Class TX)4. f 
 Book JB & - 
 
 CORfRIGHT D&POSm 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 For the Bride — God Bless 
 Her — Hardiest and Most 
 Graceful of Our Perennials! 
 
THE HOPE CHEST 
 
 oA Book for the Bride 
 
 AND FOR THE WIFE WHO WOULD 
 RETAIN THE JOY OF BRIDAL DAYS 
 
 By 
 
 LORENE BOWMAN 
 
 and 
 
 JANE LESLIE KIFT 
 
 Decorations by 
 
 JOSEPHINE WEAGE 
 
 CHICAGO 
 THE REILLY & LEE COMPANY 
 
Printed in the United States of America 
 
 
 Copyright, 1922 
 
 by 
 
 The Reilly & Lee Co. 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 The Hope Chest 
 
 MAY i 5 1922 
 0)C!.A674092 
 
 %vO 
 
 I 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Over the Garden Gate 9 
 
 II. Your Porch 25 
 
 III. Your Living Room 37 
 
 IV. Your Dining Room 57 
 
 V. Polly, Put the Kettle On 67 
 
 VI. The Art of Marketing 75 
 
 VII. Your Bedroom 85 
 
 VIII. Make Your Home Shine 93 
 
 IX. All Through the Year 107 
 
 X. Shopping for the House 127 
 
 XL When Emergency Comes 135 
 
 XII. The Household Budget 145 
 
 XIII. Keep Pace with Your Husband . . .153 
 
"God Almighty first planted a garden 
 
1' 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Ot;^r the Garden Gate 
 
 GARDEN is a lovesome thing." Assuredly, you want 
 i^i a garden. A home without a garden begins with 
 
 a handicap. We need the company of friendly 
 trees and embracing vines to coax our home into the open 
 and make it a part of the big outdoors. And surely we 
 need the cheeriness of flowers. How we should miss the 
 gay good morning of the daily rose that has clambered up 
 the trellis to peep in at the window, or the more distant 
 greeting of the hollyhocks as they peer through the lattice 
 windows of the dining-room. 
 
 And then the joy each morning of going down a prim- 
 rose path with the only man in the world, and bidding him 
 good-bye for the day beneath the sheltering arms of a 
 swaying elm. Oh, yes indeed, every bride must have her 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 garden. It may be large or small. It matters not. It can 
 surround a low, rambling dream-house, or it can be within 
 the confines of a box fastened to some window ledge, far 
 above the roar of the city streets. 
 
 Care Makes a Real Garden 
 If it be green and preaches the gospel of color and 
 sings its psalm of gladness, and has been coaxed into exist- 
 ence by the loving care of its owner, then it will be a real 
 garden, with its high lights and shadows, even if it be 
 within the confines of four wooden sides; and it will ever 
 exhale an atmosphere of contentment that is sweet and 
 satisfying. 
 
 Garden togs are fascinating, becoming, and easily 
 fashioned of almost any stout material. Gray, green or 
 brown denim or khaki make the most durable smocks, and 
 it's smocks you want, for they are sufficiently loose to per- 
 mit you to work unhampered. 
 
 Use a pattern with a large armhole in preference to 
 one with a kimono sleeve. Such sleeves admit of free arm 
 motion. Make the skirt quite short, so that when you bend 
 over or dig the hem will not touch the soil. Perhaps you 
 will prefer knickerbockers, for they are more practical. 
 
 The Smock of Service 
 In a loose smock and a big garden hat you will become 
 quite an important feature of the landscape. Let us sug- 
 gest a smock of gray denim, a broad-brimmed hat of green 
 and yellow, and an orange tie. In the front of the skirt 
 have two large pockets. Wear loose, cotton gloves — easily 
 washed — and low-heeled shoes of brown. 
 
 lO 
 
Over the Garden Gate 
 
 This will be your first very own garden, so let it be 
 unpretentious. Plant not one single rose more than you 
 have time to care for. Gardeners are hard to find and 
 unless your Prince Charming has a bottomless purse you 
 cannot afford one. Make yours the gayest, sweetest and 
 most joyous garden in the world. Plant only blossoms of 
 which you are fond. 
 
 Plant a Friendly Garden 
 
 Flowers, like people, are responsive and will unfurl 
 their most wonderful tints and tones for those who love 
 them. 
 
 You may be a bride who will know for the first time 
 the real joy of following the trail of the hoe, so let us tell 
 you not only how to care for but how to start such a gar- 
 den. The first step of a garden operation is the preparation 
 of the soil. The second step is sowing the seeds or setting 
 out young plants that are past the seedling state and are 
 well established. 
 
 You Must Study Your Soil 
 The preparation of the soil depends on your ground. 
 Different soils require different treatment. A sandy, loamy 
 soil gives the best results, when enriched with well-rotted 
 manure. Heavy soils pack down hard during the spring 
 and fall rains and make it difficult for tender shoots to 
 push through the surface. You can overcome this condi- 
 tion by adding a liberal amount of finely sifted sand and 
 leaf mold, in addition to a heavy application of well- 
 rotted manure. This will make the soil more porous and 
 better adapted to plant growth. Should you find it im- 
 
 II 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 possible to secure sand, finely sifted coal ashes, mixed 
 with the upper four inches of the soil, will help to make 
 it porous. 
 
 Sandy soils are well suited for starting seeds, but later, 
 when the heat of the summer comes, will dry out too 
 quickly. To overcome this it is wise to incorporate a gen- 
 erous supply of manure with the soil before you commence 
 to prepare the beds. Most amateurs are so anxious to sow 
 seeds that they fail to properly prepare the soil, and later 
 wonder why the seeds do not germinate as they should. 
 
 Hints on Preparation 
 
 Just before sowing, rake the ground over and see that 
 the soil is free from stones, and what is even more im- 
 portant, see that it is finely pulverized. A forward-and- 
 back stroke with the rake will soon crumple the soil into 
 a fine mass which you can easily level with the back of the 
 rake. 
 
 Sow your seeds in furrows. Small seeds require to be 
 planted to the depth of a quarter inch ; large seeds one-half 
 inch, and very small seeds, such as daisy seed, should be 
 covered with only sufficient soil to keep them from being 
 blown away. Later you will have to thin your seed beds. 
 The less crowded they are the more vigorous will be their 
 development. Label each row. This will later enable you 
 to know just what you have. 
 
 Sowing the Annuals 
 Sow the seeds of annuals either in late fall or early 
 spring. The following varieties do well when sown in the 
 fall: Larkspur (Delphinium Ajacis), Chinese and Jap- 
 
 12 
 
Over the Garden Gate 
 
 anese Pinks (Dianthus Chinensis), Candytuft (Iberis), 
 Poppies (Papaver), Oxalis, Nasturtium, Calendula, Cal- 
 liopsis, Centaurea (Bachelor's Button), Lupinus and 
 Virginia Stocks. 
 
 Pansies and forget-me-nots, while biennials, are well 
 adapted to fall planting. These same varieties can always 
 be sown in early spring, so you can start gardening either 
 in the spring or fall. 
 
 Start Cultivating Early 
 
 Start cultivating your soil as early as possible in the 
 spring. The first pair of leaves to push up through the 
 soil are called seed leaves, or cotyledons, and their size, 
 shape and color differ from the true leaves. After the 
 true leaves appear is the time to look for weeds. 
 
 Weeds, being rampant growers, require a great deal 
 of nourishment and therefore take a large portion of the 
 nutritive qualities from the soil. As a result, the seedlings 
 being less vigorous soon die from want of nourishment. 
 Pulling weeds is necessary though tiresome work, but 
 cheer up, it is healthful. When we pull weeds we exercise 
 muscles that need it. 
 
 Thin Out Seedlings 
 When the seedlings have attained a height of three 
 inches you must begin thinning. This means pulling up 
 every other plant. You may have to repeat this process 
 three times. Never be guilty of throwing away the plants 
 you lift. Give them to someone whose garden is pitifully 
 empty. You will thus be doing something to make the 
 "City Beautiful Movement" a reality. 
 
 13 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 Water your seed beds daily, preferably after sundown, 
 if the weather be unusually warm. Protect your beds from 
 the burning rays of the sun while the seeds are germinat- 
 ing. Cheesecloth tacked on light racks makes a substantial 
 screen and one that will last for years. 
 
 Keep Ahead of the Weeds 
 
 Hoe between the rows of your garden once each week. 
 This not only prevents the weeds from gaining headway 
 but it separates the soil into fine pieces which cast shadows 
 and thus protect the lower layers of soil from the strong 
 rays of the sun. Much hoeing reduces evaporation of the 
 moisture, which must be retained if we would have healthy 
 plants. 
 
 Young plants can be set out at any time. You will want 
 some of these to give color to your garden while you are 
 waiting for your seeds to develop. You must also plant 
 some hardy, herbaceous stock the first season in order that 
 your garden may have some permanency. Peonies and iris 
 take the lead in this class. Roses you will also want, and 
 if you have room plant a wistaria. It is beautiful when 
 blossoming. 
 
 Plants for the House 
 
 Many failures in the culture of house plants can be 
 attributed to the selection of plants that are entirely un- 
 suited to the environment of the average hot-water or 
 steam-heated dwelling. Such plants may do well in green- 
 houses, because here temperature, light and moisture can 
 be regulated, if necessary, from hour to hour, but in the 
 living room, where the temperature drops at night and the 
 
Over the Garden Gate 
 
 room is often not particularly sunny and the atmosphere is 
 always dry, they soon cease to put forth new growth, lose 
 their leaves and gradually die. 
 
 The Reliable Primrose 
 
 There are many plants equally beautiful, with more 
 vigorous constitutions, that will grow and develop into per- 
 fect specimens in the house. Among the flowering plants 
 any of the varieties of primroses are reliable. These attrac- 
 tive plants seem never to grow weary of unfolding their 
 dainty little petals. They will do well in the same environ- 
 ment as the common geranium, which, by the way, is far 
 from common. The primrose thrives in a soil of good 
 garden loam, sand and manure, equal parts. It must be 
 watered every day. The best way is to set it in the laundry 
 tub and sprinkle it over the top. This not only keeps the 
 foliage clean but it prevents the advent of the red spider, 
 which is at times an enemy of the primrose. Do not be 
 content with wetting the foliage; be sure the water has 
 penetrated the soil about the roots. Remove all the dead 
 flowers. 
 
 Secret of Shapely Plant 
 
 The primrose enjoys a sunny window. Each day, when 
 placing it in the window, turn the pot so that it receives 
 the same amount of sun on every side. This treatment in 
 time will produce a shapely plant. 
 
 The geranium is an old friend, tried and true. It has 
 no peer as a flowering house plant; foliage and flowers 
 both are attractive. There are many excellent varieties of 
 
 15 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 geraniums from which to choose, some single and some 
 double, and their colors are legion. Water a geranium 
 only every other day and do not keep it too warm — 60 
 degrees suits it best. Do not over-pot it. If you do you will 
 have few blossoms. Plant it in a soil composed of good 
 garden loam and sand with only a trace of manure and 
 it will be happy. 
 
 The Best Foliage Plants 
 
 Foliage plants are easily raised if kept in a warm, 
 sunny and well-ventilated room. Their tops should be 
 sprinkled daily. A plant with clean foliage is usually 
 healthy. Among the best foliage plants are the Boston fern 
 (Nephrolepis Bostoniensis), Plumed Scotch fern, Kentia 
 palm, Ficus Elasticus (common rubber plants, which 
 always do well but are not especially graceful) , Dracaenas, 
 which thrive in any environment, and the Pandanus, which 
 has its quota of admirers. 
 
 Have an Herb Garden 
 
 How often we are told of our grandmother's herb 
 garden, and with what interest we read about those glo- 
 rious attics where she dried her herbs, and how in the 
 early fall she stewed and brewed those wonderful potions 
 that in a large measure took the place of products of our 
 laboratories of today. We are not going to recommend 
 that you establish a laboratory in your little home for the 
 medicine that will stop the first sneeze of winter, but we 
 do want to suggest a few herbs and blossoms that will be 
 useful in the dreary months, when the Scotch plaid days 
 
 16 
 
Over the Garden Gate 
 
 are over and the birds have winged their way to Southern 
 climes. All we will mention will be reliable in every way. 
 They will require no other care than planting and watering 
 and will do well in any soil. 
 
 Lavender — You will be glad after you have dried the blosscms to 
 scatter them through your linen closets. 
 
 Parsley — This is a hardy little plant with really wonderful leaves. 
 It will lend zest to stews and soups, and garnish your cold meat dishes. 
 It will stand quite a bit of cold fall weather. 
 
 Sage — This little plant with its silvery leaf should be in every gar- 
 den. Gather it in the fall and hang it to the rafters of your cellar to 
 dry, protected by a paper bag from dust and dirt. You will be glad 
 when you make the filling for a roast of poultry or meat. 
 
 Mint — A plant of mint will supply all the necessary mint for sum- 
 mer drinks and winter sauces. 
 
 Siueet Marjoram — Will be ever useful in the kitchen. 
 
 The Joy of Dahlias 
 
 Let us urge you to number some dahlias among the 
 members of your garden family. Flowering as they do in 
 late summer, you will be sure to appreciate them, because 
 your peonies and roses will be mostly over by the time they 
 bloom. The dahlias have been propagated so successfully 
 in recent years that they rival the chrysanthemums in 
 beauty and grace. 
 
 For the City Garden 
 
 The success of dahlias depends entirely on the way the 
 soil is prepared. Unlike most tubers, dahlias do not thrive 
 in rich soil. This enables those of us with the ordinary clay 
 soil that we are apt to find in city gardens to grow these 
 desirable garden blossoms. 
 
 17 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 If you want dahlias, plow or dig the ground early. Dig 
 deep — the deeper the better. Do this just as early in the 
 spring as the ground is workable. Then let it settle and 
 turn it again just before setting out the tubers. If the soil 
 is already fertile, use no manure or prepared fertilizer. 
 If the ground is very poor, spread it with manure before 
 digging. You do not require a great deal of manure. If 
 manure is not obtainable, choose a fertilizer not too rich 
 in ammonia or nitrogen. The largest and most successful 
 growers in the world tell us the proper proportion is a half 
 ton to the acre. For the average garden, where you have 
 probably a dozen plants, a pound would be sufficient. 
 
 Cut Off Some Stalks 
 
 The middle of May seems to be the right time to plant 
 dahlias in the middle states. Set your dahlias four to six 
 inches deep — no deeper, and in order to leave room for 
 future development, set them two to four feet apart. Allow 
 but one stalk to develop from a root. Cut the others ofif. 
 In the late fall, after the dahlias have flowered, and just 
 before frost, lift the tubers, place them in a sunny corner 
 of the porch until the soil about them is dry, then shake it 
 off and place them in a warm, dark, dry place, such as the 
 cellar or some closet shelf, until spring, when you can 
 plant them again in their previous location in the garden. 
 
 The Gardener's Hands 
 
 If you wish to work in the garden at 9:30 A. M. and 
 attend a luncheon the same day, run your hands across a 
 cake of soap, thus filing the under surface of each nail 
 
 t8 
 
Over the Garden Gate 
 
 before beginning to dig. Later all that will be necessary 
 will be to remove the soap with the aid of a nail brush 
 and wash your hands in lukewarm water. By following 
 this method you can instantly remove all traces of the 
 garden from your hands. 
 
 Take a foot rule to your florist and ask him to mark on 
 it the different depths required to plant the many varieties 
 of spring bulbs. He will cheerfully do this and such a rule 
 will insure your bulbs being well planted. 
 
 To rid your lawn of ants, pour scalding water over each 
 hill, or you will find a teaspoonful of coal oil poured over 
 each hill just as efficacious. 
 
 Should Wandering Jew make its appearance on your 
 premises, instantly dig it up, as it is the most pernicious of 
 weeds. If permitted to remain it will ruin a lawn in six 
 weeks. 
 
 Do not attempt to remove plantains before August. 
 Then the roots of this weed lie just below the surface of 
 the soil and the slightest twist will uproot it. 
 
 Mow a new lawn as soon as the blades of grass are long 
 enough to reach between the knives of the mower. 
 
 19 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 Garden Furniture 
 
 If your garden be larger than the window or porch-box 
 variety, let us urge you to beg, borrow or buy some garden 
 furniture. Willow furniture is a wise choice. It has three 
 good points: It is built on artistic lines and possesses a 
 charm all its own. It is light and easily moved from a 
 sunny to a shady location, and it is not injured by the 
 elements which are ever present in the garden. 
 
 One table for serving tea, and three chairs will be 
 sufficient for a small garden. It is thrifty to buy the natural 
 color willow and paint it yourself. Give it three coats, then 
 it will withstand the summer showers. Make the cushions 
 of plain crash, which does not show the dust. A small, 
 happy little nosegay can easily be stenciled on each cushion. 
 Have the cushion loose so that when the summer showers 
 come you can readily lift them and run. 
 
 Real Comfort in an Umbrella 
 
 A garden umbrella — one of those huge varieties made 
 of linen or striped awning material — will be a real comfort. 
 It will not only protect your tea-table from the sun but it 
 will lend a pleasing note of gaiety to your tea parties. Such 
 an umbrella is easily adjusted. All that is necessary is to 
 stick its long pointed handle into the soil. You can have it 
 covered with the same material as your cushions and even 
 stencil a wee nosegay on each section. 
 
 Garden Tools 
 
 Please do not try, like a friend of the writer's, to garden 
 with a tin coal shovel and a butcher knife. This is not prac- 
 
 20 
 
Over the Garden Gate 
 
 tical. The following list, while small, is practical and 
 necessary. Please mentally underscore the last word, 
 
 A ball of twine, not large nor fine, 
 
 Two stakes to hold it taut ; 
 
 A shovel and spade of stout stuff made, 
 
 And a rake with coarse teeth wrought ; 
 
 A watering can of painted tan. 
 
 With a bright nosegay of blue ; 
 
 A garden hose to water the rows 
 
 Of daisies of golden hue ; 
 
 A trowel for digging, 
 
 When sprouts you're bidding 
 
 Come forth from the earth to grow ; 
 
 Shears and a knife for the little wife, 
 
 Whose posies she plants in a row ; 
 
 A basket to gather the posies she'd rather 
 
 Carry into her home, 
 
 Where vases she'll fill 
 
 With a right good will. 
 
 How from this home could a husband roam? 
 
 Welcome the Birds 
 
 Of course you want the birds, so bid them welcome. 
 Place low bird baths about your garden. Lovely terra 
 cotta ones can be purchased at small cost, and they are both 
 durable and artistic. Place at least two bird boxes some- 
 where away from the haunts of .cats and dogs. If your Best 
 and Dearest is dextrous you will have fun making them 
 together in the spring. 
 
 Of course, if you can aflford it, the bird houses you can 
 buy from the bird house men probably will be more satis- 
 factory than any home-made ones. A blue bird house, on 
 a sixteen-foot pole in your garden, will attract the loveliest 
 
 21 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 of tenants, year by year. The pole should be hinged near 
 the base, so that the house may be swung down and cleaned 
 out each spring. 
 
 Think of opening your eyes each morning to the 
 accompaniment of a feathered orchestra and of sitting in 
 the garden in the twilight with that very best man listening 
 to their good-night chorus! 
 
 22 
 
"You cannot shut the windows of the sky, 
 Through which Aurora shows her brightening face* 
 
^f^HlNK OF the porch in your new home as your 
 l^^p summer and sunlight room. There is enough of 
 ^ mr\ indoors and enough of out-of-doors about it to 
 make it half room and half lawn. Most of the days you 
 can count on a flood of sunshine here — for most days are 
 sunny days — and altogether you and your friends will vote 
 your sun parlor your most popular room. 
 
 The floor and walls should be of neutral tints, forming 
 but the background for the colorful loveliness to be sup- 
 plied by the furnishings. If the builder has kindly made 
 the floor of brick or tile and given you walls of gray stone 
 or painted siding, bestow an extra thought of gratitude to 
 him; then fit your furnishings into the plan. If he has not 
 
 25 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 treated you so kindly, before deciding on a floor covering, 
 look at the inlaid linoleums that are fashioned after the 
 Dutch interiors. Among these will be found some of the 
 wonderful tile efifects that Van der Meer puts into his 
 paintings. If you can afford rugs, those woven of linen or 
 flax will be fitting. Possibly the finest porch rugs are the 
 Japanese rush rugs. They come in different colorings and 
 are woven in small blocks. By using different multiples of 
 these blocks they are easily adjustable to any space. 
 
 A Question of Colors 
 
 Consider your light effects. If your porch is shaded 
 by trees, softening the glare of the sunlight and yet giving 
 you an unobstructed view of green sward, you will want 
 some glowing coloring, supplied by gay cretonne or chintz. 
 If your trees are yet in their infancy, and your porch during 
 the sunshine hours is one blaze of glory, you will want less 
 radiant coloring. If you do not want your roses to fade, 
 you must buy only the best material. Hangings in plain 
 linen color or grayish green are quietly beautiful, and 
 charming curtains may be made from the unbleached 
 muslin. 
 
 Furnishing the Porch 
 
 The furniture problem is the one that will perplex. 
 The variety of attractive chairs and settles and tables is 
 so endless that the character of the porch and size of your 
 purse will have to come to your rescue and help you to 
 decide. The woven wicker, calling for alluring cushions 
 of gay cretonne, and painted furniture, with its pastel tones 
 
 26 
 
Your Porch 
 
 adorned with giddy flowers, make equal bids for favor, 
 and promise equal wear and beauty in return. Possibly 
 one of the fascinations of the bridal home is that it so 
 fully expresses you, so here is a good place to have this 
 joy of choice. 
 
 Let your porch suggest your intelligence of home- 
 building, so that the entrance to your home will stand apart 
 in the memory of those who come to your door. Such a 
 porch, even if one gets no further into your domain, will 
 impart a "come again" feeling to your guests, and help to 
 make the reputation for sincere hospitality that you want 
 your home to have. 
 
 Awnings Add Beauty 
 
 We might almost call the sun and wind, that are so 
 much with us on the porch, friendly foes. We would not 
 do without them and yet we need some protection from 
 them. 
 
 The conventional awning, plain or with strips of bril- 
 liant red or green, really adds to the beauty of the house 
 and is thoroughly satisfactory to shield from wind and sun. 
 
 Sun fast Materials 
 
 The porch enclosed with casement windows is more 
 perfectly protected from rain than any other kind and 
 will admit of more elaborate furnishing. Be sure to have 
 the casement curtains of sunfast materials. Curtains of 
 yellow or rose, when seen through sifted sunlight, glow 
 with jewel-like beauty. 
 
 There is another awning, not made by human hands, 
 
 27 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 that is always the most attractive. The climbing rose with 
 pinky, fragrant blossoms, the woodbine or clematis with 
 their lacy foliage, the sweet-smelling honeysuckle, old but 
 ever lovely — any of these will make the most beautiful 
 awning for a home in the country. You will need some 
 yards of wire netting up the pillars and around the edge 
 of the porch roof, and added to this a bit of love and care, 
 and you will have an awning designed and grown by the 
 Great Artist. 
 
 Camouflaging the Furniture 
 
 "Cool and clean" are the words to keep in mind, in 
 planning covers for your porch furniture. In such a rosy 
 place as a bridal home, one naturally feels that the pretty 
 chintzes and cretonnes, jolly with flowers, are the most 
 suitable for slip covers and draperies for doors and win- 
 dows. However, if you are demurely minded you will find 
 plain covers made of Quaker gray rep, bound with bril- 
 liant red, or blue bound with orange, or a deep tone of 
 ivory bound with black, equally effective and more durable 
 than chintz or cretonne. But fresh and clean they must be, 
 whatever the kind or color. 
 
 Some Economy Ideas 
 
 There is no place in your home where you can put your 
 best foot front so inexpensively as in just these slip covers 
 and draperies. Even checked gingham is not to be despised 
 and unbleached muslin can be coaxed into any color by 
 proper dyestuff. 
 
 For the tops of tables and flower-stands nothing is pret- 
 
 28 
 
Your Porch 
 
 tier than painted oilcloth. It is durable, it is inexpensive, 
 it can be bought in almost any color, it can be cut into any 
 size, and most important of all, it is easily cleaned. Should 
 you choose a chintz or cretonne for covers and hang- 
 ings, the same conventional pattern or flowers can be 
 easily painted on the oilcloth. Even the covers for the 
 flowerpots can be cut from the oilcloth and decorated 
 harmoniously. 
 
 Take time to "think through" your porch furnishing, 
 where every available ray of sunshine pours all day, and 
 you will not be harassed by faded ugliness. 
 
 The Porch Fireplace 
 
 A persuasive representative of comfort on a well- 
 planned, built-in porch is the fireplace. If you have to 
 resign yourself to economy, sacrifice something else, but 
 cling to the fireplace. I do not mean that unforgivable 
 sham where everything about a fireplace is present but the 
 fire. Let us at least be honest. The real fireplace, with the 
 glowing fire burning within when it is cold without, will 
 radiate hospitality and good cheer, and help make happy 
 you and all who enter your home. 
 
 Use Brick or Stone 
 
 Have the kind of a fireplace that will be friendly to 
 the rest of the furnishings of your porch. Marbles may be 
 in place in palaces, but right here on your porch you will 
 want a fireplace of stone or brick. 
 
 As for the andirons, I don't see how it is possible to 
 
 29 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 economize, for they must be of brass or wrought iron, and 
 they must be big enough to hold logs on a winter's night, 
 so that your porch will be inviting to the boys with their 
 tales of sports, and to the girls with their secrets. And you 
 know your husband will want to bring in his friends right 
 here to discuss questions of the day and swap stories. See 
 how your fireplace does more than make your porch 
 warm? It helps to make your home. 
 
 Porch Plants 
 
 No matter where your porch may be — whether a 
 narrow strip above the pavement of a dusty city, or a 
 spacious expanse reaching out into a velvety lawn, you will 
 want plants on it. Don't is a very distracting word, never- 
 theless "don't" have more plants than you can care for. 
 If you have one of the little porches, you may find that 
 even one plant placed in a jar of Delia Robbia ware — that 
 smart new pottery that will impart an importance to even 
 an ordinary plant — may be sufficient. 
 
 Daily Bath Necessary 
 
 If your porch is shaded use foliage plants. Wicker 
 baskets, which can be hung up and thus are out of the way, 
 are attractive. If you use them be sure to water them daily, 
 as they dry out quickly and hence require an extra amount 
 of water. 
 
 Every emergency seems to be taken care of for us by the 
 manufacturers, for you can now purchase plant stands that 
 supply water to the plants by sponges which will hold 
 
 30 
 
Your Porch 
 
 enough for ten days. With these you can be at ease while 
 away on a short trip. 
 
 A Welcoming Tea-Table 
 
 Somewhere on your porch, if it be enclosed, you will 
 want a tea-table with its welcoming presence. You may 
 count yourself lucky that rare old Ben Jonson cannot visit 
 you to request his sixteen cups of tea, but there are all the 
 tea drinking folks of your own family and the new family 
 added to your life, besides your cherished friends who will 
 willingly decide that you are prepared for any culinary 
 task, provided you can and do serve a delectable cup 
 of tea. 
 
 Trays and Teacups 
 
 The basic requirement for setting this satisfying feast 
 is a light tea-table or tea-wagon. It is restful just to sit 
 quietly in your chair and have this cup of cheer come to 
 you. One of the little drop-leaf tables will not take up 
 much room when you are not using it and will do nicely 
 for serving. If your table should have drawers you will 
 find these convenient to tuck away napkins and serving 
 cloths. The tray you use may be such as suits your purse. 
 We hope you have one of gorgeous Sheffield, but why be 
 discouraged if you have not? A tray of painted tin, with 
 its border painted to harmonize with your teacups, is 
 always good taste. As to china, maybe you have some tea- 
 cups among your wedding gifts that will give you the right 
 service or, better still, you may have inherited some pedi- 
 greed china. If you are going out to buy, look at the pink 
 
 31 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 lustre or the lovely Sedji green that comes to us from 
 Japan, before you decide on any other. Frankly though, 
 for general wear and tear the Sedji green, while lovely, is 
 apt to chip. 
 
 You Want a Pewter Teapot 
 
 Let us make a wish for you — that you may have a 
 pewter teapot. If you are going to buy one, hunt up some 
 antique shop and in some dusty, neglected corner you may 
 find this jewel. Incidentally, don't ask the price of it as 
 soon as you enter the shop. The more carelessly and indif- 
 ferently you approach the price question, the more change 
 you are likely to have in your purse when you have made 
 your purchase. Antique shops as a rule do not adopt the 
 one-price method. 
 
 In the summer your iced tea set will of course be of 
 crystal. Sometimes try adding orange juice to the tea and 
 see what a delicious drink it is. 
 
 There is much more to tea drinking than just drinking 
 tea. The delightful intimacy of an afternoon over teacups 
 will often seal your social standing with your visitors. 
 
 Refreshing Drinks 
 
 Here are some drinks to serve to favored callers while 
 you are chatting together on your porch. With a little 
 planning and not much work you can make delicious, 
 refreshing beverages and have them ready to serve to your 
 guests, quickly and easily. 
 
 Keep stored in your refrigerator, a jar of sugar syrup, 
 a bottle of grape juice, a bottle of ginger ale, some sprigs 
 
 32 
 
Your Porch 
 
 of mint, and some oranges and lemons. Sugar syrup is 
 easily made by boiling together three cups of granulated 
 sugar and one cup of water. Boil only one minute — 
 no more, no less. This syrup, when chilled, will keep 
 indefinitely and sweetens drinks more satisfactorily and 
 economically than loose sugar, which you know takes time 
 to dissolve. 
 
 Hints on Flavoring 
 
 Should you use tea as a foundation for your drinks, 
 make it fresh. Steep the tea and while warm pour it in 
 the serving glasses over cracked ice, if you are serving iced 
 tea. Fresh tea added to fruit juices will be so disguised 
 that one not caring for tea will drink your drink and surely 
 ask for more. Tea, orange juice, sugar syrup, and a few 
 sticks of cinnamon or a few whole cloves make a different 
 and delicious drink. Another delicious drink is made from 
 equal parts of lemonade and ginger ale. Just before 
 serving add a sprig of mint to each glass. This drink is 
 suggestive of the famous mint julep of fragrant memory. 
 
 A Satisfying Decoction 
 
 If you chop half a pound of Canton ginger and add to 
 it a cupful of sugar and boil in a quart of water for fifteen 
 minutes, then strain and add to it a cupful of lemon juice 
 and serve it on cracked ice, you will have a most satisfying 
 drink. 
 
 You will be thankful ever after if you have a water 
 supply piped to the edge of your porch. To be able to 
 turn a tap and flush the porch floor every morning is a 
 
 33 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 blessing. If your porch has vines and flower boxes it will 
 save a vast amount of labor if an abundant supply of water 
 is ready at hand. By all means, have a porch water supply 
 — and your porch can be kept sweet and clean with a 
 minimum of effort. 
 
 34 
 
"If you would see yourself truly, stand a moment 
 at the door of your living room, for it is your 
 reflection' 
 
Living Room 
 
 WELL-KNOWN authority on interior dec- 
 oration has covered the subject of the 
 living room in one sentence: "Place 
 the four walls of your living room only 
 lich is useful, beautiful and suitable to the 
 people who will use the room." In other words, 
 let your living room reflect your spiritual, men- 
 tal and physical activities. 
 The living room is a modern innovation. It appeared 
 about the time apartment houses began to reach skyward 
 and parlors to make their exit. To be quite literal, the 
 living room is a cross between the parlor and the family 
 sitting room of a decade ago. 
 
 37 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 There is unique joy in choosing the furniture for this 
 room because, if wisely chosen, each piece will in time 
 develop into an heirloom. Never be in a hurry to finish 
 your living room. If you purchase all its necessary ap- 
 pointments at one time, you will later regret it. There is 
 real pleasure in a piece of furniture selected to fill some 
 particular need that has been carefully considered in rela- 
 tion to its harmony with all the other furniture in the room. 
 This is especially true if it has been wished for, saved for 
 and finally paid for. Then its arrival will be like that of 
 a friend. ^^^^^ jj^^^^ Principles 
 
 The three principles of balance, harmony and rhythm, 
 that every artist applies to a picture, are applicable to the 
 plans of a room. Try to learn their meaning. You will 
 find they are of real value in arranging not only your 
 living room but every room in your house. 
 
 Speaking of floors is perhaps prosaic, but as they are 
 the groundwork upon which we build our room, they are 
 worthy of much consideration. A floor should be unob- 
 trusive. Usually it should be a few tones darker than the 
 woodwork of the room. 
 
 Consider Your Floors 
 The usual saflfron-colored, so-called hardwood floors 
 are an abomination to one with the soul of an artist. 
 Landlords may sell their houses on the reputation 
 of these very floors, but people with good taste 
 immediately change them. Their very color unfits them 
 for a satisfactory development of any color scheme of 
 which they are a part. 
 
 38 
 
Your Living Room 
 
 Painted floors are attractive, especially if two shades 
 darker than the rest of the woodwork. If your floors are 
 old, paint them first with floor lac, or any good filler. 
 Before applying this priming coat fill the cracks with 
 putty, and allow two days for drying. Then apply two 
 coats of any reliable waterproof varnish. This will make a 
 floor that is easily cleaned. If you prefer a wax finish, use 
 only one coat of varnish and two coats of floor wax, which 
 is best applied with a weighted brush. 
 
 Waxed floors are more beautiful than varnished floors 
 but they require more time expended on their daily care, 
 if you would keep them beautiful. 
 
 Walls and Ceilings 
 
 Well-toned woodwork, walls and ceilings are a neces- 
 sity in good decorating. Should your new home be in 
 rooms planned only to yield a certain number of dollars 
 to the purse of your landlord each month, change them. 
 Landlords are quite adaptable to change, provided the 
 expense connected with the suggested change is borne by 
 the tenant. Much of the work, such as painting floors and 
 woodwork, you can do yourself. If your husband has the 
 time to help you, so much the better. 
 
 The Color Scheme 
 
 Decorate your living room in a color adapted to its 
 use. If you prefer one tone, let each tint or shade melt into 
 the other. If contrasting colors be used, be careful to 
 choose those that combine well. Dark woodwork and light 
 walls seldom are pleasing. Should your room be dark, as 
 
 39 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 is the way of many city rooms, make your walls fairly light 
 and paint the woodwork white or ivory. This color scheme 
 is especially suitable for a colonial living room. 
 
 If Your Rooms Be Small 
 
 It is wise, if your rooms be small, to make each room or 
 hall opening off the living room the same color, or at least 
 a tint or shade of that color. This method has a tendency 
 to add to the size of the main room. The woodwork and 
 walls should harmonize and the ceilings be slightly 
 lighter. 
 
 If you are planning to be your own decorator, it is well 
 before purchasing paint to get a painter to mix some 
 samples for you. These can readily be applied to a smooth 
 piece of wood. When you have an effect that satisfies you, 
 take it to the store from which you expect to purchase the 
 covering for your walls. Having an exact sample of paint 
 will make it easy for you to select a paper that will result 
 in a pleasing harmony. Take the same piece of painted 
 wood and samples of the wall-paper you have chosen with 
 you when you make a tour of the shops in quest of mate- 
 rials for draperies. This will save future disappointment 
 and you will have a definite knowledge of expense before 
 you begin. 
 
 For Low-Ceilinged Rooms 
 
 Should the ceilings of your room be low, additional 
 height may seemingly be attained by placing the picture 
 molding at the very top of the side walls, or should the 
 ceilings be too high you may seemingly lower this effect 
 
 40 
 
Your Living Room 
 
 by bringing the ceiling paper down over the side walls to 
 the depth of two, or even more, feet. The picture molding 
 will cover where the papers meet. 
 
 Tones of cream, yellow, gray, brown or green are all 
 suitable for the living room. Cream and yellow are adapt- 
 able for rooms facing the north. Green and gray are restful 
 and happy colors for rooms that are flooded with sunlight. 
 
 In Tones of Green 
 
 An extremely livable room, and one of which you are 
 not likely to tire, has its standing woodwork enameled in 
 green, its walls painted or papered in plain green felt 
 paper and its ceiling done in a trifle lighter tone. Mul- 
 berry hangings are harmonious in such a room. Gray- 
 green is the best of all greens for wall covering, as it is the 
 only green that is rarely affected by the sun. If it should 
 fade it will not develop into an ugly yellow-green, as do 
 most greens. 
 
 For a dark room let us suggest soft yellow for the walls. 
 You will rejoice when you see the effect of sunlight you 
 will have thus created. 
 
 Plain Paper Is Best 
 
 Plain papers are preferable to the figured ones. If you 
 have some knowledge of design you might find an attrac- 
 tive figured wall covering but, even so, unless your living 
 room is large, it will not be suitable. Plain papers are un- 
 obtrusive and you never tire of them. They always form a 
 pleasing background for pictures. Good ingrain, burlap, 
 felt and oatmeal papers are always in good taste, 
 
 41 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 Washable wall paints are now on the market that are 
 inexpensive and so easily manipulated that you can apply 
 them yourself. Wood paneled walls are beautiful, espe- 
 cially in the living room, but, unfortunately, they are cost- 
 ly. Even the cheaper woods, which look well when paint- 
 ed, require the services of a skilled artisan to finish them, 
 so unless you own your home they are hardly advisable. 
 
 The Curtain Problem 
 
 Much of the success of your living room will depend 
 on your windows and their hangings. They are a domi- 
 nant factor in creating a real home atmosphere. Until you 
 have hung your curtains your room will be bleak and 
 drear. 
 
 A curtain has three purposes: First, to assure privacy; 
 second, to soften the light; third, to lend definite beauty 
 to a room. One interior decorator likens a room to a pic- 
 ture. The furniture being most prominent, is the fore- 
 ground, the curtains the middle distance, and the walls and 
 ceilings the background. If the rules of harmony, balance 
 and rhythm are observed there is complete continuity, with 
 the curtains acting as the connecting link between walls 
 and furniture. Curtains lend the final note of grace and 
 beauty to the picture. 
 
 Hangings for Narrow Windows 
 
 You can seemingly alter the architectural structure of 
 a room with curtains, or even change the effect of the win- 
 dows. For example, should your windows be too narrow, 
 place the hangings beyond the edge of the window open- 
 
 42 
 
Your Living Room 
 
 ing, thus completely covering the woodwork. This is a 
 practical method of covering unsightly woodwork. Usu- 
 ally it is unwise to cover the woodwork, as it is necessary 
 to keep the window part of the architecture of the room. 
 
 Value of Side Drapes 
 
 Should your ceiling be too low, you may add to its ap- 
 parent height by hanging the side drapes in straight lines 
 and making them of sufficient length to reach two feet be- 
 low the window sill. The width of side drapes depends on 
 the quality of the fabric used. Heavy materials may be 
 eighteen inches in width. Softer materials will look better 
 to be wider. A valance has a tendency to broaden the ap- 
 pearance of a window. 
 
 In a living room it is rarely necessary to use roller 
 shades. They have no decorative value and tend to keep 
 out the sunshine which is necessary to a healthy existence. 
 Glooms and germs thrive in shade; better faded furniture 
 than a family of invalids. Should you desire privacy, hang 
 your side drapes on a separate rod, attaching the tops of 
 the curtains to the rod with rings. On the upper middle 
 edge of each drop sew a cord. Continue this cord through 
 the rings of the opposite curtain and let it hang down the 
 outer edge. To its end attach a tassel. Arrange a similar 
 cord to the other curtain. With the aid of these cords you 
 can draw your curtains together at night. 
 
 Avoid the Sash Curtain 
 
 Never use what is commonly known as sash curtains. 
 They always detract from any room, except the kitchen. 
 
 43 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 Here they may be at times a necessary evil. Let the cur- 
 tains hang in straight lines. Make their lower hem to 
 reach the window sill, never hang below. All glass cur- 
 tains should be divided in the middle. They are more at- 
 tractive so fashioned and more easily laundered. Make 
 them one and one-half the width of the window. This will 
 give the desired fullness. Use two-inch hems, plain or 
 hemstitched. 
 
 As to Curtain Rods 
 
 Hang glass curtains on the most inconspicuous of 
 white enameled metal rods. White spiral metal rods 
 are also practical. Hang the side drapes from wooden 
 rods, painted or finished to match the woodwork of the 
 room. 
 
 Before purchasing materials for curtains, look in two 
 places: first, the upholstery department, and second, the 
 dress goods department. Frequently you can find what 
 you want in the latter place, where it will cost much less. 
 
 Make Your Own Hangings 
 
 Should you be a bride with a limited purse, make your 
 curtains. You will save at least one-third the price of 
 ready-made ones. Ecru or white net voile, marquisette, 
 scrim or figured grenadine each will make soft, graceful 
 glass curtains, quite suitable for even the most pretentious 
 living room. For side drapes your choice will, of course, 
 depend on your furnishings. English glazed chintz, do- 
 mestic or imported linens, woolen reps and cretonnes all 
 are attractive. Velours and tapestries are beautiful but 
 costly. 
 
 44 
 
Your Living Room 
 
 Should you have little money and require curtains, let 
 us suggest for side drapes a material well worthy of any 
 time you may expend on it — plain unbleached muslin. 
 Before laughing at the idea, think of the interesting weave 
 of this plebeian muslin. Isn't it delightfully uneven? All 
 that is necessary is a package of dye and you can with little 
 efifort make it match the dominant note of any color 
 scheme. Such curtains have real artistic worth. They will 
 be a charming addition to any living room. Never use fig- 
 ured draperies with figured walls. Always adhere to the 
 rule of plain walls and figured draperies, or plain mate- 
 rials and figured walls. 
 
 Interesting Floor Coverings 
 
 Shall it be rugs or carpets? A few years ago we should 
 unhesitatingly have answered, rugs. Now the vacuum 
 cleaner makes it possible to answer, either. Both have cer- 
 tain advantages to recommend them. Whichever your 
 choice may be, when selecting a covering for your living 
 room, keep in mind three things — durability, design and 
 color. You are selecting the groundwork upon which to 
 build your room. The dominant note of color of a rug 
 may suggest the color scheme upon which you develop 
 your room. The quietest floors, those in tones that blend 
 with the walls, are the most satisfying. They are the kind 
 that you rarely notice, but the kind with which you will 
 enjoy living. Plain walls and figured floor coverings, or 
 vice versa, are always in good taste. 
 
 Do not lament if you cannot have a Persian rug in 
 your new home. Be content with a domestic one, for 
 
 45 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 should your home be simply and modestly furnished, such 
 a rug would prove a painful contrast. Oriental rugs, while 
 beautiful and fascinating, frequently mar the harmony of 
 a room. Some of them have intense coloring, so intense, in 
 fact, that would you keep the proper tone balance, you 
 would have to change your entire color scheme. 
 
 The Choice of Rugs 
 
 Never select a rug of vivid hue. Such a rug seemingly 
 rises up to meet you and is never restful. Plain Wilton 
 rugs will stand a great deal of wear and are attractive. 
 Chenille mohair rugs, woven after the weave of the hand 
 tufted rugs of Scotland, are made of fine wool and are well 
 worthy of a place in any room. Scotch rugs made of wool 
 are reversible and unusually artistic in design or, more 
 frequently, lack of design, as the plain ones predominate 
 and are the most attractive. It is well to search thoroughly 
 for a floor covering for so important a room as the living 
 room. Take time to think over what you have seen and 
 compare qualities, designs and prices. You know you live 
 with a carpet more than a few months, frequently more 
 than a few years. 
 
 Pleasing Color Schemes 
 
 If you are a girl with an instinctive color sense, all will 
 be well, but should you not have this sense, you can learn. 
 There is no hard and fast rule to guide you in the number 
 of colors to use in your living room. Of course, the less 
 you know about color, the fewer you can combine. Three 
 colors make an interesting room and are the safest number 
 
 46 
 
Your Living Room 
 
 for an amateur to handle. The following three schemes 
 all are attractive, when properly developed: 
 
 The first is a gray and mulberry combination. Use pale 
 gray for your standing woodwork, a trifle lighter gray for 
 the walls and ceilings, a plain dark gray rug, and some 
 roomy willow chairs painted to match the woodwork, and 
 a plain mulberry covered sofa and fireside chair. With 
 these use figured mulberry hangings, preferably a design 
 with an accent of black. Brass candlesticks will be neces- 
 sary to introduce a note of gold, and a piece or two of pot- 
 tery of darker hue than the hangings will complete the 
 effect. A room so decorated will be both restful and 
 cheerful. 
 
 Blue, Yellow and Red 
 
 The second color scheme is that ever popular decora- 
 tive trio, blue, yellow and red. Of course, the colors must 
 be modified. French blue, old gold and maroon will be 
 attractive. A dash of reddish purple, possibly a bowl of 
 purple morning-glories or violets, will be charming in 
 such an environment. 
 
 As a third suggestion you may try tan and old gold 
 with a note of blue or green. Should you choose blue, a 
 bowl of scarlet flowers would lend a merry touch of red, 
 but if you select green, leave out the red. 
 
 These combinations are suitable for any sized room 
 and can be developed from simple or elaborate materials, 
 depending on your purse. 
 
 A lamp, candlestick, or wall fixture must be beautiful 
 in itself to be really successful. The soft glow of night 
 
 47 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 makes everything more beautiful, but the real test of a 
 lamp is its effect in bright sunlight. 
 
 Today, even in the country, electricity is not only pos- 
 sible but practical. Electric w^ires are unobtrusive and can 
 be carried through the smallest hole in a jar or vase, so 
 there is really no excuse for a lack of reading lights. 
 
 The Living Room Lights 
 
 In arranging lights it is well to know that if your room 
 is decorated in dark colors, the light will be more readily 
 absorbed than if decorated in light colors. This fact must 
 guide you in placing your lighting fixtures. Side brackets 
 are practical and even the least expensive are usually well 
 designed. The chandelier found in the center of the aver- 
 age living room, is seldom a thing of beauty. If you have 
 a landlord, use your persuasive powers and ask him to re- 
 move it. Your side fixtures and a lamp or two will be suf- 
 ficient. There will be many occasions when the fire glow 
 and the candles will give all the light necessary. 
 
 Home-Made Lamps 
 
 Lamps are costly as lamps, but pottery jars which can 
 be easily converted into lamps are not prohibitive in price. 
 Hunt through the shops for a one-tone pottery vase — 
 orange or mulberry ones are beautiful. If your purse per- 
 mits, crackle ware always is desirable. A really worth- 
 while lamp can be made from a stone pickle crock, such 
 as you will likely find in your mother's cellar. All that is 
 necessary to convert this old gray jar into a really attractive 
 lamp, is to place a few daubs of oil paint upon its surface. 
 
 48 
 
Your Living Room 
 
 Squeeze small portions of paint from the tube, here and 
 there over the jar, and with the tip of your finger rub the 
 paint into its surface. Use a rotary motion and you will get 
 an unusual color effect. You can use three tones of the 
 same color, or tones of contrasting color. When you have 
 finished place the jar in some closet, as far as possible re- 
 moved from dust. It will take it at least ten days to dry, 
 but when you bring it forth you will be surprised at its 
 sheer beauty. Such a jar will make a beautiful base for a 
 lamp. 
 
 Inexpensive Shades 
 
 You can easily make a shirred silk shade, finishing 
 the edge with guimpe or fringe. Or you can purchase or 
 paint a parchment shade. A plain oil parchment shade is 
 attractive when finished with black and gold guimpe. 
 
 Should you feel that this shade requires an extra deco- 
 ration, draw a parallel band one-half inch wide about the 
 top and bottom, and paint this with black water-proof ink. 
 
 Floor lamps, when designed on graceful lines, are at- 
 tractive. When of proper height they are useful as read- 
 ing lamps. Be careful in selecting floor lamps to choose a 
 conservative design, as so many of these lamps are too or- 
 nate, especially the shades. 
 
 Choice of Furniture 
 
 Did you ever think just what you would want in your 
 living room if cost did not enter into the plan? If so, would 
 these things, could you have them, be truly suitable for the 
 living room of your new home? Probably not. When the 
 
 49 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 family income grows larger and your home becomes more 
 pretentious, they will be in keeping, but now in your first 
 living room choose only things that are suitable. Those 
 other things will come one at a time as your income makes 
 them possible. Even now buy slowly, with the idea of com- 
 fort first and always. 
 
 Get big, welcoming chairs and a long sofa, a table, and, 
 if possible, a bench, with perhaps a picture, some candle- 
 sticks and a place to write, a clock and some pottery. These 
 will be all. 
 
 Always beware of sets. Individual pieces, when 
 chosen with care, will give you daily satisfaction. 
 
 Should you have a piano, place it so that it does not 
 dominate the room. Put the sofa near the fire and beside 
 the sofa, usually at one end, a small table for a lamp, or a 
 tea tray or a bowl of flowers. 
 
 Selecting Your Table 
 
 Should your room be large, a table designed in the 
 English refectory style will be attractive. If not, a gate-leg 
 table will be what you will need. A large, roomy, winged 
 fireside chair and a willow chair or two, painted to har- 
 monize with the woodwork, should be cushioned with the 
 same material as the draperies. Some low open shelves, 
 built along the wall and finished like the rest of the wood- 
 work, will be necessary. Open shelves are comfortable and 
 also practical in these days of vacuum cleaners and their 
 contents give an added note of color to a room, as well as 
 friendly greeting. Later you may add a highboy and the 
 willow chairs can be transferred to your summer camp 
 
 50 
 
Your Living Room 
 
 and the plain writing table of your first room be supplant- 
 ed by a real Chippendale desk. But aim to keep your first 
 room simple, A growing fern or a pot of geraniums is 
 cheerful and friendly. 
 
 The Pictures Must Be Good 
 
 Among your wedding gifts there probably will be pic- 
 tures. Frequently they have been selected by a relative or 
 friend, or perhaps some enterprising salesman, with little 
 knowledge of art. If you are sensible you will place all 
 art monstrosities you receive in your guest room and when 
 a guest arrives other than the donor you can remove them 
 to some closet. Never mar the walls of your living room 
 with them, for the lack of culture and refinement in a 
 home is more often revealed by a poor choice of pictures 
 than in any other way. 
 
 If your new home does not boast of a library and you 
 are the possessor of an ancestral portrait or two, you simply 
 must hang them in your living room. Photographs should 
 never be placed in so public a place. The casual caller is 
 not interested in them and they have no artistic value to 
 recommend them. 
 
 Use Care in Hanging 
 
 Etchings, photogravures and sepia prints are appropri- 
 ate in a living room. Large pictures require large wall 
 spaces. Never hang a small picture near a large one ; rather 
 group small pictures together. In hanging pictures, color 
 should be kept in mind. It makes a more pleasing efifect to 
 group sepia tints together. This same rule applies to water 
 
 51 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 colors. For example, a water color would not be well 
 placed if hung in close proximity to a sepia tint and an en- 
 graving, but a group of three water colors would be at- 
 tractive. You must also consider light when you hang 
 pictures. This is especially necessary when placing paint- 
 ings done in oil. 
 
 Joy in Jap Prints 
 
 Japanese prints are beginning to be appreciated by 
 other folk than artists. Perhaps it is because we are learn- 
 ing more about them that we care so much. They seem 
 surrounded by an atmosphere of mystery that appeals to 
 each of us in a different way. These prints are very useful 
 in introducing a note of color in a room. It adds to the 
 appearance of a group to have the frames alike. Generally 
 speaking, the frame should match the darkest tone in the 
 picture. Mats are rarely necessary. The width of the 
 frame depends on the subject of the picture. If it be big 
 and bold, such as a powerful body of water, a number of 
 trees or a mountain, then it will be necessary to use a wide 
 substantial frame, but should it be a Japanese print of a 
 moon and a bird, make the frame a mere boundary line. 
 
 Level with the Eye 
 
 A safe rule to follow in hanging pictures is to keep 
 them on a level with the eye, so they may be inspected with 
 comfort. Heavy pictures should be suspended from a 
 molding and then by two parallel lines. Silk cords to 
 match the wall covering are best suited for this purpose. 
 
 52 
 
Your Living Room 
 
 Wire can be used but it should be painted the same color 
 as the wall. 
 
 Pictures are not so much a feature of good decoration 
 as they were a few years ago. They have been carried to 
 excess. We have learned to realize the beauty of plain 
 walls. This does not mean that we care less for real works 
 of art but it means we care less for the mediocre. 
 
 Should you be the happy possessor of a piece of tapes- 
 try, hang it above a hand-carved Italian treasure chest and 
 should you also have a polychrome torcher, place it near 
 the chest. Such a combination will make a most beautiful 
 unit of form. 
 
 Clocks as Companions 
 
 An open fire and a ticking clock lend personality and 
 life to any room. A clock is companionable and it seem- 
 ingly enters into all our moods and tenses. If we be merry, 
 it cheerfully notes each passing minute, or if we be in quiet 
 mood, its dreamy tick-tock keeps pace with our thoughts. 
 Clocks have ever held the attention of both artist and poet. 
 
 A clock should have a definite environment. The 
 colonial clock requires a colonial room. What could be 
 more pleasing than an old mahogany banjo clock or a 
 modern reproduction in polychrome or gilt, hung above a 
 mahogany console table on which rests two mahogany or 
 brass candlesticks? 
 
 The Temperamental Clock 
 
 A French clock, with its plain glass sides, is one of 
 which we never tire, but like the people who designed it, 
 
 53 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 it is temperamental, and utterly refuses to go if disturbed 
 or set upon a shelf that is not absolutely level. 
 
 We hope that some day you will have a grandfather's 
 clock — not a huge modern reproduction, but rather one 
 fashioned after the graceful lines of the real clocks of the 
 Revolutionary period and also may you have a stairway 
 in keeping with such a treasure. 
 
 Never hang a wall clock too high ; place it where you 
 can look it squarely in the face. 
 
 54 
 
"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a 
 stalled ox and hatred therewith" 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 Your Dining Room 
 OUR DINING ROOM should not be a room set apart, 
 
 I which you enter three times each day to partake of 
 food. Should your home be a bungalow, your din- 
 ing room may be a corner of your living room, for in such 
 a case one large room will be more satisfying than the 
 same space divided into two rooms of meagre size. Or, if 
 you live high up in some city apartment, you may have a 
 combination kitchenette and breakfast room, which, if it 
 be cheerful, will be quite sufficient. 
 
 Again, you may have a huge dining room in some far- 
 away farm, where you eat your meals to the accompani- 
 ment of the birds, and from the windows gaze out over the 
 summer hills. 
 
 57 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 Wherever your room may be, light toned walls, flow- 
 ers and sunshine are more important than carved oak 
 beams, storied paintings, or furniture that has come down 
 through several generations. 
 
 Two Things to Consider 
 
 Two things must be considered when you plan a dining 
 room — light and ventilation. If you would have it beau- 
 tiful, keep your dining room simple. There is a certain 
 formality about this room that must be retained. A table 
 and chairs it must have, consoles or cupboards may prove 
 welcome additions, but as soon as you place within its four 
 walls pictures and an endless variety of cut glass and china, 
 it will lose its simplicity and thus will vanish its charm. 
 
 If you keep it orderly and the furniture so placed that 
 you do not break the laws of balance, and its walls are un- 
 adorned, and your silver and glass reside on shelves of 
 your cupboard, this room though modestly furnished will 
 be dignified and beautiful. Here space will count for 
 much. In most rooms sets are to be avoided, but not so in 
 the dining room. There is much decorative value in a pair 
 of candlesticks, a pair of porcelain jars, or a pair of side 
 tables. 
 
 A Decorator's Suggestion 
 
 One well-known decorator suggests drawing imaginary 
 lines from corner to corner of your dining room, and at the 
 intersection of these diagonal lines place your table. 
 Should your room have a long, low window across one 
 wall, place consoles against the opposite wall. This ar- 
 
 S8 
 
Your Dining Room 
 
 rangement preserves the balance. Should there be no long, 
 low window, but a fireplace with a mirror above, place the 
 console against the opposite wall. This law of balance is 
 important. 
 
 The Breakfast Nook 
 
 A breakfast nook in lieu of a dining hall is rather far 
 removed but most attractive on a winter morning! Hot 
 cakes on the electric griddle made while you eat! Many 
 small apartments consist of a living room, bedroom, kitch- 
 enette and bath. This means a breakfast nook — small, 
 but adequate. All that is necessary are two wooden 
 benches, preferably with high backs, and ends fashioned 
 like church pews. These are usually placed on either side 
 of a window. These seats are about five feet long. Between 
 the seats is placed the table. It may be a plain pine table 
 or an old-fashioned ironing board table, which later on, 
 when the little house materializes, can be used as a most 
 attractive settle for porch or hall. Paint the three pieces 
 of furniture that comprise this breakfast nook a deep 
 cream, use blue and white Japanese runners, which are 
 easily laundered, and undecorated cream-colored lustre 
 ware, and you will have a most attractive though diminu- 
 tive dining room. You will have sufficient room for an 
 electric grill and percolator, which will mean that you 
 can not only eat, but cook your food, and entertain a guest 
 or two. 
 
 A Practical Combination 
 
 The combination dining room and living room is both 
 simple and practical. All that is necessary is to have two 
 
 59 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 consoles that can be placed together to form a large table 
 when in use and four comfortable, straight-back chairs, 
 that when not on dining room service will lend a bide-a- 
 while air to your living room, and a tea wagon. Of course, 
 all dishes and, in fact, anything suggestive of meals, must 
 be kept in your kitchen or pantry. The tables can be placed 
 against the wall when not in use and may be decorated 
 with a bowl of flowers or a growing plant. 
 
 The Stately Dining Room 
 
 If you have some dining room pieces of colonial wal- 
 nut or mahogany, you should be happy in its possession. 
 About even one piece of such furniture you can build a 
 beautiful room. Paper your walls with a colonial landscape 
 design. Such a paper gives a room an atmosphere of the 
 days of long ago. It is quaint and, because of its color, 
 cheerful. You will not tire of such a design. Paint the 
 woodwork cream or white, curtain the windows in white 
 voile hung in straight folds against the glass. Side drapes 
 will be unnecessary, but should you feel you must have 
 them, make them of linen of some plain color. Choose 
 linen of a weave resembling the hand woven kind of colo- 
 nial times. 
 
 Colonial Cupboards Are Good 
 
 Build, if possible, two colonial cupboards. Consult 
 your architect about their arrangements; he will under- 
 stand placing them so that they become a part of the room. 
 Paint them to match the rest of the woodwork. An open 
 fire will lend a touch of color, and shed a glow of warmth. 
 
 60 
 
Your Dining Room 
 
 Over the fireplace hang a gold framed colonial mirror, 
 and on the mantel shelf place a china dog in the center, 
 with a candlestick of brass on either end. On the floor 
 place a circular plaited rug, which may be of cotton or 
 silk. In such an atmosphere your furniture will be in its 
 proper environment and you will have a room that sat- 
 isfies. 
 
 The Joy of China 
 
 China will be one of your most prized possessions. Its 
 selection will be largely a matter of individual taste and 
 the size of your purse. For years the French manufac- 
 tured the most coveted of all china and even now, while we 
 have many newer chinas that the artists are favoring, the 
 French china retains its popularity. 
 
 The English furnaces are producing fascinating por- 
 celains. The quality of these new varieties resembles the 
 older English bone china. Much of the English china has 
 a deep cream background, upon which are strewn sprigs 
 of the quaintest posies, or perhaps an irresistible pheasant 
 will spread his wings across each plate. The colors of this 
 china are true and the glaze is unusually good and we are 
 assured that it does not chip. 
 
 Charming and Individual 
 
 There is much that is individual and charming about 
 the English china. Many of the plates are of octagon 
 design. The cups are squatty, and some of them also have 
 eight sides. Others have tall graceful handles reaching 
 up above the cups. And the pitchers are a real joy. 
 
 In purchasing your first china do not be misled by the 
 
 6i 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 attractive advertisements of the hundred-piece set. Much 
 of such a set you would never use. Rather purchase by 
 courses from stock patterns. Eight is usually a sufficient 
 quantity but if you must keep it in a kitchenette, four may 
 be all you will require. Such a number will, however, 
 limit you to only two guests at one time. 
 
 When you are browsing about the china departments, 
 do look at the lustre china. It is literally radiant. It can be 
 had in almost any color. The yellow and turquoise blue 
 are both beautiful. This china will be just what you want 
 if you have a breakfast room or for your tea-table, and it 
 is inexpensive. 
 
 The Cup That Cheers 
 
 Everybody cannot make a cup of tea; but the English 
 women! They have the secret 1 They love to tell us, "Care 
 is the price of a good cup of tea." 
 
 Never keep the tea in an open container, rather keep 
 it in a glass or china vessel after opening it. An old Eng- 
 lish saying is, "Tea breweth best in a brown teapot." 
 
 Bear in mind that water for tea must be boiled quickly, 
 never stewed; a mere detail but important. Water is boil- 
 ing when the entire surface of the kettle is covered with 
 bubbles, not just one side. Tea must never boil; it should 
 steep for three minutes, then be served very hot. 
 
 The Useful Tea Cozy 
 
 Be sure to make a tea cozy, with which to cover your 
 teapot when it stands on your tea carriage ready to be 
 served. Daintiness is the keynote of all tea cozies, so make 
 
 62 
 
Your Dining Room 
 
 the outside cover one that can be laundered. The founda- 
 tion may be of lamb's wool or silk to match the color of 
 your china and the covering of filet lace or swiss. Any ma- 
 terial of sufficient sheerness to reveal the underlying color 
 will do. 
 
 Hot Chocolate 
 
 Hot chocolate is always right for a cold night. 
 
 This needn't be an expensive sort of refreshment. 
 Whipped cream is nice, but isn't a necessary luxury. There 
 is an easier way, and not nearly so expensive. 
 
 Use milk in place of cream in your chocolate or cocoa, 
 and just before removing it from the fire, beat it vigorously 
 with an egg beater. The efifect will be almost the same as 
 if you had used whipped cream. If you care to serve small 
 cakes with your hot chocolate, you can spend on them the 
 pennies you saved on the cream. Oatmeal cookies are al- 
 ways liked. 
 
 OATMEAL MACAROONS 
 
 I egg 2 cups rolled oats 
 
 ^ cup sugar 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 
 
 I tablespoonful butter 34 cup syrup 
 
 y2 teaspoonful salt i teaspoonful lemon extract 
 
 Beat sugar with melted butter, add well beaten egg yolk, syrup, oat- 
 meal and salt. Add to this well beaten white of egg, lemon extract, and 
 baking powder. Mix well and drop one-half teaspoonful for each maca- 
 roon, in well greased pan. Bake about ten minutes, and let cool in pan 
 before removing. 
 
 This recipe is one of the culinary trophies taught us 
 during war times, but is good enough for any time. 
 
 63 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 You will enjoy a dining room in the open. Fix up your 
 side or back porch, for the open-air dining room must be 
 in close proximity to the kitchen. Its furnishings should 
 be few and simple. Cover the floor with an inlaid lino- 
 leum of a large black-and-white tile effect. Use any round 
 table and paint it a soft gray. Also paint four ladder-back 
 straight chairs the same color. These chairs can be pur- 
 chased unfinished among porch furniture. On each round 
 of the ladder-back paint a nosegay. With this furniture 
 use plain linen doilies or runners, decorated with the same 
 design of nosegay done in cross-stitch. Use china deco- 
 rated with small sprigs of flowers. As a centre piece a low 
 bowl of field daisies or larkspur will be lovely. Such a 
 room, if framed in wistaria or climbing roses, will be irre- 
 sistible. 
 
 64 
 
"Don't turn out no sick cookin as is first aid to 
 de undertaker' 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Polly. Put the Kettle On 
 
 I^F YOU have dreamed of a blue and white kitchen, 
 B or a reproduction of a Dutch one, then plan a little 
 
 J^ and hunt through the household departments of 
 the stores before you buy a single thing. 
 
 The first requisite of an ideal kitchen is sunshine. If 
 your kitchen is dark and tucked up under the eaves of a 
 city apartment, you can at least make it bright. If you are 
 a bride with many ideas and few dollars, do not be discour- 
 aged. Never buy makeshifts; rather do without at first 
 and practice "watchful waiting." Haunt sales and read 
 advertisements. 
 
 One thing we solemnly advise — insist on an inlaid 
 linoleum to cover the entire kitchen floor. The patterns 
 that have been designed to represent Dutch tiles are a good 
 
 67 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 choice. If your kitchen has a northern exposure or is 
 shaded by a near-by building, as is often the way of city 
 kitchens, then you must introduce your notes of sunshine. 
 A white and yellow color scheme is excellent. Try cream 
 walls and woodwork, yellow and white tiled linoleum, and 
 the necessary furniture painted yellow and white, with 
 trimmings of burnt orange. 
 
 Strict Utility Here 
 
 Select only furniture that is absolutely necessary. An 
 easy chair, rockerless, of course, and a stool the exact 
 height to fit an enameled top table, will be sufficient seat- 
 ing capacity for you. A kitchen cabinet is indispensable. 
 
 Keep time in mind when you plan your kitchen. Spell 
 it with capital letters, for remember time saved in the 
 kitchen means leisure to be spent in the garden and living 
 room. One phrase that might almost be called a kitchen 
 slogan is, "Two shelves for every kitchen." On one is a 
 clock and clock only, and on the other will be your cook 
 books and card index of recipes, and the popular novel you 
 will want to read while waiting for the cake to brown. Do 
 not place the clock near the stove, as the steam from the 
 cooking will rust the works of the clock. 
 
 Do It Electrically 
 
 If you would be modern, do it electrically. The writers 
 were in a quandary as to how to place the following sug- 
 gestions, because, as Aunt Hannah said when she was 
 asked how she made her wonderful pound cake, "I'se use 
 a lapful of eggs and an all overishness of butter," and so 
 
 68 
 
Polly, Put the Kettle On 
 
 house furnishings might be described as so many tables, so 
 many chairs, so many dishes and "an all overishness" of 
 electricity. 
 
 The Electric Grill 
 
 Is there a room in the house that is complete without 
 its electric device? Even your boudoir, if you be a straight- 
 haired maiden who would be curly, will have an electric 
 curling iron. Our grandmothers believed that home-keep- 
 ing hearts were happiest and home was where they stayed. 
 We believe that as well as they did, but somehow we 
 don't stay at home waiting for fires to draw and kettles 
 to bubble forth in joyous melody. No, indeed, and yet we 
 pride ourselves in a well-appointed table laden with well- 
 cooked food. With an electric grill we can even prepare 
 an entire meal on the table. We hope every bride that did 
 not have the forethought to pack one of these useful little 
 helps to good housekeeping away in some recess of her 
 hope chest will number one among her wedding presents. 
 
 It Makes for Companionship 
 
 Think what it will mean on some wintry morning not 
 to have to stand waiting and watching the pot that seem- 
 ingly never will boil on the range, while your heart is with 
 the man in the dining room awaiting patiently, as is the 
 way of grooms, his coffee and eggs! With an electric grill 
 the coffee and eggs will be finishing right in your view 
 while you eat your cereal together. Then think how cozy 
 it will be to come home after the play and have some 
 creamed oysters on toast rather than go to the cafe with all 
 the rest of the folks. 
 
 69 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 Aside from all the things you have and do not need, 
 and all the things you long for and do not have, do let us 
 urge you to have and use an oaken plank. It will make pos- 
 sible a w^hole meal on one dish, w^hich means less dish 
 washing and a wealth of fragrant, savory food. Once you 
 acquire the plank habit you will adhere to it with more 
 tenacity than you do to your roasting pan. 
 
 The Right Kind of Plank 
 
 Select a plank eleven inches in diameter. Insist on one 
 with a deep groove that leads to a shallow well at one end 
 in which gathers the most delectable gravy. After using 
 wash the plank with hot soapy water. With care it can 
 easily be kept clean. The longer the plank is in use the 
 better it will seem. The fat will penetrate the innermost 
 recesses of the wood and you will find you will need less 
 and less fat as time goes on. 
 
 Rub a new plank with lard and place it in the oven. 
 When it is smoking hot it is ready for the fish or the steak 
 and vegetables. When one side of the fish or meat is brown 
 remove the plank from the oven, turn the contents, arrange 
 the potatoes or other vegetables about the edge and replace 
 the plank in the oven to complete the cooking. By the time 
 the meat is brown the vegetables will be tender and appe- 
 
 ^^^^"S- Pressure Cooking 
 
 A whole kitchen kettle equipment may be had in one 
 wonderful utensil — a pressure cooker. Think of a kettle 
 that will roast meats in one-third the usual time, cook 
 cereal more palatably in one-third less time or even cook 
 an entire meal! 
 
 70 
 
Polly, Put the Kettle On 
 
 A pressure cooker insures a real saving of time, fuel 
 and food. It is modern and practical. The initial cost 
 may seem considerable, but it will in a short time pay for 
 itself in the reduction it will make possible in fuel bills. 
 
 Such a cooker, being made of aluminum, is easily 
 handled and cleaned and it has no intricate parts to get out 
 of order. It has a safety valve, which insures against all 
 possibility of an explosion. One of these cookers in your 
 kitchen will go a long way in keeping the digestion of 
 your family healthy. 
 
 All for the Kitchen 
 
 There are even fashions in dishpans. Once the popular 
 pan was round and exasperatingly wobbly in the average 
 sink. Now it is oblong and motionless. The new dishpan 
 is a real comfort. It is made of aluminum, is light in 
 weight, and durable. 
 
 Some wise woman has invented stainless steel knives. 
 Think what it will mean to prepare acid grape fruit and 
 not as an aftermath have a seance with the scouring cloth! 
 These knives cost about the same as any other knife of the 
 same grade. 
 
 Purchase a carborundum knife sharpener. They are 
 far superior to a steel and much easier to use. 
 
 Select an aluminum griddle. It will require no greas- 
 ing, will not chip as will a soapstone one, will be light to 
 
 71 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 handle, and easily kept clean. Remember, if you would 
 have your griddle fulfill its capacity for usefulness, to heat 
 it slowly. 
 
 Metallic pan cloths and mops are indispensable and 
 they are just as easy to keep clean as the usual cotton 
 varieties. 
 
 72 
 
"Ken when to spend, and when to spare, 
 And when to buy, and you II neer he hare"' 
 
^ CHAPTER VI 
 
 The Art of Marketing 
 
 (HE WHO makes an art of her housekeeping, recog- 
 nizes the importance of marketing. It is worth 
 while to have your husband content and well; 
 never to have him longing for the table of his home to be 
 as attractive and appetizing as the one at his club or the 
 cafe he patronizes. On your market basket and prepara- 
 tion of food will largely depend the amount of soda mints 
 he will buy. Greasy, fried foods and smiles will not keep 
 company very long. 
 
 To the modern woman, whose housekeeping means 
 partnership, there is great satisfaction in doubling dollars 
 by spending them carefully. Price is not an infallible cri- 
 
 75 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 terion of food. The order we send by telephone is the one 
 for which we generally pay the biggest price. There is a 
 fascination about package goods, but a fancy package usu- 
 ally means less of the product; however, the cleanliness of 
 handling them many times will compensate for the loss in 
 quantity. 
 
 Watch Your Weights 
 
 In marketing it is well to watch weights and measures. 
 It is justice to yourself and to your dealer to occasionally 
 take time to weigh or measure your purchases after you 
 get them home. We ought to be as careful to see that we 
 do not cheat ourselves as that we do not cheat our neigh- 
 bors. 
 
 The thermometer will regulate your buying, for sum- 
 mer and winter foods should differ greatly. If you are to 
 keep your family happy and well, you must study variety. 
 There must be phosphates for bone, and nitrogen for 
 nerves, and carbonates for tissue building, and variety in 
 all for pleasure in the eating and comfort in the digesting. 
 
 A good book on diet will be helpful. One of the newest 
 and best is "Eating to Live Long," by Dr. William Henry 
 Porter. 
 
 Marketing for Meat 
 
 Since meat is fundamentally the backbone of every 
 dinner, it is perhaps of paramount importance. The very 
 best, even if not the most pleasant way, to go meat market- 
 ing, is to go yourself to the meat market and learn. Here 
 are some tested and proven suggestions. 
 
 Good beef has a fine grain, is firm, and the fat is light 
 
 76 
 
The Art of Marketing 
 
 creamy in color. Never buy beef with deep yellow fat. 
 The smaller the bones for the size of the beef, the better 
 the grade. Steaks, while seemingly most expensive, are 
 really economical, as there is little waste to them. Do not 
 feel that you must confine your beef purchases to sirloin 
 steaks and rib roasts. Delicious stews and pot roasts can 
 be made from less expensive cuts. 
 
 As to Lamb and Mutton 
 
 Leg of lamb is a satisfactory roast. Shoulder of lamb 
 is good and not so expensive as the leg. When buying 
 mutton never select any that has soft yellow fat and 
 stringy meat, for you can depend upon it these are both 
 signs of inferior quality. The better grade mutton has 
 white fat and the meat is a firm and rather dark red. Mut- 
 ton and lamb are nutritious and easily digested. 
 
 Pork is not easily digested, but in order to vary your 
 menu an occasional loin roast of pork or a slice of ham will 
 be welcome. In buying bacon, which, of course, you will 
 need for our American bacon-and-egg breakfast, choose 
 the sliced bacon, as it is more easily handled. 
 
 Fish for Food 
 
 Most men like fish. Not every one can sit in a boat 
 under a leafy canopy and catch silvery trout, but the fish 
 you buy will largely be determined by the locality in 
 which you live, and those caught near your home are likely 
 to be fresher and cheaper. Inland sections of the country 
 have the whitefish, pike, herring, perch and other fresh 
 water varieties. If you live near the sea coast you usually 
 
 77 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 can buy from early in the spring until late winter, fresh 
 mackerel, sea bass, weakfish, porgy, butterfish and mullet. 
 The freshness of the fish may be determined when 
 marketing by the brightness of the eyes, the redness of the 
 gills, and the firmness of the flesh, especially along the 
 backbone. These are infallible tests. Dead-looking eyes 
 and bloodless gills mean stale fish. Never let your fish 
 dealer sell you a stale fish. 
 
 The Vegetable Market 
 
 In the vegetable market you will find much food for 
 thought. If your table is to be supplied healthfully and 
 economically, you must give vegetables much roam. You 
 will be decidedly better of]f financially if your menu shall 
 be largely vegetable during the seasons when they are 
 growing in your midst. 
 
 A good cook can be almost independent of her butcher 
 should she want to, for there is usually such an abundance 
 and variety of green stufifs. You are fortunate if your green 
 vegetables come direct to you from a farm or garden in the 
 summer time, but if not, a good rule to judge by is the 
 freshness of their leaves. 
 
 Demand Fresh Vegetables 
 
 Stale vegetables, beside having lost their flavor, have 
 also lost some of their nutritive principles, and their cellu- 
 lose casings toughen with age and resist the digestive juices. 
 
 Insist on fresh vegetables ; then keep them in the refrig- 
 erator until used. Cold water will help to freshen the leaf 
 vegetables if they are withered. Lemon juice or a table- 
 
 78 
 
The Art of Marketing 
 
 spoonful of vinegar to a quart of cold water will help to 
 restore withered lettuce leaves. 
 
 The buying of potatoes and onions in quantity for 
 winter use will largely depend upon your storage capacity. 
 If you can store them in a dry, cool place, buy them in 
 quantity; it is usually the way of economy. 
 
 Choosing Cheese 
 
 It would almost pay the women's colleges that aim to 
 teach all a girl needs to know, to add a course on cheese 
 marketing. Possibly it would help you more just now to 
 have taken this course than to know that the perimeters of 
 two similar polygons have the same ratio as any two corre- 
 sponding sides. You see there are almost as many varieties 
 of cheese as there are theorems in geometry. 
 
 As a Substitute for Meat 
 
 Right here in America we make good Edam, Camem- 
 bert. Brie, pineapple, Swiss, a few varieties of spiced 
 cheese, and different kinds of cream cheese. Everywhere 
 we are beginning to adopt the French custom of serving 
 cheese as a fillip to the appetite at the end of a meal. Men 
 generally are fond of cheese. Our scientists assure us that 
 cheese is almost twice as nutritious as the average meat 
 dish. It is certainly a true and safe meat substitute. The 
 piquant combinations to which cheese is adapted will add 
 a new flavor to many an everyday dish. On the table, in 
 the sandwich, with the salad, in the casserole — it has many 
 possibilities, either as a food by itself, or as a delicious 
 flavoring. 
 
 79 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 Go to a reliable cheese merchant sometime and have 
 him tell you all about the dififerent varieties of cheese. It 
 will be worth the while and help you ever afterward in 
 your marketing. 
 
 The Value of Nuts 
 
 Don't let the squirrels eat all the nuts! It is a mistake 
 to depend solely on meats and butter for fats, for nuts are 
 also a fat-supplying food. We are beginning to learn their 
 value, for now great forests of coco-palms and paper shell 
 pecans have been planted in Florida, California, and the 
 Carolinas. In the tropics nuts are a food and not a candy 
 or confection accessory, as we so often regard them. Nuts 
 are less expensive than meat; fresh they must be, but 
 nutritious and delicious they surely are, so go a-marketing 
 for nuts. 
 
 The cheap, ever-with-us peanut is valued as worth 
 three times its weight in round steak, four times its weight 
 in eggs, seven times its weight in potatoes, and twice its 
 weight in bread. Peanut butter is greatly improved by 
 adding, just before using it, enough cream to make it the 
 consistency of mayonnaise dressing. As a sandwich filling, 
 or a filling for stuffed dates, it is economical, nutritious, 
 and generally regarded as delicious. 
 
 To Blanch Almonds 
 
 It is easy work to take a pound of almonds or peanuts, 
 shell, pour a little boiling water over them, rub off the 
 brown skin, put them into the oven, shaking them fre- 
 quently that they may brown equally, pour over them a 
 
 80 
 
The Art of Marketing 
 
 little olive oil and sprinkle them with fine salt, and — well, 
 no matter how many you eat, you always want one more. 
 
 Can You Can? 
 
 We will suppose that you have charm, good breeding 
 and good looks — but can you can? If you are thinking of 
 adding canning to your other household virtues, go mar- 
 keting for choice fruit, for you will find it a hard task to 
 make good canned fruit out of poor fresh fruit. Take time 
 to sterilize all cans and can tops by boiling before you 
 begin canning and you will have no mold on the top of 
 the fruit in the jars. 
 
 But if you are blissfully ignorant of canning and can't 
 can, you can buy a can of almost all edible foods, and 
 such effective war has been waged against the preserva- 
 tives formerly used by commercial canners, that now with 
 assurance you can use canned goods free from injurious 
 preservatives. Canned goods may not always possess the 
 gastronomic equivalent of fresh foods, but among vege- 
 tables peas and tomatoes, and among fruits apricots and 
 peaches retain most of the fine flavor of the garden and 
 orchard. You will find, when unexpected guests arrive, 
 that a well-stocked pantry of canned goods, domestic and 
 commercial, is a treasure house. 
 
 Delicatessen Dainties 
 
 Only one of every seventeen American families are 
 said to keep servants, so if you are one of the sixteen you 
 will sometimes find a delicatessen store a friend in need, 
 but viewed in its most favorable light it is not healthful 
 
 8i 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 or economical to live regularly on prepared foods such as 
 one ordinarily finds in a delicatessen store. 
 
 We are drifting more and more away from a purely 
 domestic life, and the right-here-ness of food ready to set 
 on the table may mean time gained to attend a club 
 meeting or a concert. If you find yourself all run-down- 
 at-the-heels physically and mentally, it might be better to 
 patronize the delicatessen than miss the concert, but do not 
 do this regularly. 
 
 Be discriminating in your selection of such a store. 
 Good home cooking can rarely be found outside of the 
 home. Sometimes a woman who unexpectedly must work 
 out her own economic independence runs one of these 
 stores where only pure foods are sold. 
 
 82 
 
"To each, to all, a fair goodnight. 
 And pleasing dreams, and slumbers light*' 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 Your Bedroom 
 
 |HIS IS the one room in your new home 
 that can be considered a law unto 
 itself. You may make of it what you 
 will, have it frivolous and gay or quiet and dignified, but 
 to be successful you must keep it dainty and restful. 
 
 A bedroom should be light and cheerful by day and 
 night. It must be well ventilated and have sufficient 
 drawer and closet space. A medium-sized bedroom and an 
 adjoining dressing room is the most comfortable arrange- 
 ment but in this day of rented houses and apartments, 
 where every inch of space must yield its return in dollars 
 and cents, the dressing room may not be practical. 
 
 8s 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 If necessary to make your bedroom light, introduce 
 your own sunshine by adopting a yellow color scheme. 
 One bride we know, with an abundance of good ideas but 
 little cash, did this not only theoretically but literally. 
 She was purchasing agent, seamstress and decorator. She 
 painted the woodwork of her room an old ivory and chose 
 a yellow flowered covering for the walls. This paper was 
 designed after one of the quaint old chintzes of a few 
 decades ago. She cut and sewed sufficient rags and dyed 
 them a dull gray. These she had woven into a most 
 durable rug. 
 
 A Delightful Room 
 
 She next purchased two plain white enameled beds, 
 the kind that are known in the stores as maids' beds. At a 
 second-hand shop she purchased a mission bureau with a 
 square glass attached. This she removed. She also bought 
 two small tables, one just large enough to hold a candle, 
 clock and water bottle. The other was an oblong table 
 with a drawer. A plain mission chiffonier was also secured 
 at the same place. These, with two chairs, one straight- 
 backed cane-seated chair and a willow, winged chair, 
 completed the furniture for this delightful room. 
 
 Gray-Painted Furniture 
 
 She painted all the furniture a soft yellow gray, several 
 tones lighter than the rug. The mirror, which she had 
 removed from its permanent moorings, she hung above 
 the dresser — flat against the wall. Another mirror was 
 hung in the same way above the oblong dressing table. 
 
 86 
 
Your Bedroom 
 
 Yellow kiddie cloth was made into attractive bed 
 spreads. It so closely resembled linen that you had to 
 examine it to detect the difference. Her window drapes 
 were fashioned from the same material. Both drapes and 
 spreads were bordered in gray sateen to match the furni- 
 ture. The glass curtains were of cream-colored net. On 
 each window sill, in a gray flowerpot blossomed two 
 cheerful little yellow primroses. 
 
 The bride and her husband were delighted with what 
 she had achieved, for she had created a room that sur- 
 passed in beauty many that cost five times as much. 
 
 When You Purchase a Bed 
 
 A bed is a piece of furniture about which you build 
 the scheme of your room. The old monstrosities of grand- 
 mother's time have disappeared forever and the brass 
 variety are fast following in their wake. The latter were 
 clean and frequently built along good lines, but being 
 brass they clashed with most color schemes. Now we have 
 a revival of the colonial four-post beds. In a colonial 
 environment one of these beds is most beautiful. 
 
 Simple and Harmonious 
 
 A simple enameled bed of pleasing tones is preferable 
 to many more expensive varieties. There are also many 
 beds on the market of simple straight lines made of wood. 
 These can be painted to harmonize with any color scheme. 
 
 While the design of the bed is of importance, the 
 springs and mattress should be given due consideration. 
 Good springs and mattress cost more than a few dollars, 
 
 87 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 but they are worth every dollar they cost. If you must 
 economize, do not begin with the mattress. A good hair- 
 filled mattress will outwear many times the cotton-filled 
 variety and will be proportionately more comfortable. 
 
 Furniture You Must Have 
 
 What a joy to be the possessor of a fine walnut highboy 
 or a chest of drawers, surmounted with a gilt frame 
 colonial mirror hung flat against the wall! Surely such 
 pieces are worth waiting and searching for. If you do not 
 have room for two such large pieces of furniture, select the 
 highboy and with it a small dressing-table, or if you can 
 only have one, of course it must be the chest of drawers or 
 a bureau, as this offers the necessary drawer space and 
 provides a mirror as well. 
 
 A cheval-glass is a comfort but not a necessity. A large 
 unframed mirror can be attached to a door and will prove 
 just as useful. 
 
 Two willow chairs, painted to match the woodwork 
 of the room and curtained in gay chintz, will be sufficient, 
 but a footstool will be an added comfort. 
 
 Good Light Essential 
 
 Place your bureau or dressing-table where it will have 
 a good light both during the day and evening. If it stands 
 between windows it will have ample light by day and two 
 side lights of electricity should be placed so as to provide 
 the necessary night light. 
 
 Never keep an array of bottles and toilet articles on 
 your dressing-table. Such personal display is always in 
 
 88 
 
 « 
 
Your Bedroom 
 
 questionable taste. Lace pincushions belong to the past and 
 elaborate toilet articles are not good form. A few flowers 
 lend a touch of sentiment to a dressing-table. 
 
 Avoid elaborate bed coverings. A simple white spread 
 of linen or pique, folded trimly in at the sides and end of 
 the bed, always is in good taste. Pillows look best in formal 
 arrangement, under cover of the spread. 
 
 89 
 
"The bearings of this observation lays in the afypfli- 
 cation on it' 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Make Your Home Shine 
 
 TERNAL vigilance is the motto of the well-kept 
 home, and really it is the easiest method to follow. 
 Floors, rugs and windows, silver, brasses and glass, 
 all are kept clean most easily by the everyday treatment. 
 This is the modern method of housekeeping. Some sug- 
 gestions for the extra cleaning storms that assail us ever 
 and anon are also suggested in this chapter. 
 
 If your floors are waxed, daily dusting with an unoiled 
 mop should keep them in good condition. As they require 
 it go over them with liquid wax. Scrubbing or washing 
 will soon ruin the polished surface of any floor. If your 
 
 93 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 floors should become bluish-white around a radiator or 
 under a flowerpot, rub them with a cloth dampened with 
 weak ammonia water. If you use a broom in sweeping 
 floors, a newspaper dampened and placed against the door 
 while sweeping will prevent the dust flying into adjoining 
 rooms. 
 
 Use of Wax and Oil 
 
 Your linoleum will require less water cleansing if it 
 has a good surface coating of wax. Using an oiled mop on 
 linoleum with a light ground will darken it, as the oil 
 penetrates into the surface of the fabric. The efifective 
 large block, black and white, or blue and white, linoleum 
 that is being used so much for halls will soon lose its clear- 
 ness if dusted with an oil mop. 
 
 A woolen cloth dipped in linseed oil, then allowed to 
 dry before using, will make an excellent duster for furni- 
 ture. For real economy old stocking legs cut apart and 
 sewed together to make a cloth of sufficient size will make 
 a satisfactory duster. All left-overs, whether in the kitchen 
 or all through the house, are grist to the mill of the 
 economical housewife. 
 
 Hints on Polishes 
 
 To keep mahogany or any highly polished furniture 
 in good condition, try this method : Pour a quantity of any 
 good furniture polish into a glass jar, and immediately 
 pour it out again. In the jar place a square of velveteen 
 or chamois, and leave it two or three days. The material 
 will absorb the residue of polish in the jar until it is im- 
 
 94 
 
Make Your Home Shine 
 
 pregnated. This polishing duster is then ready for use, 
 and a rub-up with it is all that is necessary to keep the 
 furniture in an excellent state of polish. This same duster 
 can be used on the hard woodwork of the house. 
 
 Oriental Rugs 
 
 If you find the delicate tracery or soft coloring of your 
 oriental rugs begins to have a dismal, drab look, it is time 
 to have them cleaned. Steam cleaning spoils the rugs, so 
 before you send them to a cleaner investigate his cleaning 
 process. 
 
 Nothing is better, either in his establishment or your 
 own home, than an old fashioned hand scrub with soft 
 water and pure soap. First remove every bit of dust possi- 
 ble by the vacuum cleaner or broom. Then lay the rug on 
 a table or floor and proceed to scrub. Use a rather soft 
 brush and have a good lather but do not make the rug 
 soaking wet. After this cleansing process go over the rug 
 with a damp sponge dipped in warm, soft water. Repeat 
 this again and again until all the dirty, soapy lather is 
 removed from the rug. While damp brush the nap all one 
 way to make it smooth. Hang out to dry and when dry lay 
 on the floor and brush vigorously to bring up the pile and 
 give a velvety finish. 
 
 Electric Carpet Washer 
 
 There is a rug and carpet washer on the market, oper- 
 ated electrically, that cleans in much the same way as a 
 vacuum only it is a wet process instead of dry cleaning. 
 
 95 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 A few years ago an electric vacuum cleaner was a 
 luxury, now every up-to-date house or apartment has one. 
 Think of the brides of the past — how, aproned, dust- 
 capped and gloved, they followed the trail of the broom, 
 and let one who knows tell you it was a weary one. Now, 
 quietly and with all absence of effort, we run our vacuum 
 with not a particle of dust in sight. 
 
 Vacuum Cleaner a Necessity 
 The cost of an electric vacuum may seem great, espe- 
 cially when you want so many things, but take our advice 
 and have a vacuum even if you have to have a musicless 
 house for awhile. First, it will make you independent of 
 servants and as you become more experienced in the art of 
 housekeeping, you will realize what this means. Then it 
 will conserve time, which is one of our most valuable pos- 
 sessions, for your time will be full the first few months, and 
 we might add years, with far more interesting things than 
 sweeping. And a vacuum will conserve your strength and 
 health. 
 
 Work for Two Cents an Hour 
 
 The first cost of a reliable vacuum cleaner may be said 
 to be almost the last cost as far as repairs are concerned, 
 for with care they are ever ready and it may be comforting 
 to you to know that they do their work for about two cents 
 an hour, unless your electric rate is exorbitant. Buy your 
 vacuum cleaner when possible from a local dealer, so if 
 anything should break or need repair, you can go right to 
 him. Before you buy, have it understood that he is to be 
 interested in fixing it. 
 
 96 
 
Make Your Home Shine 
 
 To give the best service, the dust container of your 
 cleaner ought to be emptied after each cleaning, or at least 
 very frequently. Accumulated dust in the container pre- 
 vents the free circulation of air and interferes with the 
 work of the vacuum. Don't forget to oil the machinery. 
 
 Shining Silver 
 
 Not nearly as much silver is bestowed on the brides of 
 today as on the brides of former years, and yet you will 
 surely have some silver vases, and candlesticks, and pos- 
 sibly you have beautiful toilet silver, and the table silver 
 we have always with us. 
 
 The quickest, safest and easiest way to keep it clean is 
 by electrolysis, and silver cleaned in this way keeps bright 
 much longer. If your house is lighted by electricity your 
 silver will not tarnish as quickly as if it is lighted by gas. 
 
 Purchase one of the electrolytic silver-cleaning outfits. 
 The Silver Clean-pan, Marvel, and Galvano have all been 
 tested and approved, but there are many others on the mar- 
 ket equally good. After immersing the silver in the pan the 
 tarnish will have vanished, and a rubbing with a polishing 
 cloth will rapidly restore its lustre. 
 
 Make Your Glassware Sparkle 
 
 Probably you will number among your wedding gifts 
 some beautiful pieces of glass, which will require care to 
 keep them clear and sparkling. 
 
 The easiest and best way to clean glassware, especially 
 the beautiful clear crystal, whose real beauty far surpasses 
 the much-cut kind so popular a few years ago, is to wash it 
 
 97 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 in warm water with a pure soap. Rinse in warm water and 
 dry with a clean, lintless towel. If the glass be greasy, as a 
 glass that has held milk or a glass bowl filled with ice 
 cream, it should be rinsed in cold water before washing. 
 
 If your cut glass needs a thorough washing, try this 
 method: Wash in warm soapy water, brushing all the 
 crevices with a soft brush, rinse, and lay in a bed of saw- 
 dust to dry. This brushing will remove every bit of soil 
 from the deep cuts. Should you not have sawdust, give 
 it a thorough rubbing with soft crepe paper. Vigorous 
 friction will enhance the beauty of the glass. 
 
 Wisdom in the Laundry 
 
 Housework cannot masquerade as a comedy, when it 
 comes to laundry work. It is almost a weekly tragedy in 
 many homes, but the pathos of it can be lightened if we lay 
 aside our blundering and blindness and know the how and 
 why of it. The easy way is to have a laundress come to 
 your home, take away all soiled clothes, and bring them 
 back all white and smooth and sweet-smelling. May you 
 have it so! 
 
 The Electric Washer 
 
 If the weekly washing must be done at home, a labor- 
 saving machine that really saves in work and time and 
 money is the electric washer. It is a good investment. If 
 you have an electric washer, the success of its work will be 
 largely determined by the supplies you give it, so don't be 
 sparing with soda and soap. Make a solution of one pound 
 of washing soda in one gallon of hot water and put in your 
 
 98 
 
 \ 
 
Make Your Home Shine 
 
 washer one cup of this solution to each machine tub full 
 of water and to this add your soap chips or shavings. Better 
 results will follow soap that has been shaved, put in a quart 
 of hot water and whipped to a froth before adding to the 
 machine. The same suds can be used for hand laundry, but 
 you will need to rub soap on the bands of collars, cuffs, 
 and badly soiled portions of clothing. 
 
 Rinse Your Clothes Well 
 
 Thorough rinsing is as important as washing. Two 
 waters at least are required. To the last water add a small 
 amount of bluing. Outdoor drying is preferable except 
 for white silk. If you make your starch with weak soap- 
 suds, the clothes will not stick to the irons when ironing. 
 Any pure white soap will do for this. 
 
 Sprinkle clothes with warm water. There is a little 
 device for sale to help you do this. It is a stopper, with 
 small perforations, that fits over a bottle. Thus the water 
 is evenly distributed. 
 
 Hints on Ironing 
 
 A smooth ironing board goes a long way towards help- 
 ing your ironing to go smoothly. Be sure to starch well the 
 top cover of your board, as this will prevent the clothes 
 sticking to it. Cover the under side of the board heavily 
 with Turkish towels, and when you have buttons to iron 
 over or heavily embroidered pieces, simply turn over your 
 board and the padding is ready. White stocking legs, 
 whose feet are worn out, make fine padding for a sleeve 
 board by just slipping the stocking legs over the board. 
 
 99 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 This will do away with tacks, on which innumerable 
 sleeves have been torn. 
 
 An electric or gas iron is a really necessary equipment 
 in every modern home. Rub irons with beeswax to remove 
 any rust or starch. Very fine laces can be "ironed" best by 
 wrapping them around a round glass bottle filled with hot 
 water. The heat will help to dry them quickly. Stretch 
 the lace very carefully to preserve the pattern. 
 
 Some Laundering Hints 
 
 To Wash Woolens. — Use warm water into which two tablespoon- 
 fuls of powdered borax has been dissolved. Add a box of pure soap chips, 
 dissolved. Put in woolens and rub lightly. Rinse three times in slightly 
 soapy, warm water. Cold or very hot water will ruin woolens. Do not 
 wring, but shake well and hang out to dry. This is an excellent way to 
 wash blankets. All this work can be done best by a washer, but never 
 use a wringer on woolens. Your soft, fluffy sweater will not lose its shape 
 if you wash it thus, and then, without wringing, toss it into a pillow case 
 and hang on a line in the fresh air to dr}% The "ironing" is done by taking 
 it from the pillow case when dry and simply shaking. Closely knitted 
 sweaters can be pressed by laying on a folded sheet on a table or floor, 
 covering the carefully laid sweater with a damp Turkish towel, lapping 
 over the towel the other part of the sheet, then placing a layer of books 
 or magazines over it all. The weights will do the "ironing," and when 
 the towel is dry the sweater will be smoothly pressed. 
 
 Laundering Organdie. — If you dissolve a teaspoonful of gelatine in 
 a quart of warm water and use this instead of starch when laundering 
 organdie you will find it will retain its crispness. 
 
 Laundering Pongee. — Maj^be it will help you to know when launder- 
 ing pongee curtains or waists that they should be ironed while damp. They 
 will spot if you let them dry and then sprinkle them to iron them. 
 
 Laundering Curtains. — Always soak curtains over night in cold 
 water, using a weak solution of washing soda and plenty of soap. The 
 
 TOO 
 
Make Your Home Shine 
 
 dirt will come out without any hard rubbing, which would injure the cur- 
 tains. When starching add a teaspoonful of borax to each gallon of rinsing 
 water. 
 
 To Clean Veils. — If you dip your veils in alcohol when soiled they 
 will come out like new. 
 
 To Clean Kid Gloves. — Put on your gloves and wash, as though you 
 were washing your hands, in a basin of gasoline. Never do this indoors, 
 as it is dangerous. Gasoline is highly inflammable and it is always a risk 
 to have it near a fire. Speaking of gasoline, if you are cleaning a spot off 
 some fabric with gasoline, and there is danger that an ugly ring may 
 remain when the gasoline has evaporated, you can avoid it by placing 
 under the material several layers of blotting paper, or some absorbent 
 cotton. 
 
 To Restore Velvet. — Turn upside down a hot iron. Wet a cloth 
 and stretch over it and over the wet cloth place a thin, dry one. For the 
 thin cloth cheesecloth is the best material. Draw over these cloths the 
 wrong side of the piece of velvet to be cleaned, brushing the velvet all the 
 while with a soft brush. This will lift the pile of the velvet and remove 
 creases. Dampen the wet cloth frequently so that plenty of steam will 
 pass through the velvet. 
 
 Chasing the Spots 
 In the best of homes spots will happen, but whenever 
 they happen here are some safe ways to take them out. A 
 box or cabinet in your laundry containing cleaning cham- 
 icals carefully labeled is well to keep always on hand. 
 Have one quart jar filled with the following cleaning 
 fluid, and simply marked 
 
 Cleaning Fluid 
 Y2 box of soap flakes dissolved in one quart of water 
 
 1 teaspoonful of powdered borax 
 
 2 tablespoonfuls of alcohol 
 
 This is a cleaning fluid that is not inflammable and is 
 easily prepared at home. This is excellent to clean the 
 
 lOI 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 edges of blankets that are soiled and will remove grease 
 spots from almost any fabric, but should not be used on 
 velvet. Always use a pad of absorbent cotton under the 
 spot to be cleaned to absorb the soil. 
 Another reliable cleaning fluid is 
 
 Javelle Water 
 Y2 pound washing soda 
 ^ pound chloride of lime 
 
 Put soda in an agate pan and pour over it a pint of 
 boiling water. Put lime in an agate pan and pour over it 
 a quart of cold water. Let stand over night and the next 
 morning pour ofif the clear liquid of the lime solution into 
 the soda solution. Bottle and keep in the dark. Be sure to 
 label this bottle ''poison" and keep out of easy reach. 
 Javelle water mixed with equal quantities of hot water 
 will remove almost any stain from white cotton goods, but 
 should never be used on silk or wool. 
 
 For Ink Stains. — Place absorbent cotton or blotting paper under the 
 spot immediately the stain happens and absorb all the ink possible. Salt 
 and lemon will usually remove the remaining spot, but it may discolor 
 the fabric, so first try cold water, changing the absorbent cotton which you 
 have placed under the spot frequently. If the stain is on silk or wool, 
 saturate the spot with spirits of turpentine. Pour on turpentine and 
 change the pad often. Ink stains may be removed from wood floors by 
 applying strong vinegar. 
 
 To Remove Sewing Machine Oil. — There's a sure way and an easy 
 way to get rid of a spot of sewing machine oil. Just take a blotting paper, 
 lay the goods with the offending spot over it, drop a few drops of chloro- 
 form on it, and watch it disappear, without leaving so much as a ring to 
 show where it has been. 
 
 For Blood Stains. — Apply dry powdered starch while the blood is 
 
 102 
 
Make Your Home Shine 
 
 still wet. If the blood has dried, and the fabric stained is white, apply 
 ammonia. 
 
 For Grease Spots on a White Fabric. — Stretch the fabric over a 
 bowl; soap and pour boiling water through it. Continue pouring until 
 the spot has disappeared. 
 
 For Mildew on Linen. — Put a tablespoonful of Javelle water in 
 a pint of water and dip the mildewed linen in the water. Very stubborn 
 stains may require several dippings. 
 
 For Iron Rust on Linen. — Cover the spot with salt, moisten with 
 lemon juice and place in hot sun. Repeat if necessary. 
 
 For Fruit Stains on Linen. — Place spot over a bowl and pour boiling 
 water through the spot. Tea and coffee stains can usually be removed this 
 way, if the stains are freshly made. If the stains have been in the mate- 
 rial for some time, dip the linen in w^eak Javelle water and freeze thor- 
 oughly. 
 
 To Remove Paint. — Apply turpentine freely while paint is fresh. 
 
 To Remove Tar. — Cover the spot with butter, let stand for three 
 hours; then wash with soap and water. This is an old remedy but 
 unfailing. 
 
 To Remove Iodine. — With your medicine dropper, cover the spot 
 with ammonia and rinse with clear water. 
 
 A Few Vanishing Hints 
 
 Vanish All Vegetable Stains. — It is a very good plan, 
 before preparing vegetables or fruits that stain the hands, 
 to rub the thumb and forefinger with olive oil or butter. 
 This will prevent the unsightly stains which are difficult 
 to remove. 
 
 Vanish the Onion Smart. — Pare onions under water 
 and you will never be troubled with smarting eyes. 
 
 Vanish the Taste of Fish from Pans. — Put a teaspoon- 
 ful of ammonia in a pan that has been used for cooking 
 
 103 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 fish and let the ammonia remain in the pan a few minutes, 
 then rinse in boiling water. The next food cooked in the 
 same pan will never be suggestive of fish. 
 
 Vanish the Stains from the Bathtub. — Almost a magi- 
 cian for cleaning a bathtub is Javelle water. Apply it with 
 a dish mop, rinse, and the stains will vanish and the enamel 
 will not be injured. 
 
 Vanish Paint on JVindow Panes. — Painters will splash 
 the paint on the glass, but do not worry; apply hot vinegar 
 to the paint and watch it vanish. 
 
 Vanish Stains from Rolling Pin and Board. — If you 
 want to keep them smooth and clean, rub them with a 
 lemon cut in half, then rinse with clear water. 
 
 Vanish the Hardest Part of Dishwashing. — Drop your 
 pans used in cooking or baking into a dishpan full of hot 
 water just as they are emptied. This will avoid the neces- 
 sity of scraping them. 
 
 T04 
 
"Each morning sees some task begin, 
 Each evening sees it close; 
 Something attempted, something done, 
 Has earned a night s repose ' 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 All Through the Year 
 
 [HATEVER the cynics may have to say about it, keep 
 up the high and holy days of your hearthstone. 
 Two of these days will be only yours and your hus- 
 band's. You can share your holiday merriment, your 
 Thanksgiving feast, and your vacation rest or frolic, with 
 friends if you choose, but your wedding anniversary is 
 just between yourselves. And then there's another day — 
 your engagement day. A wonderful way to observe it is 
 to take the day of the month on which it falls and each 
 month do something special on that day. A new book, a 
 restaurant dinner, a box of candy, an evening at the theatre, 
 or concert. You will find this one day will have many pos- 
 sibilities. 
 
 T07 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 Variety is the spice of flowers as well as of life. At the 
 close of this chapter you will find a seasonable suggestion 
 of the flowers for your home each month. Also we are 
 suggesting a delectable culinary tidbit for each month. 
 You may find it necessary to vary these recipes, but choose 
 something you both like and will look forward to enjoying 
 as the month comes around or neither of you will enjoy it 
 as much. 
 
 January Resolutions 
 
 A New Year is rather awe-inspiring when it dawns. 
 Do you ever make New Year resolutions? Faithfully kept 
 they are vigorous will developers, but it means keeping 
 on the firing line for three hundred and sixty-five days. 
 Samples of the best resolutions to make might be: To 
 make some shut-in's life cheerier by letters and gifts and 
 love — To read a good book of biography each month — To 
 use a soft, sweet voice, always. 
 
 If your fingers are nimble with the needle for embroid- 
 ery or sewing, this is a satisfying month to attend to un- 
 derthings. The spring fashion commandments have not 
 yet been issued for us to obey, but underwear does not 
 usually make such startling departures as to make us 
 unfashionable. Nothing in underwear could be more satis- 
 factory than to buy the ready-made Philippine underwear, 
 finished with a plain scallop, and embroider flowers or 
 design on it to suit your fancy. 
 
 February Holidays 
 
 Whatever February lacks in length of days and 
 weather, it atones for in holidays. If you have friends to 
 
 io8 
 
All Through the Year 
 
 entertain, prepare to do it now. You have the choice of 
 three holidays — Lincoln's birthday, the twelfth — Saint 
 Valentine's Day, the fourteenth — Washington's birthday, 
 the twenty-second. It is always much easier to give an 
 informal affair on some holiday. For a frolicsome party 
 choose Saint Valentine's. Use hearts for Valentine, flags 
 for Lincoln and Washington. 
 
 // Charitably Inclined 
 
 This month, if you are charitably inclined, you may 
 put aside some of your own work, and do something for 
 others. In many of the cities and towns the clubs and 
 churches devote some time during this season to charitable 
 work, so that many little children here and abroad are 
 wearing garments made by the favored and fortunate. 
 
 If you cannot hie away to the sunny South, you will 
 find right at home that out-of-door winter sports supply 
 vigorous and healthy pastime. Skating rivals dancing, and 
 a vital interest in outdoor sports is everywhere growjng. 
 If you are healthy, happy, and wise, you will be ready to 
 go "over the hills and far away" for a cross-country walk, 
 whenever your athletic husband asks you. The sturdy 
 sports-clothes aid and abet the call of the big out-of-doors. 
 
 March on with March 
 
 Housekeeping goes marching along with rapid steps 
 in this month, for there is much to do. If you have a lawn, 
 and if you are not too far north, you can uncover the bulbs, 
 fertilize the lawn, trim vines and shrubs, and plant the 
 
 109 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 earliest seeds in cold frame or boxes. Get generally ready 
 for spring's awakening. 
 
 Spring Tonic in Fresh Air 
 
 If you do not have an enclosed porch that you have had 
 the pleasure of using all winter, you will find when it gets 
 warm enough to live out of doors that it will be a great 
 comfort to have slip covers ready for the porch chairs. 
 Then you can dress them up and take your spring tonic of 
 fresh air. There is nothing better to take — great, deep 
 breaths of it. 
 
 And new clothes! They are a magic spring tonic. It 
 is well now to plan to get them ready, so that on the sunny 
 spring days you can saunter out in them. You will enjoy 
 them much more than if you wait for lazy summer weather 
 to wear them. 
 
 Time for a Frolic 
 
 The festive day of March is the seventeenth. Saint 
 Patrick's Day. It is a time for a frolic, or for giving a 
 luncheon. The green color scheme is always attractive and 
 the stores furnish many helpful decorations and bonbons. 
 Most of all, don't forget to kiss the Blarney stone yourself 
 that day. If you go downtown, be a bright face in the 
 crowd, show a bit of courtesy to a salesgirl, give some 
 words to your chauffeur and maid, if you are fortunate 
 enough to have them. They may not deserve it, but that 
 word may help them to deserve it in the future. Begin 
 with the postman. Knit all the hours of the day together 
 
 no 
 
All Through the Year 
 
 with an unbroken thread of confidence and courtesy. This 
 is a wonderful way to keep Saint Patrick's day. 
 
 April in the Garden 
 
 There's a woman among our friends who each April 
 fool's day plays a little joke on her husband. They have 
 been married twenty-three years. Last year, after a good 
 hearty laugh over how he had been caught again, he made 
 this remark, "Sally sweet, you're the same little girl to me 
 you were twenty-three years ago." It's worth keeping up 
 the frivolities of our 'teens to have a man say that, isn't it? 
 
 This is the month to do real gardening — flower and 
 vegetable. Dig the ground, plant the seeds and transplant 
 seedlings. The day of violent house cleanings is past. The 
 modern housekeeper has kept her house so clean all 
 through the year with the vacuum cleaner and the regular 
 weekly cleanings, that the semi-yearly cleaning panics are 
 largely avoided. Furnace and cellar are the first places to 
 begin cleaning. Wash all blankets and if you take care of 
 your own furs, brush them again and again and again, and 
 put them away before the moth flies get near them. Do all 
 this work with all possible speed, so that you can enjoy the 
 sunshiny days, for folks need sunshine as well as flowers. 
 
 May, the Happy Month 
 
 Washing your face in the morning dew on May morn- 
 ings may not make you as beautiful as the legends tell you 
 it will, but living out of doors in this wonderful month of 
 May will help to make you healthy, happy and gay, and 
 these are all first aids to beauty. 
 
 Ill 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 Live out of doors as much as possible. Give the breezes 
 the right of way to sweep through the house. All heavy 
 rugs and draperies should be removed, carefully dusted 
 and rolled up for fall service. If you care for your own 
 rugs during the summer, see to it that they are wrapped in 
 tar paper and plentifully sprinkled with camphor or moth 
 powder. Bare floors with a few rag rugs or rugs of clear 
 flax thrown around will achieve coolness in a most eco- 
 nomical way. All heavy curtains will be laid aside and 
 simple summery ones substituted. 
 
 Plans for Your Friends 
 
 When the house is all dressed up in its summer slip 
 covers and cushions, and before any summer dirt gets into 
 them, or the summer suns have faded them, it is a splendid 
 time to entertain friends. If you live in the country, your 
 grounds are at their prettiest. If you are not too far north, 
 it is the time of blossoming fruit trees. Luncheons served 
 on a porch, with its wicker furniture and rush grass floor 
 mats, are especially appetizing. If you have such a porch, 
 serve your breakfast on it. Why should we keep our best 
 just for company? There is no other time of the day so 
 delightful in this delightful month as the early morning 
 hours. 
 
 This is your busiest month in your garden, for it is the 
 month of sowing seeds and transplanting seedlings. 
 
 June's Perfect Days 
 
 One might consistently wish it were always June — 
 month of perfect days, diplomas and wedding bells. Keep 
 
 112 
 
All Through the Year 
 
 open house. It will be a housewifely triumph for you if as 
 far as possible you keep house out of doors. Some of the 
 best things slip from us if we do not watch. This is one of 
 the months when we sigh with regrets for the apartment- 
 house bride, who lives upstairs and indoors. But the com- 
 forts of the winter months help to reconcile for summer 
 losses. 
 
 Summer Frocks Appear 
 
 Perhaps you are a June bride and are celebrating your 
 anniversary ; anyway you will be wearing your smart sum- 
 mer frocks and going to see some of your best friends 
 married, and helping to make merry with the graduation 
 and alumni festivities. Between times, if you are to pre- 
 serve some of the berries that are most delicious for winter 
 use, you will have to be about it this month, for in June the 
 canning season opens. If you have a garden and are thrifty, 
 you can have strawberries, rhubarb, asparagus, and peas 
 in your pantry for next winter by storing them now. If you 
 can, use the cold-pack method, which is simple and pre- 
 serves more nearly than any other the form and flavor of 
 the fruit. Whether you can or not, reduce your summer 
 meat bill and improve your digestion by feeding yourselves 
 on the fresh vegetables from garden or market. 
 
 If you own a garden, fight the pests this month, and 
 spray and weed. Some one tells us that "June weeding 
 brings July peace and August plenty." 
 
 Fly Your Flag! 
 A necessary equipment of every American household 
 is a national flag. Hang out your flag on the Fourth of 
 
 "3 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 July, and show your loyalty to the Stars and Stripes. 
 During this month read magazines and some frivolous 
 books of humor, and if accustomed to hard mental work, 
 make it a month of mental vacation. 
 
 The Spirit of 1776 
 
 Housekeeping for July requires some of the spirit of 
 1776. If one is to bob up calm and unwearied in the 
 evening, one will need to dispense with unnecessary work. 
 More simple salads and fresh fruits, and even puddings 
 and pies, will mean more rest for you and give a needed 
 change from the winter menu. The berries are with us 
 this month and delicious jellies and jams can be made from 
 currants, raspberries, and gooseberries. In the garden, 
 peas, string beans, and tomatoes are at their best and are 
 easy to prepare. 
 
 If your husband is not averse, take a dinner out one 
 night a week — maybe a picnic dinner out under the trees, 
 with some delicious sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs and 
 fruit. If you have a car and cannot get away for long trips, 
 make the most of the short ones for this month. 
 
 August for Vacations 
 
 We take it for granted that August will be your vaca- 
 tion month. If you live in a sleepy little town, go to a 
 madly rushing city, or if you live in this kind of a city, 
 then away you go to the woods. Sometimes new scenes and 
 excitement are as necessary as rest. A farmer's wife will 
 get as much from a winter trip to the city as any cooped-up 
 city maid can ever receive from a month in the country. 
 
 114 
 
All Through the Year 
 
 It's the variety that is the spice of any vacation. Any vaca- 
 tion, spent anyw^here, from which you do not come back 
 refreshed physically and mentally is a failure. 
 
 Barring your husband, it is never wise to take your 
 vacation with the people you live with all year. There is 
 a tonic in a new voice, as well as in new scenes. Sweep 
 away as far as possible all turmoil of servants, and anxiety 
 of menus, and court delights and illusions. Mentally lock 
 up your house and throw away the key. Forget business 
 plans and home duties all the time you are away. 
 
 September Duties 
 
 In whatever devious paths your footsteps may have 
 roamed this summer, there is a sort of coming-home- 
 and-preparedness feeling in the air of September. There 
 usually are some warm days lagging along in this month, 
 so it is better to use the morning hours for the work that 
 is calling. If your preserve closet has rows of delectable 
 jellies and jams, look them over and see if there is any 
 mold about the tops of the glasses. If so wipe it off care- 
 fully with a damp cloth and cover with new parafhn. Some 
 more cans of beans and corn and tomatoes can be added to 
 your pantry this month, and peaches, probably the most 
 popular of all canned fruits, are most plentiful now. 
 
 Look to Your House 
 
 Study your house and wardrobe this month. If you 
 are living up to the requirements of a good homemaker 
 your house calls for its share of attention. If you are paint- 
 ing or papering, this is a good time to attend to it. Curtains 
 
 115 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 are to be mended, possibly, broken or chipped china to be 
 replaced, cushions and table runners to be freshened, and a 
 general preparedness for home comfort undertaken. 
 
 If your income is limited, take some time this month 
 to go over your last winter's wardrobe, take account of stock 
 on hand and see what you will need. A well-tailored suit 
 worn at the neck and sleeves may be transformed into an al- 
 most new one by a handsome fur collar and cuff set. Or vice 
 versa, you may find some fur among your possessions that 
 can be made into a handsome set for a new suit. A capacity 
 for taking pains in selection of clothes is usually rewarded 
 by having clothes of distinction amid the many and varied 
 styles presented. 
 
 October Vegetables 
 
 Use fresh vegetables lavishly this month, as it is the last 
 month that you can hope to have them fresh from the gar- 
 den. If you have a garden, your work this month will be 
 storing your garden vegetables. Sweet potatoes and pump- 
 kins will want a warm resting place, onions a cool, dry 
 place, beets, carrots and turnips demand a cool, damp 
 place. Potatoes are satisfied with an ordinary cellar bin. 
 The apartment bride is spared all these storage rules, as 
 she necessarily buys in small quantities. 
 
 Jolly, Happy Days 
 
 The holiday of the month is Hallowe'en, jolly, happy, 
 and packed with fun and merriment. There are two attrac- 
 tive touches in a home that we will appreciate most this 
 month — the glowing fire on the hearth, and the soft candle- 
 
 ii6 
 
All Through the Year 
 
 light on our tables. May you have both. This month the 
 church, club, and social activities will start. 
 
 Conserve Your Energies 
 
 When the Scotch plaid days of autumn come our en- 
 thusiasm is usually at high tide, and as a result we are apt 
 to attempt much more than we can possibly do well. It is 
 easy to say "yes" when we are invited to serve on a com- 
 mittee, or be a hostess at a tea. At the time it means only 
 one more thing, but we must consider what an accumula- 
 tion of these things leads to. The result comes in the late 
 winter, and takes the form of shattered nerves or a neg- 
 lected home, and either is bad. Better discriminate, and 
 choose wisely and well between the things you want to do 
 and the things you are asked to do, and you will not have 
 to reap a harvest of regrets. 
 
 November — and Thanksgiving 
 
 November brings us Thanksgiving Day — a day that 
 ought to abide with us. However the other festive days of 
 the year are kept, Thanksgiving Day ought to be observed 
 in the good old conservative way. It is preeminently a 
 day for the gathering of the family clans. For all-around 
 happiness you may have to divide your holidays, spending 
 some with your old and some with your newly acquired 
 relations. 
 
 Love's labor is rarely lost when you are fashioning 
 Christmas gifts, and this is the month, if you have not 
 already been working upon them, to begin your Christmas 
 preparations. There are always some gifts, pleasing and 
 
 117 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 useful, that can be economically made at home. It is yours 
 to decide whether to give your time and work, or to give 
 the shopkeepers your extra money, but you will have a 
 merrier Christmas if you meet it prepared. A kindly con- 
 sideration for others suggests that you do your Christmas 
 shopping early. 
 
 Let the glorious Indian summer days call you into the 
 open. Do this whether you live in a drowsy little town or a 
 busy, bustling city. 
 
 December, Gayest Month 
 
 Whatever your preparedness, you will generally find 
 December the busiest and gayest month of all the year. If 
 you are domestic, you will want to bake your own fruit 
 cakes and plum puddings. It is hard to resist the tempta- 
 tion to send you some fine tested recipes, but this is not a 
 cook book, and most of the reliable cook books on the 
 market can furnish you with excellent recipes. Talking 
 about baking cakes, let us suggest that there is no more 
 delightful custom than the old country-side idea of giving 
 to each other a basket of Christmas cakes. An attractive 
 basket, heaped with delectable cakes and bonbons and 
 glace nuts and fruits, with a personal greeting card, and all 
 made festive looking with ribbons and holly, is an appro- 
 priate present for near-by or far-away friends. 
 
 Decorate the Home 
 
 Some time must be saved to decorate your home. Holly 
 wreaths and greens there must be, even if you have to go 
 to the woods to gather them. You will want some mistletoe. 
 
 Glace fruit and nuts are delicious and so easily made, 
 
 ii8 
 
All Through the Year 
 
 so why not make them yourself? If you don't need to save 
 money, do it anyhow and use the extra money to make 
 merry somebody's Christmas that you are sure cannot 
 afiford to give a gift in return. If you use this recipe for 
 the glace nuts and fruits, you may be sure of success. 
 
 Recipe 
 3 cups of sugar 
 1 5^2 cups of boiling water 
 ^ teaspoonful of cream of tartar 
 
 Put ingredients in a saucepan, stir and place on range and heat to 
 boiling point. Boil without stirring to 310° F. Do not let burn on sides 
 of pan. Remove the pan from the fire, and place pan in a larger pan of 
 cold water. Take fruit or nuts, one at a time, dip in syrup, and place on a 
 slightly oiled tin or marble. Dates and figs may be left whole or stuffed 
 before dipping. All kinds of nuts may be used. 
 
 Suggested Monthly Recipes 
 
 The following recipes are like old friends, tried and 
 true: 
 
 JANUARY 
 
 MACAROON CUSTARD 
 
 I pint of milk 
 
 Yolks of four eggs 
 
 J4 cupful of sugar 
 
 54 teaspoonful of salt 
 I cupful of stale almond macaroons 
 3 tablespoonfuls of pineapple and chopped dates 
 
 Scald the milk in a double boiler. Beat the eggs with the sugar and 
 salt. Over the egg yolks pour gradually the hot milk. Return to the 
 double boiler and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from 
 the fire and stir in the macaroons, pineapple and dates. Beat hard, chill, 
 and serve in glasses topped with whipped cream. 
 
 119 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 FEBRUARY 
 
 CHICKEN CHARLEROI 
 
 i/^ cupfuls of cooked diced chicken 
 I cupful of cooked diced ham 
 I cup of mushrooms (cooked separately) 
 
 1 cup of asparagus tips 
 
 2 cups of thin cream sauce 
 
 Saute the mushrooms in two tablespoonfuls of butter, add sauce, 
 heat, and add the chicken and ham. Serve with hot buttered tips on each 
 plate. 
 
 MARCH 
 
 BATTER PUDDING 
 
 Sift together one and one-half cups of flour, two scant teaspoonfuls 
 of baking powder, and one-fourth teaspoonful of salt. Beat four eggs 
 well, add one pint of milk, and mix well with sifted flour. Add stiffly 
 beaten whites of eggs, and bake in a hot oven. Serve promptly when done. 
 Cream four tablespoonfuls of butter, add one cup of powdered sugar and 
 one egg yolk. Beat in half a cup of raisins, maraschino cherries and nuts. 
 Chill well. Add one cup of whipped cream and serve as sauce for the 
 pudding. 
 
 APRIL 
 
 GOLDEN FLUFF CAKE 
 
 Whites of seven eggs ^ cup of flour 
 Yolks of five eggs Y2 teaspoonful of cream of tartar 
 
 I cup of pulverized sugar A pinch of salt 
 
 Sift flour and sugar repeatedly. Beat yolks of eggs thoroughly. Beat 
 whites, then add cream of tartar, and beat very stiff. Stir in sugar, add 
 beaten yolks and flour. Flavor with almond and a little nutmeg. 
 
 MAY 
 
 STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE 
 
 15^ cups of flour 2 eggs 
 
 4 tablespoonfuls of sugar 3^ cup of milk 
 
 2 tablespoonfuls of butter ^ teaspoonful of salt 
 
 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder 
 
 120 
 
All Through the Year 
 
 Sift dry ingredients together, and rub in butter as in preparing pie 
 crust. Add milk and eggs. Roll and bake in layer cake pans. This 
 makes a very soft dough, so do not be surprised at its appearance. Cover 
 each layer with crushed strawberries (sugared) and whipped cream. 
 
 JUNE 
 
 CHERRY TARTS 
 
 1 cupful of flour 3 tablespoonfuls of ice water 
 j/2 teaspoonful of salt 4 tablespoonfuls of butter 
 
 2 teaspoonfuls of baking powder 
 
 Sift the dry ingredients together. Rub in butter with finger tips. 
 Add water, and roll out dough very thin on a floured board. Line patty 
 pans, and bake about twelve minutes. Fill baked shells with pitted cher- 
 ries, sweetened. Cover with ice cream and serve. 
 
 JULY 
 
 FRUIT FRAPPE 
 
 Boil one pound of sugar with one pint of water, and add to this syrup 
 the shaved rind of one orange and lemon. Add one grated pineapple, 
 two cups of orange juice, and one-half cup of lemon juice. Pour one cup 
 of boiling water over one teaspoonful of tea. Stir all together, strain, and 
 freeze. Serve with whipped cream. 
 
 AUGUST 
 
 FROSTED CHOCOLATE AND COFFEE 
 
 Make chocolate or coffee, fill a glass one-third full of cracked ice, 
 and pour over this the chocolate or coffee. Heap on top plenty of whipped 
 cream. Either of these cool drinks is a delicious variation from the cus- 
 tomary iced tea. 
 
 SEPTEMBER 
 
 PINEAPPLE FRITTERS 
 
 1 cup of flour 54 teaspoonful of salt 
 
 ^ cup of milk 2 tablespoonfuls of butter 
 
 2 eggs I tablespoonful of sugar 
 I tablespoonful of baking powder 10 slices of pineapple 
 
 121 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 Sift dry ingredients in a bowl, add milk, well-beaten eggs, and butter. 
 Prepare the pineapple and dip in batter, and fry in deep hot lard or oil. 
 Drain on paper and dust with sugar. 
 
 OCTOBER 
 
 CHEESE AND CORN SOUFFLE 
 
 I tablespoonful of butter 2 cups of milk 
 
 14 cup of flour I cup of corn ' 
 
 y2 chopped green pepper i cup of grated cheese 
 1/2 teaspoonful of salt Paprika 
 
 3 eggs 
 
 Brown the green pepper in butter, add flour, then the milk grad- 
 ually, stirring continuously, cheese, corn, beaten egg yolks, and seasoning. 
 Fold in stiffly beaten whites, turn into a buttered baking dish, and bake 
 in a moderate oven thirty minutes. 
 
 NOVEMBER 
 
 BARBECUED HAM 
 
 Use cold boiled ham sliced moderately thick. Spread both sides of 
 each slice with mixed mustard. Heat butter in pan and put in slices of 
 ham. Turn frequently until browned, add two tablespoonfuls of cider 
 vinegar, let boil up and serve with apple rings, cooked in syrup of sugar 
 and water until clear. 
 
 DECEMBER 
 
 WHITE FRUIT CAKE 
 
 1 cup of butter 3 teaspoonfuls of baking powder 
 
 2 cups of sugar ^ pound of citron, cut fine 
 
 3 cups of flour y2 pound of chopped almonds 
 Whites of eight eggs i cup of grated coconut 
 
 Yz wine glass of orange juice ]/2 cup of dates, raisins and currants 
 
 Beat butter to a cream and gradually beat in the sugar, add orange 
 juice. Beat the eggs to a stiff froth and stir into the butter and sugar. 
 Add baking powder and flour thoroughly mixed, and lastly the fruit and 
 nuts. Bake in two loaves in moderate oven, forty minutes. 
 
 122 
 
All Through the Year 
 
 Monthly Flowers 
 
 January — Why not geranium? They are friendly, cheerful and 
 abundant at this season of the year. Changing from scarlet to pink will 
 give you variety of color. 
 
 February — Dainty Primula Obconica (baby primrose) will be 
 beautiful for this month. It is plentiful and inexpensive, and a dozen 
 sprays will be all you will need. Vary your decoration the last two weeks 
 of the month by using Roman hyacinths. 
 
 March — For the next eight weeks bulbous stock will be on the 
 market, so make your selections from daffodils and tulips. The soft gray 
 pussy willows are suggestive of the bluebirds and blend well with the 
 gold of the daffodils. 
 
 April — Depend on Mother Nature for your decoration for this 
 month. Go to the woods and dig up a clump of violets, plant them in a 
 low glass or pottery dish, and you will have a bouquet your florist cannot 
 rival. 
 
 May — Nothing more beautiful for May than apple blossoms and 
 lilacs. 
 
 June — Roses for June, of course. 
 
 July — Let your garden furnish your flowers for this month. There 
 are myriads to select from — larkspur and snapdragons and daisies. 
 
 August — Depend on the meadow lands for your decorations for 
 this month. Here you will find the lovely, lacy wild carrots, and the big 
 brown-eyed yellow daisies. And don't forget the beauty of the red clover. 
 
 September — Let asters and zinnias divide the honors of your table 
 for September. Asters, both cultivated and wild, are now at their best. 
 Along almost any country roadside the wild ones may be found, and they 
 have wonderful decorative possibilities. 
 
 October — Chrysanthemums from your garden — what could be 
 lovelier ? 
 
 November — Go to the woods, deep into the silent places, and hunt 
 down under the leaves for the scarlet partridge berries. They usually 
 
 123 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 take kindly to a new environment, and will grow as will the violets in a 
 glass dish. Then go a-berrying, not for berries to eat but for berries to 
 look at. The blue berries of the Virginia creeper and the white snow 
 berries make a pretty combination. And the seeds of the dog\vood, and the 
 spiked branches of the barberry, are gorgeous at this season. 
 
 December — ^A bowl of bright-berried holly and cone-laden branches 
 of evergreen for your table the first part of the month, but when Christ- 
 mas comes be extravagant and buy some poinsettias. 
 
 124 
 
"Buy what ye dinna want and ye it sell what ye 
 canna spare" 
 
tummnrfma 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 Shopping for the House 
 
 F YOU are a careful dresser, you study your face and 
 features and coloring. Beauty is harmony. This is 
 
 M as true of the house as of the mistress. Persian rugs 
 with painted furniture — never! Mahogany furniture on 
 a matting — parbleul If you are wealthy, you may visit 
 the exclusive specialty shops with their mirror-lined walls 
 and their casement windows, or, if you are counting your 
 pennies, you may be haunting subway stores, but wherever 
 you buy, remember that price is not necessarily a criterion 
 of value. You can furnish a house poorly on a lot of money 
 and furnish it well on a little. 
 
 There are a few things for the house for which every 
 practical homemaker is longing. Some things have such 
 
 127 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 lasting beauty that we love them always, while others hold 
 only an evanescent favor. It is this last that is the expen- 
 sive article, whatever its first cost may be. A picture that 
 has a vista of beauty that inspires or rests you, a piece of 
 furniture that you can absolutely trust to grow in favor, a 
 rug whose color blending suggests a Gobelin tapestry, a 
 pair of brass andirons that make you not care a rap how 
 low the temperature drops while they can hold the blazing 
 logs, a rare piece of embroidered linen — none of these 
 worth-while treasures is expensive, whatever its first cost, 
 for such will be a joy-forever purchase. This kind of buy- 
 ing represents what in the long run might be called smart 
 economy. 
 
 Buy with Good Judgment 
 
 If ever by some unforeseen good fortune an avalanche 
 of dollars sweeps into your purse and you are attacked by 
 the spending fever, stay at home. 
 
 Buying anything, from hats to houses, to outshine a 
 neighbor or friend, is playing a comedy for other folks* 
 fun and your own sorrow. It is well to always consider the 
 quality of the goods with equal carefulness as the price tag 
 attached. At certain seasons almost all stores have special 
 sales, and often ofifer worth-while goods at cost prices. 
 Certain goods do not depreciate in value, and often it is 
 good judgment to lay in a supply at these sales. It saves 
 time and money to buy soap by the box, towels by the 
 dozen, and many such standard needful articles. Study 
 the advertisements for the latest improvements in house- 
 hold economies. 
 
 128 
 
Shopping for the House 
 
 Indoor Window Boxes 
 
 Meaningless taborets and multi-colored jardinieres 
 have little favor with the interior decorator. The shops 
 realize this and are now offering unusually attractive 
 indoor window boxes. Possibly you will number one of 
 these among your wedding gifts; if you are not so fortu- 
 nate, purchase one. They have been designed with suffi- 
 cient space to hold the pots. This makes it easier to care 
 for your plants than if you had them planted in the box 
 itself, because when you water them you can lift each one 
 separately and carry it to the bath or laundry tub, and 
 thus avoid spilling water on the floor. A mass of green is 
 always more attractive than three or more plants dotted 
 here and there about the room. 
 
 A Design in Willow 
 
 There are two of these boxes that are unusually attrac- 
 tive. One design is in willow, which can be painted to har- 
 monize with the woodwork of your room. Such a box be- 
 ing light in weight can be easily lifted. It will make a 
 happy addition to your porch in summer, or your living 
 room in winter. The second type of window box is made 
 of cement, designed along classic lines and is worthy a 
 place in any living room. This box has a permanent air 
 about it that, combined with its beauty of lines, makes it 
 worth what the merchants ask for it. 
 
 Curtains 
 
 If your income is limited, buy the same kind of curtains 
 for all over the house. Besides being in good taste, you can 
 
 129 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 purchase the material for them by the bolt, which will be 
 a saving, and as some curtains wear out sooner than others, 
 the best ones can be used together and thus will give extra 
 years of service. Net, voile, and cotton etamine all will 
 wear well, and also will sustain a reputation, which we 
 hope you have or are acquiring, for good taste. 
 
 Beautiful silk curtains often can be purchased at the 
 dress-silk counters from some shade that was not a good 
 seller as a dress goods, but that would make attractive in- 
 side curtains. Tan or old blue shades, to go with mahogany 
 furniture, or yellow to accompany ivory tinted woodwork 
 and furniture, are often found at a silk sale. 
 
 Interior Door Knockers 
 Not the cold, shiny brass knockers that follow classic 
 lines — the kind we hope you have on your front door — 
 but the wee posey-covered iron variety, whose basic origin 
 has been completely hidden 'neath a coat of many colored 
 paints. One of these knockers, which costs very little, will 
 be just what you want for the door of your guest room and 
 will be one of the things that will make your home a bit 
 different. 
 
 Porcelains 
 
 From even a few well-chosen porcelains we may study 
 the Chinese dynasties. However we may feel about the 
 Chinaman and his pigtail, we feel a reverence for his pot- 
 ter's art. Sea-green celadons and deep lustrous red are 
 products of the furnaces of the past. A truly fine piece of 
 porcelain is among the most beautiful of all art objects. 
 Its color rivals that of precious stones and its grace of out- 
 
 130 
 
Shopping for the House 
 
 line is superb. Even the fragility makes an appeal. The 
 porcelains produced today may not be compared with 
 those produced in the past. The secret of their matchless 
 glazes has been lost. 
 
 Six Fundamental Colors 
 
 If you are only learning to care for Oriental jars and 
 bottles, try to understand their symbolism. These ancient 
 potters used six fundamental colors. These were symbolic 
 of water, fire, metal, w^ood, earth and sky. Red they asso- 
 ciated with fire, black with water, green was suggestive of 
 the woodlands, white of metal, yellow bespoke the earth, 
 and blue the firmament. This they must have loved best, 
 for never has a blue in any form of art been so enchanting 
 as that we find in some of the early ceramics. When we 
 look at some of these jars we almost expect to see them en- 
 veloped in a bit of cumulous cloud. 
 
 Treasures rarely come to your first home, but later in 
 life, when you have passed the period of mere essentials, 
 then may the treasures come. Possibly only one or two, but 
 may they bring pleasure to all who behold them, and deep 
 joy to you. 
 
 Candles 
 
 "Hail candle light. Without disparagement to sun or moon, the 
 kindliest luminary of the three." — Essays of Elia. 
 
 Even though we possess electricity and acknowledge 
 its convenience and efficiency, our houses require candles 
 just as they did in the days of our grandmothers. When we 
 are few and we sit together for a little talk, the flickering 
 flames of the logs and a few candles will provide an ample 
 
 131 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 glow. At such a time you will be glad you have a torcher 
 to shed light in some distant corner where the fire-light re- 
 fuses to penetrate. Such a torcher may be a polychrome 
 candlestick, whose substantial base stands on the floor, or 
 a metal base of graceful line whose stem branches at the 
 top and supplies the holders for one or many candles. A 
 torcher will supply sufficient light for a hall or stair-land- 
 ing and will adorn either place with its quaint beauty. 
 
 132 
 
"Every path hath a puddle" 
 

CHAPTER XI 
 
 When Emergency Comes 
 
 OME DAY^ sooner or later, it will happen. It may 
 cause merely a ripple in your existence, or it may 
 change your entire future. Have you the poise nec- 
 essary to face the situation? 
 
 The unexpected may be a message from afar, necessi- 
 tating a journey; it may be loss of money, reduction of in- 
 come, or the abrupt ending of all income ; it may be an acci- 
 dent, or a fire, or sudden illness. 
 
 Will you be equal to the emergency? Have you the 
 wisdom to look ahead and plan clearly? Or will you meet 
 the situation with a case of "nerves" that will only add to 
 the dilemma? 
 
 135 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 Of course, you will have to take time to reason and 
 plan, but you may have to do both quickly. Above all, do 
 the thinking first. When you do act, keep right on until 
 you have conquered. 
 
 When Income Dwindles 
 
 Every married couple naturally begins to plan for the 
 future, fair or stormy, on their wedding day. Usually no 
 storm comes more rapidly than a financial one, and if it 
 comes to you it is then you are going to be tested by your 
 sacrificial courage. Your husband will never love you 
 more, or need you more truly, than when he tells you that 
 the firm with which he has been connected must curtail 
 expenses and that he has been dropped from the payroll. 
 Of course, you may have misgivings, but try to keep them 
 fast within the recesses of your own mind and plan, plan, 
 plan. Be practical. Get out your budget and go over it 
 carefully. Look over all the expenditures and cut out what 
 are unnecessary. Cultivate your resourcefulness. You will 
 be surprised at the things you will be able to accomplish 
 and at the joy of achievement. For instance, instead of an 
 expensive restaurant dinner, substitute a more simple 
 pleasure. Pack up a few sandwiches and take a hike into 
 the country, into some distant woodland. You will return 
 refreshed and ready for a greater effort to turn the tide of 
 your fortune. 
 
 Make Fortune of Necessity 
 
 If you have a servant, dismiss her, or send to the woman 
 who washes and sweeps for you a note telling her to post- 
 136 
 
When Emergency Comes 
 
 pone her weekly visits until she hears from you. A little 
 extra work will be a pleasure, when you know it is saving 
 the fast-disappearing bank account. 
 
 Should payments on the new home fall due and the 
 wherewithal to meet them not be forthcoming, be brave 
 and place a ''For Rent" sign on your garden gate, and 
 move to a smaller, less pretentious house. Home is where 
 the heart is, irrespective of size or location. 
 
 It was no mathematical calculation that brought you 
 to this unexpected tragedy, but it is a great time to rivet 
 your comradeship. Can your husband depend on you? 
 
 The Sudden Trip 
 
 A telegram — an hour to catch a tram, or a delay of 
 twelve hours! 
 
 This is not an exaggeration; it is frequently a startling 
 fact. Such a call means packing a bag — a change of cloth- 
 ing — securing necessary money — some telephoning and 
 time consumed in reaching the station. 
 
 Much time can be saved by keeping an emergency bag 
 ready. In this bag should be the necessary toilet articles, 
 a small bottle of aromatic ammonia, some postal cards, a 
 sharpened pencil and a telegraph blank — which you can 
 fill out and have ready to send when you arrive at the sta- 
 tion. This will be a time when every minute will count. 
 
 The Ever-Ready Bag 
 
 Also this bag will be useful when your husband sud- 
 denly decides to make a flying business trip and wants you 
 to accompany him. With such a bag you can be ready in a 
 
 137 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 few minutes, and probably you have learned ere this that 
 men are impatient creatures and do protest at being kept 
 waiting. Anyway, you will get many more trips by being 
 always ready. 
 
 Unexpected Guests 
 
 A whole half-dozen guests, all unbidden, but welcome! 
 
 You know when we are silly enough to have our for- 
 tunes told there are always three piles of cards : those we 
 do expect, those we don't expect, and those the seer assures 
 us are sure to come true. In this last pile can be placed the 
 unexpected guest. 
 
 To make a guest happy the Chinese tell us, "be polite, 
 smile, and feed him." Of course, you are the first, 
 and you can easily do the second, and the third will 
 take care of itself if you will plan ahead. Have one 
 shelf in your pantry for emergencies, and on this shelf 
 keep two cans of soup, from a reliable firm (first course 
 of a luncheon or dinner) , two cans of boned chicken (glass 
 cans, if possible). Thus you have the possibilities of 
 soup, creamed chicken, chicken salad, or chicken on toast. 
 
 Sandwich Suggestions 
 
 For sandwiches, should guests drop in on a wintry 
 afternoon, hungry and cold from a skating party, you will 
 want a jar of olive meat, a package of snappy cheese, some 
 reliable nut-butter, a box of mint wafers, a box of Ameri- 
 can crackers and some other variety, which to our English 
 cousins are known as biscuits. 
 
 It is not necessary for us to suggest a supply of lettuce 
 in your ice-box, as in this day and generation we all keep 
 
 138 
 
When Emergency Comes 
 
 lettuce on hand. Canned milk is always included in the 
 emergency plan, and you need lemons for tea or fish. 
 
 Your preserve closet will supply the marmalade for 
 sandwiches. A bottle of maraschino cherries will be attrac- 
 tive for sundaes or grapefruit. With such a shelf you can 
 greet your guests smilingly, knowing that all will be well, 
 and that you can soon banish all pangs of hunger or thirst. 
 
 An Emergency Closet 
 
 Accidents come when we least expect them. If you 
 have an emergency closet, the accident will not catch you 
 wholly unprepared. Arrange a closet in some convenient 
 place that is light and free from dust. Place there all the 
 equipment necessary for first aid work. The following ar- 
 ticles will be sufficient: Three Red Cross bandages of dif- 
 ferent widths (^ in., 1^/2 in., and 3 in., are the usual 
 widths required), a half pound roll of absorbent cotton, 
 one large white agate basin, assorted safety pins, one small 
 agate tray (to be used by the physician to sterilize his 
 instruments), a cake of pure soap, and a new hand brush, 
 (to be used to scrub the hands of the one making the dress- 
 ings). Have three one-ounce bottles labeled and filled, 
 one with iodine, one with carron oil, and one with aro- 
 matic spirits of ammonia. 
 
 For Emergency Calls 
 
 On the inside of the closet door place the name, address, 
 and 'phone number of your family physician, also the 
 name and address of another physician, should your own 
 physician be unobtainable. Also have on the door the 
 
 139 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 'phone number of your husband and any other person you 
 could depend upon in an emergency. 
 
 Paint a small red cross on the door of this closet and 
 under the cross paint the words "Emergency Closet." You 
 will never regret the space devoted to such an equipment, 
 for while you may never need it, it is one thing that if you 
 do need, you need it truly. 
 
 The Wrong Medicine 
 
 We hope you won't, but you may some day take the 
 wrong medicine; so be prepared. Paste these directions in 
 your emergency closet: 
 
 First, 'phone for your physician. 
 
 In every case administer an emetic at once. An emetic 
 is any substance that will cause vomiting. This will fre- 
 quently remove the poison from the stomach before it has 
 been absorbed and may save a serious or perhaps fatal re- 
 sult. The most reliable and ever-handy emetic is a glass 
 of quite warm water in which has been dissolved a table- 
 spoonful of mustard. If there is no immediate result, give 
 a second dose. Insist on glass after glass being swallowed 
 until it has accomplished its work. 
 
 Should the person have taken an acid and vomited, 
 give the beaten whites of eggs and warm cream or milk. 
 If you cannot get this quickly, use melted lard or butter. 
 This will help to prevent the acid from injuring the lining 
 of the stomach. 
 
 If ammonia or caustic soda has been swallowed, give 
 lemon juice in water or vinegar. Afterward plenty of milk 
 and eggs or olive oil. 
 
 140 
 
When Emergency Comes 
 
 For carbolic acid, use flour and water or one ounce of 
 Epsom salts. In case of collapse, apply heat to the body. 
 
 For belladonna, give a tablespoonful of mustard and 
 salt in warm water ; stimulants, if required. 
 
 For acetanilid or phenacetin (nearly all headache 
 remedies come under this head), lower head, apply heat 
 to body and give strong, hot cofTfee or other stimulant. 
 
 The physician will administer the proper antidote on 
 his arrival, but its success will largely depend on your first 
 aid work. 
 
 Keep poison under lock and key. 
 
 For Burns and Scalds 
 For minor burns and scalds there is nothing better than 
 an immediate application of carron oil (linseed oil and 
 lime water). Saturate a piece of gauze and lay it over the 
 wound. Always keep in your emergency closet this most 
 efficacious of all remedies for burns. If the injury covers 
 a large area, summon a physician at once, but in the mean- 
 time pour carron oil over the wound. The physician may 
 change your dressing, but the oil will have relieved the 
 pain to a great extent. 
 
 For Cuts and Scratches 
 Should a knife slip while attending to some simple 
 household duty, instantly hie you to the iodine bottle and 
 pour a drop or two into the incision. It may hurt a bit for 
 an instant, but it may prevent weeks of suffering from an 
 infected finger. The same treatment will be necessary 
 should you scratch yourself when opening a tin can, or in- 
 jure your foot by stepping on a nail. These are often mere 
 
 141 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 little details of a morning's work, but they may have seri- 
 ous results, so take time to sterilize the wounds. 
 
 We are very doubtful if anyone can always keep smil- 
 ing when the numerous emergencies for household repairs 
 occur, as they do even in well-regulated homes, but it will 
 help a great deal if you are a fair carpentress and have a 
 tool chest — and keep it under lock and key. Hammers 
 and screw-drivers and tack-lifters have an exasperating 
 way of getting lost. 
 
 Your Tool Chest 
 
 The equipment of the tool chest should be a hammer, 
 nails, and tacks of different sizes, a foot rule, a good-sized 
 jackknife, a file, washers, a screw-driver, screw-eyes and 
 screws, sandpaper, pliers, an oil can, and mending tape 
 You will find your tool chest a labor and money saving 
 friend, for many a plumber's visit can be delayed by a 
 washer placed on a leaky pipe or the pliers tightening a 
 faucet. 
 
 Door and dresser knobs may need tightening, a refrac- 
 tory cap on a tube of tooth paste may need loosening, car- 
 pet or linoleum an extra tack, or a wicker chair that has 
 started to unroll may require a bit of adhesive tape to hold 
 it in check, and you will find there are many times you 
 will need to make a friendly call on your tool chest. 
 
 Your vacuum cleaner, sewing machine, and washer will 
 all do better work if they are oiled frequently. Keep a 
 small bottle of arnica and a sheet of court plaster in your 
 chest, for the thumb you may hit instead of the nail. 
 
 142 
 
"The Household Budget — 
 
 Annual income, 
 Annual expenditure, 
 
 Result, 
 
 Annual income. 
 Annual expenditure, 
 
 Result, 
 
 Twenty pounds 
 Nineteen nineteen six 
 
 Happiness 
 
 Twenty pounds 
 Twenty ought and six 
 
 Misery" 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 The Household Budget 
 
 NSTEAD OF resenting the prosaic business of consid- 
 ering your income and expenses, in these rosy post- 
 nuptial days, count yourself fortunate that you 
 and your husband are going to talk them over together. 
 Mrs. John A. Logan tells us that "the highest possible 
 compliment and best assurance of his love which a man 
 can give his wife is to talk over, when they are alone, his 
 plans and ambitions in life, which is far more to be desired 
 than public demonstrations and expressions of affection." 
 Maybe you exchanged confidences before that little 
 platinum or gold circle was slipped over the third finger 
 of your left hand. Well, that was not too soon. Your hus- 
 band may go to his work or his business now and you may 
 
 145 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 spend your time managing, marketing, shopping, and at- 
 tending the normal duties of housewifery. You may feel 
 that you have no part or lot in your husband's business ex- 
 cept the profits, but really you have gone into business — 
 a co-partnership. As one of the partners you have a right 
 to know the resources of the firm. Your expenditures de- 
 pend upon it. 
 
 The Value of Estimates 
 
 Count yourself in the favored and fortunate class if 
 you and your husband sit down regularly to estimate what 
 you have and what you will spend. Your income will have 
 to decide the amount apportioned to each need. Again and 
 again we have been assured that on a moderate income not 
 more than one-fourth should be spent for rent. It is ob- 
 vious that a large house means more carpets and curtains, 
 more coal for heating and more help for cleaning, so you 
 must reckon with these items when considering the rent- 
 ing of a large house. The rent allowance we are making in 
 the budget is for rent as we usually consider it, or the taxes, 
 repairs, and insurance on your own home, if you are fortu- 
 nate enough to own one. 
 
 A Sample Budget 
 
 Let us suppose you have an income of two thousand 
 dollars a year. For convenience to you we are suggesting 
 the following figures on the basis of one hundred and sixty 
 dollars a month. Some months the suggested amounts will 
 be more than sufficient for the needs, but you can be sure 
 that other months will call for the saved surplus. 
 
 146 
 
The Household Budget 
 
 Rent or upkeep of your own house $ 40.00 
 
 Church and charity (on Bible basis of one-tenth of income) 16.00 
 
 Food 42.00 
 
 Doctor and dentist 5.00 
 
 Clothing 25.00 
 
 Amusements 5.00 
 
 Vacation 5.00 
 
 Building and loan lO.oo 
 
 Insurance 3.00 
 
 Household upkeep (fuel, service, trolley, etc.) g.OO 
 
 Total per month $160.00 
 
 Twelve times one hundred and sixty dollars makes 
 nineteen hundred and twenty dollars and subtracting this 
 from two thousand dollars — the salary on which these 
 calculations are made — leaves a balance of eighty dollars. 
 Certainly some of this fund you will want to use for books 
 and magazines, for which we have made no other provi- 
 sion. You may need it to help out some fund that accord- 
 ing to your figuring is not sufficient, or for some emer- 
 gency that may arise, or possibly for some coveted article 
 for your home. 
 
 You see we have not included house furnishing in this 
 budget, but we have planned for the saving some present 
 earnings for a rainy day, and for storing away something 
 for the setting sun time of life, so that you will not be des- 
 titute should all other inheritances fail you. 
 
 Your Savings 
 
 If possible, begin with life insurance and building and 
 loan the first year of your married life. It is never a mis- 
 
 147 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 take to think of the coming years and provide for them. 
 Just now, when your husband is young, life insurance will 
 cost much less than later on. Take out straight life, if your 
 means are limited; but twenty-year endowment will give 
 you the same protection, and at the expiration of twenty 
 years you will have a neat little sum coming to you. 
 
 Building and Loan Savings 
 
 You will find it much easier to save if you do it sys- 
 tematically. In the article, the budget, you notice we 
 have suggested the laying aside each month of ten dollars 
 for building and loan. This amount can vary according to 
 your income. Make it as large as you can comfortably 
 carry. Select a good company. The states' laws are rigid 
 now in protecting the people from fake building and loan 
 associations, so you may feel quite safe. 
 
 You may be expecting an inheritance and think you 
 will not need to save, but frugal habits, acquired now, will 
 help you in taking care of larger amounts later on. 
 
 Economy Possibilities 
 
 This is not a cheerful subject. Maybe you are fortu- 
 nate enough to not need to talk about it, but there are many 
 who do. War times demanded many economies and we 
 made them. If the salary of your husband, or the debt on 
 a newly bought home of your own, calls for economy, you 
 can be just as brave and just as loyal to the call of love as to 
 the call of patriotism. 
 
 There is a tendency everywhere toward simplicity in 
 the furnishings of a home, which is decidedly wise. Dress 
 
 148 
 
The Household Budget 
 
 and entertaining have not followed in this judicious way, 
 but these are both items within your control. A wardrobe 
 which is so elaborate as to include many clothes held over 
 from season to season is not wisely or well chosen. A few 
 garments worn the first season, which is always their best 
 season, are always more satisfactory. 
 
 What Makes a Feast? 
 
 You want your home to radiate refined hospitality, but 
 that does not mean that a dinner to friends must be a feast. 
 Nutritious food, dainty service, and a merry company are 
 a trio that make any meal a banquet. Don't let haunting 
 memories of lobster salad and nesselrode pudding, that 
 come floating over you when you are serving a simple meal, 
 win you from your frugal way. Begin your entertaining 
 with the acknowledgment to yourself that the joy of any 
 company is largely dependent on a hostess pleasant-spoken 
 and fresh-looking and that you will be that kind of a hos- 
 tess, even if there are a few less viands on the table. 
 
 Any entertaining that leaves an aftermath of debts and 
 regrets is sheer dissipation. Sometimes what we call the 
 high cost of entertaining is really the cost of entertaining 
 high. 
 
 Own Your Own Home 
 
 Not every young couple can set up housekeeping in a 
 home of their own. But every bride and groom can start 
 out with the definite determination of having such a home. 
 There is joy in planning for it. You will not find economy 
 irksome if you feel that each hundred dollars saved brings 
 the home of your own nearer realization. 
 
 149 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 I 
 
 Study the home-making magazines. Start a scrap-book 
 on house-building. Investigate attractive suburban propo- 
 sitions. Then, when your building fund is big enough, you 
 can consult a reliable contractor. 
 
 Paying rent is poor business. With surprisingly little 
 capital you can build a home — and gradually pay off the 
 mortgage, instead of enriching a landlord. 
 
 150 
 
"Teacher, tender comrade, wife, 
 A feilow-farer true through life, 
 Heart-whole and soul-free'^ 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 Keep Pace with Your Husband 
 
 [OUR HONEYMOON trip is over, and you are In your 
 own home with your husband. He has gone back 
 to his business, where life for him has not altered 
 its ways. But you? You are in your dream home, and 
 whether it is a bungalow with a garden, or a fifth-floor 
 flat, or an ancestral mansion, it's yours. 
 
 Begin now to audit your character and see if you are 
 going to have that house as your mistress, or if you are go- 
 ing to put into your home the same thought and ambition 
 and management that a progressive business man puts into 
 his business. Face this fact — that your home, its beauty, 
 its comfort, its rest, its inviting call to friends, and its hold- 
 ing power for your husband, is largely in your hands. You 
 
 153 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 are the mistress of a home-making business. Regard the 
 petty annoyances that assail a home-maker with indiffer- 
 ence, and keep your poise in your household battle. 
 
 Your Hours Alone 
 
 Isn't it quiet when you are all alone? Perhaps you 
 came from a home of luxury where you were surrounded 
 by brothers and sisters, whom you sometimes adored and 
 sometimes found vexing, or maybe you had been living 
 your daily life in the bristling business world, or you may 
 have been spending these last years in a delightsome dor- 
 mitory of a college. 
 
 Now your husband must be at business and you must 
 attend to your housekeeping business, too, and the days 
 are long. Perhaps they are longer than they used to be, 
 because you have to cultivate the early bird habit so you 
 can eat breakfast together. Now these hours alone are 
 going to be your defeat or victory hours — just as you 
 make them. You are going to steal an hour or so for read- 
 ing and music, we know, but all these eight or ten hours 
 alone can be spent growing a fine, happy, healthful, help- 
 ful life. 
 
 Smile Down Your Troubles 
 
 This is a great time to gain self-poise. Maybe the fire 
 wouldn't burn, and you ran out of salt ; perhaps the clothes 
 line broke with all your dazzling white clothes on it, and 
 the milk soured, and you hammered your finger instead of 
 the nail, and the curtains shrunk when they were washed. 
 There are lots more household tragedies. But you? Did 
 
 154 
 
Keep Pace with Your Husband 
 
 you go about the house at these woeful times with shining 
 eyes, and thrown-back shoulders, and smile-puckered lips, 
 and countenance serene, and springing steps, and radiant, 
 unconquerable optimism about you? If you did — and we 
 are sure you did — you are going the right way to keep 
 pace with your husband. 
 
 True Comradeship 
 
 There can be a fine kind of comradeship between mar- 
 ried folk. If you can learn to be an understanding friend 
 to your husband, you will never be a woman with a hungry 
 heart. You may not need them, but these four suggestions 
 will help you to it. 
 
 I. Be Interested in His Business or Profession — His business success is 
 
 yours, but if he has been struggling to reach a certain goal it ought 
 to mean more to you than simply extra dollars. 
 
 II. Like His Friends — They might not have been your choosing, if you 
 
 had been making the selections, but you can at least like 'em as 
 much as you can. 
 
 III. Be Sympathetic — If his world is ever wrapped in shadows through 
 failure or bereavement, be generous with sympathy. 
 
 IV. Be Interested in His Sports — If you are not a golf enthusiast it may 
 require some mental effort to know just when to applaud your 
 husband's success, if his hobby is golf, or when to cheer at the 
 baseball games American men sit in blistering sun to see; never- 
 theless, if you are mentally able to grasp it, rejoice with him when 
 he wins, pity him when he loses, and show that his pleasure is 
 yours. Tennis and rowing and whatever possible share in playing 
 with him. One of the saddest moments in life is when we awake 
 to the fact that the chance to play has slipped away forever. 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 Efficiency experts on "Holding Husbands" will tell 
 you that these are four good guide posts on the road to 
 success. 
 
 Friends — Clubs — Church 
 
 The wedding "for better or worse" you may find "for 
 worse" if you give up all your former interest in friends 
 and clubs and church for your husband. Combine the two. 
 Many a bride, after her wedding day, drops her girl 
 friends, resigns from her social clubs, stays at home on 
 Sundays, only to find in a few years that the world goes 
 merrily on without her, that she has lost her vivacity and 
 interest in all things but household duties. 
 
 If you could see now what ruin, socially and mentally, 
 ten years of this isolation at home will work, you will never 
 need warning against it. It is possible to have a dustless 
 house but lose husband and friends. "Homekeeping hearts 
 are happiest" truly, but that means to keep the love of 
 those who dwell there as well as to be always found there. 
 Some time must be taken for enrichment from the outside 
 world, or the homekeeping wife will find herself growing 
 old and colorless and the friends and interest in life slip- 
 ping away from her. 
 
 The Value of Books 
 
 Do not let your reading degenerate to the daily news- 
 paper alone. Discussing the latest murder or the best bar- 
 gain sale makes poor intellectual food with which to ac- 
 company each meal. A home without books and good 
 magazines misses much. If your husband is not fond of 
 
 156 
 
Keep Pace with Your Husband 
 
 good reading, you have a great opportunity to now and 
 then suggest to him to read a magazine article along some 
 line in which he is interested. It may be the awakening of 
 his interest in good reading. If he is interested in good 
 reading and you are not, begin at once to keep up with him. 
 Your church attendance! Here your allegiance is 
 higher and your vows to loyalty more binding than even 
 the ones you made at the marriage altar. Stick to your 
 church. 
 
 Keep Up Your Music 
 
 You should need no persuasion to keep up your music 
 after your marriage. It is not enough to have been a girl 
 who delighted her friends with her music, when you can be 
 an equally attractive wife who continues to do so. Annex 
 all your maiden charms and add them together to make 
 yourself a charming wife and hostess. The wife who goes 
 back with a tender reminiscent smile to girlhood days, 
 when she used to play, is passe. Today's woman strikes a 
 different note. 
 
 Why should the ceremony with happiness woven in it 
 make a silent home, or a canned music home, when former- 
 ly your song or piano or violin could achieve pleasure at 
 your will? Keep up your music. 
 
 The Joy of Song 
 
 "Just because you have no world-conquering voice, no 
 genius for the violin or piano, is no reason that you should 
 not continue to develop what you have. There is something 
 about singing even an humble little song in an humble little 
 
 157 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 voice that seems to renew the very life within us." Again, 
 keep up your music. 
 
 The Stay-at-home Dress 
 
 What feminine wiles and ways you have, you must 
 prepare to use them by your dress in keeping up with your 
 husband. 
 
 There is no man so indifferent to figure and form, and 
 color and line, that he will not know the difference be- 
 tween a neatly dressed and coififured wife and one in soiled 
 clothing and kid curlers. 
 
 Most brides love pretty clothes, when dressing for 
 street, or church or social affair, but of equal importance 
 is your at-home attire — not the at-home dress for state 
 occasions, when the people you know may come in to see 
 you and go out to forget you, but the every day at-home 
 dress. 
 
 Be Smart at Breakfast 
 
 What do you eat your breakfast in? The bride of 
 earlier days might have worn discarded finery in her 
 kitchen, but the practical bride of today goes to her work, 
 if work she has to do, caparisoned in one of the sensible 
 and smart wash dresses that is obviously appropriate to 
 the occasion. The shops have taken good care that this 
 want is well supplied by attractive ready-made garments 
 of this kind. No one need ever wear that cheerless, checked 
 gingham apron of our grandmother's day, which was al- 
 most a badge of servitude, when there are made today 
 aprons just as useful and certainly more smart. With a 
 
 158 
 
Keep Pace with Your Husband 
 
 little cap to match you may be smartly and consistently 
 garbed. 
 
 Clean and dainty collar and cuff sets will transform a 
 worn dress, and there is never any excuse for dowdiness. 
 A husband will not be as likely to care for Parisian labels 
 in clothes as for daintiness and cleanliness. For the hus- 
 band whose wife says, "My fortune's made," meaning her 
 marriage, and takes this as a liberty to neglect her personal 
 appearance, we have the deepest sympathy. 
 
 Keep That Feminine Charm 
 Here's a friendly suggestion. In fifty-seven varieties of 
 language we would like to say: Keep your elusive femi- 
 nine charm. It is evanescent enough to vanish at a com- 
 mon suggestion, but durable enough to stand a lifetime 
 test when carefully cultivated. Age need not wither it nor 
 custom change it. Daintiness in words and ways will foster 
 it, and whimsical wiles will not ruin it. Cheap and tawdry 
 words will bury it, and there can be no resurrection. Fore- 
 go every temptation to destroy your charm. 
 
 There is more on this page between the lines than we 
 have written, but we are sure your feminine intuition will 
 make it plain. 
 
 "However few of the other good things of life are thy 
 lot, the best of all things, which is innocence, is always 
 within thy power." 
 
 Labor-Saving Devices 
 There are few ways to save money and many ways to 
 spend it, but when you spend it for some of the labor-sav- 
 
 159 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 ing devices on the market it will be well spent. Your hus- 
 band's office is modernly equipped, if he has an office, or 
 if he is a farmer his crops are sown and reaped with the 
 latest machinery. A modernly equipped house, with an 
 efficient mistress managing it, will run more smoothly 
 than a house without the equipment and with inefficient 
 help poorly managed. 
 
 Labor-Saving Devices 
 
 Visit, if possible, the house-furnishing section of a big 
 city department store where you will find labor-saving de- 
 vices of all sorts, designed to make housework lighter. So 
 bewildering will be these various helps offered that you 
 will almost rejoice that you have a house to supply, but if 
 you are wise you will select only those that are useful. 
 
 Equip your house electrically, if possible. You need 
 not live in a big city to do this, as most of the towns have 
 their electric plant. Washing, ironing, cleaning, sweeping, 
 cooking, and even heating can be cleanly and quickly done 
 by electricity. If you are doing your own work, consider 
 which would mean more to your husband — let us say ten 
 dollars more in his purse each month, or some music in 
 the evening which you have had time to practice during 
 the day, or a wife bright and smiling to go out with socially 
 for the evening, instead of one nervous and fretful over the 
 day's work? 
 
 Lighten the Daily Tasks 
 
 Marriage is not for a day and the constant strain of toil 
 will tell, so if you must do your work, do it with as much 
 
 1 60 
 
Keep Pace with Your Husband 
 
 ease as possible, and in the future you may find your hus- 
 band talking of you as the department store advertisers 
 say of their goods, "Not easily matched in value." 
 
 Study Your Job 
 
 But if you have all the labor-saving devices obtainable, 
 much will still depend on how you use them. To combat 
 the elements of housework happily and healthfully is to 
 lessen it by half. You can go about your work with a light 
 step, you can swing a broom as skillfully as a man does his 
 golf club, you can sit up straight at a sewing machine and 
 not cultivate round shoulders by bending over, you can 
 handle your dust mop as gracefully as you would a tennis 
 racket, you can smile as you work and thereby set your 
 face pleasantly for the coming years, and you can use sys- 
 tem in your work which will always lessen the mental 
 strain. Let your spark of vanity help in carrying out these 
 last suggestions. 
 
 When the Day Is Done 
 
 If anybody has a right to be happy, it is a bride and her 
 husband. When he closes his desk, or leaves the shop, he 
 expects to come home to the one port where adverse winds 
 do not blow. For the sake of keeping this vision of home 
 bright and shining, meet him this way yourself. You will 
 be gowned, of course, according to your means, sumptu- 
 ously, if your purse and preference dictates it, and simply, 
 if the dinner is prepared by yourself. 
 
 To a man, no meal will be made appetizing by your 
 rehearsal of the disappointment of tradespeople, or the 
 
 i6i 
 
The Hope Chest 
 
 exasperation of servants, or the failure of recipes. They 
 may have all happened, but vv^hy tell him? There are 
 many better and bigger and cheerier things to talk about. 
 
 Before your wedding day did you save up all the an- 
 noyances of your home to recount to him on his visits? 
 There might never have been a wedding day if you had. 
 "For better or for worse" never meant for smiles or for 
 grouches, just as we may choose to give. And do avoid 
 patient sighs! For a happy home there is a safe path be- 
 tween the rampantly frivolous and the woefully serious. 
 A little bit of fun is a good antidote for the turmoil of the 
 day. 
 
 What about yourself? Well, this book is for the bride. 
 Maybe someone is writing a bigger and better one for the 
 groom. 
 
 162 
 
J^TERNAL love, we thank thee that thou hast 
 t/ led us into loves way — this joyous, rose 
 strewn, sunlit way. Make us worthy to tread it. 
 
 Our hearts are full of springtime; our souls 
 are stirred with Joy at song of bird, and beauty of 
 flower, and nature s subtle whisperings. May this 
 kinship with joy remain with us. 
 
 If, as we pass along, the clamor of earth 
 outside our walls may seem endless, within our 
 home may rest and contentment keep us young 
 and our hearts aright. 
 
Lest You Forget 
 
 We Lea've These Pages for You to Fill, 
 Whenever, Wherever, and 'with Whatever You Will- 
 Make Here the Diary of Your Hope Chest 
 
Reminders for the Kitchen 
 
Things I Want to Buy 
 
On Making Home Happy 
 
Ideas on Entertainment 
 
Out-of-Doors Notes 
 
**This Utile hook Jed me in a very hungry place'' 
 
,l!f!?°^'900