Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1947-09-26
By KATHLEEN NORRIS
wonderful thing abou
the old.faShinned mothe]

i was that she made home
wonderful. She might be fat
or thin, pale or rosy, socially
gifted or plain, but her object in
life was to make home comfort
able, make us all glad to get
there, let us know with every
action of her life that she loved
us.
Many mothers were fine cooks,
whose pie crust, fried chicken,
strawberry shortcake called forth
shouts of approval. It was a real
joy to these lovely women when
asparagus and corn and black
berries appeared in the market
how Dad and the children liked
theml A wet winter night, to them,
meant challenge to create cozi-
ness and warmth; lamps lighted, a
fire blazing, good smells of dinner
permeating the comfortable old liv-
ing room.
The fastidious little daughter
found her bureau always full of
freshly ironed ruffles and frills; the
book-hungry boy discovered new
volumes beside his bed, the smaller
children were helped with home
work, comforted in the thousand
crises of their lives. And for
the older folk. the visiting aunt, the
grandmother, Mother had special
thought; Grandma's chair and
Grandma's lamp were sacred; when
Aunt Margaret came we must re-
member to have orange cake.
The claims of Father, however,
came before all of these, and the
children knew that it was his house,
that he was important, that things
were run as he liked them. In this
considerate atmosphere they grew
up to be considerable themselves;
sisters did things for brothers,
brothers for sisters. There was a
general attitude of cooperation and
help in the old-fashioned home.
Of course, all fathers were not
good and loving providers, all moth
ers were not thoughtful and ten
der women. But the general run of
them was that way; conscientious.
affectionate, intelligent, home-lov-
ing and book-loving, the sort of per-
sons who made America the heaven
of plain folk.
Modern Comforts Doom Homes.
Nowadays there are fewer of
those real homes; the trend of sci
ence and invention is against them.
Soft, even furnace heat, plentiful
light, lessened household jobs of
canning and cooking, fire-making
and sweeping, washing and bak-
ing, have taken the very center of
the household away. Where the
girls used to stay home and help,
they now are off on jobs. Where
amusements were homemade, about
the evening lamp, they now are
scattered far and wide. The chill
dren escape from home on every
possible opportunity, drugstore,
dates, movies, riding about in some
body's car, dancing, country club
anywhere and everywhere but
home.
And Mother, consequently, isn't
TIE Cook Sne USED TO pc. Dinner
used to be important, it used to be
an end, not means to some other
end, not just hurried pause on the
way to freedom. It was worth
Mothers while to please everyone.
Now stop at the bakery and the
purchase of few cans does lust
as well; the office girl is dieting,
the boy is off to his sweetheart,
and the children had whole creamy
pints of milkshake at 4 o'clock
Dad will eat anything.
Of course, this shortcut substitute
ing for home life is wasteful and
harmful. We can't 60 back. But l
think a good many housekeeping
women have made a serious mis-