San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-08-14
Listen, World!
Being Different
By Elsie Robinson

The neighbors say that Claire War
rem has made her house sight" 1t
was such a pretty house, too. Old
Mrs. Warren furnished it for Claire
and Joe for wedding present. There
was a handsome set of overstuffed fur
niture in the living room-mulberry
mohair-with velour rug to match
and blue silk hangings, and a floor
lamp with gold cloth covering. The
bedroom was furnished with one of
those stylish sets of gumwoOd and pink
curtains and a perfectly lovely velvet
rug. There were pink shades over all
the lights. And the hall had a con-
sole table of mahogany with a gilt
frame mirror above it hanging by
cords and tassels. Mr.. Harris, the
young man in the Acme Furniture
store, helped Mrs. Warren pick it out,
and every one agreed that it was the
Very Latest.
You'd have thought that any young
wife would have been wild with graft
tude. Yet from the minute she saw
it, Claire acted dissatisfied. No, she
didn't exactly say anything. But you
could see she didn't like it. And be-
fore she'd been there a month she'd
started changing everything around.
First she painted the wood work /;
daubed the most awful green and Law
endcr all over the kitchen and painted
the breakfast room set orange and blue
with purple birds. And put coat of
bright blue paint over the nice new
linOleum Then she attacked the liv-
ing room. Thank goodness, she didn't
try to paint that. But she did every
thing else. Took down the expensive
blue brOcade hangings and put up the
quccrcSt cretOnne with parrots and
pineapples and summer squash and
sunbursts all over it. Ripped the gold
cover off the lamp and put a paper
thing with naked dancing girls cut out
of black paper pasted on it. Actually
and just waxed the floors and put
down some dirty, ragged strips with
purple flowers on them that she said
came from India. Then she covered
the furniture with more crctonne-all
different kinds, each worse than the
other. And had the lights taken down
and put big drippy orange candles
around, and incense burners and flow
ers made of pine cones, painted.
Painted the bedroom set too-that
lovely gum-wood! The queercst yell
low green, and put black curtains at
the windows and dyed the rug black.
As if anyone ever heard of black in
bedroom? 1t actually looked dirty.
You can imagine what everyone is
saying. And of course Mrs. Warren is
furious.
II don't see why" comments Claire.
"Of course l think it was sweet of
Mother Warren to spend all that
money on IS but after all, it's our
home and no one else can know just
what we like. I guess it is little odd
but Joe and like odd things. We
can't bear to have things like every one
else. 1t doesn't exactly suit me yet
black-it does show the dust a lot,
doesn't it?-But it's such fun trying
to express yourself and be different"
But the neighbors sniff and say the
house is a SIGHT. AS n matter of
art, the neighbors are right. Our of
her ignorance and enthusiasm, Claire
has certainly raised Cain. One glance
at that interior would send a connOi-
seur into commissions.
NEVERTHELESS THE VALUE
OF THAT HOME AND THE LIVES
WITHIN IT HAS BEEN IN
CREASED 100 PER CENT BY
THOSE ATROCITIES.
The result is a Dotch and Claire
knows it. She'll have to repaint that
kitchen and take out most of that ere
tonne. But she has put something into
her spirit which she won't have to
take out. something which will enrich
her whole life-she's put a courage
and independence and hunger for
beauty which will mean more to her
than the deluxe job of interior dccora-
ton could ever mean.
We need more of such spirit in our
American life. Go through the middle
class American. homes. How many of
them show spark of originality?
They are comfortable, convenient and
furnished in fair taste. But someone
else devised that comfort, planned for
that convenience and directed that
taste. 1t was contracted for, ordered
and bought-but it has no intimate
relationship to the lives it serves. If
mulberry mohair" is the thing, we all
break out in a rash of mulberry mo-
hair, whether it suits us or not. If
pink taffeta is dccrecd. we all have
pink taffeta. AND AS A CONSE-
QUENCE WE PROBABLY HAVE
LESS ARTISTIC ORIGINALITY
PER SQUARE HUMAN THAN
ANY PEOPLE ON EARTH.
And it's the same in most of our
other ideas. We're afraid to be diff
ferent. We want to shape our lives
to the latest pattern. We boast that
we're the cleverest people in the world.
AND TO PROVE IT WE'RE AL
WAYS BORROWING SOMEONE
ELSE'S CLEVERNESS.
Copyright, 1895. King Features Syn, Inc.