April 1947

Deadly as DDT Harmless to Man

TWO new insect killers soon will be in nearly every aerosol bug bomb and in many household and garden sprays and dusts. You'll blitz more bugs, faster and cheaper than with last year's DDT bomb. Best of all, both of the new chemicals are harmless to you and the family dog or cat. They contain only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, the same three elements of wind and water. Until now, the various piperonyl chemicals have been used mainly for their heliotrope fragrance by perfume chemists.

Among Ourselves

Spring arrives March 21 on the calendars. But in our neighborhood, it's April before spring really gets under way.

It's NEWS to Me!

Magic mirrors. Now the Libbey-Owens-Ford folks have taken up where Alice in Wonderland left off. They're making mirrors which, when viewed from one side, with proper lighting, are just mirrors. From the other side, tho, they're transparent. In an outside door, they let the homemaker see her caller before opening the door, while the caller sees only her/his own reflection. In a kitchen-to-dining room door, it saves collisions.

We Used to Stare at Their Stairway

WHEN the H. A. Lubins decided to make changes in their newly acquired home on Staten Island, New York, their stairway was at the top of their list.

New Face for a Fireplace

What's the Story on FM Radio?

FM, or frequency modulation, is a new and generally better method of transmitting and receiving radio programs. It differs from AM, or amplitude modulation, to which you are accustomed, by the method used to superimpose the sound waves from the microphone for a free ride on the carrier wave.

Fix Your Screens First

DO ANY of you handy men like to play golf? I do, and it won't be long before the sun is warm, and we'll be thinking about hitting those long drives and sinking those putts from the edge of the green.

Game Room Over Their Garage

BACK TALK

Congratulations! I have been a subscriber to Better Homes & Gardens for 10 years. I bought my first copy when I was a bride, and I can't remember an issue that was so full of interesting articles and so varied as the February one. Your cook book is my favorite, and the magazine is my bible of household arts.

We Perked Up a City Bungalow

New Twist for Bedroom Windows

MANY of us are old-fashioned at heart. We're interested in the latest methods and techniques, but we like to take our time in getting used to them. We pick flaws in each new device if it doesn't have all the advantages we're accustomed to plus old features we consider essential, and we ignore the old device just because it looks old in comparison.

Carnations for Easter

We British Like Our Homes

GENTLEMEN: When I peruse American magazines such as yours, I am struck by certain basic differences in design and layout between American and English houses.

Sure, Yon Can Square Dance!

If You Can't Live in Your Dream Home

IT'S a bitter disappointment if, after all those wartime years of dreaming, you can't build a new home. The world can seem pretty bleak if shortages and high prices have you stymied. We know-- it happened to us.

IS A Dining Room WORTH HAVING?

I AM entirely in favor of a dining room in the home. If it's only a family of two that's involved, I'm not too concerned. But where there are children, my preference is strongly and emphatically on the side of a separate dining room.

Simple Plantings Are Often Best

Sew It Yourself

Decorated With Sun and Sky

Lots of Living in a Small Package

IF YOU'RE planning a small home for the sake of economy, one of the most important things to consider is this: How much hall space do you need? Most small homes have none, for it increases both the size of a house and the cost.

The Killmans Bought an Antique

These Were Problem Spots

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ABC'S of Table Furnishings

PIONEER people had little time for formality. Their simple, friendly living was reflected in the furnishings of their homes and their tables-- be it French Provincial, Pennsylvania Dutch, or Early American.

They Live on a Lake Front

LIFE, on a lake front, in a two-story functional house, is fun for three Portland, Oregon, professional women. They live in the home of Grace E. Hobbs, built on a heavily wooded site near a small inlet of scenic Lake Oswego.

Get Set for the Two-Legged Termites!

AFTER the third truckload Mrs. Allen began to wonder. She wondered what Mr. Allen would say when he saw that black stuff dumped all over the front yard.

The Adirondacks: All Yours!

New Heating Plants Go Anywhere

MANUFACTURERS of home-heating plants today are closer than ever to what we have been looking for-- the perfect heating plant, providing even heat, attractive in appearance, easy to keep clean, and calling for a minimum of attention.

Uncle Wiggily Hops Merrily Along

THE old gentleman with the jovial pink cheeks and bright silver hair sits in a big armchair, talking softly to a little boy on his knee. Outside the wide window beyond the chair, a winter thaw melts the ice and snow from the ground. The old gentleman is thinking of spring in the woods, and he makes the picture vivid to the little boy:

How to Mix Children With Flowers

Article

Pick Your Iron

Baby's Homecoming

HERE are suggestions for a basic layette and essential items of bedding and equipment, all of which should be assembled in advance of baby's arrival so that mother or nurse can care for the infant with a minimum of effort or upset.

New Cooks' Contest Opens

GROUND Meat Specialties and Upside-Down Cakes are the recipe pair for our new cooks' contest opening now. Send in your best recipe for either, and join the running for $70 prize money. You may be singled out for Cook-of-the-Month honors and a $10 first prize!

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Like the Murrays' New Kitchen?

Brushes for the Cleaning

The Kitchen at the Cooks'

The Merry-Go-Round

ONCE upon a time, some little fairies were skipping thru a meadow when they spied a yellow balloon that had lost its breath and lay upon the ground. "Look, look," they cried. "The sun has fallen from the sky. We will take it home and hang it where we can always see the gay color."

Short Cuts to Housekeeping

Night-before jobs make next morning's work so much easier and faster. The night before, I set my table for breakfast. If I am having muffins or waffles, I sift the dry ingredients. When husband or children carry a lunch, I make the sandwiches, wrap them in waxed paper, and put them in the refrigerator. I also clean vegetables and fruit to put in the crisper the night before. Saves time and temper in the morning Mrs. Paul Shilling, Dearborn, Michigan.

Stuffed Spring Lamb

Comfortable Bedrooms

Helps Around the House

Have Fan With Frames

Whether Four or Forty--Our Children Always Need Us

WHEN I was the mother of very young children, I used to think, "My children need me now more than they ever will again," and so I guarded each stage of their development jealously, saying to their father, "The years go so swiftly. Before we realize it our children will be grown, and then our responsibilities will be over."

From Junk Room to Fun Room

The Newtons Create a Gardened Home

SAM and Mary Newton used to live in the city. They both had executive positions and were content to live in a small apartment with a tiny yard. Content, that is, until the year they planted a garden. Then the apartment began to seem oppressive.

LIVING FURNITURE PERIODS This Is HEPPLEWHITE

Fontana...Top Find in Low-Cost Vacations

ANYWHERE else the dam's the thing. But Fontana Dam, North Carolina, tho the fourth largest of its kind in the world, is sharing honors these days with one of the most unusual resorts in the country.

"What Shall I Wear?"

For Dad. Start with a medium-weight business or slack suit (depending on whether you're driving or traveling more conspicuously with a crowd) a sport jacket, sports shirts, a slip-on sweater and an all-weather topcoat.

GROWING PAINS

When I was a youngster, our favorite Sunday afternoon haunt was the abandoned railroad at the edge of town. Anyone who could walk the rails to a big post at the bridge was quite somebody in our crowd.

New Dishes for Your Fish Dinners

Down With Drab Dining Rooms--I

Borrow Light-It Pays You Back

We Like to See What We Eat

SOME OF THE GREATEST

Report Card for Parents

How Are Your Exposure Manners?

THE other day I was in the school nurse's office when the phone rang. "There's a mother after my own heart," she commented, putting the receiver back on its hook. "She called to tell me her boy has just come down with chicken pox. Now I can watch for other cases in his room.

DOLLAR STRETCHERS

Your Dog Editor Answers Some 64-Collar Questions

GATHER around, dog lovers. The boss says it's time to dish up some more of those juicy questions out of our mailbag. What have you got, he

Article

Let's Say Do and Avoid Don'ts!

DOLLAR STRETCHERS

Paint Pictures on Your Panes

YOU'LL have as much fun painting your window panes as I did. Not an artist? Neither am I. But that doesn't matter a bit.

Ann Dvorak Lives Simply

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Tips to Take You to the Adirondacks

Start now to set up a vacation in New York State's famous mountains --see page 60-- or write for these materials:

Decorated With Sun and Sky

APRIL GARDEN GLIDE

No Mowing Here!

How Big a Garden This Year?

Hedges Add a Lot

THE DIARY OF A Plain Dirt Gardener

April I Hurried out before breakfast and looked at the electric hotbed. As seedlings begin to show, the burlap must be taken off the soil. I keep the soil temperature about 60 to 65. If the day turns hot, I turn off the heat and raise the edge of a sash a bit.

April Garden Clinic Grader--Spare That Tree!

Garden Clinic

If You're Building a Horn for Children

Here's an Idea

Helps Around the House

Chair pick-me-up. A shabby or stained rush-bottom chair gives a room that "no-replacement-since-the-year-1" look. To renew a rush seat, apply a coat of old-ivory enamel. When thoroly dry, wipe over it with raw sienna squeezed from a tube onto a cloth. Go over this immediately with raw umber squeezed onto another cloth.

Displaced Definitions

Bricks Plus Ingenuity Equals Bookshelves

Young Mothers' Exchange

MUCH is being done to simplify the business of raising babies. Two names which are almost household words have recently entered the baby food field; one with a complete line of soups scientifically blended for baby-- the other introducing strained and chopped meats so processed that Junior can get his teeth (or gums) into good red meat at a very tender age.

Thru the Shops

PICTURE QUIT

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

A new baby arrived at one of our neighbor's just three weeks after their daughter had a baby.... There'll have to be a certain amount of give and take as to who leaves her baby with whom. And the infant auntie can share her nephew's playpen.