February 1947

Found--Two Bedrooms

Among Ourselves

Even a fragmentary list of Dorothy Draper's work reads like an index of modern decorating trends. Known as "a doer and a darer" in the field of home decoration, she pioneered in the use of fresh, clear colors.

This, Too, Is a Time for Uncommon Men

NOW that a new year has begun in what has been called the "Century of the Common Man," the thought keeps pestering me that the label is somehow all wrong.

Varnished Leaves Last--and Last

Modern Suits the Southwest

YOU can find homes of modern design thruout America, but they are particularly suited to the Southwest. Architects Richard A. Morse and Arthur T. Brown followed the trend in designing the Tucson home of Mr. and Mrs. Andreas S. Andersen.

Now You See It--Now You Don't

And here's how to make an ugly window disappear

"What BIG Windows It Has!"

I KNOW the reason for those whopping big windows. As architect, I'd say "the better to enjoy that tree-shaded hillside in back and a rolling green lawn in front." The setting inspired a big terrace, too, running from the front door clear around one side of the house.

See How They Wear the Weather

"THOSE white birches have a special task. They reflect moonlight into this room."

New Under the Sun

Pear psylla suddenly again have become a major pest in some Eastern states after a 10-year lull. By last September, many pear trees were dripping with sticky honey dew excreted, by hordes of these jumping plant lice after sucking the plant juices. An unsightly black, sooty fungus rapidly infested the leaves and fruits hit by falling droplets, completing their destruction. Spray with oil or lime sulfur, timed to hit the pests in the spring after they leave the protection of the bark and move to the twigs, but before buds open.

Tom Thumb Is Ten

TOM THUMB was a legendary character-- a midget who became known in England about 1630. Some legends say he was a member of King Arthur's court.

Do You Want Your Children to Be Tolerant?

CAN YOUR children be taught tolerance? Not unless you understand the difficulties in such teaching! Certainly tolerance cannot be taught by any easy, ready-made method.

Garden-Fresh Color Schemes

BRIGHT as a shiny red apple or rich as a ripe avocado, here are seven garden-fresh color schemes planned around new wallpapers. In some, the wallpaper itself is of bold design and color; in others, it is used as a background for color-fresh fabrics and carpets. Tho we've suggested a room for each scheme, remember that no wallpaper is really ever planned for just one setting.

A Cold Climate House WITH A WARM CLIMATE PLAN

"IT IS unfortunate but true," writes Architect Harold Spitznagel, "that the bizarre and often austere designs associated with modern architecture befuddle the home-builder. He often becomes so confused that he overlooks the advantages offered in contemporary design. Criticism of barren, hospital-like interiors is justified; it isn't a proper background for family life."

ABC'S of Table Furnishings

WHEN you choose and furnish a home, you decide whether a Ranch House, Cape Cod, French Provincial, or Modern best fits your needs and taste. Then you furnish it accordingly.

ROSES Bring Flaming Color

CHOOSE exciting kinds when you buy roses. If you're a push-over for color, the opposite page gives an idea of the color range, patterns, sizes, and shapes you can have from the modern hybrid-tea roses and those with flowers in clusters known as floribundas. These are the bushy types you can plant this spring and cut roses from this coming June.

They Modernized to Preserve the Past

IN THE 103 years of its life this sprawling frame farmhouse had accumulated 18 rooms. But in the hands of the George A. Finlays, Sugar Grove, Illinois, the "House on the Hill" has been trimmed back to a neat outline. By pulling in walls and removing partitions, they have reduced the place to eight comfortable rooms!

When Yon Build

IT'S unprofitable to put up a badly built house-- unprofitable for the lumber dealer, the contractor, and you. In a few years floors will sag; walls will crack; the roof will leak; and you'll be sour on the whole idea.

Your Home Is a Dangerous Place

WHEN did someone last fall in your home? Yesterday? Today? Lurking about most homes are serious ogres that reach out and trip. Unfortunately, the ogres are only serious when the accident occurs. Otherwise they're just little inconveniences that we all intend to fix sometime.

All They Know Is What They Read on the Radio!

"I READ by the radio," says one Louisville businessman to another, "that Truman has--"

Complete Privacy in Fifty Feet

HERE'S what one architect did when he designed his own home. "My first concern," Frederick T. Kline of Los Angeles reminisces, "was to obtain as much privacy as possible in all the living areas, both indoors and out." He doesn't say that roominess was his second objective, but there's a real feeling of space and elbowroom.

TROUBLES?

Never, you think, sickening as you put down your paper, was there such trouble, such chaos, as in our time. No?

Why Don't You Eat a Good Breakfast?

Mrs. F. is overweight, yet has many colds. Her usual breakfast of coffee, frosted sweet rolls (350 calories each) is short of proteins, vitamins, minerals. Daily needs may be small-- iron required bulks less than a pinhead-- but nothing else takes its place. Mrs. F. is anemic.

Our Palace in Patchogue

WHEN Alice and I were given notice to move from our rented house, we didn't know which way to turn. Finally we bought a small house and had it moved to a lot we owned in Patchogue, Long Island. I'll never forget our first night there. We went to sleep secure in the knowledge that at last we had a roof over our heads no one could take away.

No More "Clockwork" Babies

JUST a few years ago, a mother could brag smugly of her perfect "schedule" baby. Now one expert in child psychology tells us to throw out schedules altogether.

Fall Recipes Harvest Cash!

HERE'S a contest for anyone who makes a special sandwich that's a little different. It's also a chance for all of you who serve September vegetables with a flair. First prize is $10; remaining 20 prizes are $3 each --a $70 jack pot for you good-cook contenders! Your family-endorsed recipe may be one of the prizewinners! If it earns top honors, it'll be Dish of the Month in next September's magazine.

Antiques--But Where's the Clutter?

HOW TO MAKE Valentine Party Food

1. Dissolve 1 package strawberry-or cherry-flavored gelatine in 1 cup hot water. Add 1 cup cold water or canned fruit syrup. Chill. When syrupy, whip until pink and frothy. Oil heart-shaped gelatine molds-- two small molds and one large 1½-quart size. Fill small molds with whipped gelatine; pour remainder into large mold. Chill until firm.

Facts and Figures You'll Need

AT ALMOST every wedding shower, someone turns up with a gag-gift or two. Our wedding was no exception. However, among the gifts to strike us funny at the time, one has become as much a part of our home as the budget.

Messages for the Family

DID forgetting ever cost you as much as a fur coat? It cost me just that. All because I forgot to tell my husband, Harry, about a telephone call.

Pancakes Are Perfect Any Time!

Sift flour with salt, baking powder, and sugar. Combine egg, milk, and shortening. Add to dry ingredients, stirring just until flour is moistened. Batter will be lumpy. Bake on ungreased griddle. Makes 6 to 8 cakes.

What Does Your Wife See From the Kitchen?

But I Know Better Now!

I'M THE GUY who set out to explode the myth about a woman's work never being done.

This Is CHIPPENDALE

PERHAPS Thomas Chippendale (1717-1779) was the first-- and is still the best known-- of the "name" furniture designers.

The Merry-Go-Round

SPOT and Dot were two little puppies that looked exactly alike. Even their own mother could not tell them apart.

Young Mothers' Exchange

MRS. LESTER E. BUSH, Atlanta, Georgia, has written in to tell us how she uses Baby's creeping time for some long-neglected beauty treatments: "I dreaded Baby's creeping stage because it would take me away from required chores. So I made up a 'creeping-time kit' for Mommie.

Some Fellers Need a Dad

A CHILD'S sled is expensive, perhaps too much so for a widowed mother. If his father had returned from Tarawa, he could have it. But his father died fighting for you.

Changes for Dressing Table

Insulation in Stud Walls

Quick!--Which Would YOU Choose?

1. If you were caught in a snowstorm without a hat and came upon these three articles, which would you select:

Are You Covered?

NOW that we have achieved the House Glamorous, it is natural that my wife and I should want to protect our handsome furnishings.

Build an Easel for Your Children

EASELS are welcome in any playroom. Children like to create, and you might have a Better Homes & Gardens art editor in the family!

Give Him Flowers, Too

Underweight? Overweight?

MAYBE you can have that second piece of pie. Maybe you don't need the 10 pounds you've been trying so hard to gain. To be sure, you'd better consult a wiser authority than the Penny Wonder (your correct weight, fortune, horoscope, and statement of what you should weigh --all for 1 cent).

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The Dogcatcher--Fiend or Friend?

EVERY community has its dogcatchers. Looked down upon as despicable characters, they are classed as being several degrees lower than baseball umpires-- and 10 times as contemptible.

Where Traditional and Modern Meet

STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, is just barely in New England. But even in the southwestern tip, New England tradition holds sway.

FEBRUARY GARDEN GUIDE

FEBRUARY provides an opportunity to prune the woody plants outdoors. Pruning a little each year to keep down the size is better than letting trees grow and then slashing them back hard.

Fruit for the Small Place

WHEN you plan to grow fruit on a small property, go at it as you do packing for an extended trip. Put in the essentials-- the family preferences-- first, then tuck in as many luxuries as you've room for.

THE DIARY OF A Plain Dirt Gardener REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.

Feb. 1 This month should have opened with a grand burst of some sort of outdoor work. But the sad truth is that the only gardening done was to sit at the lunch table downtown and chew the garden rag with Professor Cooper of the department of engineering drawing at the university, who's a dirt gardener and reader of the journal of horticultural and home art in which this DOAPDG gets published.

For $6 We Built a Brick Terrace

WE LIKED to sit in our patio, particularly under a sheltering roof, but there were flaws in that pleasure. As the sun didn't shine under the roof, the grass didn't thrive. And after a rain, the grass and dirt were always damp. We tried not to mind staying indoors after a rain, when the freshness out of doors called to us. It didn't work, so we decided to build a brick terrace.

It's Spring on Southern Azalea Trails

THE South is holding open house. It's common, during the rest of the year, to find you can glimpse alluring old plantation houses only from a distance. Now you are invited in, to view, firsthand, ancestral rosewood and Aubusson, to look at yourself in gilded mirrors and make a queenly entrance down graceful hanging stairs.

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

"When a half-empty jar of something has been in the refrigerator over a year," asserts Les Gowan, sweeping the snow off the top of his car, "it's probably too luxurious or too repulsive for the family appetite."