD his speaking voice was all that barred him from a well-paid executive job, an ex-Army captain was flabbergasted. He'd never given a tumble to his voice or thought it important. The personnel manager pointed out tactfully that the captain's voice was harsh, strident. dominating.

Plant for Winter Interest

CHOSEN wisely, your planting combinations can make your garden a colorful, interesting winter picture. Here is an easy-to-follow outline of the special attractions you can have.

No. 1 Enemy of House Plants

ONCE you've had mealy bugs on your plants, you'll agree. They are enemy No. 1.

October Garden Guide

OCTOBER brings beautiful weather for working outdoors. Sharp frosts end the growing season for woody plants and perennials in the North, but grasses continue to grow everywhere until the soil freezes. In much of the country, leaves are turning, fall flowers a riot of colors.

Things to Do This Month

Vegetables such as turnips, carrots, radishes, lettuce, onions, and all members of the cabbage family do well when started in October. Annuals for winter color should be sown now. Let your main display depend upon cinerarias, calendulas, snapdragons, stocks, and primroses.

It Takes a Heap o' Nails to Make a House a Home

A HOUSE is most interesting when it has a past. The fact that anything with a roof looks interesting these days is beside the point. People give a house its past, and a house tells a lot of secrets about people who have lived in it.

A Salt Box in Reverse

NEAR the top of a winding road in Wychwood, New Jersey, lies the white cottage of the Edward Harrises. Designed by Architect Raymond O. Peck of Westfield and built by M. W. Vincentsen of Cranford, it appears to be a small home. Yet because of its design, this house has many desirable features usually found only in larger homes.

Article

Children Love Dogs--But...

QUITE naturally, we get a great many letters from Better Homes & Gardens families asking, "What is the best kind of dog to buy for a child?"

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

Well, things are a bit more normal this fall. A college halfback is once again more of a hero than a WAC or a bomber pilot.