Feminine Interests

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 806, 29 October 1929, Page 5

Feminine Interests

The Touchstone of Marriage TRUE COMRADESHIP I WHAT HUSBANDS NEED Ask the first half-dozen husbands ! you meet v hat they want, and you may set half-a-dozen different answers. ‘ Xu. 1 may say, romantically, ‘ Love.” j Xo. i* may say, practically, “Affection, ! pood cooking, and a smoothly-run j ! that will continually lift me up, and , carry me into higher spheres than I j live in outside my home—food for the soul rather than mere food for the body. * Xo. 4 may say, ‘ I don’t care what it is. so long as it isn’t hash.” Xo. T> may say, "Ask me another!” And No. f> may say, “The freedom I have lost.” From which it would appear that a | husband's needs are varied. Nevertheless. there is a common denomin- ! M tor in all things, and men who marry j form no exception to this rule. • j Most of us are neither perpetual ! idealists nor perpetual gourmands. ! And, this being so. there are certain obvious every-day needs which, whatever we may say in our ideal or our baser moments, do rule us ar T d determine very largely whether we remain happily married or not. Comradeship F'rst! The first need of a husband—of a I husband who has graduated through the golden vista into the prosaic path—is exactly the same need as the wife—comradeship. That, and all it unbraces, is the fundamental requirement. It is impossible to go through life, with all its inevitable ups and downs, in a spirit of perfect joy or contentment unless the person who sits i opposite you at breakfast is your pal ! .is well as your sweetheart or vour cook. j The kitchen, the broom, and the duster are undoubtedly important, as a practical basis. It is difficult to | keep a husband bright and happy if he does not anticipate his meals with a , certain degree of pleasure, or if he finds i wash-cloths about the halls and dust «»n the desk he swears nobody must j touch. His enormous capacity for |

seif-pUv will be enhanced iC he cannot hnd his boots when he wants to so out. 5 es. the average husband does i require a smoothly-run home, though I the average husband thinks he is above ‘ it. 1 his is not, however, his greatest ; requirement. His greatest requirement : is that the spirit that oils the wheels I shall be a cheerful spirit—bright, to I add to ins own brightness and, above I all, unreproachful. Some husbands deserve far more reproach than their patient wives ever! deal out to them. On the other hand, j many husbands who are making quite [ a fair fight against the confusing ! forces of existence are driven to 1 despair by a constant necessity to explain behaviour. Beware Bars! A man who, though married, feels freedom flowing around him is far more likely to hold his wife dear than a man who is reminded of his captivity Do Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who through tear of each other have struggled to live technically blameless lives together for twenty years, possess more mutual affection than Mr. and Mrs. Jones, who through love of each other have struggled to understand each other and be unhampering? Mrs. Smith watched Mr. Smith all round the clock. Mrs. Jones never watched Mr. Jones at all. Examine the secret hearts of Messrs. Smith and Jones at the end of twenty years, and you will find that Mr. Smith’s is dried up. and that Mr. Jones’s still beats with affection. And the same applies to the hearts of their respective ladies'.

MAKING A POCHETTE THE SECRET OF SUCCESS A pochette is just the easiest thing on earth to make. The veriest amateur does not hesitate to venture on unr. # Yet, how many amateurs, even quite inexperienced, ones, know how best to stiffen a pochette? Usually they use buckram, which is actually the worse thing they could possibly choose, for it cracks and breaks and never lies flat. IC you are wise you will take my tip, when you arc making up the pochette we tell you about here, and use a double thickness 4 of tailor’s canvas, with the thinnest layer oC cotton wool on top between canvas and material. This suggestion of padding should always be included. It is a good plan to place a finished pochette in a book and to place some weights or books on top and to leave it in this press all night. This gentle pressure is far better than a hot iron, which is likely to set the corners curling up. If you are a pochette fiend you would be well advised to invest in a little machine for inserting press studs, with proper fancy tops, right into the bag. It gives a really professional touch to your work and, of course, you can lend it to all vour friends!