Evening star., 1936-03-07
THE FEMININE TOUGH is SEEN IN NEW SPECIAL PACKAGING
Manufacturers Hold
Influence of Woman
Directly Responsible
Men, However, Benefit in Many Material
Ways Due to Added Convenience
and Efficiency.

petition were born. Some of the out
standing winners included a special
"non-skid" furniture polish bottle,
guaranteed not to slide off slippery
surface with dire results to the rug
or upholstery; squeezable glass tube
for cleaning fluid, with stiff bristled
brush attached to 1t that could per.
form the spot-cleaning job in one
operation; garden insecticide in
carton that pumps; medicine bottles
guaranteed not to drip; special
spout designed for pouring soap chips;
and a remarkable razor kit that takes
up only half the usual space on the
bath room shelf, and Incorporates
within itself slot for the disposal
of old and dangerous blades!
just glance back over that short
list. and see how many of the articles
will prove useful to a man, as well as
to the woman of the house! But I'M
doubtedly it was the woman who in
spired most of them!
As far as the kitchen is concerned,
many new ideas for that active room
have been born. Metal bags for the
better protection of foods that tend
to 60 limp in damp air; cake frosting
in collapsible tubes that serve the
double purpose of keeping the icing
soft and fresh, and permitting quick
and easy decoration; special spice for
pumpkin and sweet potato pie in an
absolutely odorproof carton; cooking
chocolate cut into neat small blocks,
instead of one big, solid cake; essence
of coffee in tiny metal tubes contain
ing just enough liquid for single cup,
and so on and on up into the
hundreds.
THE reuse value of packages seems
to be assuming more and more
Importance in the eyes of the alert
manufacturers. A well-known per-
fumer presents the clever notion of
encasing one of his black bottles
of perfume in a frosted crystal con-
tainer, which later could be used as
a table cigarette box with an ashtray
cover! A baking firm package their
fruit cakes in handsomely nodded
metal box with tight-fltting cover,
which would prove ideal for cakes
and cookies after the fruit cake has
been consumed. And another very
clever little gadget is the box holding
a typewriter ribbon constructed Of
prettily finished metal that has
mirror in the lid and puff and
strainer in the base-so that when the
ribbon is removed there is a neat
little loose powder compact for
milady!
All this effort may seem folderol
and frippery, calculated only to pro-
mote sales. Undoubtedly there Is
some truth in this assumption-but
the results are really far more funda-
mental than that. Wonderland men
like packages that appeal to the
eye-they appreciate the evidence Of
the time and trouble some one has
spent to give them pleasure in their
purchasing. We all know how the
tissue paper and ribbons of Christmas
lend added festivity and charm to
the gift picture-the same reaction
takes place within us when we are able
to buy a prosaic item of household
equipment in fancy dress!
X X X y
4 S FOR the convenience Of some
of the new packaging-that, of
course, needs no explanation. All
of us enjoy using something that is
so constructed that our labor is
lessened. and the thrift instinct is
appeased by containers which will
keep our purchases in perfect con-
dition right down to the last drop or
crumb.
And that "re-use value" business!
Well, defy you to find any man
or woman who doesn't get thrill at
the idea of getting something for
nothing. and even though there may
be slight increase in price on the
original product to make up for it,
the cost is so painlessly extracted that
the operation is not even felt by the
most sensitive!
Personally, am all for this type OF
progress-it will do much to brighten
our daily grind, and enliven our in
terest in the little things we so
monotonously encounter!