YOUR MONEY'S WORTH
Sheridan, Mary
YOUR MONEY'S WORTH By MARY SHERIDAN IRONICALLY, the Presidents mild message to the country, urging people not to hoard, sent a good many consumers off on sprees of buying nylons, household linens,...
...Don't be drab, aiming to be "practical...
...While it is still too early for anyone to know what and if and when price, wage, and rationing controls will be needed...
...Furniture should be in scale...
...The country has 1,200,000 tons of sugar on hand and can reach out any time for another 1,000,000 tons in Cuba...
...Meat supplies should be plentiful this fall...
...More responsible consumers and their representatives in Congress questioned the election year timidity of the Administration in murmuring tentative suggestions for higher taxes and controls if necessary on the economic level, in contrast to the strident demands on the manpower level...
...unsupervised use of the barbiturates "is a national health menace," according to FDA Commissioner Paul B. Dunbar...
...All the supply reports indicate that he may get caught with too many goods bought for too much...
...And there is a new metal rack (75 cents) to hold two men's hats which can be screwed on the back of a closet door...
...New Products Someone is always coming along with something to replace the old-fashioned (and unlikely to be replaced) "dishrag...
...Deodorants like ozone and chlorine are, Weaver points out, "irritants" which actually remove our ability to smell anything...
...food bins are bulging...
...It is illustrated with clever drawings of right and wrong ways to equip living quarters and, best of all, is written in a down-to-earth tone which takes good design out of the stratosphere where some professionals try to put it...
...The two fit into glasses and wash dishes well—but so does a clean dishcloth in hot suds...
...It includes 1,300 recipes from the famed Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, a household staple in thousands of homes since grandmother's day, buttressed with up-to-date information on pressure cooking, canning and freezing, and food buying...
...The current issue of its publication...
...Control of Odors emphasizes the fundamentals of, one, finding the cause of an odor and removing it and, second, ventilation...
...I thought salmon zinnias would blend with lavender-blue phlox, but the combination turned out to be awful...
...A big sofa, or a big chair, demands a nearby table big in proportion...
...Our like or dislike of an odor largely depends on pleasant or unpleasant impressions and experiences...
...The only possible shortage, without import, seems to be wool...
...The price tag is $1...
...Twelve automobile makers showed a half-year's gain of 45% in earnings (totaling $540,291,613) over 1949...
...These are some of the helpful suggestions in Interior Design, 10 cents from the Small Homes Council, Mumford House, University of Illinois, Urbana, 111...
...This "self-sudser," with four cakes of detergent, costs 98 cents...
...After reading Control of Odors, by Elmer R. Weaver, you will be convinced of what your nose has probably told you all along—that the commercial products to get rid of odors merely over-power them with stronger odors...
...And appropriateness is another factor—"most people like the odor of fried bacon at the breakfast table and that of lavender in soap, but they would not like the aroma of bacon in soap nor lavender with their eggs...
...Bright colorfast fabrics are as easy to keep clean as neutral or dull ones...
...Don't worry about open spaces (a fortifying note to new householders who are forced by the bank account, if not indecision, to add pieces gradually...
...More practical, to my taste, is a broom closet gadget called "Bag File," a metal rack for holding paper bags neatly and within easy reach...
...Calling for immediate action on a temporary basis, without stalling as we always do, O'Maho-aey said, "Corporate profits are run-ning at an all-time high and are tapidly increasing...
...To me there is only one conclusion to be drawn from these figures—while we are drafting young men for war, we must not fail to draft these extraordinary profits...
...Joseph O'Mahoney, Wyoming Democrat...
...And reports from government and industry and agriculture all indicate that we have the potential to meet both gun and butter needs...
...Trust Your Nose Have you been buying Air-Wick or one of its cousins on the market for getting rid of unpleasant odors...
...For confirmation, read "We Put Bargain Bulbs to the Test" in the August issue of The Home Garden, an issue which also contains the good article, "Longer Life to Your Cut Flowers...
...Federal Reserve Board figures showed a gain of 46% in department store sales over the entire country for the week of July 22 compared to a year ago...
...A survey shows Short the profits of 321 firms in the second quarter of 1950 were 46.5% higher than in the same period of 1949...
...It's available for 10 cents (coin, not stamps) from the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. • The Food and Drug Administration is trying to remind us, with little or no help from the daily press, that the drug laws are for our protection...
...with the blade at the other end you can remove the skin from each half...
...companies reported the biggest profits in history...
...Cotton stocks are heavy...
...it costs 50 cents and is worth more for the illustrations alone...
...Group chairs together, so that people can talk together easily, and keep furniture out of the line of traffic through a room...
...The newest suggestion is a gadget called "Kangaroo," an oblong cellulose sponge with a cake of detergent fitted in the center...
...A room is a success when it reflects its dwellers' tastes...
...High in priority, to fight inflation and to prevent corporations from a "guick killing," is an excess profits tax, a fight led in the Senate by Sen...
...Among those who thought the President was too "soft" was Bernard Baruch, who spoke up on the need to "organize ourselves"— men, money, materials—instead of drifting...
...Panic buying has dropped off...
...Those Climbing Profits Among the "similar reports" Sen...
...The recurrent excuse of the hoarder is, "I'm not going to get caught this time...
...O'Mahoney might have cited are: An Associated Press study of 450 corporations in nearly every business field revealed profits averaging 43% higher than the first half of 1949...
...If you want to peel oranges by a fancier method than the thumb, there is a new peeler (49 cents) which has a small hook at one end of its six inches to pare off a narrow strip of skin around the orange's center...
...Incidentally, the Small Homes Council, which has a superb list of 10-cent practical booklets for householders on its list, is now making a study of that controversial question, "When is it necessary to extend the foundation of a basementless house below frost line...
...It can be screwed on the back of a door or on a wall...
...YOUR MONEY'S WORTH By MARY SHERIDAN IRONICALLY, the Presidents mild message to the country, urging people not to hoard, sent a good many consumers off on sprees of buying nylons, household linens, sugar and likely-to-be-scarce foodstuffs, tires, and cars...
...Like the Small Homes Council, the Walker Art Center of Minneapolis has pioneered and plugged for well-designed products, household equipment, and houses of moderate cost...
...Fanny For a Quarter One of the best buys of the season is the 25-cent paper-bound Fannie Farmer's Handy Cook Book, in the Signet edition, which should be available at the nearest drugstore...
...The urge to "finish" a room is very human, but there are rewards in having to wait...
...If you're planning autumn additions to the flower garden, the Wayside Gardens (Mentor, Ohio) catalog is a reliable source of almost anything you're looking for, as well as fun to read on winter evenings...
...These notes will be valuable when next season rolls around...
...Good Advice on Interior Design An excellent pamphlet, Interior Design, has just been published by the Small Homes Council of the University of Illinois...
...25 cents a copy from Everyday Art Quarterly, 1710 Lyn-dale Avenue South, Minneapolis 5, Minn...
...The television boom was mirrored in the Admiral Corp.'s report of $8,-400,000 six-months' earnings, which were more than double those of last year...
...As the half-year profit figures came in, a number of U.S...
...Similar reports come from every source...
...Avoid clutter...
...a metal clip in front holds smaller bags...
...Control of Odors may not tell you much new, but it might revive your faith in your own sense of smell and save you from wasting money on household deodorants...
...Congress is in a mood to have broad powers on tap...
...Don't ask the druggist for prescription medicine or drugs without a prescription...
...Avoid skimpy curtains...
...Don't waste money on the "bargain bulbs" whose ads now crowd each other in magazine and newspaper garden sections...
...Good wheat and corn harvests are expected, and the Government has a carry-over of 450 million bushels of wheat...
...General Tire & Rubber's six-months' net ($1,600,000) was 251% higher than a year ago...
...Anyone furnishing an apartment or house, or replacing shabby furnishings, is almost sure to find help and stimulation, as well as reading pleasure, in this eight-page booklet...
...Avoid furniture with ginger-bread (gew-gaws that mean extra dusting) and insist on fabrics that can stand tubbing...
...Hang pictures at eye level...
...Johns-Manville (building materials) reported a 75% net half-year gain over last year...
...One was General Electric, with an all-time record net six-months' profit of $77.4 million—a 65% increase over the 1949 period...
...There are handy devices for hanging four pairs of trousers in limited space...
...A fine example of making scientific information understandable and a pleasure to read...
...Keep easy maintenance in mind...
...As buyers we show encouraging signs of coming to our senses...
...Let's take these profits now...
...Below frost-line construction is a major factor in the cost of a small house, and the Council's year of research may give us scientific information on this construction problem in northern climates...
...Samples looked at in the peace of home, before buying, will help achieve the results wanted...
...Garden Notes Before vegetable and flower gardens are a hazy summer memory, this is a good time to jot down some notes on the success or failure of various seeds, garden plans, fertilizers, and flower color combinations...
...With buyers panicky for goods, a revival of the gray market in new and used cars, and retailers and the biggest buyer of all, the Government, increasing their orders, the picture was all too reminiscent of the recent past...
...More specifically, Interior Design recommends: Be guided by your likes, not your fears—in colors, choice of furniture, and arrangement...
...New gadgets at department store notion counters help make the most of little: Hangers of horizontal tiers, in various forms, will handle six skirts, six-eight blouses, or combinations (they range from 79 cents to $2...
...FDA files are full of tragic stories resulting from self-dosage of barbiturates...
...I have yet to meet an apartment dweller who wasn't crowded for closet space...
...Plenty of inexpensive material is more effective than not-enough of expensive fabric...
...Everyday Art Quarterly, is devoted to a lively and imaginative discussion of the tradition of good design, with examples from the 17th century on of beautiful articles designed for use...
Vol. 14 • September 1950 • No. 9
