Evening star., 1930-12-12
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

The amazing thing was that they
might have been put back in the store
and sold for new, so scrupulously had
they been handled.
This sort of care is not natural to
i every one. We have seen monographs
which were kept in such an immaculate
state. despite constant use, that even
the bright work, as they say on the
ships, showed no sign of blur We have
seen other instruments which looked
ready for the scrap heap in a few
months. Paving over tone arms and
such things with sticky hands and
failure to dust will dull any metal or
wood. This applies with even more
force to radio sets.
* X r
The junking of furniture presents the
hardest problem in the average home.
What shall be done with old pieces
which are serviceable, but which should
be replaced?
Fashions in home furnishings change
and, above all, the tastes Of individuals
change.
While it may be true that none of us
realizes he is growing old, he is, just
| the same, and this curious process,
which most of us do not like to admit
probably largely because we do not feel
1t. brings with it many changes OF
| judgment
Perhaps in no single matter is a
| change for the better more pronounced
than in that of furniture and household
furnishings in general
Few human beings, as children, pay
much attention to tables, chairs, beds
wallpapers, draperieS, lamps, clocks and
the hundred and one other articles with
which most OF us are brought up.
In f4W AI,1,~ 81, -ok
up homes of their own, unless they are
blessed with a sure taste which is q
gift, born with them, they fail to buy
for the future when time surely changes
personal likes and dislikes.
Then they will find themse Ives look
ing askance at their own living and
dining rooms, and wondering why they
ever purchased such and such things.
But what shall be done with them,
when they are yet so serviceable, and
so filled with the romance of everyday
living?
In yonder chair some one has sat for
many years. Books that carry in their
pages the light Of romance, love and
adventure have been read from its
comfortable although questionable
depth.
Yonder sofa, with its overstuffed
cushions and arms, may seem too long
for the present era of house furnishings
but it has held many and many a
guest, who always seemed grateful for
its soft curves
This splendid old rug which once was
thing of beauty, now has lost some of
its sheen, its nap has been worn COM
pletely away, and its colors faded.
But what shall be done with than, all
these things which now must meet the
critical inspection of knowledge built up
by the simple process of living?
Piece by piece, let us say, they are
discarded, to make room for newer and
brighter furnishings more in keeping
with modernism. Perhaps the Colonial
has gained another adhsrent.
All! Good!
But still the thought whispers, when
these fine new things are as old as these
| old things, how will they seem, then,
after the luster has worn off, and the
cushions have begun to sag?"
No doubt they will seem Just as poor
then as these present things do now!
So honesty responds; and common sense
ends by putting up with the old, and
being satisfied with what one has.
For a chair Is not so easily discarded
as shaving brush, nor as easily lost
as collar button.