THE ELECTRIC HOME JOURNAL

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 5, 15 August 1930, Page 30

THE ELECTRIC HOME JOURNAL

RE we returning to Victorian etiquette as well as to Victorian dresses? In those days of rigid conventions it..was a recognised law of etiquette for the man to precede the woman up a staircase, lest her "trailing clouds of glory" should be trodden on ‘by male feet. At a recent ballin Wellington I actually saw this little manoeuvre happening twice, but in each case "by special request from the lady. * * HE. modern type of "bachelor room" | is becoming increasingly popular with young ‘people all over the world, jA sitting-bedroom with convertible furniture can be quite artistic and inexpensive at the same time. All that is required is a divan-bed with pillow-cush-ions, a bureau bookcase, an easy chair, a table, and rugs on a stained floor. The space beneath the divan can be utilised either as an ottoman box, or it can have a couple of: drawers fitted into it, an arrangement one often sees in ships’ eabins. The newest type of washing basin is "camouflaged" to look like a wireless cabinet. = * s [tHE present-day housing ills, and the still non-satisfactory arrangements of self-contained flats. when built in many stories, is being approached by leading architects with a scientific mind, imagination, and up-to-date business methods. Mr. R. Buckmaster Fuller, a New York architect, has designed what he calls a "Dymaxion House." This house is built round a central mast, and practically hangs on this. It supplies its own. electric heat, light and refrigeration from a Diesel engine at the cost of £1 per month. each bedroom has its own bathroom, and what appeals most is the laundry, into which" the clothes. are deposited singly, and come out washed and dried in three minutes. This almost affords room for a guessing competition, as the secret of this is not divulged! _* x * HAT woman is there, or even gir, who has not cherished in her heart "Her Novel’? It is born and reborn, fostered; cared for, secretly read and reread, but seldom christened and launched out into the world. The wasted talent that has been fanned to life and then flickered out, for lack of someone to acknowledge its possibilities and foster and encourage it to the word "Finis." ‘It’s the same with the "Home of One’s Heart." We plan, twist, turn, work out one or two rooms to scale, and then our. enthusi-

asm runs away with us, and we change the living-room from an oblong to an L-shaped one-remove the fireplace to the outside wall, and promptly forgel the small details of redrawing to scale. But, oh, the fun of it! It is far more interesting than the house which an architect builds for us. It is our "Dream Home," wherein we can please ourselves, entirely disregarding the likes and dislikes of the public-the technicalities and the opposition of our

ideas by the architect. It alone can be the expression of our own ideals. To us, it is artistically perfect, but, like the novel, is seldom finished or encouraged to chrystalise from a dream to an actuality, However, if it is encouraged by one other member of the family to have it become concretethere has probably never yet been a woman who did not entirely upset the whole of the plans and specifications, after the rooms have passed the skeleton stage-and she can trust herself to walk on planks. * * * ys a great number of new homes I have visited lately, in different parts of New Zealand I find the re-

cessed radiator greatly in vogue. It certainly saves space, and in all probability is greatly encouraged by. insuranee companies, but the mere fact that it is "a fixture" and can never be moyed, make it lose half its charm. What more delightful than to sit where you wart in a room, have a radiator with a long lead and move it and place it as you wish? Certainly, for nurseries and where there are children, the recessed radiators should be advocat-

ed for safety for the child and for prevention. of fire. * * * GREAT attraction to a home-lover is electric ventilation, especially in Wellington when so often on the heights it is impossible to open windows. This ventilation is so necessary in kitchen, washhouse and _ bathroom. It is quite easily made attractive by installing electric exhaust fans. The convenient and comfortable home of to-day has all these modern appliances and devices as a matter of course. Blectrie ventilation certainly adds to the pleasures of housekeeping, because a kitchen is

where women spend more than oljetenth of their time. and to be able to remove the cooking odours and objectionable fumes, by this easy menns, from spreading through the house is a God-send. = " I was out playing bridge the other night when I noticed a unique bronze coloured vase with an old-fashioned Roman design engraved, and at the top a small network of lines. On inquiring what it was I was told to "Lift it up." Immediately the top was all’ aglow, and I. a non-smoker, could not resist the novelty of lighting a cigarette with this bridge-light-er. As soon as it came in contact with the table again the nob at the bottom pressed in and the current was switched off. * Bg * 4 HAVE you ever looked at any of your old-fashioned vases or silyer candlesticks and thought that they seemed almoxt as so much lumber? You have had them so long that they have lost a certuin amount of value by being things which seem little thought of. Ask your electrician to make a gallery to fit the top of the vase and with flex and a push-bar holder it will make you an original reading lamp. With the large assortment of parchment shades now in ‘the electric shops, you will have no difficulty in making a "thing of beauty." If, by any chance, you have an Italian glass bowl with a narrow top made into a reading lamp this is unsurpassed. The radiance.of the light. brings out all the wonderful colour in the vase. The silver or brass candlesticks can also be electrified by wiring up and using one of the small eandlebar electric lamps. >» D ha * * WHEN giving dances. besides using these coloured Christmas lamps, a good idea is to use the plain electric lamp and spray it with Duco any colour you want-the result is perfect. , * * * ‘OU know’ the lovely japonica fliower, don’t you? And, of course, you’ve noticed its berry? Then, have you ever tried to make japonica jelly? It’s delicious. It’s made just as you would apple jelly, and it is well worthy trying. 4 x » I WONDER if you, my reader, were one of the many guests at a children’s party I went to the

her night? I hope you were. idn’t you love the Christmas lamps that lit up that long. sunporch,. and that hung all above the supper table? Didn’t you feel as if you were in fairy-land-they were like so many Jack o’ Lanterns with their wonderful colours. Nothing could have heen used to give a more festive appearance than the multi-coloured balloons and these lamps that are in series. Wait, oh reader, until Christmas comes, and then yon and I can decorate our tree with these. ‘ * > * + At the recent courts the Queen wore some really . magnificent dresses. This is a triumph for British workmanship, as her Majesty had made it known previously that all the materials were td be of British manufacture. Her example was followed by many of the ladies making presentations, and the _ glistening display of gold and _ silver tissues and chiffons proved once and for all that it is unnecessary, as well as unpatriotic, to go abroad for one’s clothes. JRRECENTLY our own Governor-Gen-eral, Lord Bledisloe, when visiting Petone, mentioned the fact that he ‘was wearing nope but New Zealand-made garments. Let us hope that he will not be alone in his efforts to stimulate the trade of the country, and that the slogan "Buy New Zealand goods" will no longer fall upon deaf ears. s od e HERE is at least oné woman who believes it is possible to combine Ye role of housewife with that of proSessional woman. She is Mrs. Kenneth Martin, wife of a famous surgeon, and is the first married woman to be made a Fellow .of the Royal College of Surgeons. After marriage she gave up her profession for a few years, during which time she had three children, and tried to settle down to running a house. But in these labour-saving days, with every electrical conveniences to hand, she found time hanging heavily, and turned once more to her career. "The main cause of neurasthenia in modern women is living at home and doing nothing," she declares. * 2 ¥ "YJ‘ROUSSEAU luncheon parties are ‘all the rage over here," writes 2 friend from England. "I was invited to one the other day, when a bride-to-be entertained her twelve bridesmiads to lungh on the day before the wedding. we all trooped into the lib- rary. tO admire the presents, and then upstairs to see the wonderful trousseau, which contained, amongst other things, a couple of most fascinating beach suits. One was in silk pique with long trous‘ers and a blouse of a vivid jazz design, the other being of cretonne-patterned linen." An heiress should make a capital wife. 2 s * ‘THERE is a new fashion in wedding rings, as in everything else. Some women are wearing double rings, one being a narrow band of platinum or d, aud beside it a circlet of green ade, or a band of coloured gems. , s + e ALUMINIUM that has become disco}oured can be restored to its origjnal colour by acid. Stew some rhu-

STS TTT PTL e Lec Lie LLL barb in the aluminium vessel, or clean: it with lemon. Steel wool, which can be bought by the pound, should always be used for ordinary cleaning of eluminium articles. = 4 A LUNCH was held recently at the Lyceum Club in London to inaugurate the new industry and commerce section. Women occupied in engineering, banking, law, and aviation will be eligible for admission, and it was astonishing to see how many women belonging to such hitherto masculine professions were present. Miss Mac kenzie Hdwards, a well-known woman banker, was one of the spéakers, and she was followed by.a member of the Seottish Bar, the first woman advocate in Scotland. It is to be hoped that in the not too-distant future we may have such a gathering of New Zealand women in Wellington, and there is no

Pe Se e Te TTS TT) s loubt that they will make up in enthusiasm for what they may lack in numbers. » * 7H all remember Admiral Byrd’s broadcasts and the barking of his fox terrier, "Igloo," who could also be heard over the air, "Igloo’s" dog comrade "Schnusk," also a fox terrier, with whom he romped on the iey shores of the Antarctic, is reported to have disappeared from his home with Mr.

Ralph Shropshire, hydrographer of the Byrd expedition, at Montclair, New Jersey, U.S.A. "Schnusk’s" disappearance is attributed to his acquired nomadic desires and inability to readjust himself again to a well-ordered existence in a private home... :

ALISON