LESSONS FROM MODELS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 917, 10 March 1930, Page 5

LESSONS FROM MODELS

MINIATURE LAUNDRY VISITS FRANCE MADE BY AMERICAN WOMAN Well known in both Europe and i America as a home expert and kitchen architect, Mrs. Christine Frederick has sent to France a companion to her model kitchen—a small and perfect miniature model laundry. A few months ago her miniature model .kitchen was exhibited both in America and in Europe. This kitchen was lighted by a small flashlight battery, and showed the arrangements of its small toys and diminutive appliances by which the number of steps could be saved and the way kitchen work could be routed. This kitchen is again on exhibit, this time at the Paris Exposition des Arts Menagers, where furniture, house design, and

I labour-saving equipment are notable ! 1 points of interest to visitors. | The model laundry is a companion [ j piece to the kitchen, and is carried j out in a colour plan of blue and gre>-. j The floor plan is marked with large | red arrows which clearly show how j even laundry work may be lessened. One side of the room is devoted to washing, the other side entirely to ironing. Between is an overhead drying rack on which either wet or ironed clothes may he elevated. Beginning with the soiled clothing i as it comes out of a chute in the wall | from the upstairs rooms, the washing I process moves to a small table for stain removal, then to the electric . washer and adjacent two tubs. At the side of the diminutive powerwasher stands a doll, representing a model housewife laundress and releasing a tiny towel from the reversible wringer. A small hotplate, complete with starclipot and pan, are waiting to receive the clothes needing starch. Every detail, is there, including a I clock, a thermometer, and a complete ! j array of small bottles holding stain j i removers. Windows over the tubs j i allow plenty of air and sun. Over- | j head, central diffused lighting is pro- ; vided by a very modernistic duplex j fixture—made from a flashlight bat- j tery. A small basket of washed j clothes and a rack of clothes ready I to dry show that the chain of work j is complete, I And on the other side is an equally \ clear “rationalisation” (to use the I European term) of the ironing pro- j cess. Beginning with the clothes \ rack, there Is the power-ironer in the I safe care and operation of a small ! daughter doll. Then there is the j built-in board, with its attached elec- j trie iron having in the wall its own I insulated iron cabinet. Here, too, are : complete ventilation and adequate = lighting, enhanced by the charm of I bright curtains, a few flowers at the = window, and a pleasing tile floor. j Packed, the entire laundry goes into ; an ordinary suitcase so that French = friends and others may have the = pleasure and benefit of seeing how an = American laundry in an American [ home is arranged; and how steps, ef- [ fort, and time are saved by American = housewives. After the laundry has = been exhibited in France it may be = sent to Holland, and then to Belgium = and Switzerland.