WHAT WE WOMEN THINK

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 45, 22 May 1931, Page 32

WHAT WE WOMEN THINK

Easy Housekeeping. . Ts New York housekeeping has no horrors. It is an incidental affair taking but a few moments of one’s day-and performed in that brief period with enchanting efficiency. The two problems of the New York house wife-shortage of labour and of space -have been so triumphantly met that they have become positive assets! Labour is so expensive that the American woman turns to labour-saving tools. Space is so expensive that she lives on an intensive plan-and finds herself dowered with the luxury of conveni-ence-of having everything at hand. When your kitchen floor is exactly one yard square, you can’t get weary walking from one end to the other! Tribute. HUS writes Ethel -Mannin, gifted writer and staunch upholder of her own sex: "The loyalty which is part of the love of women in general and of mothers in particular is beyond all littlenesses of reasoning and logic. It is foolish, if you like, but magnificent in its pitiful folly as in its faith and courage. It has the epic grandeur of tragedy and the infinite tenderness of the love that many waters cannot drown. It is as unquenchable as love and is enduring as long as. love lasts." Do You Know? THAT the success in cooking steak is to stew it first with a little fat in a pan over gentle heat till the fat is absorbed, then add- boiling water and proceed as usual, but if water is added too soon the steak becomes tasteless. That potatoes bake more quickly and easily if soaked for a few minutes in hot water before being placed in the oven? That Bnglish hostesses are leading the way in the demand for unusual teas, among the most popular being jasmine tea, which has the essence of fresh jasmine flower mingled with the choicest green tea leaves? That egg stains on spoons will quickly disappear if you rub them with a cork dipped in salt? That the good old card game of ‘bezique has returned to social favour? An Admirable Idea. ! SUGGHSTION recently made in England was that, on the Queen’s birthday, every woman should be asked either to lunch at a restaurant offerjing all-Kmpire foods and drinks, or to give a party at home with a similar ‘menu. The restaurants to be asked to give a percentage to charity, hostesses to take up. collections, while Empire foods, and more especially Hmpire ‘drinks and coffee, would have an advertisement. This seems an example worthy of emulation. ‘Chic. T ig well to: remember that buttons abound, some of oddly cut crystal, some clear white with colour glimmer: ing through; china flower buttons, attractive sets. with links for tailored blouses. wooden buttons, carved, painted and enamelled; coral and turquoise sets with earrings to match; and leather buttons with belts to match. Also that becoming smallish draped turbans and tricornes are much in the mode,

and very desirable for the woman past her first youth to whom the beret isbarred, or should be. Also, it is good style to wear a light frock under a dark coat, which gives admirable scope for varying the ensemble. A Change for the Better. GPEAKING for myself, says a vivacious chronicler, I like my longer skirts. I ean sit down in comfort without having to grab my skirts to make them cover all that a skirt should. And I’m tired of having no shape; Hven if my waist does need corsets to help locate it, surely that’s no worse than pretending I haven’t got a waist at all. Away with short skirts and low necks and slipping shoulder straps. Away with stockings that have to be pulled up so tightly that they ladder almost if the wind blows on them. And hail, all hail, to our new sensible and becoming garments.. Mark my words, it won’t be long before middle-age joins in rejoicing, too, but I’m afraid there

will be a hullabaloo when they realise that longer skirts are only a step toward feminine trousers! No Longer Lonely. "THREE years ago a lady in Finchley was distressed by the loneliness of young servant girls who had come from the provinces. ‘They had no friends with whom to spend the seven hours of their "Sunday out," and nowhere to spend them in safety. So she hired a good-sized room, provided tea and supper, and invited them to come for rest ‘and recreation. The eighty girls who responded crowded out the -place, larger premises had to be taken, and now there are five centres in various parts of London trying to cope with this undoubted demand. These "wayfarers" clubs have their headquarters in Portugal Street, Kingsway. Hach centre has a permanent: helper, but the members themselves help to run it, and even their boy friends-who are welPTTITTTTTTeTTITITTTTT STITT SHS riiiittiieeesttitee ec

come guests-can join its visitors’ service corps, and help too. Though the wayfarers have a "rule" founded on the well-known "charity" chapter of 1 Corinthians, and a hymn of their own, they enjoy games and dancing on their Sundays-they even have a ukulele band of their own, as well as a professional pianist, to dance to, The Cult of Colour. FOR a bedroom with a dull outlook, a cheery impression may be obtained by treating walls and ceiling alike with a pale shade of carnation pink distemper. The door should be painted several shades deeper, and all other woodwork may be painted in a shade of soft pale orange; while a floral eretonne with clear green background, patterned with bold design ju pale yellow, orange, and tobacco brown: foliage is suggested for curtains agd bedspreads. For rooms facing a sunny aspect, tones of mauve are delightful. This colour makes a delightful background for floral cretonnes, and goes especially well with mahogany furniture. Another delightful scheme for a bedroom is attained with a combination of: daffodil and rose. Yellow walls and ceiling, dull rose carpet and bedspread, and fadéless artificial silk curtains of the same flower-like toning, have proved very successful. Our Competitors. A WRITER of distinction thus discourses: The Brighter Male is coming in again! Nvery few years there is a mild revolt against the subfuse hues of civic and ceremonial attire. Why should mere man not irradiate his of-,y' fice by going there in chromatic garments of the most misguided golfer, or sit at the dinner table looking less like the butler? It is said that New York tailors have resolved that their clients shall be robed in more colourful garb to assist the "economic renaissance" and ~ encouraged to wear large checks and plaids. So arrayed, the buoyant male will be fit companion for the female of his species with trailing skirts and perchance an hour-glass figure. Who knows, he yet may have to complete himself with. mutton-chop whiskers! The Quest of Beauty. NEVER be persuaded to use face creams containing animal fats, as even a small proportion in a cream will encourage the growth of superfluous hair. There are lots of good vegetable creams nowadays from which may be selected a preparation to sifit each individual need. Graceful and well-kept hands, too, can be the portion of most women. Indian women, who are very insistent on the cult of allure, use up their odd moments by gently massaging their hands with olive oil, which they dip from a little dish beside them. They stroke from the fiinger-tip downward, exactly as ‘though working on a tight glove. Another simple exercise which helps to keep the hands young is to shoot the fingers out time after time to their fullest extent. Also turn the wrists reund' and round in the manner of a conjuror with cards. These small . aids take but little time, and do help ' to give a woman the sense of being ~. well-groomed. — "a