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Show V: nlrTUy fcs iPM wNS 1 L t 'iStej&m II quently been brought against Amer- iSj-SSsS MMtit-fc K5t , Al If nlng of oui history as a nation we J, i.JMt r', : ' have been guilty of the most rerk- -JG0! :tft - - gSt. fi? 'es8 extravngance In dissipating our .jTjlJ t -y.' -pj:"' I ' R?. " X nn,urn' ros,mrces, our forests, our -"SSFlrif ' " 1 ' , gfi) wild game and our places of scenic HUT". &ATT DTO, CALIF. iS'fijy ,,enu,i'. A corollary to that Indict- it&&7ttfl YOUrfC! , CUTTARIO, CALIF. By ELMO SCOTT WATSON 5fc MO of the Indictments that has fre-. fre-. II quently been brought against Amer- i li ltun f)t'l,,e ,H t,,nt' f1'01" tlie h''Sln' , Al If nlng of oui history as a nation we have been guilty of the most reck-iff? reck-iff? ti less extravngance In dissipating our fi3t, natural resources, our forests, our JJJX'tfS'N w'Hd game and our places of scenic S' L ',enu,i'- A corollary to that Indlct-EiE.' Indlct-EiE.' mcnt Is that, not content with Ihe -. destruction of the bciiul.es of the outdoors, we have Am allowed our commercialism to mar the beauty of such natural landscapes as do remain with a variety of artificial arti-ficial additions whose ugliness cannot be' excused even upon grounds of utility. Huge billboards. Signs and posters, all erected to the honor und glory of the great god Advertising, deface t he countryside and grate upon the sensibilities of those who would look with pleasure upon a vista of trees and flowers and green grass und flowing streams. And then to complete the picture we have added untdher eyesore upon the face of Mother Nature the a.'slde stand. The dilapidation dilapida-tion and general hldeousness of must of these Structures need no description here. They are all too familiar to anyone who has ever taken a motor trip to any part of the country. Now, however, there seems to be some relief from this situation In sight. About a year ago, wlille Mrs. John I). Rockefeller, Jr., was touring through New England, she was Impressed by the trashiness of the refreshment stands scattered at close Intervals along the roadside nnd she decided that here was a condition not merely to be deplored, but to be remedied. 1'pon her return to New York she set ubout applying the renicdv by placing nt the disposal of the Art Centre of New York the sum of $.",(X)0 to be used ns the foundation for a campaign to Improve the appear nnce of our national highways In at least one respect. The Art Centre, In co-operation with the American Amer-ican Civic association of Washington, D. C, thereupon announced a series of four competitions competi-tions to stimulate the Improvement In the appearance ap-pearance of these wayside stands. The first offered prizes for the best photographs of re freshment stands which now are In use with the Idea of getting Into their hands Information con cernlng prevailing conditions. This contest closed December 15, 10L7. and the awards In It have recently been announced. The second contesi sponsored by the two associations will offet larger prizes for architectural plans or drawings through which It Is proposed to hotter conditions The third offers rebates or underwriting construction con-struction and the fourth will offer annual prizes over a term of years for the good appearnnce and upkeep of those stands which have been built as n result of Ihe second and third competitions The nwards In the first contest have bpen an nottneed as follows: First prize, $")(), to "Pinkie's Pantry," owned nnd operated by Norma P.amman. 701 Park avenue, Plalnfield. N. J.; second prize S'JOO. "The P.ee Hive Cabin," George A. Parker. T4 Itiver street, llooslck Falls, N. Y.; third prize. IPI'iO, "Young's," YV. J. Young. Ontario, Calif : fourth prize. $12,", "The Hut." owned by Helen Dana, 4701 Morcna boulevard, San Diego. Calif.: fifth prize, $100, "Mott's Taverns," owned arm operated by the American Fruit Product com puny. Inc.; sixth prize, $7.", "The Cabin." Lo-iis'-Jacques. Kings county, Nova Scotia; seventh prize, $50, Rio Del Mar Service Station, Mrs Harrison N. Lusk, Aptos, Calif. Honorable men tlon was made of the "Williams Sandwich Shop,' Green Mountain Falls, Colo., nnd "The Little Grey House." owned nnd operated by Mrs. Kathryn Mc-Fann, Mc-Fann, Monrovia, Calif. The judges! who awarded the prizes were George 15. Ford, vice president Tech nical Advisory corporation; Harvey Wiley Cor bett. prominent architect and builder of the P.usli terminal; A. F. Brinckerhoff, vice president ot the New York chapter of the American Socletj of Landscape Architects, nnd Electus D. Litchfield, Litch-field, member of the executive board of the American Civic association. A total of 800 photographs of wayside refresh meut stands from every state in the Union were received by the committee. The photographs sub mitted ranged from the severely unmounted kind, to specimens In every conceivable form of dress. Album? bound in glowing pink paper, adorned With scarlet feathers, artfully contrived pigskin portfolios, mountings embellished with luces and baby ribbons all were sent for inspection. It developed that about two-thirds of the stands sending their portraits were run by women, ranging rang-ing from young school rdrls to a woman of eighty-two, eighty-two, who was running a very successful stand. Old coules, too, were high In the list. One old couple In the sixties advised all old people with no means of livelihood to go Into the refreshment stand business. Pathetically revealing were some of the letters accompanying the photographs. Stories of heartaches heart-aches and happiness, success and failure were bared for Judges who must award for actual accomplishment, ac-complishment, regardless of deserving effort. "We're an old couple, nil alone now. Children all murried ; in homes of their own. We built this stand with money sent us ns a Christmas present from our son," wrote an old gentleman. "We wnni other people who must earn a living to know how successful a reully attractive, well-kept stand can be." "The doctor ordered my husband to a dry climate." wrote one woman, "We came to Arizona. We had very little money; but with bowlders gathered from our desert land, we built n refreshment refresh-ment stand which Is complimented by all tourists who visit us. We feature walnut cookies and apple ap-ple cider, and we are now doing a mail-order business busi-ness In honey from our own bees," "I wanted a trip to Europe." another woman declared, "but my stand has become more important." An amusing entry In this contest was a miniature minia-ture stand made and submitted by a group of young children. The model was barely eight Inches long and made of white cardboard. Tables, chairs, connlers, stoves, all were artfully fashioned out of the fragile cardboard with due regard for proportion. pro-portion. From the ceiling were suspended tiny white beads In lieu of electric lights, nnd the floors were respectably covered with diminutive pieces of linoleum. It was a delightful little exhibit, but unfortunately out of the range specified speci-fied by the contest. "Pinkie's Pantry." which won the first prize, was outstanding for Its fine simplicity. Erected from used wood nt the low cost of barely $500. It achieved a charm and dignity with Its clean white paint, odd-angled, large windows, and its comfortable white benches. Its display was discreetly, dis-creetly, yet temptingly arranged, so that sltrns to Inform the motorist that It was a wayside stand were conveniently dispensed with. The prize winners were by no means alike. On the contrary almost every type was represented It Is the opinion of the judges that there Is no need for roadside stands to be stereotyped, standardized, or conventional. On the other hand, obvious freakishness is frankly discouraged. For instance, the winner of the fourth prize might well have been ridiculous had It been placed in New York state. P.ut against its California background its low, thatched roof of dried palm leaves was most natural nnd assisted It to blend well with the landscape. This principle of hnr nionlzing with the landscape was considerably stressed by the Judges. Itustlc cabins are chnrm ing along thickly wooded roads, but not In the city. Labored qunlntness can be carried to ex tremes. P.ut simplicity and cleanliness fit well into any surroundings. A log cabin stand won the sixth prize because of its artistic arrange meut In a rustic landscape setting. This stand is owned by Miss Louise Jacques, a young school girl. This young lady showed a sensitive con sclousness of the type of stand that would fit well Into a background of tangled pines and firs. Needless to say. It was also a very Inexpensive construction. Economy Is a point well stressed by the Judges of these contests. As a result of the first competition. com-petition. It Is definitely proved that charming, efficient wayside stands can be built for very small sums, and. Incidentally, that It Is Just as Inexpensive to build an attractive stand as a drab, offensive-looking shack. Some of the pri.e-wlnning pri.e-wlnning stands were built for as little as $75 It Is possible that one of the great obstacles that would be encountered b those wltii a broader civic responsibility would be In impressing upon proprietors of roadside oases that the difference between a thing of beauty and a thing of horror Is not to be measured In dollars and rents. In short, not In expense of the pocket, but in expense ex-pense of taste. Conspicuous among the evidences of good taste that the Judges of the first competition heid up to approval was the discreet distribution of advertising adver-tising matter. In no case did a prize winner flaunt posters or signs of great magnitude. A simple shingle with the ame of the stand painted thereon seemed to suffice for those whose sense of beauty and fitness had created stands of sufficient suf-ficient distinction to carry off awards. In this case the selectivity of the Judges may well serve as a well-advised criticism of modern display methods, as applied to some of our rural refreshment refresh-ment booths. Alan P.emeut, director of the Art Centre of New York, remarked recently lu his talk to the Worcester Women's club, "We have no Idea that building a few stands or the offering of a few prizes is going to do everything, but If we can get all the people In the United States to thinking about this over a period of two or three years, we will make the kind of public opinion thnt will react against the bad stands." The art director is sponsoring sound psychology. Public opinion, thnt elusive but very potent quality, can be recast overnight If a sufficient number of front page headlines are hurled at the reader, or If a sufficient suffi-cient number of radio speakers hold forth nt length on a given subject, or even If a popular song Is written nnent a certain theme. But the opinion so rapidly metamorphosed Is equally liable li-able to sudden reversal or languishing death. The public opinion that counts Is the result of personal per-sonal experience. Get the people to use their eyes, says, in substance, Mr. P.ement, and their critical faculties will slowly begin to benefit. Whether this applies to the architectural embellishment em-bellishment affected by the sellers of "hot dogs," or the Individual's choice of cravats, public opinion opin-ion can be so educated as to distinguish good taste from multicolored burlesque, nnd once to educated, edu-cated, will forthwith exercise Its privilege of according ac-cording either support or nonsupport. The Interest in this movement for improving the appearances of our roadsides Is by no means confined to the refreshment stand owners them- i selves. Immediately the announcement of these i competitions was made public, a large number of i both Individuals and corporations came forward to offer their felicitations und their co-operation, j The work Is now firmly intrenched with firm supporters, sup-porters, who look forward to seeing results In a short time of their enterprise nnd assistance. The tlrst competition showed definitely that there are a great many people Interested In the purpose, and a great many wayside stand owners anxious to take pride In the appearance of their establishments. establish-ments. The second competition will go further and lay the groundwork for a definite plan of building more attractive stands throughout the country, by offering substantial prizes for architectural archi-tectural drawings of practical and attractive stands. Ten prizes are being offered for two types of refreshment stand plans, one type being of the stand which is simply a refreshment booth; the other type being of a combined stand and gasoline filling station. Five drawings or plans of each type will be selected ny the Judges, making In all ten awards which shall range from the first prize of $500, downward. As with the first competition, competi-tion, economy of construction will be an Important factor. Those drawings which will In the n,ost satisfactory manner combine charm nni efficiency with Inexpenslveness will be the choie nf the Judges. This must be practical and economical, neat and sensible. Hut above ull, they must be un adornment, and not a blot, on the landscape. |