For years I\u27ve heard my friends talk about having  a facial.  I\u27ve known vaguely that whatever it was it gave them no end of satisfaction; and I could see for myself that the immediate results were noticeable to the naked eye

Murphy, Eda Lord

English

For years I've heard my friends talk about having "a facial." I've known vaguely that whatever it was it gave them no end of satisfaction; and I could see for myself that the immediate results were noticeable to the naked eye.</p

Murphy, Eda

Digital Repository @ Iowa State University (ISU)

4 THE IOWA HOMEMAKER Who Waits on Your Table? By BETH BAILEY, Associate Professor of Home Economics I S THE MOTHER of your family the hostess or is she a waitress for the rest of the family? How often one finds the mother jump· ing up from the table countless times dur-ing the meal to get this or that, while a daughter or son sits, willing to be waited on. This is altogether the wrong state of affairs. Most mothers in their desire to help their family, make the error of rear-ing children who accept the idea of being served rather than of serving. A boy or girl of 12 should be taught to feel that the mother is the most honored person lll the home. It should be a joy to help her and to save her steps. True it is, that many a mother will per-form a task herself rather than wait for the slower and more clumsy movements of a child. but see what the result is. As the boy or girl grows older, the willing-ness to be waited on grows. The child is not to be blamed. She has never been taught to be thotful of the needs of her mother. The natural desire of the girl or boy has been killed by a busy mothers' thotlessness. In one family in which there is a girl 18, and two boys, 16 and 12, the mother never sits thru a whole meal. She con-tmually jumps up to replenish the bread or to pour the water or to get this or that. The girl may now and then say, "Why didn't you let me get that?" but more often the service goes unnoticed. The mother is a slave to her family. The chil-dren have never learned to be observant of the needs of others. It is realty the children's loss. A :boy or girl of 12 can wait on the table very easily if the mother has fore-that in planning and patience in execut-ing. First of all ,a serving table is a great help. Here are placed extra silver and dishes. Perhaps the dessert can be placed here to save going to the kitchen. A little girl of 12 can help set the table and see that everything is ready for the meal. She should feel that she is all essential to the success of the meal. One little girl of 13 whom I know feels very responsible for the appearance of the table. She takes great pride in get-ting flowers or a plant to brighten the dining room. When the meal is an-nounced, this little lady assumes charge of all further waiting on the table. She removes the dishes as nicely as an adult. At times her mother helps with some final preparation of dessert, but for tp.e most part, Dorothy serves the meal. Her mother is tired, she has prepared the food. During the meal, Dorothy is never willing to allow her mother to get up to wait on her. It is no wonder that in this household the younger children also feel the spirit of helpfulness. To help mother - not to be waited on by mother-is the family slogan. Now let's see. How shall we start? At breakfast we will have the whole family up and dressed- ready to start the day right by a happy meal together. Of course at times some one of the family must have an unusually early b-reakfast, but as a rule, breakfast should be a fam-ily meal, not a snatching, gulping sort of process, where, in the rush to be off, no one speaks or smiles. Breakfast must be a simply served m eal-but even here the girl or boy can see that the table is com-plete and, if, in the course of the meal, a cup or spoon is lacking, let the child leave the table to get it. It is wrong for the mother to stay in the kitchen. to bake griddle cakes while the family eats. At no other meal is she so needed to keep the right spirit at the table. Start the day right with a happy breakfast. One is apt to arise with a frown and to hurry off to school or to work with the same frown. So let's say- begin the day with a breakfast with the entire family present and with the mother at her place pouring the coffee or serving the cereal. Plan to have the food served at the table so that there is little or no service necessary. Then for dinner at noon-when that young lady of 12 or so comes home, it is uot too much to expect her to take charge of the final preparation of the table. There is the water to pour, the plates to place, etc. How often a mother says she won't ask her daughter to help because "she can only be a child once." True it is, and only during this period of develop-ment and habit formation comes this op-pm:tunity for character building. Dinner is ready and the family is seat-ed. A big spoon is missing and father speaks to the daughter, not to the mother. When it is time to remove the plates, the mother may help if the platter is too heavy, but as a rule, a girl of 12 can clean the table nicely and quickly, especially if there is a tea wagon or service table. Then the dessert dishes and the dessert are brought to the table. All food is served at the table rather than in the kit-chen, to save steps in "bringing in individ-ual servings. After dinner, of course, the daughter helps clear the table and stack the dishes. Often there is time to help with the dishes and what a fine oppor-tunity this is for a mother to keep in touch with her growing daughter! What a spirit of comradship develops out of . this cooperative housekeeping! H the little girl shows a desire to help prepare the meal, the mother should be careful of criticism and should realize that a little patience now will result later in a helpful, capable daughter . The evening meal is often of the type that is so simply prepared that the daughter can be of great help. Many a girl of 12 or 13 takes delight in getting supper ready as a surprise. If the muff-ins are not as light as usual or the tea is too strong, it is of no great conse-quence. It only means that the mother must be more explicit the next time she makes muffins and must help correct these errors. Too often, a mother tries to teach a daughter to make muffins by saying "get me the milk, now get me the baking powder, now grease the pans"-then wonders why the little girl doesn't succeed with muffins when she tries to make them alone. A boy can be of great help in table ser-vice, too. It is not a "sissy" job to help in this way. Boy scouts are made to feel the joy of relieving mother of some of her many tasks. Any child of 12 or over has a right to the pleasure derived from this kind of service. It is at this age that children are trained to be thotful or are allowed to grow U:p to be thotless. Let each family aim to have the mother the honor guest at the table. Her place is at the table. She can not direct the conversation or maintain the right at· mosphere if she is not in her place. Let boys and girls grow up with this ideal. Let the hours spent at family meals be happy hours. My First Flight 1n the Pursuit of Beauty By EDA LORD MURPHY, Associate Professor of Home Economics F OR YEARS I'VE heard my friends talk about having "a facial." I've known vaguely that whatever it was it gave them no end of satisfaction; and I could see for myself that the immediate results were noticeable to the naked eye. I confess it became rather a matter of pride with me not to have the beauty parlor habit. It was false pride and a mistaken sense of security. It was the bliss of ignorance. However, I resisted the lure of the beauty shop until yester· day; I caught sight of myself in a mirror and the horrible truth dawned upon me, that to delay longer would be suicidal The day was hot and so was I. I ran quickly to the telephone and made a date at the earliest possible moment with her who guarantees to make us young and beautiful. She is the personification of her art. She is plump and pink and pretty. There are no creases and crows feet to mar her good looks. She wouldn't tolerate them. She'd say she couldn't afford to. "Gawd knows" I can't. And so it came about that I lay swathed in an enveloping white garment at a com· fortable angle in the operating chair. Her finger tips were dipping deeply in-to soft, white, faintly scented face cream and they were slipping smoothTy over the wrinkles in my brow. They made the circle of my eyes, they pressed softly on the lids, they searched the little corners and then with gentle persistence began all over again. Then came the twist of the turkish towels. Suddenly I was extinct (except the tip of my nose). I had completely disappeared behind a thick, hot towel. Presently I emerged for a moment, only to disappear behind a thick, cold towel. My poor face didn't know what to make of it. The busy little muscles that make my expression were simply worn out jumping from hot to cold and gave up in despair, "in perfect "relaxation" she mur-mured from behind. I was about to drop off to sleep when I heard a whirr and a buzz and felt the velvet touch of a vibrator on my cheek. The tickling thing crept and crawled, jiggled and joggled, while I tried not to squirm. It ventured farther and farther. It explored regions as yet inviolate. To my great joy, at last, she turned off the THE IOWA HOMEMAKER switch, but only for a moment. Horror of horrors! A light suddenly glared at me. All the rays- red, violet, indigo and X, were revealing what the years-the cruel years-had done to me. This was accompanied by low voiced instruction as to what I should have done; how, if I had been less dull, I might have preserved the freshness that, presumably, I had in my youth. I was prostrate. Then, just as it had all seemed hope-5 Jess, life began to take on the sweet odors of violets and gardenias. Tiny little brushes smoothed my brows; slender lit-tle pencils touched my willing lips, pleas-ant lambs wool left the bloom of youth in .just the right spots. I ventured to look. Could that person in the mirror be me? Twice the price would have been nothing as reward for this result. Apple blossoms, peaches and cream, a skin you love to touch-thats me at last! A New Cure for the "Run~Down" Housewife The Rearrangement of the Kitchen and Its Equipment By CARRIE PLUNKETT T ANLAC, vegetable bitters, herbs of iron and other concoctions offered as remedies for backaches, strained shoulders, tired feet or whatever ails the "run down" housewife, has a new com-petitor in the field-the rearrangement of the kitchen and its's equipment. Many steps are taken needlessly every day and many backs are weary at night, because of poorly arranged and ineffecient kit· chens. If you find yourself tired before your Saturday baking is over, look around your kitchen and see whether you have been carrying your cakes and cook-ies from the cabinet shelf clear across the room to the oven or if you have had the oven brought across the room to the cakes and cookies. The housewife who is contemplating building or r ebuilding has the · best chance in the world to plan a well ar-ranged kitchen. Here are a few salient points concerning the construction of the kitchen which it would be well for her to keep in mind. If most of the cooking can be done in ,-'-1 I ' I I I I -.11 I I -, 0 0 St••e 0 0 ,-f.ltS~ <'lose.-t;--,---,1 \ j ~ I rl I ---..J PWH!RM r Qood &~,..."fO"'eJtt of tc:t.r.,~ n "'l";l""'•"'t I , I 8 ; 'A I .,1 p,,, '11.1 TlluLe the forenoons, a west kitchen will be much cooler for summer. Weighted win-dows, high enough for a table or sink to be put under them, placed on two sides of the room will give good lighting and ventilation to carry away cooking odors. Ten by twelve feet is a good size for a kitchen, where no help is employed. There sholud be two doors, one opening into the dining room and one to the out-side of the house. A very satisfactory wood trim for the kitchen is of oak or hard maple, with a waxed finish. For the walls a smooth hard plaster, treated to two coats of paint, makes a finish tint can be wiped clean with a damp cloth. Linoleum of •a good quality, properly fitted to the room, has probably more points in its favor than any other cover-ing or treatment for a kitchen floor. It is durable, easily cleaned and is easy to walk or stand on. Artificial lights, one each for the stove, sink and work table might just as well be placed low enough to thro·w good light on the working surfaces as to be fastened up against the ceiling. If built-in cupboards are to be had, a dust trap can be avoided bv extending them from the floor to the ceiling. Shelves should be placed only at right heights for the worker to reach with comfort. A sink of ample size with two drain boards is bes t located near a window (for good light) and near the cupboard where the dishes are to be kept. Tf the stove is located near the sink, a more compact working surface will lessen the number of needless steps. A built-in refrigerator arranged for when the kitchen is planned, with an opening in the back, and a corresponding hole in the house wall will abolish the nuisance of the ice man's tracks on the freshly scrubbed floor . The housewife who has h er gitchen al-r eady built must, of course; take it as it is and arrange her equipment to save labor and time. In the arrangement of equipment to save labor and time. In the arrangement of such equipment it is well to consider just what pieces are most used in connection with each other. A short consideration of one's own problems will show that ordinarily, work in the kitchen naturally divides itself into pro-cesses: first, preparing and serving the meals, and second . clearing away the left over food and dishes. Large equipment for each process grouped together into compact worl;Jng surfaces makes fewer ' I;.:" ,, ,f I f:. V' I I (_ ,./ / PlAG.Rft M .II / / / i o/ / /' ' ,.,. I y ~ I I Is: AI I ' f i Petl- a ...... ;t.,.,,e ,.. 'lo\ t t(.i+t"heM. ~\"'f"""'" e 11\.'t of "" \!/ P1 '1'1. ,.,,''1 Tq He steps. In preparing, cooking and serving the meal ,the pantry, ice box, table or kit-chen cabinet, stove and serving table are used. The second process brings into use trays, serving table, sink, drain, dish closet, pantry and ice box. Diagrams 1 and 2 show good and poor arrangement of kitchen equipment. Diagram 1 shows the equipment arranged in such a way as to make a ·straight route from refrig-erator to the dining room possible in the preparation of a meal. For the clearing away process the equipment is grouped to make necessary the fewest possible number of steps. When such an arrange-ment as it shown in diagram 2 is used, about one-third more walking is made necessary, due to the fact that no· con-sideration is made for consecutive use of equipment. Another important point, often over· looked, is that of grouping the small equipment or utensils near the places where they are to be used. It seems so easy at dish washing time to dump every thing into one drawer, but it is not so easy to fish each piece out again when it is needed-sometimes needed quickly. It is convenient to have near the table or cabinet · a can opener, cleaver, egg beater, scissors, rolling pin, bread knife·, spatula, paring knife, m easuring spoons, 

My First Flight in the Pursuit of Beauty

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My First Flight in the Pursuit of Beauty

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