September 1952

"Turnabout" is fair play . . .

The "turnabout" room here puts today's informal living in a package almost anyone can afford. It's a room where grownups can dance or relax by the fire, where the extra guest can find a bed with bath, and where youngsters can freewheel one moment and tea-party the next.

Lick lawn pests with chlordane

How'd you like a lawn free of crabgrass, as well as grubs, ants, moles, and night crawlers? Tests carried out at the University of Wisconsin indicate you can give your lawn "built-in" protection against all of these pests in one operation-- by applying the insecticide chlordane to your soil.

Put your lawn in top shape now

Show your youngsters the right way with guns

Combed plywood will give your house a lift

Of all the woods that can revive a tired old home, or set a new home apart from its look- alike neighbors, combed plywood is one of the most in demand. Likely you've seen it used, and have had it in mind for some project.

There's news in medicine

During the summer, the American Medical Association held its 101st annual meeting in Chicago. Only a few cities in the country have convention facilities large enough to house the 765 scientific and commercial exhibits that made an attractive side show for the 14,000 physicians who attended. It was impossible for a doctor to hear all 400 of the scientific papers presented by top-notch physicians from all parts of the country, but with stamina he could cover the more than two miles of exhibits.

Have you heard the Latest Garden News?

Here's some real help for home vegetable gardeners. A new experimental chemical compound, ACP-L-195, can be sprayed on the ground after you plant corn, peas, snap and wax beans, squash, onions, cucumbers, potatoes, and gladiolus. It will kill weeds before they emerge.

Simplicity pays off . . . in the small living room

Simplicity is the keynote to beauty, grace, and harmony-- so let it be your guide when you furnish your home. Whatever your furnishings, you show them off to best advantage in a simple setting. Simplicity plays up charm and comfort. Here's how to make the most of it:

Enjoy spring sis months early!

Treat yourself to a splash of spring, indoors or out, this fall. The Autumn Crocus, Colchicum autumnale, flowers for you with the greatest of ease-- it actually will grow and bloom without any water or soil.

What's your kitchen problem?

Many of us who have an old, poorly planned kitchen have come to think of it as something to gripe about but to put up with. True, this kitchen may once have been the envy of the neighbors with its then-new equipment and cabinets. But that was long ago. Now let's step back to take another look. Yes, the family agrees, it certainly falls short of the lovely-to-look-at, delightful-to-work-in kitchen everyone wants today.

Let a little kitchen grow to size

To look at this big kitchen with its happy colors, you'd never dream it once was the three drab rooms you see at the left-- a cramped kitchen (top), a pantry (center), and a catchall sun porch (bottom).

Make your kitchen a spacesaver

If you're wanting "more kitchen" without pushing out the walls, take some tips from the Brian Sullivans, Dayton, Ohio.

Take the run-around out of your kitchen

If every meal means a hike to get it ready, perhaps you think your kitchen's too big. But the fault's in lack of planning, not in size. Here are "before and after" pictures to give evidence.

Branch out for a family eatspot

Doesn't this lovely, homey kitchen make you think of friendly things-- a good chat over morning's cup of coffee, or a family dinner with lots of family "gab"? Time was when it was a hodgepodge of cabinets and equipment (see pictures at left) with the center worktable the chief obstacle in the trot between range, sink, and refrigerator.

An uncommonly handsome two-story

Most two-story houses designed in the Contemporary manner wouldn't win any beauty contests. Any time you pile up two stories of unadorned masonry and wood, and top it with a flat roof, the odds are you'll get a blocky, ungainly house with about as much charm as Fort Dearborn.

The North Shore of Lake Superior

The International Boundary zigzags along the northeastern edge of Minnesota as if it had been carved by canoe parties trying to stretch an overwater route from Lake Superior to the Columbia River-- which is exactly what happened. When the Declaration of Independence was signed, French-Canadian voyageurs were crossing the squall-swept waters of Lake Superior every summer from Montreal and Quebec to the Grand Portage Post on Lake Superior. They followed the Grand Portage, a 9-mile trail, to the Pigeon River and then portaged and paddled over the present-day Border Lakes to the far northwest.

Colors help this home say welcome

This home has "welcome" written all over it. It looks so warm, and comfortable, and lived in, that you know friendly folks must live here. This home looks the way it does because that's the way the folks who live in it want it to look. The Bud Westmores, of San Fernando Valley, California, love warm wood tones. Starting with wood, they planned their home using lots of brick, and colors and fabrics that carry out the same rich and homey feeling.

Here's elbowroom to fit a budget

If it's room you want, and you've always cringed at the price tags on houses that provide it, you're in for a surprise. You don't need an acre of land and a sprawling house to get enough living space for your family.

Pretty from the street

When did you last look at your place as a complete stranger might? Does first glance call for a second? Is it more than clean and neat? Interesting? Do you like its face?

Does your back door measure up?

Gather bouquets for winter

You can have lovely, decorative arrangements all winter long if you start now to gather grasses, weeds, seed pods, and leaves. Many of these will dry handsomely. Be on the lookout for plants in woodlands, along roadsides, and in your garden.

Braided rugs are Penny-wise and easy to make

A braided rug is sure to be just the way you like it. You make it yourself, you suit yourself. The colors are yours to combine, match, or contrast with the colors in your home.

Here's one for husbands--What became of the girl you married?

There is one luxury that any man, rich or poor, could give his wife. By the same token, there is one simple yet shining blessing that any woman could bestow upon her husband. It is something that he craves in almost the same measure that she craves attention and affection. What's more, something that would go far toward achieving that happy state, if she only realized it.

Garden clinic

Q I'd like to start new plants for the holiday season from my old poinsettia. How can I do it?

Pamper those petticoats

Part-time spare put to full-time use

How far can you stretch your home's living space? That depends on the size of your lot, the building restrictions in your community, and the fatness of your pocketbook.

The BIG INCH house

Right about now, how does a cool, secluded woodland retreat sound to you? Perhaps one like this... a bubbling brook in the front yard... almost no grass to mow no need to draw the shades at any hour of day or night....

Budgetsavers that dress up your home

More space with built-in furniture

If you have a small room, you can open up lots more living space by building in furniture flat against the wall. Built-ins will occupy floor space where conventional-sized furniture won't fit, and they will take up less room.

Good care pays you with more wear

Do yourself a favor! When putting your family's summer clothes away for the season, take a few minutes extra to do a careful storage job. The reward for proper care? Garments stay new-looking longer. And they wear longer.

A rough-and-tumble room

Winter's on the way. Those young buckaroo's will be doing most of their range-riding inside. That can be hard on the furniture as well as the nerves. With a corral of their own --a place where the word "don't" is never heard-- life will be pleasanter for everyone concerned.

Is there a tempest in your living room?

If your yelps for "Quiet!" ruin the kids' "rasslin' match" in the living room, perhaps you should separate family activities with a year-round recreation room on your porch.

How to get more wear from your leather goods

You can get more in service and appearance out of every leather item you have by following three simple steps. Use these steps (shown in the first three pictures) for all leather goods in your home-- shoes, gloves, luggage, handbags, brief cases, sports equipment, upholstery, table and desk tops:

Portfolio of bedroom dress-ups

The first thing to do is decide what kind of bedroom you want. Maybe you prefer one with lots of frills and ruffles. Or do your tastes tend more to a tailored, built-in room?

Twentieth-century Colonial

Tired of nagging your kids about posture?

"How in the world can you get kids to stand up straight?" The father next door asked the question plaintively, after a Sunday spent begging and badgering his three youngsters to hold up their heads, pull in their stomachs, straighten their shoulders.

Steps easy to take

A four-purpose room in small space

What's wrong with this family?

Husbands and wives can't be expected to have the same opinion of all people-- even when the people are close relatives. A healthy family atmosphere tolerates differences of opinion regarding things, ideas, and people.

We built it for $500

It isn't easy to get away from it all-- and have a place to go-- for $500. But before you protest it can't be done, meet a couple of unskilled laborers (my husband and I) who turned that thin budget into a cozy country retreat.

WHAT'S NEW in home furnishings?

Chances are that you buy a pair of slacks or a dress a lot more often than you do a sofa or a pair of curtains. You're accustomed to wearing the new fabrics that are processed to resist wrinkles and soil, but did you realize many fabrics for the home are greatly improved, too?

New house with an old frame

The beginnings of a handsome house are in many a sound old building. Here, the starting point was a 70-year-old schoolhouse. It was transformed by a resourceful carpenter, guided by the owner, Mrs. Betty Ellis. With little change in original walls, a bedroom was added at the rear and a viewwindow alcove at the front, while other changes were made without altering the framework.

Let's look ahead

In October you'll settle down to enjoy the quiet, peaceful evenings at home. And while you're there in your favorite chair, we know you'll read the October issue of Better Homes & Gardens, because...

Five ways to hold up a bank

SEPTEMBER GARDEN REMINDERS: New's the time to . . .

Clip or shear hedges for the last time this season. Rest amaryllis until December-- move pots to a cool, dark place; water only occasionally until leaves yellow, then withhold moisture.

Home Fashion Time

Article

The diary of a Plain dirt gardener

Sept. 1 Maggie put the coffeepot on the stove, put the bacon in the skillet. Then she tore a leaf off her kitchen calendar. "It's September," she said.

How to cover a wastebasket

Look, Pa-no grass!

Start new geraniums now

Your pet and mine

For one thing, too much attention during the day will spoil a pup. He thinks the fun of play and pleasure of contacts with humans should go on all the time. Then, hunger or being cold can keep a pup awake, cause him to voice loud protests.

A little decorating makes a big difference

An ounce of protection keeps your car looking new

Your eye is the best judge of whether your car needs to be cleaned. Does the finish look dull and lack luster?

Books for the home

Cook Book-- serve your family tasty, nutritious meals-- and spend less time in the kitchen, with America's favorite cook book. Ring-bound so you can add new recipes each month from Better Homes & Gardens-- $2.95. (Canada, $3.50.)

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

"Don't argue with me that swimming develops form and grace," said Grandpop to our 16-year-old Rosie (she wants a new bathing suit this late in the season). "Have you ever watched a duck walk?"