The Washington times., 1925-03-30
HOUSEHOLD HINTS
What IL Practical
Housekeeping?
BY SALLY e. DAVIDSON

To know what is practical house
keeping one must first know what
ia not. And because we all have
very definite and also very different
ideas of practicability, we cannot
always appreciate anothers point
of view.
But If, for moment, we can lay
aside personal prejudice and accent
or at least give credence to the
dictum of those women who nave
spent their lives in the study Of
conditions in the home, who have
been untiring in their efforts to
bring more freedom and less
drudgery to the housewife, we will
have gone a long way toward the
understanding OF what practical
housekeeping really means.
The definition Of practical house.
Keeping is the application of knowI-
edge gained from previous ex-
perience to useful ends. Otherwise
stated this means to conduct your
home efficiently as well as economi-
cally-not only as applied to money
cost, but also as to the energy and
time cost,
Victims of Habit
A woman who insists on doing
her own work by hand power is
not practical, she is merely old
fashioned and a victim Of. habit
She spends an unnecessary
amount of energy and time doing
work which electrical appliances
would accomplish in less than half
the time, yet such a woman non
estly believes she isJ being prudent
and practical.
How very sighted and fool
ish this attitude is / shall not at
tempt to say, but it serves to draw
a definite line of distinction be-
tween the two types of women.
The one is just the housewife
faithful wife and devoted mother,
but nothing more, while the other
is all this and real companion to
her husband and children and "a
credit to any community besides.
Must Save Steps.
Practical housekeeping, according
to experts, can only be accomplished
when the housewife learns to avail
herself Of all possible electrical helps,
every one of which saves her steps,
energy, time and money.
A friend of mine who>has decried
the idea of an electrical kitchen aid
as a nuisance because certain minor
adjustments had to be made before
il could be used to do any of the
great number Of things With:2 its
power, happened to visit me one
afternoon when / was busy prepar.
ing a birthday dinner which entailed
the making of an elaborate birth
day cake and the chopping of vege-
tables, whipping cream and the
like.
Seeing it was nearly 2 o'clock
and I had just started the cook
ing, she expressed the doubt as to
my ability to have the dinner cooked
in time. told her to sit down and
watch me. Then / started on the
batter for the cake, put all the in
gradients in bowl and set
Marion" (the name have given
my kitchen unit to work. What
would ordinarily take me ages to
beat and stir Marion" did in just
By half past three my cake was
finished baking, my vegetables were
peeled and chopped, my silver was
polished and my table set. The
meat / put in my electric range
oven and then invited my friend to
go for walk.
Changes Her Mind.
She was naturally quite overcome.
"You know" she confessed, 'I have
been under the impression that it
would take one longer to adjust and
readjust Marion than to accomplish
the task by hand, but I've certainly
changed my mind"
Another friend quite openly con-
demned the electric ironer because
she felt that she could iron more
quickly by hand. Then one day she
happened to call while was iron
ing.
"I must not disturb you," she
averred, ready to leave.
you're not disturbing me at all
If you don't mind visiting in the
laundry. We can chat there very
nicely while I IRON"
She looked a little doubtful about
my ability to do both, but came
along. Seeing me sitting on the