November 1947

Among Ourselves

Louisiana-born Hodding Carter has a long memory. When he was only 8, he came upon the hanging body of a lynch victim. The image has never left him. It explains in part his lifelong fight against prejudice and hate.

We're sorry

It's NEWS to Me!

Correction

It's NEWS to Me!

A BARN

WHAT child truly tastes delight until he has played sometime in a barn? It should, if possible, be an old barn-- red, and a trifle ramshackle, with doors that creak on their hinges, and about it the mellow and eerie quiet that comes with age.

This Christmas give your child the Bible Martha Washington gave her daughter

IN 1799, when Martha Washington gave her beautiful and beloved Oxford Bible to her adopted daughter, Eleanor Custis, the Oxford gift tradition was already old.

Make lamps from antiques

KEROSENE lamps, old brown jugs, modern vases-- practically any of them can be converted for electricity. But choose them carefully. They don't all make good-looking modern lamps.

If we had it to do over again

I SUPPOSE nobody ever finishes building or remodeling without thinking what he would do if he had it to do over again. There are bound to be oversights and mistakes in judgment that only living in a house will bring to light.

Finishing touches for your workbench

LAST month (page 16) I showed you how to build a workbench. You can use it, but it isn't complete without a drawer and a couple of vises.

Advance Showing Convertible furniture

SO WELL proportioned arc these new designs in convertible furniture that during the daytime there's no hint of their nighttime use. Their construction has none of the high-backed clumsiness that has sometimes marked furniture of this kind.

Marcia meets the baby

WHEN we knew that our second baby was on the way, my husband and I debated as to what, when, and how much to tell Marcia. Marcia was 3. She loved babies and had frequently wished that we might have one. We wanted her to welcome a new baby brother or sister, not just to accept it, and, above all, not to be jealous of it.

The 100% American way to die

IF I can hold out until I'm 45, I'll then have a 50-50 chance, statistically, of dying of heart disease. You, too, have that chance. No other country or civilization but ours offers you that opportunity. No other can make you that guarantee.

New way to cut building costs

IF CARPENTERS could lay aside their saws... If building materials could be delivered pre-cut to fit, so that the workmen could just pick them up and nail them into place ...

A Five Star home is born

FOR nearly two years, Better Homes & Gardens has been showing trends in postwar home design with meticulously built scale models of Five Star homes, 1/24 actual size.

How to stop the hate mongers in your home town

IN ALL probability, some who read this article will write letters to me. A shockingly large minority of them will be violently abusive. They will come from the hate mongers, amateur and professional, who make no bones about their prejudices.

One story-but three bedrooms

How to make a cup of good coffee

VACUUM COFFEE: For full-flavored brew, use 2 level measuring tablespoons coffee to ¾ standard measuring cup fresh, cold water. If you prefer your coffee not so strong, use 2 tablespoons to 1 cup. When water boils in lower bowl, reduce heat. Insert upper bowl to make a tight seal. When water has risen into upper bowl (some will remain in lower bowl) stir thoroly.

How I hated housework!

I assumed an inquiring mind about it, approached it as an experimenter and explorer. I developed cooking as a hobby, collected recipes for the sheer fun of it, tried at least one new one every week, dressed up old recipes with new herbs and flavors.

This-n-that about sausage

We're all for modern houses!

Some day we hope to build a modern house. I'm tired of living in someone else's mistakes.

How to pick out a book for a child

FOR the first time in many years you can literally let yourself go and buy books for the children's Christmas without "let or hindrance." In fact the only difficulty is going to lie in the choice, because truly the display is lavish and bewildering.

Smart Cook!

They'll never get new eyes

ORIGINALLY our eyes were made for seeing large objects, in outdoor light, for short hours. Now we overload them with close work, long hours, and only one one-thousandth as much light.

"Far Away Island"

Cash offer for easy cooking

OUR June recipe contest starts now, ends November 30. You are eligible to enter if you have a good speedy way with a package mix or refrigerator cooky recipe. We're offering $70; $10 as first prize to Cook-of-the-Month, $3 to each of the Honor Roll contenders.

how-to helps

Nothing more self- (and budget-) satisfying than to give your family and friends gifts you've made yourself. For the children there are gay fish beanbags and a bright, laughing felt doll dwarf; for you, your daughter, and your friends: a high-fashioned, scalloped belt, a handy, colorful knitting bag, and a dainty, beautiful tea apron.

He grows them--then he draws them

THIRTEEN years ago artist Bill Miller of Chicago read an article on iris in Better Homes & Gardens.

How to fix doors and drawers

BEFORE you start setting screws and planing boards, use a level to check one often overlooked cause for misfit doors and drawers: the set of your case. If your floors aren't level or the case itself isn't plumb, start treatment right here.

What I must do is all that concerns me, and not what the people think...

Furniture's 2-ring roundup

TWICE each year 35,000 buyers from stores all over the country swarm down upon Chicago to see the world's largest furniture show. They mill thru 12½ miles of corridors, hail old friends, talk shop, inspect the newest furniture and latest fabrics in 11,000 showrooms. At the end of the week they drag wearily home with orders for the furniture America sees in its local stores a few months later.

Gardened for growing boys

Migraine--it's all in your head

THE attendant carefully replaced the gas tank cap, dusted desert sand from the back window, wiped his hands on an oily rag and repeated, "Yes, I'm a Harvard law graduate. Could be making a lot of dough in New York. But I just couldn't take it."

Your dog experts you to use your head

A NEW YORK CITY apartment dweller, Mr. F.A.M., protests against our advocating ample exercise for all dogs. Says Mr. M.: "Listen-- you are always going on about the wonderful value of exercise, sun, and fresh air. But I live on the fourth floor, and it's one tough job to run up and down stairs and then walk my English Setter for blocks so that he'll get fresh air and exercise.

Structural Glass

AS BUILDING materials go, structural glass is still a babe-in-arms. You probably remember the first time you saw it, giving a modernistic touch to a new theater or night club.

HOBBIES

Lots of living in a small home

These plants spin webs

Let the toy fit the child

TO GET an expert's opinion on the toys children like, I asked a man who sells them. Handling toys the year round, he knows from experience what toy shoppers buy, and whether their purchases are suitable. He told me that parents and relatives, as a rule, overestimate a child's ability by about two years-- sometimes much more.

Teaching the small child table manners

TIME spent in teaching good table manners will seem unimportant in comparison with the returns-- happy mealtimes, improved eating habits, and lessened work. Early lessons should be given preferably by one person only and where there are no distractions such as visitors or a playful puppy.

GROWING PAINS

One day, as my father was writing a letter to his sister, I stood behind him with my head on his shoulder absorbing the interesting news that flowed magically from his pen.

How to get along with less heat

AMERICA'S fuel shortage is critical this winter, almost as critical as it was during the war years. Lack of pipe lines for crude oil and a general shortage of transportation facilities have made distribution spotty. The stock pile of coal in the hands of some retailers is far below normal.

America's No. 1 Suburbanite

GLUYAS WILLIAMS, the cartoonist-laureate of suburban life, has been quietly taking the hides off his fellow citizens for more than 30 years. He gets away with it because he is a 33rd degree suburbanite himself-- a "typical" resident of a fairly typical American suburb-- Newton, Massachusetts.

Let 'em sue!

IT WAS an unfortunate experience for the Arnolds who might just as well have been your own family. Two months ago their neighbor, Amy L., had offered to stay with Johnny, age 8, while the Arnolds went to a dinner party.

Are we the world's most generous people?

THE former sergeant and his guest sat before the open grate in the sergeant's living room and talked of the things they had seen and done over there.

Remodeling can be a pleasure

WE HAD watched many of our friends pour money into their old homes. When we saw the patched-up results they achieved, because they didn't have the advice of an expert, we felt they had thrown their money away.

Cornstalk Fence

Glass Brick Greenhouse

Short cuts to Easier washing, speedier ironing

Seersucker tablecloths cut down on ironing. Bound in contrasting bias tape, they are very attractive.-- Miss Arlone Cochrun, Newton, Kansas.

NOVEMBER GARDEN GUIDE

NOVEMBER is a beautiful month-- colorful dahlias and chrysanthemums add their color to the brilliance of autumn leaves. Frost marches farther south and by the end of the month will have reached deep into the South. In the North, it's time to think about winter covering for your garden (see pages 52-53).

GARDEN CLINIC

Everbearing strawberries are far from new, but judging from the astonishment of my neighbors at the idea of strawberries from the garden in October, I judge their culture is somewhat of a lost art.

For bigger, better roses next year

1 Obtain plants as early as possible. Roses planted in the fall form calluses over cuts on their roots and can continue to produce new roots until the soil freezes, so are ready to grow weeks before spring-planted roses.

You, too, can beautify your city

THE DIARY OF A Plain Dirt Gardener

Nov. 1 Maggie has been orating about leaves on the grass and a place is needed where they can be stored to rot down to useful compost humus. And humus is what the soil doctor would have ordered for my garden-- if I had asked him.

Christmas gifts you can make

HEAR YE! Hear ye! Christmas sewers, come one and all! Semimade gifts for you to finish; easy-to-follow patterns; and ideas that need no patterns-- we have all three! Our clown beckons you to yuletide fun-- making easy gifts that bear your own personal touch and delight the receiver. The clown, upper right, is an example of what you can do in two hours-- he comes all cut out ready to sew and stuff.

Thru the Shops

Pass-around tray of light-colored birch has removable dividers just the right size to hold 12 glasses and keep them from sliding. The wood is beautifully polished with a transparent lacquer and wax to protect it. It's a tray you won't want to hide away between usings.

Thru the Shops

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

My neighbor in the semi-disguised duplex admits (with a touch of embarrassment) that after a strenuous Saturday night he often finds a trip to church more refreshing than an extra two hours of sleep.