August 1951

What's wrong with this family?

Rody looks like a normal teenager whose parents are letting him take some important steps toward growing up. He has been working to earn his own money, saving it for something he wants, and deciding what he will buy. We can assume that Rody has a driver's license and that he has shown sense in driving the family car.

Plant these now for spring color

Did you envy your neighbors' flower gardens last spring and wonder how in the world they did it-- how they got such gorgeous, big blooms-- so quickly-- and apparently without turning a hoe?

Garden clinic

What good parents can learn from bad boys

This ad has never appeared in a newspaper, but it might, if it were possible to sell and move the expensive white elephant that is the "security building" at the Iowa Training School for Boys at Eldora, Iowa.

Have you heard the Latest Garden News?

The killing action of old-time insecticide, nicotine, can be increased 10 times by mixing it with polyethylene glycol compounds, experiments at Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station show. Alone, nicotine is one of the most effective insecticides for controlling aphids.

Science spends $1,000,000 to lick a garden threat

Like dime-novel heroes racing to snatch a lovely heroine from the wheels of an onrushing express, American scientists are hurrying to save gardens and farms from a major insect pest.

There's more living space under your roof

So your house is getting more cramped every day. The children are growing up, in-laws are moving in, hobbies are crowding you. Do you need a bigger house?

See what you can do with your attic!

The most relaxed family in America

Has your family life been all that you wanted it to be? Has it been fun, romantic, genuinely interesting?

It's a three-bedroom beauty

A home with three bedrooms is what most American families want today. Two-bedroom homes, four-bedroom ones, and even (under certain circumstances) those with but a single bedroom are still needed and wanted, of course. But for most of us interested in building a home, a house like this month's Five Star "fits" best.

Winning ways with your windows

Have you noticed how people's eyes tend naturally to shift to the windows of a room? That's reason enough to make yours an attractive part of your decorating scheme.

Set your summer table crisp and cool

You cool your summer rooms with fresh curtains and slipcovers. You select light colors for your hot-weather clothes.

Chock-full of ideas for your outdoor hours

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Such a show for the money!

You can't do better than to turn to gladiolus for an exciting kaleidoscope of late-summer color. They can be grown in rows just as easily as beans. By timing your plantings, you can get gorgeous flowers until frost. There's everything. You can have dainty miniatures perfect for corsages. You can have stiff, 4- and even 5-foot stalks with flowers each 5 to 8 inches across-- and 7 to 10 fresh flowers open at once.

You can't stop Corpus Christi!

This could be the story of your town. What has happened in Corpus Christi, Texas, could happen in any city or crossroad town in America. It just takes one good idea to get things started.

Pretty, any way you look at it

An arrangement with two "faces" looks lovely from every angle-- from your coffee table, from each side of your dining table, from a tea or occasional table, from a buffet.

Barbecue supper!

Who can be formal when he's munching on a juicy, barbecued rib or working down a golden row on a hot, buttered roasting ear?

Kitchens with ideas

Every one of these kitchens has something for you... They're not only glamorous, but they're a comfort to work in. Combine ease of work with pleasant surroundings, and your work's practically done for you!

Kitchen scales

Canning and freezing step by step

Next winter your home-canned or frozen peaches will make delicious salads, desserts, garnishes. You'll serve homecanned tomatoes hot or cold; in salads, soups, casseroles, sauces. And tomatoes are loaded with the vitamin C we need every day.

Let's write our boys!

Plum and grape spreads

Stem about 5 pounds fully ripe Concord grapes and crush thoroughly. Add ½ cup water, heat to boiling, cover, and simmer 5 minutes. Separate juice from pulp by placing hot fruit in 2-quart sieve. Extract enough juice through a double layer of cheesecloth held in a small sieve to obtain 4 cups strained juice.

Here's an idea!

Make it easy to obey

The Taylor home is in constant uproar. Three-year-old Jimmy won't eat, won't go to bed, won't get dressed, won't pick up his toys, won't brush his teeth, won't go outdoors, and won't come in. His parents are angry, desperate, and exhausted.

It's a triple-purpose room!

We raised the roof

When you decide to finish your attic for added living space, don't overlook the advantages of a big shed dormer.

They built a second home over the garage

Let your hobby help you decorate

Why not make your hobby part of the decorating scheme in your home? Of course, we don't recommend your going all out if your hobby is something like collecting wooden cigar-store Indians.

Reading times

When your child's "just ordinary"

Life can be pretty bleak for a child who is overshadowed by the talent or beauty of brother or sister.

Your pet and mine

How much should you "exercise" a dog? Most dog owners go to extremes on the subject. In fact, they put the importance of exercise above all other factors of good care. They pursue the idea so relentlessly that they often wear out a dog by prolonged sessions of walking, running, and climbing.

Here's a tiny-space garden

August Garden Guide

Make preparations for repairing bare spots in your lawn or for starting a new lawn. But wait until late in the month for actual sowing of seed. Grade an area for a new lawn, and have it ready for seeding. Late summer is the ideal time of year for sowing grass seed. Few weed seeds germinate at this time to compete with young grass which thickens by winter and is off to an early start in spring. Reseed on top of dead crabgrass if your lawn is established.

The diary of a Plain dirt gardener

August I If you could only have seen me as, somewhat ahead of supper today, I came parading down the middle garden path, toward the house! I felt like veiling to David to hurry and put the "Triumphal March" or the "Soldiers' Chorus" or something on our family talking machine.

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

We have heat, prickly heat, ants, flies, chiggers, mosquitoes, inflation, and Communists still with us, but one of the good things about August is that no income tax comes due.