October 1956

$25,000.00 in cash prizes 1956 Home Improvement Contest

THIS CONTEST covers any improvement to your home and surrounding property. And you have 128 chances to win in the four divisions-- Exteriors, Interiors, Additions, and Kitchen-Utility areas-- explained in detail further on. You are officially entered in the contest when we receive a Preliminary Entry Form from you.

Costly repair bills--and how to prevent them

Latest Garden News

Aminotriazole, a relatively new weedkiller, looks like a perfect answer to poison ivy-- at least in some areas. The effect is almost magical.

It's bulb-planting time again

How they live on $16,000 a year

Allen J. is a slender, 39-year-old married man who lives on Long Island and works in New York. He is mild-mannered, usually wears gray flannel suits and, in several details, his life duplicates that of Tom Rath, hero of The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.

HERE'S YOUR Decorating preview

Rayon or nylon accent rugs have blossomed out in patterns to brighten up any room. Flowers sprinkled gaily over a delicately colored plush rug are sure to bring new sparkle to your bedroom or powder room. The deep pile, wonderful-to-walk-on rug is perfectly practical because it's nylon.

Stop that cough!

Everybody coughs. It's one of nature's ways of protecting you. But coughing is harder work than you may think. A hearty cough can shoot particles from the mouth at a speed of 120 miles per hour. The jet-propelled spray can travel across a good-size room. This takes a lot of energy. Long coughing spells can be painful and exhausting.

A generation of spectators?

Last fall I returned to my alma mater for homecoming. We Tennesseans have a strong regard for our football team, the Volunteers. Even though my tortuous trail as a coach had wound through Wake Forest, North Carolina State, West Point, and Yale, I have always had a great sense of pride in the accomplishment of the Vols under General Bob Neyland.

Brighten your walls with pictures

Low-cost partition with charm

How to decorate and know the outcome

Decorating means different things to different families, and to the same family at different times. Right now it may mean a quick color transformation with paint or paper or fabric. Another time it may be new furnishings to liven up an old house. Sometimes it's starting out fresh, in a brand-new house with all new furnishings. But whatever you mean when you say "decorating," if you want to live happily with the result, think before you decorate:

What's happening on Church Street, U.S.A.?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Dr. Marcus Bach of the State University of Iowa's School of Religion has spent the past 15 years in travel and research among more than 40 different religious groups throughout the world. Dr. Bach seeks to discover and interpret the things people believe and the faiths they live by.

Tulips that bloom in the spring

If your next house is a large house...

Every square foot in Five Star Home No. 2610 is there to fulfill a particular point in planning. Still, it cuts no corners and comes off in total square footage as one of the largest Five Star homes we've published-- 2,266 square feet.

Handymen: put your walls to work like this

One less wall--a lot more room!

Study the before floor plan we show at right for only a moment-- and you'll know (and possibly share) the problems that beset the W. J. Burrows. They lived with a planning situation typical of many small houses. That's why we chose their house when we planned this modernization. Our solution can be helpful if you share any of these problems:

Why 44 million Americans live and act like you

As you open this copy of Better Homes & Gardens, it's a safe bet that you still have last month's issue, and several issues before that, in your living room or in another accessible place. It's a fact that 89 out of every 100 copies of any issue of Better Homes & Gardens are still around when they're 3 months old.

Curtains are the "frosting" in your kitchen

A room planned for two active children

Do you know Braunschweiger and family?

Glasswares--smartly styled for your table

Is your house wired for work?

Sure, from all appearances you're getting all the electricity you need... the toaster toasts, the coffee maker perks, the refrigerator cools, the range cooks. And, to complete your picture of assurance, the lights glow and so does the television.

Let your broiler take over

Our family storehouse

Nearly 25 years ago, when Roy Priest and I were married, we knew we wouldn't be together most of the time because Roy had a job traveling for a wholesale furniture company. He was home only on weekends. When the children, Pat, Nancy, and Roy were very young, I tried to spend all of my time with them. But as they began to go to school, I discovered that modern housekeeping was leaving me with time to spare. So I, too, found work outside the home, in volunteer local politics.

At last! Report cards--not score cards

For ages, man has known that children begin to walk at different times, that the child who walked at 12 months is not necessarily a better walker than the one who began at 24 months.

Zip-open bolster covers

Bolsters convert bench, bed, or sofa for comfortable lounging or sleeping. Easy-to-cover forms come in two basic types-- corded edge (square or wedge) and round (half-round). From 1 to 1½ yards of 48-inch fabric covers standard bolster styles.

You and FATIGUE

Easy trims with cheese

Let a child share in plans for his room

Good ideas make the most of space

Speed-sew draperies with a custom look

A family room can be many things

Speed-sew draperies

They won't outgrow poor posture

Right now, your children get the most vigorous outdoor exercise and nourishing food they'll ever have. If poor posture has developed in these favorable circumstances, can you expect it to improve as the youngsters grow older?

A study in planning simplicity

Ideas to help you decorate your home in Better Homes & Gardens Decorating Book Exhibit

Make your workshop safe!

A lot more living within the same walls

It was worth some extra doing!

The setting was a natural beauty, no question. Stately old elms surrounded the site, miraculously undisturbed by a growing city. But like a wedge of pie, the lot curved broadly along the street, then narrowed to a point going into the woods. If the scenery was to be preserved, the only spot for building was near the rim of the wedge--where the grade rolled to a deep ravine!

What should a lady know about electricity?

Q. Sometimes when the refrigerator starts up or when the automatic washer goes into the spin cycle, the fuse blows. Is something wrong with our appliances or wiring?

Fast man with a rope

At the age of 28, Don McLaughlin already is a legend among cowboys. He has earned as much as $22,000 an hour. One day in New Mexico, he worked a minute and earned a flat $5,000. He has worked as little as 30 seconds a week, but he has earned as much as $3,000 in 30 seconds. All he does is throw a rope.

Remove that wall yourself

We planned this bench for you to build

Round-the-room comfort

They live where they used to learn

How to buy--or sell--a house

Over the past decade, the old-time real-estate rules have changed radically, and what was once true about pricing, mortgages, and other factors doesn't necessarily hold today. During this period of boom and change, I have handled thousands of house sales. I think I can offer some helpful, unvarnished tips on how you can get the most house for your money-- or the most money for your house.

Your home needs a fall checkup

Here's one job that pays you dividends all year long: Winterproofing your home so icy blasts, rain; snow, sleet, and intermittent freezing and thawing can't wreck it before spring rolls around again.

OCTOBER GARDEN REMINDERS

Lawns: Keep free of fallen leaves by raking or mulching with rotary-mower attachment. Throw leaves on compost pile or spade under in vegetable garden.... Keep mowing lawn regularly to prevent an unkempt look through the colder months ahead. Feed established lawns as soon as possible if they haven't been given their fall feeding.

How to prepare soil for planting

Plants can solve your carport problems

The diary of a Plain dirt gardener

Oct. 1 "Our roses are surely looking colorful right now," remarked Mrs. Maggie at supper. "They look better than they have in years at this time," said I.

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

"I've been double-crossed," Fred Randolph grumbled, "by a caterpillar. Found one with a lot of black on it to convince my Katie we're in for a cold winter. But the only thing it convinced her of was that she-needs a fur coat."