July 1956

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.

Unusual pets your family will love

You can bring a new puppy into your home with safety, providing it is given distemper serum before being brought on the premises and then vaccinated when it is 4 to 6 months of age.

JULY GARDEN REMINDERS

Shrubs and trees: Watch out for Japanese beetles on roses, shrubs, and other plants in East and New England areas.

Flower containers with a touch of tradition

Latest Garden News

With the chigger season at its height, here's good news. Scientists at the U.S.D.A. Experiment Station, Beltsville, Maryland, say these pests can be controlled with any of several standard insecticides.

The dining room's now a family room

These FOODS are NEWS!

Creole-style corn is the latest addition to the canned-foods shelf. It's tender whole kernel corn in a tomato sauce flavored with onion, and green and red peppers. Wonderful to serve as a vegetable, and you'll like to use it in quick casseroles with meat, seafoods, cheese. Delicious in chowders and soups, too. Packed in 14-ounce cans.

Summer care of your family's skin

All the outdoor activities we pack into warm-weather months should make us look and feel especially well.

More fun this summer

Shade-how to have it now!

These are days for cool living

New outdoor lights you can add quickly

A stowaway screen house you can build

If you build it yourself, you can be living in our portable screen house this summer for as little as $100-- depending on building costs in your area and the materials you use.

TOYS ...

Three ways to see Colorado!

Colorado's scenic splendor attracts some four million tourists every year. Visitors are equally enthusiastic about the cool comfort of Colorado's natural air conditioning which sharpens appetites and calls for blankets at night.

Travel tricks

Last summer, a family of five took a trip by car to Mexico and spent $30 a day. This summer, they're going again. "But we'll spend only $25 a day," said Bill Jones, the father. "We've bought something called a 'motel feed bag' and we'll cook our own breakfasts instead of buying them."

Change your ways with summer meals

Have the fixings of a meal in the freezer, and unexpected guests will toss bouquets at your brand of hospitality. Choose an emergency shelf from the frozen-food case at the market-- meat and chicken pies, shrimp, chop suey, ham, and fish sticks.

ABC's of flower arrangement

Meals that travel on summer jaunts

Frankly Fancy Long, cool drinks

The story behind your silverware pattern

How's this for space-making?

How is your home's personality?

Easy fix-ups for salad dressings

Easy ways to a pest-free summer

Keep your car looking new

A new plan for privacy on a city lot

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 home-planning problems.

How to do your own paving

More house here than meets the eye

The diary of a Plain dirt gardener

July 1 "Hi there," called someone and it plumb scared me. I didn't know anybody was around. At the moment I was down on my knees setting out a few late cabbage plants.

Build it yourself for $30

THE MAN NEXT DOOR

My overworked nephew, a recent college graduate who has spent a strenuous summer swimming, boating, eating, and dancing, complained to me that bad luck prevented his getting a job and earning money. And I couldn't think of a forceful way to tell him what my dad once told me-- that good luck is just a marriage between preparation and opportunity.