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Show HOUSES of the FUTURE wiM Have. SMALLER KITCHENS and r'rX LARGER BATHROOMS '- prmhhLK iy.iLiii-.iNij ana rjp i M LARGER BATHROOMS f-j . r-..' ! A one of the daily ,y,vir-' h I - J ! ' V J monotonous tasks ' M - j 4 L;' , " , i 1 v . j toast in today's ' SJ ' 5 : - 4, - ' . - nook without r r.r" r"'" ' 1 ! ' V- f' ' cleaner- JpW Z : 1 , " ' t' ' , , wV Polishes , ' t i vV r r 'ArrJ ttetom, Hh-Al Modern bathrooms are attractive, well p;, 4 ' , w ' " " di task of iY'W lighted, ventilated and freauently X I SAreepm V, 7. J - eouippecl with health exercisers -."-t, vt L. 3 I s ''' S and, weihin, machines i LJ. " v if , fV-f)! ? r T 1 1 A" ls 's 1 1 .J''4 V'TV', LpV' 1 irt A aJRCI-IITECTURAL exhibitions t V ( ' ' v A A L f VOri this winter emphasize an over- , 5 - V V V ' I 1 J't whelming trend toward .mailer X ' ' , If 7 " ffP Jf'wBl kitchens and larger bathrooms. f " V 'iV S j - ' , I s' ,i r".""?" W There is no particular connec Vjt C Vj l- yvw tlon between these opposite ten- ' ihl' Jf k i . T t i f.4w L?2J dencles, except that both have , V Kl ,AM kWfWj tTS a sound sclentinc basis and are interest- -h f J$ I A ?V V I J 4 A ' I ing illustrations of American leadership $i V 'V f -TTfft 1 f if ! VV ""'' In everything that makes for efficiency 1 ' fr$ S j $ S I i . V f ' and good living. I V T ? I "-1 t ? f -X V Small kitchens are in general more con- 1 ' f f " V' ' X venlent than large ones. Fifty years ago t -4 ' u J SWj ' V the average American kitchen was often , ' ."-vf s ' wiS jiJa j5fcti wakiJ the largest room in the house, an expanse 'Sl?'. Vi ' tY !. 5" ' A 3 of vast open space frequently used as a "Sit C y . js jjf, 1 , general sitting room, as a laundry, and s JY f S,,! beknowuas 'housecleamng time." aa a playroom for the children. Distances fV V . , , V 5 "o. ' The modern woman is a great be- from one point to another were so great i V A-atC f v , ' , tl Iiever in "Preventive house cleaning," that food preparation became a task re- f Refrigeration helps ffi ' 4 1H which means a study of where dirt quiring the combined efforts of several -?XX every hoasewife. I Af , os comes from, and an effort to stop it persons. An inquisitive husband who , to achieve " f w, 43 before it enters. strapped a pedometer to his wife's wrist , A economies x 1 Another household invention which found that she walked more than a quar- n A f X'w' is just beginning to find a wide follow- ter of a mile while making a custard pie .vrar'jAX -- ,i ing among architects and home makers in such an old-fashlnnpVI utr.hpn. Is the electric dishwasher. In a ques- l(V A S)RCIIITECTUKAL exhibitions ffStf tllls wlnter emPlias,ze an over-jV over-jV whelming trend toward smaller .pwit kitchens and larger bathrooms. jt-DP; There ls no particular connec-QjfrQ connec-QjfrQ tlon between these opposite ten-vi ten-vi dencles, except that both have a sound scientific basis and are interesting interest-ing illustrations of American leadership in everything that makes for efficiency and good living. Small kitchens are in general more convenient con-venient than large ones. Fifty years ago the average American kitchen was often the largest room in the house, an expanse of vast open space frequently used as a general sitting room, as a laundry, and aa a playroom for the children. Distances from one point to another were so great that food preparation became a task requiring re-quiring the combined efforts of several persons. An inquisitive husband who strapped a pedometer to his wife's wrist found that she walked more than a quarter quar-ter of a mile while making a custard pie in such an old-fashioned kitchen. The modern kitchen is designed for the utmost conservation of time and energy, and the ldoal size for the average home, according ac-cording to scientists, ls an oblong room no more than 8 by 12 feet The oblong shape is better than the square because fewer steps are required re-quired in crossing the room from one work center to another. Science also dictates the arrangement of the equipment. Everything is arranged for purposes pur-poses of step saving. Most women work in a right to left motion. The order of their kitchen ls fixed, first, gathering up the raw food from cupboard and refrigerator; second, preparing it for the stove; third, cooking it and serving it; fourth, removing the dishes, washing them and putting them away. This fixed order is reflected in the arrangement of the kitchen furniture, fur-niture, first, refrigerator and food cupboard; second, work table; third, stove; fourth, serving serv-ing table; fifth, sink and dish cupboard. The scientists prescribe that the walls shall be lined with all the equipment in the order named, so that work proceeds exactly like the assembling of an automobile on an endless belt. And the kitchen of the future will be as small as it can conveniently be and meet these requirements. Bigger and Better Bathrooms On the other hand, bathrooms just naturally tend to increase in size and importance. The modern bathroom has come to be one of the most attractive rooms in the house, well lighted, well ventilated and luxuriously equipped equip-ped and decorated. The American bathroom has no precedent in the lives and customs of people of other lands. There are no "period styles" in bathrooms bath-rooms to copy. The bathroom is a development of the past 35 years, and architects have only recently begun seriously to study the equipment equip-ment and decorative treatment of this modern American room. Originality in bathroom architecture was held back for a long time by the casual and undistinguished beginnings of the room itself. A generation ago, when a home owner became converted to its importance as a factor in health and comfort, he would order one installed in-stalled in his house, usually converting another room, a large closet or a back hallway into a bathroom. And this attitude toward the bathroom bath-room has left its mark upon architects and builders up to very recent years. In planning new houses, or remodelling old ones, they gave the least possible consideration to the bathroom. bath-room. It was tucked away in any old corner, and grudgingly given a small obscure window. Times are changing, however, and today architects and builders have begun to realize that the bathroom is so essential to the well-being well-being of the whole family that from the very starting of the plans for a house it should be a part of that home and should receive special attention. In the houses of the future this particular room will be planned and built as a bathroom, -with more light, more air and more sunshine than ever before. It will have plenty of space, and will be frequently equipped with such machinery . of health as exercisers, weighing machines and sun lamps. Magic of Machinery Science and Invention have worked so many miracles in the daily life of the Twentieth Century that people sometimes fail to realize their supreme contribution to the noble task of abolishing household drudgery. In an hour, the modern home maker can accomplish things that required daya !..;. weeti in the days ot her mother and grandmother. First came the electric iron, and the steps it saved from the stove lj the ironing board and back again amounted to several miles a year for every home maker. Next came the washing machine, not only saving time but also contributing to human happiness by abolishing abol-ishing aching backs and cracked knuckles. Then the vacuum cleaner, which at one stroke abolished the tiresome and dusty task of sweeping. Finally the automatic refrigerator, whose possibilities are only just beginning to be realized by home makers, for it not only saves time and energy, but actually takes a part in the preparation of food, adding a long list of intriguing contributions to the daily menu. The automatic refrigerator has brought a new touch of luxury and attractiveness to the home table. It has added a note of color and zest to all departments of domestic hospitality. With its aid, the technique of food preparation approaches perfection. We have discovered that cold is just as important im-portant in the kitchen as heat. It improves many fruits and vegetables. It makes meats more healthful and appetizing. It enables the home maker to keep her prepared dishes longer and to do her work further in advance. It brings to the ordinary family hundreds of recipes never before within their command. It helps every housewife to the achievement of new successes and new economies. The importance of a good refrigerator is unquestionable. un-questionable. Annual yearly waste of foodstuffs in the United States is 20 percent of the total, and half of this is waste in the home due to spoilage. Frozen Desserts The first Englishman to taste a frozen sherbet was Richard the Lion Hearted. In the year 1191, while he was crusading in Palestine, he was treated to this delicacy by the Mohammedan Moham-medan leader Saladin. Richard could hardly believe his tongue when he tasted so delicate a dish. One of the "tall tales" told by Marco Polo when he came back from his travels was about a frozen pudding that tasted like sweetened snow. Nobody believed him until he showed a Vienna cook how to do it. About 300 years later one of his recipes was used by Catherine de Medici as the climax of her wedding feast. Today with the aid of the automatic refrigerator the humblest home may have with slight effort and expense dishes which 200 years ago were served only to kings and emperors, and to them only on the most important occasions. Today it is no more trouble to make a biscuit tortoni than a rice pudding. Housectcaning Made Easy The bugbear of housecleaning has been practically prac-tically driven out of American life by the modern mod-ern spirit of efficiency and labor saving. New-tools New-tools and machines have been developed, old implements and materials have been improved, and houses are built so that it is easy to keep them clean. The modern washing machine, the vacuum cleaner, the self-wringing mops and chemicalized dust cloths are instruments which make it a practical working principle to keep clean rather than to make clean. If the daily household routine is carefully planned, if the kind of furnishings that are easy to keep clean are chosen and handled in the right way, and if provision is made for keeping all the dirt possible out of the house, there is no longer any need for worrying about those periodic upheavals which nsed to be known as "housecleaning time." The modern woman is a great believer be-liever in "preventive house cleaning," which means a study of where dirt comes from, and an effort to stop it before it enters. Another household invention which is just beginning to find a wide following follow-ing among architects and home makers ls the electric dishwasher. In a ques tionnaire mailed to 1000 housewives asking their opinion as to the most disagreeable and monotonous mo-notonous task in housework, 920 mentioned "dishwashing." It is a task, of course, that must be faced three times a day, seven times a week, 1095 times a year. No other task in housework consumes the time required by this one operation. 1 Somebody has estimated that an electric dishwasher actually saves the average woman 40 working days of eight hours each out of every year. A scientist has figured that old-fashioned old-fashioned methods of dishwashing cost $282 a year for a family of four people: when done ' electrically the cost is $141. Importance of Soft Wafer Among household inventions which have not yet gained universal recognition, architects are now emphasizing the value of water softeners. Water is so essential in every phase of modern life, and it bears such an important relation to health and personal comfort, that everyone should know more about those characteristics of water that make it desirable or detrimental for household and personal use. Water is the greatest solvent known to man. That is, it' will dissolve readily a greater number num-ber of substances than any other liquid, and for that reason always contains many impurities. impuri-ties. As water falls from the sky in the form of rain, it gathers up all the particles of dust, smoke and gases that have risen from the ground and are floating about in the air. Water from springs, wells or rivers gathers up mineral min-eral impurities. Probably the time will come when all water used in homes will be filtered through a water softener, to remove the impurities that harden the water and hamper the lathering qualities of soap. In the laundry, soft water imparts a snowy dry fluffiness and a sweet smelling cleanliness to the wash that is absolutely unknown to hard-water users. |