August 1953

HOW TO CURE A Hypochondriac

Hypochondria-- worry about imaginary ailments-- has handicapped the careers of more promising executives, and has shunted more young women toward the side track of spinsterhood than any other psychosomatic affliction known to man. The shortest route to unpopularity is to be continually complaining of aches and pains-- particularly when they have no physical basis.

Conversation starters for four walls

HOW-TO for the handyman

No music prodigies in my family

When I became a stepgrandfather, I lost little time putting to test some ideas I've long cherished about the musical development of children. My granddaughters, Kit and Connie Lane, who arrived about two years apart, have proved very satisfactory "guinea pigs."

Have you heard the Latest Garden News?

You can wrap pot plants in plastic and leave them for three weeks without water. Completely cover the pot, after watering, and tie the plastic around the base of the stem. You won't need to water again for three weeks.

A houseful of ideas

Looking for some stimulating ideas? You'll find dozens in the home pictured here and on pages that follow-- wonderful ideas that will help you redecorate your present home, or remodel it, or advance your plans for the "dream home" you will build someday.

Michigan vacationland

Michigan residents good-naturedly contend that no other state can offer a tourist the variety and contrast of interests which make up their stock in trade. They point, for one item, to their 3,000 miles of shore line on the Great Lakes and connecting rivers, a longer big-water frontage than any other state claims. They declare that the automobile plants of the Detroit area are in themselves major attractions for visiting vacationers.

Take-it-easier spots

Look how design can flatter a small house!

In planning Five Star Home No. 2308, Designer Rodney Walker set himself a difficult goal. He wanted to start with one of the simplest possible plans (four straight walls and a lowpitched gable roof), to eliminate all unnecessary and costly details, and to come up with a distinctive and practical house.

You don't have to remodel--Decorate to get more space

Favorite flower colors always in sight

If your favorite flower is a giant sunflower, you may find this idea a little difficult to carry out to your family's satisfaction. Cut-flower arrangements will be limited.

The captain called it shipshape

There's a lot to be learned from the compact planning of a ship. Here you see it applied to the house of a veteran seaman, Captain O. A. Ford of Bellevue, Washington. You see his ordered way of life put ashore and given a meaning that the most unnautical of us can appreciate.

Easy meal-making with New ranges and refrigerators

Cool settings for summer meals

Secrets for serving Roasting ears at their best

How to arrange cool green branches

Tips for your trips

To be sure you and your family have a grand time during your trips, here are answers to those little sticklers that are apt to be perplexing when you travel.

JELL-O BRAND GELATIN DESSERT LIME FLAVOR

Where to get it

CONTEST FOR COOKS

YOUR RECIPES for cheese favorites and chocolate delights are the moneymakers in this month's contest. If you are named Cook-of-the-Month you'll receive $10. Twenty other winners will be sent $3 each. Eight of the winning recipes will appear in the Prize Tested Recipes pages next March.

"Mr. and Mrs." chests

Next month

Be sure to save some time the last of August for reading the September issue of Better Homes & Gardens. Here are just a few of the helpful, informative stories designed for your better living:

Moving into your new home . . .

AUGUST GARDEN REMINDERS Now's the time to...

Plow or dig new lawn areas so the soil can settle for several weeks before you grade and seed late this month.

How to drive hundreds of miles and enjoy it

Driving "on tour" differs from commuter driving as much as a 15-round heavyweight bout differs from a sparring match in the high-school gym. On paper it's just more of the same thing-- in practice, a "pleasure trip" can become distressing, if not dangerous, to driver and passengers alike unless some basic fundamentals are observed.

How to build with concrete block

Here's a built-in room air conditioner

Give a new outlook to an old room

Tree repairs

The diary of a Plain dirt gardener

August 1 Tonight I began my annual midsummer program of a bushel of weeds an evening.

Garden Clinic

Your corn was infected with a fungus disease called smut. When mature, it sheds black, powdery spores. Usually the disease doesn't affect more than 5 percent of the crop, but considerable loss can result in any one patch.

Personal help in home building, remodeling, and decorating

When you're looking for ways to make your home more comfortable and attractive, look for this seal. It identifies the Better Homes & Gardens Home Planning Center, where you can get personal counsel on your own special home-planning problems.

You won't miss out...

For Every Occasion . . .

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

Junior and I had a dozen roasting ears for dinner last evening, including the four that were roasting after what Mom said about the way we gobbled down the other eight.