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Show From Sharecropper lo Packing Magnate, Americans Work 1 lard for Their Living ry norrc chambekun tKele.ised by Western Newspaper Union.) CHICAGO. In most American Amer-ican homes, the "Mrs." holds the purse strings . . less than 50 per cent of American houses have hath tubs . . . The least amount of money that can sustain life is the three cents a day per person that the colored sharecrop- pers in Mississippi live on by eating flour and molasses in winter . . . As much money is spent in ice cream and soft drinks as in building houses . . . These and other down-to-earth facts are the findings revealed in "How America Lives," just oft the presses of the Henry Holt publishing publish-ing house. The full report on how Americans make their money and spend it; what they eat. drink, wear and talk about; what gives them a kick: where the shoe pinches the most, and the least; what they dream of and what they believe in; and even what they do on Sunday afternoons was compiled by specialists special-ists who, after traveling to all parts of the nation during 19-10, wrote the "How - America - Lives" series for The Ladies' Home Journal. The 16 families range from that of Henry Bracey, Negro Mississippi sharecropper, whose cash income last year totaled $26, to the family of Thomas Wilson, millionaire head of the Wilson Packing company of Chicago. Chi-cago. Summary of Study. And here's a summary of the study which was conducted in the homes of real, warm, typical Americans: Amer-icans: As against the 1940 U. S. census statement that 522 a week is the salary sal-ary of the average man in America, the survey disclosed that a man with a family of two children needs to earn at least $35 a week before he can own his own home, carry insurance, insur-ance, and give his children welcome advantages- And he can do this only i v Ym i i V'- t:- y I Y - J -J Y i I "i - I- i i l. v y ; 1 'nMni"-n 11 - Y-? 1 How America Liv-es . . . "What shall I wear?" It's the daily question of a whole nation of women who have made up their minds that they want to look pretty and stay young. And so America Amer-ica is giving them what they want . . . at the price they want to pay. They can buy a unique value in a simple felt hat, for example, for about $5, or even $3.95, and know they are getting quality! if there is no sickness and if he has saved up an initial lump sum for the down payment on his house. Dream of all American families is to own a home. Chief hurdle is saving up down payment Low points in American living are American houses expensive and inexpensive. in-expensive. Although $3,000,000,000 annually goes into new homes, less than 40 per cent of the houses in America are in good condition. More S .. , .! . V -' .- fi Y .lAMvtfi Y Y ;JV&'i How America Lives . . . 77tev spend as much on ice cream and soft drinks as on building houses. As a nation, they like to "eat well," and, particularly particu-larly in these times, do eat better than any other nation in the tcorld. 1 he average city family spends one-third of its annual income, or $0S, a year for food. It thrives on good plain cooking three square meals a day. Few families fam-ilies keep accurate food budgets. They dont need to the women are thrifty shoppers. than SO per cent were built without help from architects. Functionally they are inadequate. Aesthetically, they are unfortunate. They lack enough closet space; they are hard to heat; the roof leaks; and they are so poorly planned that the home-maker home-maker walks an extra hundred miles a year between the front door and the kitchen. Kitchens Best Equipped. High points in American living are American kitchens best equipped, most modern and most used room in the house. Living room is shabbiest, shabbi-est, dining room barest and least used. Ninety -five per cent of the women in America employ no household help. Average American homemak-er's homemak-er's week (in home where there are growing children) runs 50 to 60 hours and 24 hours a day, seven days a week she is "on call" when the children are little. (Grandmother's (Grandmoth-er's hours were nearly a hundred!) American boys and girls still help with the chores, even if they live in city apartments. The typical American family's credit is good. Majority of families fami-lies "pay as they go," after saving with a particular goal in view. Installment In-stallment buying records show 984 per cent fulfill their payments. Foreclosures Fore-closures in FHA mortgages over five years have amounted to less than half of 1 per cent Largest single item of American families' yearly spending is food 14 billions, or 28 per cent of the national income. Conclusive proof that America as a whole sets a good table is the fact that the average city family spends one-third of its annual income for food. Ten dollars a week feeds a family of four adequately, but without many frills. It can be done for less ... a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, woman's food budget was $7 a week for four people. Food Budget 'Touchy.' Touchiest subject among American Ameri-can homemakers is the food budget, about which they become more defensive de-fensive and passionate than about a national presidential election. American homemakers have been made acutely vitamin conscious. Per capita consumption of vegetables, vegeta-bles, other than potatoes, has increased in-creased from 26.36 pounds in 1919-20 to 1923-24 to 31.36 pounds in 1934-35. Production and shipment of oranges jumped from 10 million boxes In l'.lOO to 55 million In l!:!.r). The big Sunday dinner Is passing. More and more families go on automobile auto-mobile outings insteud. Saturday night dinner has replaced Sunday noon ns the big dinner of the week. Gingerbread and baked beans are still America's number one choice; beef, number one meat; apple pie and chocolate cake, number one desserts. des-serts. When the pinch comes, American families economize on clothes first. But American women love clothes and have a vast choice in inexpensive inexpen-sive styles (48 million felt hats in the $3.95 to $5 quality were sold last year.) There is no more Main Street of fashion. Fashion a Fault? American women's chief fashion fault doing a good tiling to death. If veiling is the fashion, they lose themselves in the mists. If open toes are in style, they go for the most extreme and open styles and wear them every hour of the day and night. They pile on too much junk jewelry . . . lack co-ordinating powers when shopping for clothes. Two permanents a year, averaging averag-ing from $3 to $5 are fixed charges in the budget, although weekly trips to the beauty shop are usually supplanted sup-planted by the home shampoo and bobby pin method. America is reappraising itself . , . taken as a whole some 30 million 5 I . 'i :W ' ; . Of a i a. A..,.-' 1 ! U -if, How America Lives . . . What does Mrs. America do on an average day? She has no help with her housework. ( 95 per cent of America women don'tj Then it's likely she's up at 7 a. m and the light in her kitchen window win-dow will be shining long after sundown. sun-down. She gets the meals, washes the dishes, cleans the house, markets, irons and mends, to mention but a fete of the deeds which require toQ or more of her weekly hours. families America lives pretty well. There's room for improvement, yes. That, like the new vacuum cleaner, another pair of shoes for sis or an addition to the house, will come. |