The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-04-20
Homemukers Help
(Continued From Poqe One)

dwelling-units of different sizes and
varying floor plans. Here the install
alton of kitchen and bathroom equip
ment, the provision of closet space,
the arrangement of furniture-all the
thousand details necessary to
convenient operation of the home
are practiced and perfected. Here
the advocates of eating in the kitchen
battle with the defenders of combi-
nation living-and- dining rooms, each
faction supporting it's belief by con-
crete demonstration. Here the double
bed and the twin-bed continue their
generation-long feud, as bedroom
walls are extended and contracted to
provide suitable space. Here cross
ventilation can be studied in operation
rather than in blue prints. Here the
woman of the house can realize her
dream of standing by the sink and
ordering the architect to "put more
shelves here-wide ones"
Local communities, financed and
counselled by USHA, are building a
great variety of low-rent housing
projects in every part of the Nation.
The projects will range in size from
40 dwelling units to several thousand.
The appearance and the method of
construction will naturally vary to
conform with local living conditions.
But interior plans, dwelling-unit de-
signs, will be far more constant, for
they will all meet certain standards of
convenience, comfort, and efficiency
And these standards are evolved from
"study house" experimentation The
American Standard of Living is be-
coming a fact rather than a slogan,
insofar as it pertains to housing.
The USHA laboratory is utilized by
several groups. First, the Technical
Division of USHA itself carries on
constant experiments, revising room
sizes, checking all manner of speci-
fications, testing new ideas developed
in the field by local housing authori-
ties. Second, outside experts are call
ed in for conference-home economists
and specialists in allied subjects. Thus
the arrangement of kitchen equipment
and the depth Of linen-closets are ex-
amined critically in the light of the
best available knowledge Third
housewives are invited to inspect the
laboratory arrangements, and tear
them to pieces if they wish. Women
who are actually keeping house in
homes similar to those being planned
for future projects have realistic ap-
e ,l,t l.. I,I Ia
must be included, of what can be dis
carded. Their point Of view is, in the
long run, the test that all houses have
to meet. American women will ulti-
mately decide the success or failure
of present housing plans, and, there
fore, every effort is being made to
profit by their suggestions, in the be-
ginning.
To a large extent these suggestions
support the more professionalcriticisn
of the experts, but conferences of
housewives invariably develop inter
esting sidelights and reveal wealth
of detailed observation growing out
of daily experience in the home. Fol
example, where no separate dining
room can be afforded, the American
family prefers a kitchen ample enough
for eating purposes to the idea of ;
combination living -and-dining room
This is a practical preference, to b'
sure, when space is limited, but it il
also a survival of good old American
rural traditions.
Women want room to store things
They're emphatic about that. Hal
their comments have to do with close
space, shelf-space, utility rooms, ant
the like. Women know that house
keeping is largely problem of prop
er space to put things in, or on, ant
they will sacrifice many luxureS fol
adequate storage arrangements. From
canned vegetables to kiddy cars, from
bath-towels to laWn-moWerS, every
thing has to be 'put away" eventually
and only the housewife knows what ;
job it is. 1t is safe to say that dwell
ing units planned for USHA ojects
will provide more satisfactory ar
rangements Of this type than have
ever been achieved in low-cost hous
ing.
USHA houses are designed for rea
families, for real groups Of individuals
and not to meet theoretical require
ments. The ages Of children, the mum
Der of old people, the occupation OF
the breadwinner-al these factors arc
kept in mind when the dwelling units
OF different types are first SkctchcI
and then organized into a project
Each project must provide for wide
range of families, and the design prob
lem is thus vastly more complicated
than that Of an architect who builds &
house for a separate family group
The "study house" laboratory has
proved Of vital assistance in solving
this problem.
The housewife is doing a good iot
as Government consultant. But hen
work has only started. The half
million low-income people who viii
be re-housed under the current USHA
program are only fraction Of the
Americans badly in need Of new hous
ing at low rents. If that zone thirt
of the u1tioun which is i'll -houecl al