Evening star., 1935-12-07
His. Personal Selection
In Advance Safest Way
To Avoid Yule Disaster
Strict Adherence to His Requests Is Advised;
Make Sure of Technical Details in
Special Equipment.

can women. I shudder to think of
the trail Of wrecked homes there
would be if wives treated their mates
to dose of their own medicine in
the form of a gruff:: well, it's all
right, guess, thanks-but don't
know just when I can use It'll" Sup
pose, for instance, you greet the
Christmas fur coat, which has been
smuggled into the house as sur
prise, and which your husband has
almost been choking with impatience
10 tell you about (you, Of course, have
known it all along) with the comment
that it's pretty, you suppose, but you
really did want mink-Squirrel doesn't
go with any of your clothes.
Oh dear, oh dear, what tragedy
that would be!
It seems to me that the only thing
to do in this matter Is to try and find
out ahead of time just exactly what
the man-of- the-household's little heart
desires, and, If 1t is within reason,
buy it for him, with no further delay.
Usually he wants something unusual,
and, in your opinion, totally ridiculous,
like an imitation leather wallet In
stead of a smart alligator one, because
the former happens to have special
number of isinglass pages to take care
of all his membership cards. You
might Just as well go ahead and give
it to him, for If you insist on pre-
senting him with the other one, you
will find that it is never used, and
remains hidden from sight for the rest
of the year.
pERHAPS, In your particular case,
the gentleman is one of those who
cannot make up his mind as to what
he wants, when the idea is presented
to him in the abstract. One way to
overcome this trouble is to barricade
him behind a flock of tempting cata-
logues or pages of advertisements.
Faced with cunningly arranged photo
graphs, underlined by intriguing cap
tions, the hardest subject is likely to
lose his sales resistance, and fall a
victim to the printed page. While
your man is in this limp and vulner-
able state, place check mark against
the object of his affections, and the
worst is over. If, later ON, when the
gift is presented, he seems a bit taken
aback, remind him firmly that he
picked it out, that he asked for it,
and that all you did was order and
pay for it. Under these circum-
stances he viii have to grin and bear
it, because no man likes to admit that
he has muffed an opportunity in
which cold cash is involved.
One other word to the wise will be
sufficient. If you do adopt this plan
or if he states early in the game just
exactly what he does want, be careful
that you follow through perfectly. If
he wants a monogrammed gear shift
knob, don't forget to tell the dealer
all details about the make and the
year of the car for which it is in
tended. If he pines for some item of
fishing tackle, hunting equipment,
golf gadgets and so forth, take one
Of his masculine pals along to help
you select the right thing. And don't,
don't. If you want peace and good will
on Christmas day, take the clerks
word that something else will do
because it Is newer and trickier That
Is the sure passport to diSasterI
II you wish advice on your individ-
ual household problems write to Betsy
Caswell, in care Of The Star, incIOsing
stamped, self-addressed envelope for
reply.