Historic, archived document
Do not assume content reflects current
scientific knowledge, policies, or practices.
Publication No. 10 — October, 1925
Jfi ^
Better Homes
In America
Guidebook
FOR
Better Homes Campaigns
Better Homes Week, April 25 to May 1, 1926
Additional copies of this pamphlet can be secured at 15 cents each
List of Some of the National
Organizations Cooperating with the
Better Homes in America
Movement of 1925
American Child Health Association
American Civic Association
American Home Economics Association
American Legion
American Legion Auxiliary
American Red Cross
Architects’ Small House Service Bureau
Chamber of Commerce of the United States
Character Education Institution
Community Service, Inc.
Federal Board of Vocational Education
Federation of Farm and Home Bureaus
Garden Club of America
General Federation of Women’s Clubs
Girl Scouts of America
National Congress of Parents and Teachers
National Federation of Business and Professional
Women’s Clubs
National Federation of Music Clubs
National Garden Association
National Health Council
United States Bureau of Education
United States Bureau of Home Economics
United States Children’s Bureau
United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Commerce
United States Department of Interior
United States Department of Labor
United States Public Health Service
GUIDEBOOK OF
BETTER HOMES
IN AMERICA
HOW TO ORGANIZE
THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
<T*0
BETTER HOMES WEEK
April 25 to May 1
Publication No. 10
ISSUED BY
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
An Educational Organization Incorporated in the State of Delaware, 1923
NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS:
1653 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D. C.
Copyright 1.926 by Better Homes in America
Advisory Council
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
An Educational Organization Incorporated in the State of Delaware, 1923
CALVIN COOLIDGE
President of the United States
Herbert Hoover
Secretary U. S. Department of
Commerce
William M. Jardine
Secretary U. S. Department
of Agriculture
Miss Grace Abbott
Chief U. S. Children’s Bureau
Julius H. Barnes
Former President U. S. Chamber of
Commerce
Mrs. Maggie W. Barry
Chairman American Home Department,
General Federation of Women’s Clubs
Dr. Katharine Blunt
President American Home Economics
Association
Edwin H. Brown
President The Architects’ Small House
Service Bureau
Kenyon L. Butterfield
President American Country Life Associa-
tion
Dr. Hugh S. Cumming
Surgeon-General U. S. Public Health
Service
Frederic A. Delano
President American Civic Association
Dr. Livingston Farrand
Second Vice-President American Child
Health Association
Mrs. Lena Lake Forrest
Former President National Federation
Business and Professional Women’s
Clubs
Dr. Lee K. Frankel
Chairman National Health Council
JonN M. Gries
Chief Division of Building and Housing,
U. S. Department of Commerce
JonN Ihlder
Manager Civic Development Depart-
ment, U. S. Chamber of Commerce
Dr. Hubert Work
Secretary U. S. Department of
the Interior
James John Davis
Secretary U. S. Department of
Labor
Mrs. Edgar Stillman Kelley
President National Federation of Music
Clubs
Mrs. Francis King
Honorary President Woman’s National
Farm and Garden Association
J. Horace McFarland
Past President American Civic Association
Mrs. William Brown Meloney
Editor The Delineator
John Barton Payne
Chairman Central Committee, American
Red Cross
Miss Adelia Prichard
President National Federation of Business
and Professional Women’s Clubs
Mrs. A. H. Reeve
President National Congress of Parents
and Teachers
Franklin D. Roosevelt
President The American Construction
Council
Theodore Roosevelt
Former Assistant Secretary U. S. Navy
Mrs. John D. Sherman
President General Federation of Women’s
Clubs
Dr. Louise Stanley
Chief Bureau of Home Economics, U. S.
Department of Agriculture
Dr. John James Tigert
U. S. Commissioner of Education
Lawrence Veiller
Secretary and Director National Housing
Association
Ray Lyman Wilbur
President Stanford University
Mrs. Thomas G. Winter
Former President General Federation of
Women’s Clubs
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
HERBERT HOOVER, President
Miss Grace Abbott
Edwin H. Brown
John M. Gries
Christian A. Herter
Mrs. William Brown Meloney
Mrs. John D. Sherman
George W. Wilder
James Ford, Executive Director
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Endorsement by President Coolidge 4
Foreword by Secretary Hoover 5
PART ONE
Introduction 7
Purpose 7
Why Your Community Should Have a Better Homes Campaign .... 9
How to Organize a Local Campaign 13
Work of the Subcommittees 15
Publicity 16
Programs 16
Demonstration Home 21
Equipment and Furnishing 23
Finance 24
Reception 25
How Churches Can Assist in Better Homes Campaigns 25
Schools and Better Homes Campaigns 26
The Cooperation of Business Associations 29
The Cooperation of Other Organizations 31
Campaigns in Rural Communities 32
Awards 37
Publications 38
PART TWO
Better Homes Campaign of 1925 39
Historical Statement. The 1924 Campaign 39
General Review of 1925 Campaign 40
Comparison of Costs of Demonstration Houses 40
Awards in 1925 Campaign 40
Notable Local Demonstrations in 1925 41
Atlanta, Georgia . . 41
Santa Barbara, California 46
Port Huron, Michigan 50
Birmingham, Alabama 51
Greenville, South Carolina 53
New Rochelle, New York 54
Cleburne, Texas 55
Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina 55
Gaithersburg, Maryland 57
Bergenfield, New Jersey 58
Other Campaigns
Notable Local Campaigns of 1924 .
Kalamazoo, Michigan
St. Helena Island, South Carolina
Albemarle County, Virginia . . .
Statements from 1925 Chairmen .
Appendix
Bibliography
Suggested Campaign of Publicity
Sample Program for Better Homes Week •
Questionnaire to be Used in Reporting on Local Campaigns
Helpful Forms
Index
65
66
68
68
70
72
Local Organizations Which May Cooperate in Better Homes Campaigns^^
THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES
THE WHITE HOUSE
WA SHINGTON
January 10, 1924.
Uy dear Mr. Seoretary;
I have frequently observed the instructive and
inspiring force which the Better Homes in America
movement is contributing to our national life, and I
am more than well pleased with the reorganization that
has just taken place under your direction, by which it
has now an independent and substantial foundation and
I count it a happy obligation to remain Chairman of
the Advisory Council.
The achievement of Mrs. William Brown Meloney in
managing the movement entitles her to highest oredit,
I am glad to know that she will continue association
with the work, aid the private organization that has
turned over its efforts to the new Administration has
shown a fine spirit.
The American home is the foundation of our nation-
al and individual well being. Its steady improvement
is, at the same time, a test of our civilization and of
our ideal 8. The Better Homes in America movement pro-
vides a channel through which men and women in each com-
munity can encourage the building, ornamenting and owning
of private homes by the people at large. We need at-
tractive, worthy, permanent homes that lighten the burden
of housekeeping. We need homes in which home life can
reach its finest levels, and in which can be reared happy
ohildren aai upright citizens.
I commend participation in Better Homes demonstrations
and in the other work of the movement to the American people.
Very truly yours.
Hon. Herbert Hoover,
Secretary of Commerce.
FOREWORD
By
HERBERT HOOVER
THE Better Homes movement stands on the belief
that our people, by well-planned measures, can ob-
tain for themselves a finer type of home and family
life. The splendid and widespread support that has been
given it makes for soundness at the very base of our whole
social and political structure. It is in our homes and
family circles that the children of each generation receive
the most essential part of the training they need as men
and women to go forth and meet the problems that press
upon them. From our homes each day come those who
produce and distribute necessary commodities and carry
on the government and other enterprises. The highest
and most enduring social relationships are those of the
family, and most men and women find the welfare of their
families to be life’s most impelling motive.
Home-making is still as much a matter of personal
character and unswerving maintenance of standards as it
ever was. On the housekeeping side, moreover, it involves
wider knowledge and a greater range of alternatives to
choose from than ever before. New equipment and
devices are constantly becoming available and the results
of systematic study are shedding new light on various
household problems affecting health and happiness.
Furthermore, millions of our families must adapt them-
selves more or less often to changed circumstances of
living because of movement between country and city,
between regions with different climates, and between
apartments and houses of different sizes, and because of
changes in income.
Systematic study of home-making under a great variety
of conditions is evidently needed. The Better Homes com-
mittees, by a division of tasks, are able to go into many
problems more thoroughly than a single overworked house-
wife, and through the demonstrations present their con-
clusions in practical form. In a number of cities this has
involved showing several houses, each specially fitted to
the needs of a particular group of families.
The local committees which kept the cost of their
demonstration houses, furnishings, and equipment within
a carefully devised budget have done the most toward
solving their local housing problem. They have faced the
same problems as the families which have to piece out
limited funds with brains and ingenuity and the work of
their hands.
Permanent school practice houses built and owned by
our public schools and colleges, embodying high standards
of architecture, construction, and furnishing, are another
important part of the movement. Education for home-
making should be available to all, and is best given under
realistic conditions.
The work of Better Homes committees has promoted
character training in the home, and reading, music, and
other forms of wholesome home recreation. It has en-
couraged saving and wise expenditure for the building and
equipping of homes, and thereby helped to raise living
standards, reduce drudgery, and make the conditions of
life more attractive.
Of great significance is the originality shown in the local
demonstrations. Nothing would deaden the movement
more quickly than the listless following of a standard
ready-made program.
There is nothing finer than a living tradition, a tradi-
tion which continually spurs men and women to achieve-
ment. Those who are pioneering the way in Better Homes
demonstrations today can build up a tradition which will
make the high type of homes, and the character of the
young men and women who come from them, the chief
pride of the community. Such a tradition requires a
central point of inspiration, a dynamic symbol, and the
Better Homes demonstration fills this need.
Where a demonstration is most successful, it is usually
because the committee works hard and obtains willing
assistance, especially from those whom it directly calls
upon. The Better Homes movement already commands
a wide following. It deserves a greatly extended support.
Guidebook of Better Homes in America
part one
i
Better Homes in America is an educational institution for public
service initiated in 1922 by Mrs. William Brown Meloney. It was or-
ganized on a national basis in December, 1923, with Herbert Hoover,
Secretary of Commerce, as its President.
The aim of Better Homes in America is to make convenient, attractive,
and wholesome homes accessible to all American families. The means to
this end are educational publications, Better Homes demonstrations, and
research. In each of these undertakings Better Homes in America co-
operates with other civic agencies wherever interests are held in common.
The movement is nation-wide in scope. Its National Headquarters are
in Washington, D. C. This office issues publications and conducts re-
search. Demonstrations are conducted entirely by voluntary local com-
mittees in cities, towns, and rural communities all over the United States.
These committees are chosen and led by chairmen appointed each year
by National Headquarters. The local Better Homes Campaigns consist
of publicity, lectures, discussion meetings, and exhibits; and, wherever
possible, they include, during Better Homes Week, the demonstration of
a house, planned and furnished for a family of modest means, illustrating
the best that the community can offer in home comfort, convenience, and
beauty at a cost within the reach of families in moderate circumstances.
All the local campaigns culminate in Better Homes Week, April 25 to
May 1, 1926.
II. PURPOSE OF THE MOVEMENT FOR BETTER HOMES
IN AMERICA
America has justly been called a home-loving nation. The home, like
the church and school, has been recognized as one of the most fundamental
of our human institutions. Like the church and the school, the home is
affected by changing conditions. To insure the most wholesome develop-
ment of the home, organized educational work is necessary. Better Homes
in America was established to undertake this educational activity.
Expressed in more detail, the purposes of the Better Homes in America
movement are —
1. To make accessible to all citizens knowledge of high standards in
house building, home furnishing, and home life.
2. To encourage the building of sound, beautiful, single-family houses;
and to encourage the reconditioning and remodeling of old houses.
Although peculiar conditions in certain places, and the circumstances
of certain families make it necessary that there shall be apartments and
tenements, it is strongly felt that the happiest and most wholesome home
life is possible for a family with growing children only in a detached single
family house. Such a house then should be the American ideal, and should
be made accessible to all American families.
(7)
8
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
3. To encourage thrift for home ownership, and to spread knowledge
of methods of financing the purchase or building of a home.
4. To encourage general study of the housing problem and of problems
of family life, and to help each community to benefit from its study.
5. To encourage the furnishing of homes economically and in good
taste.
6. To supply knowledge of the means of eliminating drudgery and
waste of effort in housekeeping, and to spread information about public
agencies, which will assist housekeepers in their problems.
7. To encourage the establishment of courses of instruction in home
economics in the public schools, and particularly the construction of school
practice houses and home economics cottages where girls in our public
schools and colleges may, by actual practice, learn the best methods of
conducting household operations and of home-making.
8. To promote the improvement of house lots, yards and neighborhoods,
and to encourage the making of home gardens and home playgrounds.
9. To extend knowledge of the ways of making home life happier,
through the development of home music, home play, home arts and crafts,
and the home library.
10. To encourage special study and discussion of the problem of
character building in the home.
These purposes are accomplished through the efforts of local Better
Homes Committees, with the advice and assistance of National Head-
quarters. The latter office serves also as a clearing house of sources of
information on home problems; conducts research in the subject of home
improvement; and seeks to coordinate the activities of national, state and
local organizations which deal with any aspect of home life.
The future history of America will be shaped in large measure by the
character of its homes. Many forces have operated during the past gener-
ation to change our home life. Fears have been expressed as to the trend
of American civilization. It may be said in general that if we continue to
be a home loving people we shall have the strength of character that comes
only from a wholesome family life, and our development will be sound and
in the right direction. This means that our homes must be convenient
and comfortable, that however modest they may be they must be places
of beauty, that they must represent to individuals and families the center
of their affections and loyalty, that they must provide daily training in
wise planning, cooperation and the service of others.
The purpose of a Better Homes demonstration is thus to bring to the
attention of the community all that modem methods and invention put at
the service of home-makers of moderate means, to show the best that
each community can do to promote and strengthen wholesome, normal,
family life. The Better Homes demonstration should illustrate that which
is believed to be basically good.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
9
The six-room Demonstration House No. 1 at Santa Barbara, Calif., 1925. This house cost
$6,109 to build. The planting around the house adds a great deal to its appearance
Therefore Better Homes committees are urged to secure, if possible,
for demonstration during Better Homes Week, a house or houses, suitable
for families with modest incomes, and to furnish these with furniture and
equipment that is suitable, comfortable and economical. Builders, realtors
or owners will be glad to lend houses for this purpose. But wherever
possible the committee should plan and build a house of its own with the
assistance of competent architects and other specialists. Such a house
may be sold after the demonstration or may be donated to the community
as a school practice house to serve as a permanent center of instruction
in home-making for school children and their parents. An effective edu-
cational demonstration may also be made by remodeling and recondition-
ing one or more old houses, showing how at slight expense such dwellings
may be rendered sanitary, safe, comfortable and attractive.
HI. WHY YOUR COMMUNITY SHOULD PARTICIPATE
IN THIS CAMPAIGN
1. In your community, as in others throughout the country, there are
families who wish to set up housekeeping, but who do not know how to go
about the purchase or construction of a house. There are, also, families
who are living in apartments or tenements who would like to have homes of
their own. The Better Homes Campaign should provide them with the
help which they need.
2. There may be premises which are unkempt or poorly planned. Your
campaign can encourage the cleaning up of such premises, the improve-
ment of grounds, and the planting of window-boxes, shrubs, flower-beds,
and home gardens.
3. The new building in your community may be only for the well-to-do,
or the houses constructed for other families may be needlessly unattractive
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
10
• AlTimrt • riOOJL'f IAN*
•• Dl M0N./T uf ! 01 --HOU./L-
• Toc-Iil •
• MirilL-HOBiy-COMHITTIL*
.••Stmt -i; iLsaH'Cuijoium •*
Alternative floor plan of Demonstration House
No. 1, built by the Santa Barbara Better Homes
Committee, 1925. Compare with plan opposite of
house as built. It will be noted that by leaving
off sleeping-porch and dining-alcove, and changing
somewhat the shape of the kitchen and screened
porch, a considerably smaller house can be built,
which will still be adequate. The addition can be
put on at some later time if needed.
or poorly planned. Through Better
Homes Demonstrations you can
show the best types of house plans
from which it is possible to build
under present conditions for fami-
- lies in moderate circumstances.
4. There may be families in
your community who believe that
good taste and comfort in furnish-
ings are possible only for the well-
to-do. Through your demonstration
it can be shown that beauty and
comfort are consistent with economy
in house-furnishing.
5. In your community there are probably many home-makers who are
suffering from needless drudgery due to lack of knowledge of labor-saving
devices or of the best ways of arranging furniture and utensils to facilitate
housework. In cooperation with the home economics specialists of local
schools and nearby colleges, County Home Demonstration Agents, and
with Extension Departments of State Colleges, it should be possible to de-
mm
1
D i » o
y tli t lOH-lloyyi---
JlTULdom/* COHH IT II L*
6llL5(LI-CtLirOMII-
Plan of Demonstration House No. 1, with land-
scaping design and garage, prepared for the Better
Homes Committee at Santa Barbara, Calif., 1925.
See alternative plan by the use of which about SI, 100
could be saved by the builder.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
11
monstrate ways of reducing such burdens to a minimum, and of organizing
and facilitating all departments of housework and home-making.
6. There may be families within your community that are suffering
from unsanitary housing conditions or unwholesome living conditions.
With the cooperation of local physicians, health agencies of state colleges,
and national agencies for improved health and housing, it should be possible
as a part of the campaign, to show the ways in which housing conditions
can most readily be improved.
7. Even though most of the daughters of your community will even-
tually become home-makers, there may as yet be no adequate instruction
in the public schools or elsewhere in home economics and the art of
home-making, or such instruction may reach only a small portion of the
girls in the community. The Better Homes Campaign, with the coopera-
tion of Parent-Teachers’ Associations and the school authorities, may
stimulate extension of such instruction in the public schools where needed,
and, where it appears advisable, may lead to the construction of a home
economics cottage or a school practice house to provide training for house-
hold management and for home-making.
Instruction in home-making may be extended, also, through Girl
Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and similar organizations.
8. There may be inadequate knowledge of household management,
budgeting, and household operations on the part of the adult population.
The Better Homes Campaign may provide special instruction in these
subjects, and, if necessary, may lead to the establishment of continuous
instruction throughout the year, either in conjunction with the home
economics teachers of public schools or in cooperation with the Extension
Departments of local or State Colleges, the County Home Bureaus, or
under the auspices of the local Better Homes Committee.
9. The population of your community may be growing rapidly, and
there may be an actual shortage of houses at certain rentals. A survey of
this condition in cooperation with the local chamber of commerce, manu-
facturers’ association, or other local organization may lead to a definite
program to cope with the situation, and to provide satisfactory new homes
for the families which need them.
10. There may be in your community a large population of immigrants
or of negroes, who because of limited education have not yet learned the
ways of securing the best living conditions which are within their reach.
Your demonstration may be made of particular value to such groups in the
population through the work of special subcommittees. The best types
of new and remodeled houses accessible to families in these groups may
be shown, and helpful educational programs and demonstrations con-
ducted, to show them how better homes may be secured and maintained.
11. There may be families in your community in which the finer joys
of family life are unknown — families in which parents have forgotten how
to play with their children — where good music is never shared by parents
and children together — where there are no good books — where there is
nothing in the. family life which would induce the children to spend their
12
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
evenings at home — where there are no common enterprises of interest to
all members of the family. The Better Homes Campaign can demonstrate
the play activities that will be interesting alike to parents and their children;
can show how to develop music and reading in the home; can provide
suggested lists of reading for parents and children — the nucleus of the
home library; can show how to develop a work shop and home crafts for
the father and son, ways to construct the home playground, and the de-
velopment of handicrafts and other forms of home art.
12. In your community, as in all others, attention is always needed upon
the problem of character training in the home. Many of the fundamental
lessons in character development can be taught more effectively in the
home than they can in either of the other two chief institutions of character
building — the church and the school. Since the son has quite generally
ceased to be apprenticed to his father in industry, and since daughters now
spend less time in household operations wTith their mothers than formerly,
attention to such instruction has declined. Discussion of this fundamental
problem may be needed as an essential part of your Better Homes program.
For the above reasons, Better Homes in America is organizing local
committees in each of the cities, towns, villages, and rural communities of
America to study problems of home life in their own communities and to
develop programs which will meet the most urgent of local needs. The
initiative and responsibility rest with the community, for the citizens of the
Attractive six-room house demonstrated by Better Homes Committee at Greenville, S. C.
1925. The advantage of good natural surroundings is well illustrated in this photograph
Note also how the architect has allowed for the slope of the ground. This house is stated
to have cost $3,500 to build.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
13
community know best what their own problems are and how those problems
can best be met.
The National Headquarters of Better Homes in America wishes to assist
the local committees in every possible way to get access to the information
which they need in meeting their local problems.
Secretary Hoover has stated:
“A great need is apparent for well-directed, concerted efforts to work out a solution
from the point of view of the family with a small income, that has to make both
ends meet.
“The cooperation of the citizens of each community in Better Homes Demonstra-
tions has been found successful and agreed upon by leading organizations representing
millions of men and women as a practical way of meeting this need, and of presenting the
results of study to the public in a way that can readily be grasped. I therefore have no
hesitation in urging such cooperation as an outstanding form of public service. From
this movement there should develop steadiness of character, high ideals of family life,
civic pride, and responsibility throughout our land.”
IV. HOW TO ORGANIZE A LOCAL BETTER HOMES CAMPAIGN
(A section for Better Homes chairmen)
Assuming that you have accepted the chairmanship of the Better Homes
Committee for your community, we outline below the procedure sug-
gested to you in organizing your campaign. There are, of course, chairmen
in hundreds of other communities throughout the United States. Because
of the widely different sizes and kinds of communities, this outline is
necessarily general. Local circumstances will cause you to vary it in
detail. It is thought, however, that the suggestions will be useful to you,
and it is hoped that you will be able to follow them to a considerable extent.
STEPS TO BE TAKEN BY LOCAL CHAIRMEN
Note. — The outline below applies particularly to campaigns in
cities and towns; if you live in a village or a rural district, you
will find the section on page 32 of more interest and value.
1. Choose and appoint a Better Homes Committee to carry on the
work of the campaign. The men and women you appoint ought to have
a public-spirited interest in the welfare of your community and should be
willing to work throughout the campaign. These committee members may
serve as chairmen and workers on subcommittees charged with certain
duties. The general committee should be representative of the whole com-
munity, and members of as many civic, social, and educational bodies as
possible should be invited to serve.
2. If your community is a large one, you will probably find helpful the
services of an Assistant Chairman, or General Manager, one of whose
duties it will be to help you attend to the details of the campaign. The
Secretary of your local Chamber of Commerce or Board of Trade may be
an excellent person for this position. In this connection it is emphasized
that the support and active cooperation of the Chamber of Commerce and
similar bodies is very desirable. Its responsible leaders should be ap-
14
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
proached at the very beginning of the campaign and acquainted with the
value to the whole community of a strictly educational and non-com-
mercial Better Homes demonstration. The heads of various women’s clubs
and all other civic organizations and clubs should also be invited to support
the campaign.
3. Appoint subcommittees. The number of these committees and their
duties will vary according to the size and nature of communities. The
following list of subcommittees may be useful in organizing a campaign in
a city:
Publicity Equipment and Furnishing
Programs Finance
Demonstration Home Reception
Detailed suggestions as to the work of these committees will be found
on pages 15 to 25.
4. The support of officials and leaders in the community, the pressure
of whose duties makes it impossible for them to work actively on your
general committee, will be useful to you and may be secured by appointing
them as members of an Advisory Council. The Mayor or City Manager
will usually be a proper person to head such a body. If your community
has local chapters or branches of any of the National organizations listed
on the inside of the front cover of this booklet, the officers of such branches
will be suitable members of the Advisory Council. Besides acting in an
advisory capacity, this Council can be looked to for speakers on your
Better Homes programs.
5. A record of all activities should be kept, perhaps by the Assistant
Chairman or by the Publicity Committee; this record ought to be supple-
mented, as the campaign progresses, by clippings of all newspaper articles
which appear.
6. Immediately after the campaign you should report in full to Na-
tional Headquarters, using a questionnaire which will be supplied for that
purpose. (The form of questionnaire is printed in the appendix of this
Guidebook, page 68.)
The Better Homes movement is educational. It is a civic undertaking.
The aim of a local committee, therefore, ought to be to make the effect of
its campaign as widespread as possible, and to draw its strength from
every possible resource in the community. Cooperation should be the
keynote of the whole project.
It should be borne in mind by chairmen, and by them transmitted to
the public, that the campaign is entirely non-commercial; that it seeks to
forward the interests, not of any group, but of the whole community.
In this connection, you are advised that if a commercial exposition
under a name resembling Better Homes, or for the purpose of interesting
the public in home ownership, or to promote the sale of building materials,
real estate, or household equipment, has been recently held in your town,
that fact should not discourage you from undertaking a Better Homes in
America campaign. If such an undertaking has been well received by the
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
15
people, this is proof of their interest in the subject of home improvement,
and you may be confident that they will be even more ready to receive the
advantages of, and give their support to, your work for public education
in home improvement.
You will find the schools, churches, clubs, and merchants generally
very willing and eager to cooperate with you in your campaign. The
schools ought to participate, because in them our future home-makers are
being trained. The press will keep the idea before the public, emphasizing
the value of better homes and wholesome home life to the nation. The
merchants will help, both because Better Homes mean a more prosperous
community and because modem business is interested in service.
Churches and other organizations will help because of their desire to
serve the public, for few worthier objects can be found than the betterment
of the American home.
V. THE WORK OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES
The various phases of the work of the campaign, as undertaken by the
subcommittees, will proceed simultaneously. It should be borne in mind,
when reading this section, that the fact that one subcommittee’s work is
discussed before that of another does not indicate that its activities should
begin earlier. The whole work of the campaign should begin as soon as
organization of your committee is completed.
For convenience, the phases of the work are here presented in six
departments, as being assigned to so many subcommittees. The circum-
stances in your community may make it advisable to organize in some
Cottage in delightful setting demonstrated by Better Homes Committee at Acton, Mass., 1925
16
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
other way, but the work here suggested ought to be accomplished in any
extensive campaign, and it is hoped that this form of outline will be
helpful.
1. THE PUBLICITY COMMITTEE
If possible, the chairman of this subcommittee should be one who has had experience
in dealing with newspapers. The purpose of this Committee is to keep the campaign
before the public. Every man, woman, and child in your community should know that a
movement for Better Homes in America is in progress, and that your community is
taking part.
From the beginning of the campaign, stories will be prepared at National Head-
quarters and sent to the newspapers in every town in which there is a chairman who has
accepted her appointment and has begun plans for a local campaign. (It will be helpful
if, when accepting, you supply National Headquarters with the names of your local
papers.) The first of these stories will contain the announcement that you have ac-
cepted your appointment and will outline the purpose and history of the Better Homes
movement. Subsequent articles will deal with the progress of the campaign throughout
the country.
The Committee can secure material for newspapers from the publications of National
Headquarters and prepare articles which will enlighten the public as to the broader
aspects of the movement. Other articles should set forth interesting bits of news on the
local organization and its plans for the campaign. It has been the general experience of
local committees that newspapers are glad to devote space to Better Homes material.
It is an invariable rule that no advertising shall be permitted on the premises of the
Demonstration House. By applying this rule, the home-like appearance of the Demon-
stration will be preserved, and the Committee will make clear the educational, non-
commercial character of the campaign.
This Committee may also arrange for special speakers to deliver addresses to clubs,
luncheon groups, schools, and churches. Radio broadcasting programs can also be
arranged if the services of competent specialists in home economics, architecture, and
the like can be secured.
It should be the duty of this Committee to make a scrap-book of clippings of all
news stories, pictures, and editorials, and of advertisements specifically mentioning
Better Homes Week, which appear throughout the campaign. This will be a valuable
record, not only to the General Committee, but also to National Headquarters, when
the final report on the local campaign is submitted.
Posters, buttons, and highway signs are effective means to publicity. This Com-
mittee may be charged to arrange for these. In the past, very effective posters and signs
have been designed and made by school children, either in their art classes at school or
through a poster contest. A limited number of posters can also be supplied at cost to
committees by National Headquarters.
There is a charge of 10 cents each for these. Small “Better Homes” buttons are also
supplied by National Headquarters at 2 cents each.
For more detailed suggestions for publicity in a local Better Homes cam-
paign, and for a suggested program for Better Homes Week, see page 66
2. THE COMMITTEE ON PROGRAMS
The programs arranged by this Committee will comprise lectures, moving pictures,
demonstrations, exhibits, contests, and such other features as the committee wishes
to include.
(a) Lectures
Lectures should be arranged before regular or special meetings of clubs and other
bodies, and before public Better Homes meetings.
Members of your Advisory Council may be asked to speak, as well as educational
experts in home economics, architects, builders, interior decorators, landscape architects,
bankers, or representatives of building and loan associations.
National Headquarters has prepared lectures to accompany stereopticon slides
illustrating the 1924 and 1925 Better Homes campaigns. Either one of these lectures,
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
17
with- a set of slides, may be rented for $3.00. It is understood that the renter will pay
express or postal charges for returning the slides to Washington.
National Headquarters will prepare other slide lectures on home furnishings and on
home architecture, which can be secured on similar terms.
Below is a hst of lecture titles suggested to Program Committees.
Architecture and Construction of the Small
Home
Beautifying the Home Grounds
Better Books in the Home
Better Health in the Home
Better Music in the Home
Better Partnership between School and
Home
The Boys’ Workshop in the Home
Character Building in the Home
Child Care
The Children’s Corner in the Home
Economics in the Home Building
Financing the Small Home
Fire Prevention and Protection
Home Music
Home Play
Household Budget and Home Management
How Better Homes Help Build a Com-
munity
How to Furnish the Small Home in an
Inexpensive and Tasteful Manner
How to Make the Most of a Back Yard
Labor-saving Equipment for the House to
Avoid Drudgery in Housework
The Model Kitchen and Laundry
The Planning of the Small Home
Planning the Grounds and the Home
Garden
Planning the Nursery
Playtime in the Home
Saving with a Budget
The Spiritual Significance of the Home
Training of Future Home-makers
(b) Moving Pictures
There are certain moving picture films of interest to communities having Better
Homes Campaigns.
The following films may be secured from Fred W. Perkins, Assistant in Charge of
Motion Pictures, Division of Publications, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington,
D. C.
“Poor Mrs. Jones.” This is, perhaps, the most satisfactory film in this list for the
purpose of Better Homes Committees, particularly for those in rural districts.
“The Happier Way” (labor-saving devices). Also very satisfactory.
“Home Gardening”
“Helping Negroes to Become Better Farmers and Homemakers”
“The Home Demonstration Agent”
These films are furnished free, the borrowers paying all transportation charges.
The General Federation of Women’s Clubs supplies a film prepared under their
supervision, showing the “Home Sweet Home” house, a replica of John Howard Payne’s
old home which inspired the writing of the old song. It shows also the participation of
President Harding and others in the Better Homes Campaign of 1923. Requests for
this film, which is supplied free to borrowers on the understanding that they will pay
transportation charges, should be addressed to the General Federation of Women’s
Clubs, 1734 N Street, N. W., Washington, D. C.
(c) Demonstrations
The Committee on Programs may arrange very effective educational demonstrations
of labor-saving devices, cooking and baking, table-setting, and other household activities,
home craft, home play, and home music.
Publication No. 6 of Better Homes in America, “Home Music and Home Play,”
contains fists of books on play and recreation, the rules and ways of playing various
games, and suggestions on home play demonstrations. It will be useful to this Com-
mittee also in planning programs of home music.
A practical demonstration of a story hour or home recreation for small children
may be made under the direction of the city recreation department, a community
service worker, or a mother.
Boys’ games in the yard and boys’ games in the house may be demonstrated under
the leadership of a recreation leader, Y. M. C. A. worker, high school athletic director,
a father, or other qualified man.
(d) Exhibits
Exhibits of the school-work of pupils in the home economics, household decoration,
and manual training departments of the schools will be of interest to the whole com-
munity, and will also give school children a definite objective toward which to direct
18
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
Living-room in six-room house demonstrated by the Home Economics Association of
Washington, D. C., for the Better Homes Campaign of 1925. The total cost of furnishing
this room was $368.50.
*their work in connection with the campaign. Various health agencies of the community
can also make effective exhibits. Exhibits of architecture and construction and of home
crafts and of miniature houses will be interesting. The younger school children may
exhibit a sand-table, showing the history of the development of American homes.
(e) Contests
Contests are excellent things to arouse the interest and enthusiasm of a community.
The Committee on Programs will do well to arrange several, designed to include as many
groups in the community as possible, children and adults as well.
Contests are particularly effective in the schools, if they fit in properly with the
regular curriculum. If contests in the schools are planned it is advised that the school
principals and members of the school board be consulted at the beginning of the cam-
paign, so that their approval may be secured.
A contest may take the form of a debate or symposium. Some subjects discussed in
the 1925 campaign are as follows: “The American Home: Is Anything Wrong with It?”;
“Resolved: That the Delinquency of the Youth of Today is Due to Conditions in the
Home”; “Resolved: That American Home Life is Improving.”
In past campaigns successful contests have been held to discover, and award prizes
for the best local example of kitchens, living-rooms, home-gardens (or improvement in
these), landscaping, interior decoration, built-in features, tree-planting, potted house
plants, home-made furniture, or general home improvement; or for the best list of home
songs, or of books for the home library, the best small house designs and plans, the best
essay on some subject relating to the home, or the best plan for furnishing a room
within a given cost.
Simple prizes for winners in these competitions can be offered by the Better Homes
Committee.
(f) Other Campaign Features
The following suggestions are for committees planning to conduct extensive
campaigns. Committees in small towns or rural districts may find it difficult to under-
take so many activities, but it is hoped that some of these suggestions will be useful
even in the smallest communities.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
19
“The Little House on Wheels” built in Honolulu to be taken to various communities as
an educational exhibit for native families. It was demonstrated in many places during Better
Homes Week, and excited the greatest interest among the Hawaiians, the Chinese and
the Japanese families inhabiting the island.
Observance of Days
The Sunday opening or following Better Homes Week, April 25 or May 2, may be
observed as Better Homes Sunday, with special services in the churches and sermons
relating to the campaign and various aspects of home improvement and home-life.
Arbor Day, although usually falling earlier in the year than Better Homes Week, might
be observed by the Committee by the planting of trees and shrubs on the grounds of
the house to be used for demonstration purposes, if such a house has been secured.
Garden Week may be observed in the same way or by planting home vegetable- and
flower-gardens, and by landscaping improvements.
May Day — Child Health Day
Better Homes Week ends on May Day, which is observed as Child Health Day in
communities all over the country. The observance of the day is under the auspices of
the American Child Health Association. Secretary Hoover is President of that Associ-
ation, as well as of Better Homes in America, and in commenting on its work he has
written, “with bodily health almost surely goes the natural selection of healthy associ-
ations, moral and spiritual as well as physical. Also, with such health, and just as
naturally, goes an aptitude to receive the right instruction easily; to be kind; to regard
the rights of others; that is, to make good citizens.”
Local committees are urged to cooperate with representatives of the American
Child Health Association, securing their support in the Better Homes program, and
setting May Day apart for special observance. Health is an essential factor in happy
home life. The observance planned by the American Child Health Association will
emphasize its importance, show how it can be maintained, and enlighten the public as
to the agencies in the community which are ready to assist families in keeping their
children well.
The leaders of the Child Health movement are in accord with the aims of Better
Homes in America, and have heartily approved the suggestion that May Day be ob-
served by our Better Homes Committees with special emphasis upon child health and
child welfare and the problem of child training in the home. (Further suggestions will
be sent to chairmen on the observance of May Day.)
Plays or Pageants
In past years, numerous committees have reported the presentation of a play or
pageant in connection with the Better Homes demonstration.
20
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
Rural Participation
Better Homes Committees in large communities have made a special effort to interest
the neighboring rural population in the campaign. With the cooperation of County-
Home Demonstration Agents, special demonstrations for country people have been held.
Books
With the assistance of the local library a good deal of interest can be focused upon
collecting and reading good books in the home. If there is a demonstration house it
should be equipped with a good home library. The public schools or the public library
will cooperate in preparing such a list, and the public library will ordinarily lend the
books to be placed in the demonstration home during Better Homes Week.
The public library might also reserve a shelf filled with books and magazines on
home architecture, gardening, furnishing, and the financing of home-building.
A contest may be held to submit the best list of twenty-five or fifty books to form
a nucleus for a home library.
Lectures might be given, on “Influence of Books in the Home/’ “Better Reading
Matter for the Home,” “Better Periodicals for the Home,” “The Social Value of Books,”
and “Books and Magazines for Children.”
In rural demonstrations, a special feature ought certainly to be made of books and
magazines. If the county or district has not a traveling library, a Better Homes Cam-
paign would offer an excellent opportunity to establish one. The head of the Library
Commission of your State can furnish information regarding this.
Music
A program of home music is a valuable part of a Better Homes demonstration.
Concerts of the best home songs — which all members of a family will enjoy singing to-
gether— are a most worth-while feature in such a program.
The assistance of music clubs and dealers in musical instruments can readily be
enlisted for this purpose.
If you have a demonstration home, there should be a piano or phonograph in it.
If you are planning your house, the Demonstration Home Committee should have a
plan for the location of the piano in mind.
A contest may be held to submit the best list of twenty-five or fifty piano com-
positions, songs, phonograph records, and piano player rolls for the home.
Nursery in House No. 1, Atlanta, Ga., 1925. The cost of furnishing this room was $148.35
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN 21
Sleeping-porch, Demonstration House No. 1, Santa Barbara, Calif. Although this is
called a sleeping-porch, and is quite open to the air, it is plastered and is not equipped with
porch furniture; it has the qualities of a permanent room. Note the canvas curtains on
automatic rollers.
Study Course
A study course may be arranged consisting of a series of lectures or discussions to
be held in the community, either during Better Homes Week or during the weeks pre-
ceding, on the following phases of Better Homes work :
1. Thrift for Home Ownership. Financing. The Budget.
2. Construction of the House. Architecture. House Planning, and Location.
3. Landscaping and Gardening.
4. Equipment. Sanitation. Heating.
5. Furnishing and Decorating.
6. Management. Food Preparation. Budgeting Household Expenditure.
7. Recreation in the Home. Library. Music.
8. Home Economics Demonstrations.
9. The Need for the Better Homes Movement.
Home-Builders’ Clinic
A Home-builders’ Clinic is an excellent feature, and one which will be effective in
any demonstration. Such a Clinic is held by a committee comprising a representative
of a bank, a representative of a building and loan association, a representative of the
Real Estate Board, with a comprehensive list of houses for sale, a member of the City
Plan Commission with a map of vacant lots, an architect, a builder, a landscape or
garden specialist, a teacher of home economics, and perhaps other persons familiar
with the problems of financing and building a house. This Committee should be ready
to answer questions of families which contemplate building or buying a home. Budget
specialists may be secured also to advise families in keeping their accounts and plan-
ning their expenditures. It is well to have several complete shifts to work on this Com-
mittee, so that the Clinic may be kept open for a long period each day of Better Homes
Week without imposing too great a burden on any individuals. The members com-
prising this Committee will, of course, give advice free and without serving any selfish
interest.
3. THE DEMONSTRATION HOME COMMITTEE
The General Chairman of the local Better Homes Committee may be the chairman
of this subcommittee, or may appoint someone else. Its membership should be very
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
oo
Demonstration House No. 1, Atlanta. Ga., 1925. This house of six rooms cost $6,750 to build.
Erected from plan No. 6-A-17 of the Architects’ Small House Service Bureau
carefully chosen, and may properly include, among others, a competent architect and
a landscape architect.
The house to be demonstrated may be (1) a new house planned by the Committee
and built expressly for the demonstration, (2) a new house borrowed from the builder
or owner, (3) an old house remodeled. For examples of demonstration houses borrowed,
planned, and built by the committee, and remodelled, see pages 41 to 64, containing the
story of the 1925 and 1924 campaigns, particularly the sections on campaigns at Atlanta,
Santa Barbara, Danville, Kentucky, and Albemarle County, Virginia.
A demonstration of unusual value to a community is a school practice house — a
permanent demonstration home owned by the school department and used by home
economics teachers to give continuous practice instruction in household management
and the art of home-making. If the schools of your community are fortunate enough to
have one it may be used; if not, the Committee should try to interest the school authori-
ties in building one, following the example of Port Huron in the 1925 campaign. (See
page 50.)
It has been the universal experience of Better Homes committees throughout the
country that builders and realtors have been willing and ready to lend houses for
demonstration purposes. New private homes may also sometimes be borrowed before
occupancy. The house borrowed should be selected because it is better in its architecture
and construction than the prevailing types of houses in the community. It should also
be of a type which would be within the reach of families of average income or less.
Old houses can also be reconditioned at slight cost, and such a demonstration is very
valuable. On page 64 is an account reprinted from last year’s Guidebook of the
demonstration in Albemarle County, Virginia, in 1924.
If the house is built for the campaign, the cost of building and of the lot can be
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
23
The attractive porch of house demonstrated at Carlsbad, N. Mex., 1925
cleared by selling the property after the demonstration. The house and the land,
together, should not cost more than $10,000, and preferably should cost between $2,000
and $6,000, for the group in our population most in need of better homes is made up
of families with incomes of from $1,000 to $3,000 a year. It should be well built and
large enough to accommodate a family of five.
The Committee should iqsure the house against fire and theft, and take the pre-
caution of securing police protection.
This Committee ought likewise to see to the planting and decoration of the grounds.
Often it is advantageous to do the planting on Arbor Day or during Garden Week, in
cooperation with local schools and clubs.
The house should be so located that it will be readily accessible by ordinary trans-
portation facilities.
No advertising should be permitted on the premises.
4. THE COMMITTEE ON EQUIPMENT AND FURNISHING
The furnishings and equipment of the house can be borrowed readily from local
dealers. The local electric and gas companies will usually be glad to supply service free,
so that demonstrations of modern conveniences may be made.
The home economics department of the local schools may well cooperate in decorating
the home; schemes for furnishing and decorating various rooms can be incorporated
into the regular school work.
For further suggestions as to furnishing and equipment, the Committee should con-
sult Publication No. 3 of Better Homes in America: “How to Furnish the Small Home.”
The names of cooperating firms and the price of furnishings should not be posted,
either on the furniture or on the premises. Proper acknowledgment can be made in the
press. It can also be made to good advantage by issuing a booklet in which are listed
all the articles of furniture and equipment used in the demonstration house, room by
room, together with their cost. The efficient Better Homes Committee of Atlanta,
Ga., has issued such a booklet in 1924 and 1925. Not only is it a fitting way to ac-
knowledge the cooperation of business firms, but also it is an excellent method of demon-
strating to the public the cost of furnishing a tasteful and comfortable home. Copies of this
booklet can be supplied to local Better Homes Committees by National Headquarters.
24
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
5. THE FINANCE COMMITTEE
The duty of this subcommittee will be to raise money to pay the expenses of the
campaign. A banker or other competent business man is sometimes chosen in the larger
cities to serve as chairman. Since it will be found possible in most demonstrations to
borrow houses, equipment, and so forth, expenses need not be high. In 1925, of 270
committees making definite reports on campaign costs,
30 reported costs of $5 and under
25 reported costs from $5.01 to $10
34 reported costs from $10.01 to $25
27 reported costs from $25.01 to $50
Tie
14 reported costs of $50.01 to $75
9 reported costs of $75.01 to $100
23
6 reported costs of $100.01 to $150
3 reported costs of $150.01 to $200
7 reported costs of over $200
Te
115 reported no money had to be raised
116 reported costs of $50 and under
23 reported costs from $50.01 to $100
16 reported costs over $100
No general rule can be given as to the methods of raising money to defray campaign
expenses, but below are lists compiled from reports of 1925 committees of methods
which have been found successful. These may be of use to Finance Committees in
future campaigns.
Money was donated by:
Banks
Chamber of Commerce
Chamber of Commerce Auxiliary
City Federation of Women’s Clubs
City Council
Civic Club
Community Arts Association
Commercial Club
D. A. R.
Electrical Association
Exchange Club
Home Demonstration Club
Housewives’ League
Improvement Association
Individual Subscriptions
Junior Chamber of Commerce
Kiwanis Club
Knights of Columbus
League of Women Voters
Masons
Merchants
Mill Company
Newspapers
Parent-Teachers’ Association
Real Estate Board
Rotary Club
Study Club
Women’s Bureau of Chamber of Commerce
Women’s Clubs
W. C. T. U.
Y. M. C. A.
Y. W. C. A.
Money was raised from the receipts of :
Fairs Plays
Flower shows Sales of rugs, food, etc.
Moving pictures at schools and elsewhere
An additional function of the Finance Committee may be the preparation of typical
family budgets for different income groups. Teachers of home economics and County
Home Demonstration Agents should assist if such budgets are prepared. If a house is
to be demonstrated, a budget may be drawn up for the type of family which would be
likely to occupy it. The annual income of this family may be set at 50 per cent of the
cost of the house and lot, and a scheme for financing the building or buying of the house
should be based on such income. An excellent way of educating the public in scientific
home management is to publish such budgets in leaflets to be distributed at the Demon-
stration House and at all Better Homes meetings, in schools, and clubs. Such a leaflet
may be incorporated in the booklet prepared by the Committee on Furnishings, con-
taining lists of furnishings in the Demonstration House. The budgets prepared ought
to be for families in different income groups up to $5,000 a year.
The Finance Committee may make an important part of their work the encourage-
ment in the community of thrift for home ownership. They may find it possible to
conduct a campaign of saving in conjunction with the local building and loan associations
and savings institutions, or to promote the establishment of new building and loan
associations, if needed, or of second mortgage companies with limited dividends.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
25
6. THE COMMITTEE ON RECEPTION
The major duty of the Committee on Reception is to provide a hostess for each
room of the Demonstration House for every afternoon and evening of Better Homes
Week. The members of this Committee are usually supplied by the local women’s
clubs. The chief qualification for hostesses is that they should know all the facts regarding
the demonstration and be able to explain them clearly to visitors. Instruction cards
for each hostess have been found useful. A form for such cards will be found on page 71.
This committee should keep a record of attendance at the Demonstration Home.
VI. HOW THE CHURCHES CAN ASSIST IN BETTER HOMES
CAMPAIGNS
The churches and the clergy will be found ready and willing to support
the Better Homes movement. They should have representatives on the
Advisory Council, and, if they approve, sermons may be preached on
“The Spiritual Significance of the Home,” “Character Building in the
Home,” or other appropriate subjects, on the Sunday preceding or fol-
lowing Better Homes Week. Announcements concerning the campaign
may be made from the pulpits.
Where there are Demonstration Homes it is suggested that they may
be opened at the beginning of Better Homes Week with appropriate
religious ceremonies.
Ministerial associations, or like bodies, may help local campaigns by
officially endorsing them. A form of such endorsement will be found on
page 70.
Exterior of three-room Demonstration House No. 2, Santa Barbara, Calif. The cost of
this attractive little home was $1,544.90. The total cost of furnishing it was $394.67. The
lot is small but most attractively planted. Contrast the charm of this home with the un-
homelike aspect of a three-room apartment. This house is within the reach of the wage-
earner’s family.
26
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
VII. THE SCHOOLS AND BETTER HOMES CAMPAIGNS
Since the whole Better Homes Campaign is an educational undertaking,
it is particularly important that the schools cooperate. Chairmen have
found in the past that schools are increasingly occupied with outside
projects; it is therefore desirable that at the very beginning of the cam-
paign the interest and support of the school board, the superintendent of
schools, the Parent-Teachers’ Association, and all others interested in
public education, be secured.
The school authorities are, of course, aware of the importance of the
Better Homes movement to the children of the community and will permit
a certain amount of the regular school work to be directed toward a study
of home improvement in its various aspects wherever such study fits in
to advantage wTith regular school work.
The chairmen ought to find strong allies in the teachers of home eco-
nomics. The Home Economics Departments are constantly working for
Better Homes. They will, no doubt, be glad to receive suggestions from
School Practice House planned and demonstrated by students of the civics classes, Wash-
ington Junior High School, Port Huron, Mich., 1925. The school boys and girls had charge of
the Better Homes Campaign in Port Huron. The cost of building this house was $4,812.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
27
the Committee as to ways of cooperation and to assist in organizing con-
tests, in furnishing the home, in conducting demonstrations of home
decoration, and so forth, and in other ways to contribute from their special
knowledge and training to the educational program of the Better Homes
Campaign.
SCHOOL PRACTICE HOUSES
The movement to provide schools with practice houses for the use of
classes in household management or home economics is rapidly spreading
throughout the country. Such houses afford examples of what a home can
be, and give to students the opportunity to see the various activities in a
real home which cannot be duplicated in a laboratory, no matter how well
equipped. In such houses, students who, perhaps, have never known what
it is to live in a modern, well-equipped house, can acquire, by actual
experience, knowledge of construction, arrangement, decoration, the use
of modern labor-saving equipment; and can learn how a home is financed
and managed. A practice house, because it is more real than a laboratory
demonstration, is a constant inspiration to apply at home the lessons
learned in it.
Where such houses have been used by schools, they have been found to
be of great value. In communities where the public schools have no
practice house, it may be desirable and possible for the Better Homes
Committee to interest the school board in the project of building or securing
one, and use this house as the center of the demonstration. It might be
possible, in some cases, to interest a group of public-spirited citizens to
the extent of raising funds for the purpose of erecting or buying a practice
house to be given to the schools.
The Better Homes Campaign at Port Huron, Mich., in 1923, which was
conducted entirely by the children of the civics classes of a junior high
school, is described in “Civic Effectiveness,” Publication No. 2 of Better
Homes in America. In 1925 another notable Better Homes campaign was
conducted under the leadership of the same chairman, Miss Elizabeth
Carlisle, head of the Civics Department of the Washington Junior High
School. In both of these campaigns all the active work was done by pupils,
as a comprehensive educational project. The house built and demonstrated
in 1925 will be used as a permanent practice house by classes in home-
making. (A description of the 1925 demonstration will be found on page 50.)
At St. Helena Island, S. C., a school practice house was built, furnished,
and demonstrated as part of the Better Homes Campaign of 1924 by
pupils in the Penn Normal Industrial and Agricultural School, one of the
oldest schools for negroes in the South. An account of this demonstration,
reprinted from the 1925 Guidebook, will be found on page 63.
In communities which already have a school practice house, it is
usually advantageous to use it as one of the demonstration houses for
Better Homes Week. This will generally prove a very satisfactory form
of school or university extension for adult education and will also serve to
acquaint parents with the public school resources for training in house-
hold management and in the art of home-making.
28
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
HOUSES BUILT BY VOCATIONAL CLASSES
In some localities houses have been actually built by school boys and
furnished by girls. The construction of a house, even though it is not to
be used as a practice house, is an excellent project for students in vocational
classes and students of home economics. Houses built by school children
were demonstrated in 1925 at Stockton, Calif., Greencastle, Ind., and
Utica, N. Y.
DETAILED SUGGESTIONS ON SCHOOL PARTICIPATION
It may be helpful to discuss somewhat in detail the ways in which
schools can take part in a Better Homes Campaign, aside from building
or demonstrating a school practice house.
Clearly, the department of school work which would be most intimately
interested in the Better Homes Campaign is the Department of Home
Economics, and it is repeated that the cooperation of teachers in this subject
should be sought early in the campaign. The classes under their direction
might give public demonstrations of cooking, sewing, decorating, making
curtains and chair-covers, and display budgets and charts dealing with the
subject of home management, prepared as part of the school work. Special
problems having direct relation to the local demonstration may be set
for home economics classes. For example, pupils may be given the task
of planning, arranging, and decorating certain rooms in the demonstration
house, and of figuring out the proper costs of furnishings for each room.
The example of the Civics Department in the schools of Port Huron,
referred to above, illustrates what similar departments in other schools
can do to bring the Better Homes Campaign within the interest of school
children.
Where a home demonstration is taken up as laboratory work, or even
where the Better Homes Campaign is simply made a subject of special
and intensive discussion by civics classes, the local study would cover with
special emphasis the city-planning and zoning laws, the housing, building,
and plumbing codes, the fire limits, the regulation of transportation as
they affect the location and construction of the home and as they affect
the welfare of the occupants. The essence of training for civic effectiveness
is, however, the development of the habit of cooperating in programs of
value to all. The Better Homes Campaign provides abundant opportunity
for such training.
The relation of the work of other departments to a Better Homes
Campaign is perhaps not so direct nor so clearly seen as in the foregoing.
Many other classes, however, can undertake special study bearing on the
Better Homes Campaign which will increase the value of the Better Homes
movement to the community and give special interest to the work of those
classes.
For example, students of physics can give attention to the heating,
lighting, and sanitation of the home, and to various electrical appliances.
The Department of Manual Training may make furniture or, in some in-
stances, actually build the Demonstration Home. Interesting exhibits can
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
29
be made of the work of students in this department. Students of me-
chanical drawing and free-hand drawing may make special studies of
architecture, house-plans, and furniture design, perhaps conducting a
contest to be followed by an exhibit of their work; and may supply posters
and signs for the use of the Better Homes Committee.
The English Department may devote its attention to conducting an
essay contest on the subject of home improvement, and consider lists of
good books to form the nucleus of a home library, possibly conducting a
contest to make the best list of this kind.
Geography classes among the younger children can be made of special
interest during the Better Homes Campaign by studying the home life of
other parts of the world, and the sources of material used in the construction
of a house and in daily home activities.
Home sanitation and home nursing may be given special attention by
classes in physiology or in hygiene.
The youngest school children can be interested through the project of
building and furnishing play-houses, or the construction of model villages
on a sand-table.
Children and parents can be made to see the fun and value of home
play by the director of recreation, who can teach them new games to be
played indoors or outdoors, and can arouse new interest in old ones.
vni. BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS AND BETTER HOMES
CAMPAIGNS
Although a Better Homes Campaign should not be in any sense com-
mercial, every effort should be made by the Committee to interest various
business organizations and enlist their cooperation. As individual citizens,
the business men of the city will be glad to support a civic undertaking
of such value to the whole community.
There are usually many organizations of men with common commercial
or industrial interests in a town of any size. Some of these are listed below.
Advertisers’ Club
Board of Trade
Building and Loan Association
Business Men’s Association
Central Labor Union
Chamber of Commerce
Civitan Club
Employers’ Association
Exchange Club
Housing Association
Industrial Relations Association
Kiwanis Club
Lions Club
Manufacturers’ Association
Publicity Club
Real Estate Board
Retail Merchants’ Association
Rotary Club
Underwriters’ Association
One of the first acts of a chairman in organizing the Committee and
Advisory Council should be to call on the officers of these and similar
bodies and secure assurances of support for the campaign. Many may be
asked to serve as committeemen or members of the Advisory Council.
The endorsement of the Chamber of Commerce or Board of Trade
should be sought, as they will generally welcome an opportunity to
participate in this form of public service. Nearly all the commer-
cial interests will cooperate disinterestedly in view of such endorsement.
30
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
House at Danville, Ky., reconditioned and demonstrated as a Better Home by the Better
Homes Committee. See opposite page for view of house after reconditioning
Through this body and the Real Estate Board it may be possible to secure
a house to demonstrate.
There is not space to indicate just what cooperation can be secured
from each of the above organizations — their names give a suggestion as
to this, but a word about one or two of them may be helpful.
The Advertising and Publicity Clubs can help with the publicity for
the campaign.
The Building and Loan Associations and Savings Banks will assist in
financing the Demonstration Home, in the program of encouragement of
thrift for home ownership and in the Home Builders’ Clinic.
Housing Associations will be able to render valuable advice and in-
formation, particularly in furnishing information as to housing conditions.
By interesting the officers of the Civitan, Exchange, Kiwanis, Lions,
and Rotary Clubs, the Committee will insure the arousing of enthusiasm
among the business men in favor of the campaign.
The support of the Labor Unions will be most helpful. Many of their
members are particularly aware of the difficulties of securing adequate
homes on reasonable terms, and will gladly cooperate in a program which
will remedy this situation. The trades engaged in home building and equip-
ment can also facilitate the building and, if necessary, hasten the com-
pletion of the Demonstration House, if this is undertaken.
If a house is to be demonstrated, the hearty support of the Retail
Merchants’ Association is helpful to the success of the campaign, for from
the members of this organization the Committee will wish to borrow
furniture and equipment.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
31
Reconditioned house demonstrated at Danville, Ky., 1925. For condition of house before
changes, see page 30. Most of the work of making this place attractive, inside and out, was
done by the women of the Better Homes Committee. The total expenditure necessary to
effect the improvement shown was $17.25.
Insurance is a subject which can be given special study during the
Better Homes Campaign to good advantage. The Underwriters Asso-
ciation, or local insurance agents, can be of valuable assistance in this. If
there is a Demonstration House, they will also be glad, no doubt, to insure
it and its contents against fire and theft during Better Homes Week.
IX. COOPERATION OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
The cooperation of social and civic organizations is, of course, a very
important factor of a Better Homes Campaign. Local committees will find
that Women’s Clubs and Parent-Teachers’ Associations are eager to parti-
cipate in their campaigns, and can give valuable assistance. The National
leaders of these organizations have strongly endorsed the movement for
Better Homes in America.
Mrs. John D. Sherman, President of the General Federation of Women’s
Clubs, has said:
“Last year, at the Biennial Convention of the General Federation of
Women’s Clubs, a special Department of the American Home was created
in the General Federation, to enlist and direct the activities of the
2,800,000 club women of America in every possible way for the improve-
ment of the home. It has been one of the fondest wishes of the founders
of this department that all of the club women of America should cooperate
to the limit, and with all the power at their command, in the National
campaign for Better Homes in America. We are eager to have the American
Home Department take part in Better Homes Week because it is a visible
and tangible thing. The improvement of the American home is the greatest
challenge to the women of America today.”
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
32
A view of the living-room in House No. 1, Santa Barbara, Calif., showing the dining-room
in the background. The terrace shown in the exterior view of this house is just beyond the
French door, and is accessible from the dining-room.
In her annual message, Mrs. A. H. Reeve, President of the National
Congress of Parents and Teachers wrote, “If there is one object more than
another for which we should labor with all the power that is within us,
it is the assuring of a better home for every child.’*
X. CAMPAIGNS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES
(A section for chairmen in villages or country districts)
Every community, no matter how small, can have a Better Homes
Campaign. In 1924, one neighborhood of only twelve families, living on
farms, reported a campaign from which great benefits were derived.
Hundreds of small communities reported successful campaigns in 1925.
This section has been prepared for the assistance of rural chairmen,
but even though you live in a village or in the open country, it is suggested
that you also glance at Sections IV and V, in which are outlined the sug-
gested procedure of a committee in a larger place, and the work of an
extensive campaign. These may prove helpful to you even though you do
not find it possible to organize your work so extensively.
STEPS TO BE TAKEN BY LOCAL CHAIRMEN IN RURAL DISTRICTS
1. Write to National Headquarters, 1653 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D. C.,
accepting your appointment and stating the nature and problems of your community, and
asking for advice, if you think that local conditions will require a special form of
campaign. Publications containing helpful information about the Better Homes move-
ment will be sent to you and will be supplemented by special instructions if you need them.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
33
Six-room Demonstration House at Rehoboth Beach, Del., 1925. This house, completely
finished throughout, and with a full concrete basement (but no furnace) cost $2,650
2. Choose and appoint a Better Homes Committee. If your community is very
small, a large Committee may not be necessary, but it will be advisable to have some
sort of organization. A Better Homes Campaign ought not to be the work of only two
or three persons. Your Committee should, therefore, be representative of the whole
community. Everybody can participate in a Better Homes Campaign; the larger the
number of people actively working in this educational movement, the greater will be
the benefit to your community.
3. It may not be necessary to divide your Committee into subcommittees having
special duties, but if you hope to have a Demonstration House you will probably find
it a good plan to do so. Three such subcommittees might be appointed, being given
the duties of caring for the following departments of the campaign :
Publicity
Programs
Demonstration Home
4. If there is a County Home Demonstration Agent in your county, one of your
first acts as chairman ought to be to consult her. She can be of very great assistance in
your work and will be willing to help and advise your Committee in every way. Home
Demonstration Agents have given very hearty cooperation in past Better Homes
Campaigns.
5. A record of all activities should be kept by the chairman or some member of the
Committee. If there is a newspaper in the vicinity, clippings of all articles on the Better
Homes Campaign should be kept.
6. Immediately after the campaign you should report in full to National Head-
quarters, using a questionnaire which will be supplied for that purpose (the form of
questionnaire is printed on page 68 of this Guidebook). The information contained in
this report should be based upon the record of activities which you have kept.
No matter how small your demonstration is, you are urged to use the questionnaire
in making a report. The answers to the questionnaire should be supplemented by a
report in your own words, telling the story of the whole campaign. Other illustrative
material, such as posters, signs, and proclamations used in the campaign, and the work
of school children, will be useful to National Headquarters.
If you have a Demonstration Home or arrange a tour of the most attractive and best
equipped homes in the district, take photographs and send them in your report. These
need not be taken by a professional photographer. Good snapshots can be enlarged by
the Washington office.
All reports should, if possible, be submitted to National Headquarters by May 22,
1925.
34
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
A RURAL CAMPAIGN
DEMONSTRATION HOME
It is recognized that it may not be easy to find a house in a country
district that can be used as a Demonstration Home, but if a new house is
being built, or has been recently completed, permission may sometimes be
obtained from the owners for its use during Better Homes Week. Even
if it is occupied, the owner or tenant might be glad to afford the neighbors
an opportunity to see a well-planned home by opening it to visitors during
certain hours on appointed days. The actual demonstration can be done
by members of the Committee.
If a new house is not available, perhaps an old house can be found
which wall be satisfactory as a whole or in many of its features. Almost
every community has at least one house to which it points with pride, and
the occupants may be willing to assist the Better Homes movement by
lending their house to the Committee during a part of Better Homes Week.
The headquarters of the County Farm and Home Bureau may be
suitable. If the State Agricultural College, or State University is nearby,
it may be able to supply a house for demonstration purposes. Every such
college should have a practice house. Teachers’ cottages, which are be-
coming more popular throughout the country, may be made centers of
demonstration. A vacant dilapidated old house may be remodeled, or at
least reconditioned, for the demonstration. Such demonstrations, in past
campaigns, have been found very successful and particularly valuable.
In 1924, the committee for Albemarle County, Virginia, reconditioned and
furnished a seventy-five-year-old house which had fallen into bad repair.
It made an excellent demonstration, a brief account of which, reprinted
from last year’s Guidebook, will be found on page 64.
Community houses often make good centers for demonstrations of
home furnishing, interior decoration, household equipment, home garden-
ing, and home recreation.
COUNTY TOURS
If it is not possible to secure a Demonstration Home, an excellent plan
is to arrange a tour in automobiles of as many people in the county as
will join, to visit a number of homes in the county. One house may have
a superior kitchen; another nearby may be demonstrated because of its
modern lighting arrangement, or water-system; another for its labor-saving
devices; another for the trees and planting around the homestead, or the
home-garden. A concert of good home songs may be held at one of the
houses, a demonstration of home play may be made at another, and other
features may be arranged, including talks by the Home Demonstration
Agent and others.
In this sort of demonstration interest may be created by arranging con-
tests, such as a kitchen contest, a living-room contest, a home-garden contest,
or a home-improvement contest. The people making the tour may then
vote as to the winners, or may visit the houses which have been awarded
prizes by the local committee of judges or by the County Home Bureau.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN 35
PROGRAMS
Whether a house is demonstrated or not, you can arrange programs
to be given before community meetings, clubs, schools, and other groups.
These programs should consist of lectures, discussions, demonstrations,
exhibits, and contests.
The County Home Demonstration Agent is well qualified to give ad-
dresses on home improvement, and will be glad to do so. You will also
find that the State Agricultural College is glad to cooperate with local
Better Homes committees, and lecturers may be secured from them.
Lectures. National Headquarters have prepared lectures to accompany
stereopticon slides illustrating the 1924 and 1925 Better Homes Campaigns.
Either one of these lectures, with a set of slides, may be rented at $3, the
renter to pay charges for returning slides to Washington.
On page 17 is a list of lecture titles suggested to Better Homes Com-
mittees.
Moving Pictures. If there is a moving picture theater in the vicinity,
or if a local church or school has a moving picture projection machine,
the Committee may secure certain films which will be interesting to com-
munities having Better Homes Campaigns. A list of such films will be
found on page 17 of the Guidebook.
Contests, Demonstrations, and Exhibits. Full suggestions regarding
these will be found on pages 17 to 21 of this Guidebook. Although these
suggestions were made primarily for Better Homes committees in larger
places, they are of equal value to rural committees and can be followed in
detail in arranging a campaign in a small town or country district. You
are urged to read these sections carefully; even though you cannot carry
out all the suggested features, there will be at least some which will be
practicable in your vicinity.
Publicity. In a rural campaign it need not be necessary to have a
special subcommittee responsible for securing publicity, but you should
make every effort to keep the campaign constantly before the public.
Throughout the National campaign, news articles will be prepared at
National Headquarters and sent to newspapers in all towns and villages
in which there is a Better Homes Chairman. The first story thus sent out
to your vicinity will be to the effect that you have accepted your appoint-
ment. It is therefore urged that when accepting the chairmanship, or
shortly after, you tell us the name of the paper in your community. Sub-
sequent articles will deal with the campaign throughout the country.
Newspapers have always been glad to give space to the Better Homes
movement and you will, no doubt, find that your local editor is ready and
willing to cooperate. You should supply him with announcements of
appointments and plans, and accounts of the progress of your campaign.
If you have a Demonstration House, it will probably be furnished
partly or entirely by merchants of your vicinity, who will be glad to co-
operate by lending articles from their stock. No advertising should be
permitted on the premises of a Demonstration House. By observing
this rule the Committee will make sure that the public will understand
36
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
the educational, non-commercial character of the Demonstration. A
good way to acknowledge the cooperation of merchants and others is to
issue a list of the furnishings in the Demonstration Home, with the price
of each and the name of the lender.
Posters, buttons, and highway signs are effective means to publicity.
This Committee may be charged to arrange for these. In the past, very
effective posters and signs have been designed and made by school children.
Posters can also be supplied to committees at cost by National Head-
quarters. There is a charge of 10 cents for each of these. Small “Better
Homes” buttons are also supplied by National Headquarters at 2 cents each.
HOW SCHOOLS CAN COOPERATE IN A RURAL CAMPAIGN
The training of our future citizens and home-makers begins with the
school child. Interest in the child’s relation to the home and the com-
munity can be aroused and held in many ways during Better Homes Week.
One of your first acts as chairman should be to discuss the campaign
with the school authorities, convincing them of the importance of the
Better Homes movement to the children of the community, and to suggest
that they permit a certain amount of the regular school work to be directed
toward a study of home improvement in so far as that can be done without
interfering with the regular work of school classes. Since the schools will
probably be very busy during Better Homes Week, which occurs near the
end of the school year, you are advised to secure the cooperation of the
school authorities and teachers as early as possible.
You will find the local teacher of home economics will be able to give
you the most valuable assistance, and that she will be ready to cooperate
with you in arranging lectures, discussions, and demonstrations.
School Practice Houses. You are urged to read the section on school practice houses
on page 27 of this Guidebook.
A notable example of the building and demonstration of a rural school practice
house will be found on page 63, where there is an account of the Better Homes Campaign
at St. Helena Island, S. C., in 1924.
On pages 26 to 29 of this Guidebook are detailed suggestions as to the part to be
played by schools in a town or city Better Homes demonstration. All of these sug-
gestions are applicable to rural campaigns as well.
THE CHURCHES AND THE RURAL CAMPAIGN
The connection between church and home is close. The churches will
usually be found ready and willing to cooperate in the Better Homes
movement. The clergymen can assist your work for publicity by announce-
ments from the pulpit, and can, to advantage, preach sermons on the
spiritual significance of the home and the ways to promote character
building in the home. Ministerial associations and similar bodies may
endorse local campaigns. (See form of endorsement on page 70.)
The Sunday which begins Better Homes Week, April 25, may be ob-
served as Better Homes Sunday, with appropriate services and addresses.
If there is a Demonstration Home, it is a good idea to have it opened
with appropriate religious ceremony.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN 37
ORGANIZATIONS WHICH WILL COOPERATE IN A RURAL CAMPAIGN
It has been stated above that everybody in a community can partici-
pate in a Better Homes Campaign. The County Home Demonstration
Agent, the schools, and churches have been mentioned. Other organiza-
tions which will be glad to assist are Agricultural Clubs, Women’s Clubs,
Home Demonstration Clubs (Extension Clubs), Farmer’s Clubs, Coopera-
tive Associations, 4-H Clubs, Granges, Farm and Home Bureaus,
Chambers of Commerce, and Boards of Trade.
FINANCING A RURAL CAMPAIGN
It is not necessary to spend a cent in conducting a successful Better
Homes Campaign. In 1925, nearly half of our committees reported that
no money was spent on the campaign. See the figures on campaign costs
on page 24 of this Guidebook.
XI. AWARDS
From the beginning it has been a policy of Better Homes in America to award prizes
to local committees conducting the most effective educational demonstration. In the
1924 and 1925 campaigns, a distinction was made between cities of more than 10,000
and places of smaller population, and communities in which school practice houses were
demonstrated.
Judging Better Homes Demonstrations
The Committee on Awards for Better Homes demonstrations will judge each local
campaign with reference to the type of Demonstration Home, the campaign organization
and community support, the campaign features, and results.
Under the heading “Type of Demonstration Home,” they will consider architecture,
landscaping, and location, as well as decoration, arrangement, furnishings, and
equipment.
Under “Campaign Organization and Community Support” will be considered
local publicity and the extent of cooperation in the campaign on the part of the city
government, associations, schools, churches, merchants, motion-picture houses, and
others.
Under “Campaign Features” will be considered the special contests and other
features.
Under “Results” are included attendance, write-up of the report, cost of the dem-
onstration, and future plans. The Committee will also pay special attention to the
factors of balance and educational value of the campaign and to the quality of its
standards and of its influence.
It need hardly be said that the competition for prizes is not a chief factor in local
participation in the campaign. The committees participate chiefly because they
recognize the importance of stimulating interest in and knowledge about better homes.
Still, the prizes add a dramatic climax to the year’s work.
In 1925, the Committee on Awards consisted of the following: Dr. John M. Gries,
Chief, Division of Building and Housing, U. S. Department of Commerce; Dr. Hugh S.
Cumming, Surgeon-General, U. S. Public Health Service; Victor Mindeleff, Architect;
Dr. Louise Stanley, Chief, Bureau of Home Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture;
and Mrs. Charles Bradley Sanders, author of “How to Furnish the Small Home.”
At a conservative estimate, more than 2,000 communities held Better Homes
demonstrations during Better Homes Week in 1925. Detailed reports were submitted
by 1,014 committees. The task of choosing prize-winners was a most difficult one.
It should be stated in this connection that only those reports which were accompanied
by complete descriptive material, plans, and photographs, afforded the Committee
sufficient material to warrant the granting of prizes. It is also emphasized that reports
had to be submitted on the date announced in the Guidebook, otherwise the Committee
could not consider them, as it met but once. The final date for receiving reports in
1926 will be May 22.
38
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
XII. PUBLICATIONS
During 1924 and 1925, Better Homes in America has issued ten publications,
as follows:
No. 1. Guidebook for the 1924 Campaign (containing instructions for conducting a
Better Homes Campaign). Price 10 cents.
No. 2. Civic Effectiveness. Price 5 cents.
No. 3. How to Furnish the Small Home. Price 25 cents.
No. 4. Plan Book of Small Homes. Price 25 cents.
No. 5. Additional Suggestions to Local Chairmen (a supplement to the Guidebook).
No. 6. Home Music and Home Play. Price 10 cents.
No. 7. How to Own Your Home. Price 15 cents.
No. 8. Guidebook for the 1925 Campaign. Price 15 cents.
No. 9. School Cottages for Training in Home-Making. A study of School Practice
Houses and Home Economics Cottages. Price 10 cents.
No. 10. Guidebook for the 1926 Campaign. Price 15 cents.
The Guidebooks are designed for the purpose of setting forth the aims of Better
Homes in America, and of suggesting to local chairmen methods of conducting a demon-
stration. (Nos. 1 and 8 are now out of print. Superseded by the present Guidebook.)
The full title of Publication No. 2 is “Why and How to Teach Civic Effectiveness,
as Illustrated by School Participation in the Community Better Homes Campaign.77
It was written by Elizabeth Carlisle, Head of the Civics Department, Washington
Junior High School, Port Huron, Mich. Miss Carlisle directed the children who by their
efforts in planning, building, furnishing and demonstrating a house won first prize
for their city in the 1923 Better Homes Competition. In the pamphlet Miss Carlisle
outlines the purpose, scope, and effect of a course of study in community civics, both on
the individual and on the community, and reviews the work of the class under her
direction during the 1923 Better Homes Campaign.
No. 3, How to Furnish the Small Home, by Mrs. Charles Bradley Sanders, is an illus-
trated booklet published in April, 1924. This was written with two purposes in view:
First, to help individual owners of small homes by offering essential rules of decoration
and lists of furniture, wall-covering, curtain materials, and so forth; and, second, to act as
a handbook for local Better Homes committees who were planning to demonstrate houses.
No. 4, A Plan Book of Small Homes, was prepared for Better Homes in America
by the Architects7 Small House Service Bureau of the United States, Inc. This Bureau
is a disinterested, limited-dividend corporation of competent specialists, controlled
by the American Institute of Architects and endorsed by the United States Department
of Commerce. The booklet contains numerous illustrations, with corresponding floor-
plans, of houses of from three to six rooms. Full working plans and specifications for
the construction of these houses can be obtained from the Bureau at a cost which
averages approximately $5 per room. The Bureau has many other plans which are
obtainable on the same basis. In addition to the illustrations, the booklet contains
paragraphs of explanation about each house shown, and articles written by authorities
on “Selecting a Home Plan' 7 and on “Keeping Down Building Costs.77
The title of No. 5 is self-explanatory. (Now out of print. Superseded by the present
Guidebook.)
No. 6, Home Music and Home Play, contains an article on “Home Music77 by
Mrs. John F. Lyons, and a more extensive discussion of “Home Play77 by Maria Ward
Lambin, with lists of games and a bibliography on children’s games.
No. 7, How to Own Your Home, is a second edition of a booklet issued by the
Department of Commerce, and written by John M. Gries, Chief, and James S. Taylor,
of the Division of Building and Housing, Bureau of Standards. The new edition is
somewhat revised, and is illustrated. The booklet is a handbook for prospective home-
owners and is intended to encourage and assist those who wish to buy or build a home.
The book is simply and clearly written, and the advice contained in it on such subjects
as how much to pay for a home, saving, budgets, loans, mortgages and amortization,
general property considerations, house plans, and quality of construction, will be found
useful to anyone who plans to own his home.
No. 8, Now out of print. Superseded by the present Guidebook.
No. 9, School Cottages for Training in Home-Making. This pamphlet, written by
James Ford and Blanche Halbert, sets forth the results of a survey conducted by Better
Homes in America of 77 School Practice Houses and 57 Home Economics Cottages, and
shows how communities can secure and make use of cottages for training public school
children in household management and home-making.
No. 10, The present Guidebook.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
39
PART TWO
THE BETTER HOMES CAMPAIGN OF 1925
HISTORICAL STATEMENT
Better Homes in America is an educational institution for public service, initiated
in 1922 by Mrs. William Brown Meloney and an Advisory Council, of which President
Coolidge was honorary head and Secretary Hoover was chairman. The Council in-
cluded officials of the Federal Government and representatives of national organizations
interested in civic affairs. This organization conducted a campaign to demonstrate
homes to people of America in all parts of the country, during the week of October 9 to
14, 1922. The success of the demonstration conducted under the direction of Better
Homes in America led to a considerable development of the movement in its second
year, when approximately a thousand communities held demonstrations during the week
of June 4 to 10, 1923.
Not every demonstration included the showing of a house, to give a practical example
of what a Better Home might be, but in each case the week was given over to educational
work of various kinds. Ordinarily, a committee in charge of a local demonstration would
be made up of representatives of the leading women’s clubs and civic associations of the
community, the chairman often representing a leading woman’s club, the secretary
frequently being appointed by the local chamber of commerce, and the subcommittees
being composed of leading citizens representing a wide variety of interests. Architects,
merchants, contractors, decorators, and realtors, all cooperated with disinterested
civic spirit.
Newspapers gave the demonstrations publicity and lent their pages to educational
materia] supplied by local Better Homes chairmen. Lectures were given, discussion
meetings were held, special exhibits and supplementary demonstrations were presented.
Churches, clubs, and schools participated actively in the campaign.
The increased success of the demonstrations in 1923 made clear to the Advisory
Council that the Better Homes in America movement was a force of great importance
in the education of the American people to higher standards of home life. The movement
was therefore organized on a permanent basis and arrangements were made to have it
financed from public gifts. It was incorporated for the purpose of education and public
service, and the headquarters of the movement were set up at Washington, D. C.
THE 1924 CAMPAIGN
The 1924 campaign was inaugurated in January of that year, and culminated in
Better Homes Week, May 11 to 18.
The new national organization obtained the endorsement and active help of numerous
National associations and Federal bureaus. The form of help obtained from these
agencies is exemplified in two publications, “How to Own Your Home,” by Messrs.
Gries and Taylor, of the Department of Commerce, and “A Plan Book of Small Homes,”
prepared by the Architects’ Small House Service Bureau. Abundant help has also been
received from the Children’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, the Bureau of Educa-
tion of the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Home Economics and the Extension
Service of the Department of Agriculture. The State and County Home Demonstration
Agents, who have assisted Better Homes committees in many ways in the 1924 and
1925 campaigns, work in conjunction with the Extension Service.
It is possible to estimate only approximately the number of demonstrations held
during the 1924 campaign. Many more communities participated, however, than in
previous years, and it is safe to say that more than 1,500 communities held local cam-
paigns which met the standards set by National Headquarters. There were 108 houses
demonstrated in 84 cities in 1924, as against 78 houses in 57 cities in 1923. The average
cost of these houses was $5,551, considerably lower than that of the houses in the previous
year ($6,750) — a fact which shows that the local committees were increasingly effective
in their attempts to demonstrate houses within the reach of families of modest income.
Prizes were awarded to seven cities and five smaller communities, for the general
excellence of their demonstrations. A special prize was awarded to another for the best
demonstration of a school practice house. The prize- winning communities were located
in every part of the United States.
40
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
THE 1925 CAMPAIGN
The 1925 campaign was of far greater extent than any previous one. It is estimated
that well over 2,000 communities participated in effective Better Homes demonstrations
conducted by the 1,867 chairmen appointed by National Headquarters.
Of these chairmen, 1,014 returned definite reports on the activities of their local
Better Homes committees during the week of May 11 to 17, 1925.
Again, in this campaign, there was an increase in the number of communities demon-
strating houses, and in the number of houses shown. There were 259 houses demon-
strated in 186 communities. Many of these demonstrations served for an entire county
or a large metropolitan area, including many suburbs.
COST OF HOUSES DEMONSTRATED
Year
Committees
Showing Houses
Number Houses
Demonstrated
Average (Median)
Cost of Houses
1923
57
78
$5,660*
1924
84
108
5,551 f
1925
186
259
4,694J
*Definite figures available on 62 houses only.
tDefinite figures available on 94 houses only.
^Definite figures available on 176 houses only.
Analyzing the number of houses in various price groups, we find that there were:
1923
1924
1925
Of houses costing under $1,501
3
3
11
Of houses costing $1,501 to $3,000
3
18
28
Of houses costing $3,001 to $4,500
9
15
31
Of houses costing $4,501 to $6,000
11
18
40
Of houses costing $6,001 to $7,500
10
15
24
Of houses costing $7,501 to $9,000
9
6
11
Of houses costing $9,001 to $10,500
4
6
10
Of houses costing over $10,500
13
13
21
The scope of the programs of many hundreds of the committees was exceptionally
broad, including long lists of lectures by specialists, a variety of demonstrations of home
music, labor-saving devices, interior decoration, and gardening, as well as plays, pageants
and dedication exercises. These programs have revealed a most remarkable appreciation
of the opportunity for educational service to present and future home-makers throughout
the country, and are a great credit to the vision and organizing ability of our local chair-
men and their committees.
The award of prizes to communities through National Headquarters, is, from the
point of view of the Board of Directors of Better Homes in America, only an incident in
a campaign, the major purpose of which is public service. It has been thought desirable,
however, to give small prizes in order to call public attention to a few demonstrations
of exceptional excellence for their unusual and valuable features.
The choice was particularly difficult for the Committee on Awards in the 1925
campaign, due to the fact that there were three cities in which the committees had
developed campaigns of first importance. In two of these, Atlanta, Ga., and Santa
Barbara, Calif., there were comprehensive demonstrations which followed practically
every suggestion in the 1925 Guidebook. The third demonstration of outstanding merit
was that of Port Huron, Mich., where the pupils of a junior high school planned,
furnished, and demonstrated a permanent school practice house erected on city property.
Equal first prizes were given to Atlanta and Santa Barbara in the urban class of
Better Homes committees. Port Huron was awarded a special prize as having the best
school practice house demonstration.
Second and third prizes were not awarded to city committees in view of the fact that
there were, as above stated, really three first prizes.
Four fourth prizes were awarded to Birmingham, Ala., New Rochelle, N. Y., Green-
ville, S. C., and Cleburne, Texas.
Among the large group of communities of less than 10,000 population, first prize
was awarded to Roanoke Rapids, N. C.; second prize to Gaithersburg, Md.; and third
prize to Bergenfield, N. J.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
41
Honorable Mention was granted to the following communities on the breadth and
quality of their programs, whether or not they had house demonstrations.
Bessemer, Ala.
Dallas County, Ala.
Ensley, Ala.
Lauderdale County, Ala.
Lowndesboro, Ala.
Montgomery, Ala.
Selma, Ala.
Tuscumbia, Ala.
Willcox, Ariz.
Brinkley, Ark.
Mt. Vernon, Ark.
Fullerton, Calif.
Sacramento, Calif.
Stockton, Calif.
Upland, Calif.
Durango, Colo.
Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Washington, D. C.
Crest view, Fla.
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Orange County, Fla.
West Palm Beach, Fla.
Lawrenceville, Ga.
Vidalia, Ga.
Edwardsville, Ills.
Ames, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Danville, Ky.
Louisville, Ky.
Anne Arundel County, Md.
Bel Air, Md.
Caroline County, Md.
Acton, Mass.
Brimfield, Mass.
Medford, Mass.
Grass Lake, Mich.
St. Joseph, Mich.
Good Thunder and Blue Earth Co.,
Minn.
Iron, Minn.
Minneapolis, Minn.
Saginaw, Minn.
St. Paul, Minn.
Bay St. Louis, Miss.
Greenwood, Miss.
Tunica, Miss.
Huntsville, Mo.
Hightstown, N. J.
Linden, N. J.
Paterson, N. J.
Albuquerque, N. Mex.
Carlsbad, N. Mex.
Binghamton, N. Y.
Earlville, N. Y.
Trumansburg, N. Y.
Marshville, N. C.
Spindale, N. C.
Minot, N. Dak.
Toledo, Ohio
Corvallis, Ore.
Cottage Grove, Ore.
Quakertown, Pa.
Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Anderson, S. C.
Darlington, S. C.
McKinney, Texas.
Garland, Utah
Huntsville, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Chelsea, Vt.
Arlington County, Va. (including
Clarendon and Lee Heights).
Lawrenceville and Brunswick
County, Va.
Lynchburg, Va.
Manassas and Prince William
County, Va.
Newport News and Elizabeth City
County, Va.
Vienna, Va.
Everett, Wash.
Kohler, Wise.
Sturgeon Bay, Wise.
NOTABLE LOCAL DEMONSTRATIONS
In the pages that follow are told the stories of all the local campaigns which won
prizes in 1925. In addition, accounts of certain features of other demonstrations and
of three unusual demonstrations in the 1924 campaign are included.
ATLANTA, GA.
The efficient committee at Atlanta was again led by Mrs. Newton C. Wing, who
was chairman in 1923 and 1924. It is particularly interesting to note that in the three
succeeding years the Atlanta committee, under Mrs. Wing’s leadership, won third,
second, and first prizes. The Better Homes movement has taken deep root in the
Atlanta community, and the Better Homes Campaign is now looked upon as an
annual affair.
A notable fact about the Atlanta demonstration was that special care was taken to
arrange for educational work among the native white population, among the large negro
population, and among the immigrants, whose knowledge of American standards of
housing and home life is slight, and who may experience difficulty in adjusting themselves
to American conditions. One of the houses was designed for a negro family, and its
42
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
demonstration was in charge of a negro subcommittee. The apartment demonstrated
for an immigrant family was in a remodeled and reconditioned old house, and was lent
to the Committee for the purpose of demonstration. One of the school practice apart-
ments was in Spelman College, an institution for negro girls, the other in a high school
for white children.
These home demonstrations were, naturally, the centers of interest in the Atlanta
campaign. There were other features, however, of great educational value, which
aroused widespread interest in the city. These included numerous programs of lectures,
large Essay and Poster Contests, and a Better Babies Contest. There were also many
special demonstrations and exhibits.
The cooperation of the citizens of Atlanta was vigorous and widespread. The city
government endorsed the campaign and lent active support to it. The newspapers gave
it an enormous amount of publicity, which secured the interest of practically every
man, woman, and child in the city. The school authorities were prompt in their offers
of assistance, and the pupils entered into the work of the campaign with a will. Practi-
cally every religious, civic, and commercial body in the community supported the Better
Homes Committee.
THE DEMONSTRATION HOMES
Home No. I
Better Home No. 1 was a six-room frame house, the exterior of which was in good
Colonial style. The plan for the house was taken from the Plan Book of Small Homes,
Publication No. 4 of Better Homes in America, which was prepared by the Architects’
Small House Service Bureau. Several
changes were made in the original de-
sign to adapt the house to Atlanta con-
ditions. The house was built for $6,750.
The lot upon which it was built was in
excellent surroundings, with fine old
trees, and cost $2,000. This very attrac-
tive property, therefore, was shown to
be available for well under $9,000, and
thus within the means of a family with
an income in the vicinity of $4,000 to
$5,000 per year.
The outside measurements of the
house are 30 by 22 feet. The propor-
tions are so well drawn and the space
inside the house so well utilized, how-
ever, that the impression given is of a
large house. Floor-plans of the house
are shown on this page, and photographs
of the exterior and interior on pages 22
and 20. Although the layout is in the
attractive Colonial manner, with a
central hall and stairway, the usual
passage to the rear alongside the stairs
is closed off and this space used in the
living-room. The break in the wall of
the living-room which this gives is in-
teresting and adds to the charm of that
room. It also provides an attractive
nook in which to fit a comfortable sofa.
The large fireplace opposite the sofa is
most attractively designed, and is built
for practical use as well. The comfort-
able porch adjoining the living-room
is entered by French doors, which en-
hance the appearance of the house, out-
Plan No. 6-A-17 of the Architects’ Small House Ser-
vice Bureau from which house No. 1, demonstrated by
the Committee at Atlanta, Ga., 1925, was built. As
erected in Atlanta the house has no front vestibule.
side as well as in. This living-room is unusually large and comfortable for a house of
this size. Having windows on three sides, it is certain to be well-lighted and cheerful,
and well ventilated in the summer.
The dining-room, with its recessed windows and window-seats, also has interesting
lines and, while small, is plenty big enough for a small family.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
43
The kitchen, and the “business end” of the house generally, are most efficiently
planned. The sink is directly underneath a window, and is equipped with a double
drain-board. The large kitchen closet, or pantry, is conveniently at hand, and the rear
entrance is not far away, although delivery boys and others need not come directly into
the kitchen when bringing parcels. The cleverly arranged lavatory beside the stairs
is a surprising and excellent feature in so small a house.
The plan of the second story is as well thought-out as that of the first. None of
the bedrooms is large, but each is adequate, with good ventilation and plenty of well-
arranged wall space, both important in a bedroom. The large closets are also particularly
well arranged, so there is no waste space. The largest bedroom is that of the owner.
The other front room is intended as a nursery. The smallest room is for an older child
or a guest. Provision was made when building the closet of the owner’s bedroom to
permit cutting a door into the nursery, to make a passage between the two rooms.
The bathroom is tiled and contains a built-in bath-tub and shower-bath. It will
be noted that the bathroom contains a good-sized closet for towels and other articles,
in addition to the large linen-closet opening into the hall.
Under the main stairs of the house are steps leading to the cellar, in which there is
laundry with set tubs, an ironing-board, and electric connections for an iron and an
electric washer. In the main part of the cellar is a steam furnace and a coal- bin. At
the foot of the stairs is a very important feature of the house, a work-bench for the
father or son of the family. The chest for tools, containing all the tools usually needed
in a house, is near by. An interesting thing about this chest is that behind or beneath
each tool is painted its outline in red or black, so that each can readily find its way back
to its proper place.
Educational Value of Home No. 1
Thousands of people visited the house during Better Homes Week, in spite of two
days of heavy rain. Visitors were led through the house by hostesses who explained its
advantages and distributed booklets containing lists of furnishings for each room, with
their costs, and a budget for the family for which the house was intended. This budget
was compiled by Mrs. Ira E. Farmer, Chairman of Home Demonstration Work of the
Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs.
In her report on the campaign, the Chairman, Mrs. Wing, made clear that visitors
took a personal interest in the house, with a view to securing houses like it for themselves.
Apparently the kitchen of Home No. 1 attracted more attention than any other room.
Mrs. Wing writes, “. . . . If admiring comments could only be reduced to records!
Many an Atlanta home is going to have one like it. Several women inquired where they
could buy the cabinets (built-in), and people with tape measures actually got in each
others way.”
Home No. 2
Home No. 2 is regarded as an Americanization demonstration. An old house had
been remodeled to form two apartments, one on each story. The lower apartment was
lent to the Committee for use during Better Homes Week. It contains five rooms, and
the rental was estimated at $35 monthly. The ceilings of the house are high, and the
rooms comprising the apartment are of a comfortable size.
The house had been gloomy and rather unattractive before remodeling and re-
furnishing. The Committee on furnishings, by choosing bright wall-paper and having
the woodwork painted white, made a cheerful and comfortable home out of this old
structure. There is an entrance hall with a long table, bookcases, and a chair. The
living-room is entered through wide doors. Its furnishing was done tastefully and at
little expense. This room gives in turn into a dining-room and kitchen. The bedroom
and bathroom are at one side.
The five-room apartment was completely furnished, in accordance with the best
American standards, for $794.66.
Educational Value of Home No. 2
Every agency interested in the welfare of the immigrant population of Atlanta
cooperated to secure the success of this demonstration, and results already noticed
indicate that it was most effective. In particular, the Opportunity School, a part-time
school for employed people, and a continuation school for people temporarily un-
employed, participated in the demonstration of the home as a factor in education. The
principal of the school, Mrs. Huey, and Mrs. Maude T. Baker, Americanization teacher,
were influential in making the demonstration a success, and have testified to its value
among the immigrants. Mrs. J. E. Andrews, American Citizenship Chairman for the
44
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
Georgia and for the Atlanta Parent-Teachers’ Association, wrote to Mrs. Wing: “The
old home, made new for the occasion, was a revelation in what a little paint and water
can do. . . . The furniture, the pictures, the draperies, with the harmonizing tones and
colors, were an education in themselves, which, with the natural artistic temperament
and vision of the many foreigners in this section, will go a long way toward stimulating
a greater interest in the beautiful. . . .
“I believe, however, that the best thing that was accomplished. . . . was in bringing
out the many fine citizenship workers in the Women’s Club and other organizations to
see and come in contact with, in this home, in so intimate a way, the really fine type of
men and women among the foreigners, and in permitting them to view the exquisite
handwork of these people, and the many lovely heirlooms which they have brought to
their new home across the sea. . . .
“The Better Home in our section made us know, understand, and like each other
better. It aroused a desire for cleaner and more attractive homes. It taught many
that they could make over the old homes into far more attractive places in which to
reside and rear their children. It gave them the idea of harmonizing their furniture and
wall-hangings. It brought many minds back to the home which had wandered far
afield. It suggested quiet and peace and rest — with music and love and laughter in the
home.”
Home No. 3
Home No. 3, like No. 1, was planned by the Committee, who also arranged for its
construction. The lot upon which it was built cost $850. The cost of the house itself
was $2,150, and it was an adaptation of plan 4-A-8 of the Architects’ Small House
Service Bureau, and is illustrated in the Plan Book of Small Homes, Publication No. 4
of Better Homes in America. The Committee had the house lot planned and planted
attractively.
The front door of the house opens directly into the living-room, a very comfortable
and cosy place, measuring 13 by 16 feet. Immediately back of the living-room is a
Exterior of Demonstration House No. 3, Atlanta, Georgia, 1925. This house, which
contains four rooms, was furnished and demonstrated by a subcommittee of negroes, as a
Better Home for people of their race. The cost of construction was $2,150. The lot upon
which it stands is valued at $850. Erected from plan No. 4-A-8 of the Architects’ Small House
Service Bureau.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN 45
Kitchen and breakfast nook in Demonstration House No. 3, Atlanta, 1925. This house
was demonstrated by a negro subcommittee. The sink is equipped with double drain-boards,
although one of them was removed at the time of taking this picture. Note the attractive
entry and the conveniently located ice-box.
kitchen measuring approximately 10 by 11 feet, with an attractive dining-alcove ad-
joining. A door from the living-room leads to a short passage connecting two comfortable
bedrooms and the bathroom. This passage also connects with the kitchen. The house
has a central heating fixture. There is also a fire place in the living-room.
The furnishing of this house was in charge of a negro subcommittee, with the advice
and assistance of the General Committee. It was fully equipped in very attractive
fashion at a total cost of $750.
Homes Nos. 4 and 5
The two school practice apartments for white and colored, respectively, did not
represent fully equipped houses, ready for occupancy by families, but various essential
rooms of a house which might be studied and used as units by classes in home economics
or home management. They were centers of special demonstrations during Better
Homes Week.
PROGRAMS AND OTHER CAMPAIGN FEATURES
Although the Demonstration Homes focused the attention of the community through-
out the campaign, the work of education did not stop with them. It is impossible in
this account to record all the activities in which the Committee engaged to interest
the people of Atlanta in home-improvement. There were many programs of lectures
and discussion, which were in a sense among the most important achievements of the
campaign. Very extensive Essay and Poster Contests, with 3,000 and 1,000 entrants
respectively, were conducted for the school children. The Camp Fire Girls conducted
daily demonstrations of home play, and one such demonstration was held at the negro
home. Demonstrations of labor-saving devices were made at all of the Demonstration
Homes.
Each Better Home was opened with special services of dedication. Other observances
46
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
conducted during the week included Garden Week, Health Week, Child Health Week,
Peace Day, Americanization Day, International Relations Day, and special Days at
Demonstration Houses for various groups and organizations.
COMMUNITY COOPERATION
It can safely be stated that every citizen in Atlanta who can read and takes any
interest in his community was reached by the Better Homes Committee. A large
proportion of the population had a share in the work of the campaign, either through
their own efforts or through those of an association to which they belonged. The
Mayor proclaimed Better Homes Week, and the City Council and other city officials
gave their active support. All the churches cooperated heartily, and a great amount
of special work was done by school children, with the enthusiastic cooperation of the
school authorities. Every organization of a civic, commercial, or industrial character
is said to have endorsed and cooperated in the campaign.
PUBLICITY
As in previous campaigns, an enormous amount of publicity was secured for the
campaign, largely because of the generous attitude of the Atlanta newspapers. By
actual count there were 161 columns of news printed in the three papers. In addition,
141 pictures were published, and one of the papers issued a special Better Homes edition.
There were also articles in magazines, most of these having a local circulation. "Op-
portunity,” a journal of negro life, in its June issue contained an article by the leader
of the Neighborhood Union, a community organization of negroes in Atlanta, telling
of the Better Homes Campaign. A local radio station held a special Better Homes
program, and the Department of Visual Education of the Public Schools cooperated in
lending a camera and photographer, who took a reel of film illustrating the progress of
the Better Homes Campaign.
HOME-BUILDERS’ CLINIC
One of the important features of the Atlanta campaign was a Home-Builders’
Clinic, in which a committee of bankers, builders, architects, and others could be con-
sulted by prospective home-builders or home-owners without charge.
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF.
The committee for Santa Barbara, which was led by Miss Pearl Chase, shared first
prize among city committees with Atlanta. Like Atlanta, Santa Barbara had five
Demonstration Houses. There are many points of resemblance, indeed, between the
Another view of Demonstration House No. 1 at Santa Barbara, Calif. Note the irregular
flags in the walk, the planting, and the open porch at the rear
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
47
two campaigns. Each was a community undertaking in which a very large proportion
of the population participated. In Santa Barbara, as at Atlanta, the emphasis of the
whole demonstration was upon its educational purpose, and it was welcomed by the
families of the community as such.
The Santa Barbara Committee included a number of people with experience in social
undertakings. In every detail the report of the campaign gave evidence of this ex-
perience and of a commendable scientific spirit in attacking the problem of improving
housing conditions and home life.
Members of the Better Homes Council included representatives of the city govern-
ment, the Community Chest, the Recreation Center, the County Federation of Women’s
Clubs, the Ministerial Union, the Federation of Parent-Teachers’ Associations, the
Social Service Conference, the Central Labor Union, the Building Trades Council, and
the Community Arts Association. All these organizations endorsed the Better Homes
Campaign, and their members joined heartily in the work.
In addition to the Better Homes Committee and Council, an Advisory Committee
was also formed, including the presidents of cooperating organizations — service clubs,
women’s clubs, social agencies, civic and commercial organizations, and religious and
academic groups.
Fourteen subcommittees were appointed to carry on the work of the campaign and
to be responsible to the General Committee.
THE DEMONSTRATION HOMES
The houses demonstrated by the Committee were naturally the most interesting
features of the campaign. Three of them were fully furnished and equipped; the other
two were not furnished, but were shown to the public as interesting examples of exterior
design, and to illustrate the sort of house that can be built at certain costs.
House No. 1
The principal Demonstration Home, House No. 1, was called “The House That
Budget Built.” It was planned and built by the Committee expressly for Better Homes
Week. It contains six rooms on its one floor, well arranged for convenience and comfort.
The exterior, which is covered with wood siding, is most attractive. The lot was carefully
Another view of the living-room in Demonstration House No. 1, Santa Barbara, Calif.
The furnishing of this room was very carefully and effectively done. All the furniture and
equipment cost $325. The charm and comfort of the room are quite evident.
48
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
planned by a landscape architect and was planted according to his design. The cost
of the house itself was $6,109; the value of the lot was $2,212; the total cost, including
a garage, the improvement of the lot, and all fixtures was $9,343. The Committee
showed how, by using a slightly smaller floor-plan which would permit an addition, and
by effecting other economics, $1,099 could be saved in the construction of the house.
This house was furnished at a total cost of $1,592.10. Each article of furniture, with
its price, was fisted in a booklet distributed by the Committee.
House No. 2
This little house, containing three rooms, was built at a total cost of $1,544.90.
The cost of furnishing it was $394.67. This house was intended for a small family of
very limited income; some of the furniture was second-hand. The other furniture was
very inexpensive, but neat and attractive.
House No. 3
House No. 3 was really three houses. It represented a clever use of a steep hillside
lot and is in three units. On the street level is a complete apartment on one floor. Under
the same roof, but above and back of this apartment, is another which is, in effect, a
separate house. Further up the hill is another apartment, detached from the other two.
The cost of the last-named apartment was $2,100; for : the lower building, $6,360.
These apartments were not furnished by the Committee, being already occupied
by their owners, but they were demonstrated during Better Homes Week.
Houses A and B
House A is an unusually attractive brick veneer cottage of rural type, fitting ad-
mirably into its surroundings, the most remarkable of which is a large live-oak tree which
overhangs the roof. The value of this five-room house, exclusive of the lot, is between
$6,000 and $7,000.
House B contains four rooms and is built of adobe. The adobe bricks were made on
the lot, and the progress of construction was interestingly shown by photographs taken
at different stages of the operation. The value of this house and lot is said to be about
$6,500.
Bedroom of Demonstration House No. 2, Santa Barbara, Calif. This room was
furnished at a cost of $69.27
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
49
Architectural Standards
The people of Santa Barbara take keen interest in the improvement of standards of
exterior design in small houses. Some time before the Better Homes Campaign, the
Community Arts Association held an extensive Small House Design Contest, and an
exhibition was made of plans and models of houses and landscaping designs submitted.
To follow up the work begun by the Association, and to emphasize the importance of
attractive exteriors, the Committee printed a list of small houses in Santa Barbara as
representative of the best to be found. This list was included in a local Guidebook
distributed by the Committee.
SANTA BARBARA’S GUIDEBOOK
This pamphlet contained excerpts from the 1925 Guidebook of Better Homes in
America, with statements as to the purpose of the Better Homes movement in general,
and the Santa Barbara campaign in particular. Each of the Demonstration Houses
was described in detail, and the furnishings of Houses No. 1 and 2 were all listed, with
their costs. The costs of building the demonstration houses were given, and the scheme
of financing described in detail. In addition, the Guidebook contained comments on
conditions in the building trade in Santa Barbara, notes on family budgets, lists of books
and magazines suitable for children, and suggestions on housing programs for muni-
cipalities.
PROGRAMS
During each day of Better Homes Week, carefully considered programs of lectures
and discussion were held under the direction of the Committee. The lectures were given
by specialists on various subjects related to home improvement, and were eagerly
received by the community, about 2,500 persons attending the meetings.
In addition to the lectures, three exhibits were arranged: one at the recreation center;
another, displaying articles for the home carried by Santa Barbara merchants; and a
third, an educational exhibit arranged by city officials, the Community Arts Association,
the Chamber of Commerce, the Teachers’ College and public schools, and social service
agencies. About 3,000 people attended these exhibits.
In addition to the 5,500 persons attending these features of the campaign, 9,500
visited the five Demonstration Homes during Better Homes Week.
Living-room of Demonstration House No. 2, Santa Barbara, Calif. This room was
furnished at a cost of $129.32
50
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
PORT HURON, MICH.
Port Huron again had as Better Homes Chairman Miss Elizabeth Carlisle, who had
served in that capacity for two years. In 1923, the Better Homes Committee had won
first prize. Adverse local conditions made extensive participation in 1924 impossible,
but interest in the Better Homes movement was kept alive, and when the 1925 campaign
began the whole city was eager to participate.
Miss Carlisle is head of the Civics Department of the Washington Junior High
School, and believes that participation in a Better Homes Campaign serves as an ex-
cellent project in civics work. She wrote Publication No. 2 of Better Homes in America,
Civic Effectiveness, in which she explained how students in civics classes organized the
Port Huron Better Homes Campaign of 1923.
When the 1925 campaign began it was again decided that the Better Homes demon-
stration should be left in the hands of the civics classes under Miss Carlisle’s leadership.
But this campaign, besides being more extensive, was to have a further significance for
the educational development of the city. It was planned to build a home on city land
which should be part of the permanent school establishment. This house should be a
School Practice House, to be used by successive classes in home economics as a center
for training girls in the methods of home-making. The project was threefold : the students
would learn all about the complex problem of building a house ; they would gain valuable
knowledge of the importance to the city of such a civic undertaking; and they would
supply the city with a permanent and useful addition to the school equipment.
The school children carried out the whole project. Their first act was to enlist the
assistance of the Board of Education. Upon their recommendation the Board appropri-
ated the sum of $5,000 to be used in building a School Practice House. In addition, the
Board granted permission to build a house on the grounds of their school.
Having been allotted a definite sum with which to build a house, the pupils were
confronted with the same problem which every prospective home-builder has to meet.
They had to decide upon plans which would be suitable for their imaginary family of
five, and yet within the means of a modest income. The children worked out their own
plans, and, as is usual, found that a house built on these plans would cost too much.
After consulting with an architect, plans and specifications were finally decided upon,
and bids were asked. The contract was finally awarded on March 16. Construction
began on March 20, and on May 11 the house was ready for occupancy. Throughout
the construction and furnishing of the house, the pupils followed every detail. Student
committees chose the furnishings and decorations.
Merchants, clubs, business and civic organizations, and individuals, impressed with the
value of this School Practice House to the community, were anxious to share in the
expense of furnishing. Most of the articles of furniture and equipment were given and
were carefully selected to be in keeping with the house. These gifts are evidence of the
extent to which the Better Homes Campaign appeals to the people of Port Huron.
The children themselves made presents to the house, in addition to the time and
effort they gave to it. They decided to place permanent gifts in the home paid for by
money they had earned. In all, the sum of $70 was gathered by the class treasurers.
The reports of activities by which the money was earned included virtually every job
that a school boy or girl could do, and indicate graphically the interest the children had
in their demonstration, and their desire to make it successful.
Other classes in the school participated in the campaign. As stated above, the
students of the school, organized in committees, chose the furnishings. The boys of
the Manual Training Department made a cedar chest, a tool-box, and a table for the
house. The English Department, with the cooperation of the Public Library, selected
the books for the library. Students of the English classes also earned money to buy the
books chosen. Boys of the Vocational School completely wired the house for electricity.
Girls of the Home Economics Department earned money to buy material for a layette
which they made and demonstrated in the nursery of the house. These girls also made
a list of necessary equipment for the kitchen.
THE HOUSE
The overall dimensions of the house are 35 feet, 6 inches by 28 feet, 2 inches. In
type, it is what is known as a Dutch Colonial house. Although the shape of the roof
and the broad dormers front and rear give the impression of a comparatively low house,
practically it is of the efficient square box type, with a sun-parlor on the side. This
square main portion is 25 by 24 feet.
The front door leads directly into the living-room, which measures 21 by 12 feet.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
51
To the right is a coat-closet and straight stairs leading to the second story. In the
middle of the opposite wall is a fireplace, flanked on the right by book-cases, and on the
left by wide French doors leading to the dining-room. Access is had to the sun-parlor
(which measures 10 feet, 6 inches by 15 feet) through French doors from both the
living-room and dining-room. The dimensions of the latter room are 12 by 12 feet,
6 inches. As one enters the dining-room from the front, the door to the kitchen is on
the right. Attached to the rear of the house is a shallow ell of one story providing
space for the refrigerator, breakfast nook, and a closet containing a washstand with
running water. The kitchen entry to the house is in the side, and permits access to the
cellar as well as the kitchen, by stairs directly beneath the front stairs leading from the
first to the second story.
On the second floor is a short hall running half-way across the house. Just to the
right, at the head of the stairs is a good-sized bathroom. Directly opposite is the door
of the main bedroom, a large room running the full width of the house and having two
generous closets. The other rear corner of the house is occupied by another bedroom,
12 by 12 feet, 6 inches, having doors which lead into the hall and front bedroom.
There is a basement underneath the main portion of the house. The furnace is
located here. It is of the warm-air type, and quite adequate to heat the house. In the
basement also is located a gas hot-water heater of the automatic kind which supplies
instantaneous hot water at all times. There is a toilet in the basement and also a set
of enameled laundry tubs.
PROGRAMS
Very comprehensive educational programs were conducted during Better Homes
Week. The demonstration of the house which school children had secured and fur-
nished, and which they were going to give to succeeding classes of school children, was,
of course, the feature of the Better Homes Campaign which appealed most to the
imagination of the people of Port Huron. The observance of Better Homes Week there-
fore began with dedicatory exercises. The importance of the study of home improvement,
however, was so keenly felt, that on every day during the week addresses were given,
and discussions suggested by these were conducted. The general subjects of these
meetings were “The Social Life of the Home,” “The Economics of the Better Home,”
“The Wise Use of Leisure Time,” “Better Books in the Home,” “The Higher Life of
the Home,” “The Correlation of Home and Community Life,” and “The Better Home —
A Community Asset.” Some of these meetings were held at the Demonstration Home,
others at auditoriums. At many of them concerts of home music were given.
It will be seen from the foregoing that the Better Homes Campaign in Port Huron
was an undertaking which appealed to the interest and pride of all citizens. A large
part of the school population had a vital personal interest in it, and there is no doubt
of its great value to these children, and to their families. Through the actual example
of a Better Home, and through the programs held, a great many of the parents also
became interested. The work of the boys and girls under Miss Carlisle’s direction was
of educational value, not only for them but also for the adults interested in the problem
of securing and maintaining a home.
Over 8,000 people visited the Demonstration Home and attended the meetings.
So great was the interest aroused that it is planned to conduct a similar campaign in
1926, and to erect a permanent School Practice House for another Junior High School.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA.
Mrs. Hunter Armstrong was chairman of the 1925 Better Homes Committee in
Birmingham. Starting to organize her Committee only eight weeks before Better
Homes Week, Mrs. Armstrong developed a community enterprise which interested a
large part of the population. A woman on her Committee, Mrs. W. S. Terry, planned
a house and assumed the responsibility of financing its construction on a lot in an at-
tractive new residence section, conveniently located about half-way between Birmingham
and Ensley. Work was started on the house the last week of March. That it was ready
for demonstration on May 11 is evidence of the admirable spirit and efficiency of the
Committee.
The house contains seven rooms and is of frame construction, the outside walls
being covered with gray shingles. Its proportions are excellent, since it is a good example
of the New England Colonial type of house; its appearance is very attractive. The cost
of building it was $5,500, although it is stated that by the substitution of pine flooring
on the second story, less expensive hardware and plumbing fixtures, and by other changes
it could be duplicated for $5,000.
52
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
Seven-room Demonstration House at Birmingham, Ala., 1925. This very attractive house
was planned by a member of the Birmingham Committee, with the technical advice of an
architect who drew the final plans. Its cost was $5,500. It is estimated that by exercising
certain economies it could be duplicated in that vicinity for $5,000.
The front door of the house leads directly into the living-room, which is of generous
proportions, measuring 12 by 22 feet. In the back wall of this room is a large fireplace.
In the corner opposite the front door are stairs leading to the second story. At the end
of the room, to the left, is a porch, 9 by 11 feet. At the opposite end, directly to the
right, as one enters the front door, is a door leading to a cozy library. Back of this room
is the dining-room, with direct access to a kitchen measuring 8 by 14 feet. This is
directly behind the living-room, and should a coal range be used, use can be made of
the main chimney of the house. The kitchen is very well equipped and well arranged,
having two windows over the sink, which is flanked by double drain-boards. Leading
from the kitchen is a glassed porch which serves as an entry and also as laundry, since
there are two stationary tubs in it.
On the second floor are three good-sized bedrooms, each conveniently planned, and
each with a large closet. The bathroom is of good size. Opening from the hall is a
linen-closet.
It was determined to furnish the house on a strict budget, the limit to be $1,325.
A budget was drawn up setting a limit on the cost of furnishing each room in the house,
and this was carefully followed. The furniture used was lent by Birmingham merchants.
A particularly interesting fact about the furnishings is that one of the bedrooms was
furnished by the Girl Scouts as a girl’s room, and another by the Boy Scouts as a boy’s
room.
About 9,000 persons visited the Demonstration Home; it was stated that 2,000
attended the demonstration in one afternoon.
Although the house demonstration was the central feature of the campaign, many
educational programs were conducted. The purpose of the Committee was to assist
all families of moderate means to own attractive homes, and to maintain them on a
high standard. Throughout the campaign the educational nature of the work was kept
in mind and emphasized. Meetings were held at which were given numerous lectures on
subjects of interest to home-owners. Demonstrations of labor-saving devices were made,
and booklets containing valuable studies of budgets were distributed. A budget for a
family of four, with an income of $225 a month, was printed. Two demonstrations of
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
53
Excellent kitchen in Demonstration House at Greenville, S. C., 1925. Note the enamel-
top work-table with large drawers and attached stool. Also sink with swivel faucet, and
two enamel drain-boards directly underneath the window.
home play were given, and several concerts of home music arranged. The house was
open to the public with dedication exercises, at which a pageant was presented.
The Committee secured the hearty cooperation of the city government, the churches,
schools, and merchants, and the women’s clubs. Better Homes Week was proclaimed
by the City Commission, and a large amount of publicity was secured, so that it is safe
to say that practically everyone in the city knew of the Better Homes Campaign.
GREENVILLE, S. C.
The Chairman of the Greenville Committee, Mrs. Andrea C. Patterson, is a member
of the Women’s Bureau of the Chamber of Commerce, which was in charge of the
demonstration, as it has been in previous years. The Committee was unable to carry
out its original plan of reconditioning an old house as a demonstration, but secured the
cooperation of a real estate dealer who was building a house to be sold on the installment
plan. The plans and finish of the house were decided upon jointly by the prospective
owner, the architect, and the Better Homes Committee.
The lot upon which the house was erected measured 50 by 150 feet, and is valued at
$1,200. A very attractive six-room house of frame construction was built. It is stated
that it can be duplicated for about $3,850. First-class workmanship and finish were
stipulated throughout the house.
The lot was naturally beautiful, being shaded by large trees. Its size made possible
54
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
very effective planning and planting, and not only were shrubs and flowers laid out
around the hpuse, but a vegetable-garden was made, and planted.
The greatest amount of interest in the house was displayed by the people of the
community. Many visitors came from rural districts surrounding Greenville, and among
the 2,000 people who registered at the house there were representatives of fifteen cities
and twelve states outside of South Carolina. In addition to the house demonstration,
the Committee arranged very effective programs of lectures, and an essay contest was
conducted with between 200 and 300 participants.
The Mayor of Greenville, the schools and churches, the Boy and Girl Scouts, many
civic organizations, and merchants and business concerns — all contributed to the success
of the campaign. Considerable newspaper publicity was secured by the Committee,
and it is felt that the demonstration had a very considerable influence throughout the
community.
NEW ROCHELLE, N. Y.
The Better Homes Committee at New Rochelle, of which J. Albert Mahlstedt was
chairman, was confronted with a difficult problem peculiar to large suburbs close to
metropolitan cities. The city is built-up to its boundaries, which on two sides touch
other built-up cities. The two remaining boundaries are Long Island Sound on the
south, and, on the north, a line of large private estates which are held at prohibitive
prices. There is, therefore, not room to expand into an area unoccupied by houses in
which land values are low, as there is in most cities.
Nevertheless, encouraged by the success of the 1924 Better Homes Campaign in New
Rochelle, and conscious of the advantages accruing to the community from a campaign,
the Committee set out early to plan a most comprehensive program. Three houses were
secured for demonstration purposes and three apartments were furnished. One of the
latter was intended for a negro family. Two of the houses were valued at $30,000 and
$16,000 respectively, and therefore could not be considered by the Committee on Awards.
The third house, containing six rooms, was valued at $10,000, and a scheme for
purchase was devised whereby the prospective owner would pay a small amount at the
beginning of the transaction and then pay $100 a month. At the end of ten years he
would own the house in fee simple.
Of the three apartments, two rent at $100 a month. One of these contains three
rooms, the other, the negro apartment, contains six. The third apartment was similar
to one of the demonstrations at New Rochelle last year. It was called “The House of
Thrift” and was intended for the family of an unskilled worker with a small income.
Three rooms were fitted out in the house occupied by the American Legion, and com-
fortably furnished at small cost. The rental for this apartment was not estimated. The
six-room house and the six-room apartment for negroes were the most interesting and
instructive demonstrations made by the New Rochelle Committee since these were
within the range of modest incomes. It should be noted that the Committee was
careful to work out budgets for the incomes of the different types of families which
wrould be likely to occupy all the houses and apartments. Care was also taken in securing
furniture on budgets compatible with the costs or rentals. The negro apartment was
furnished for $495.
More remarkable than the house demonstrations were the programs arranged by
the New Rochelle Committee and the extent to which the whole community was engaged
in the campaign. A great amount of publicity was secured, and 86 local organizations
cooperated. Numerous special meetings were held, with programs of lectures and dis-
cussions on home ownership, the financing of household expenses, home decoration, and
other subjects relating to the home. Among these one of the most noteworthy was a
symposium on the man’s part in the home, which was suggested by a magazine article
by Secretary Hoover.
The Mayor proclaimed Better Homes Week in New Rochelle, and all the churches
devoted particular attention to it. Very intensive work was planned and carried on
in the schools. Special exhibits of the work done by the school children in connection
with the campaign were made, and this work benefited not only the children actually
engaged in it but also the thousands who visited the exhibits.
The extent to which the community was interested in the campaign is evidenced
by the fact that 9,500 persons visited the houses, 500 people viewed the exhibit of
material relating to home improvement and home ownership at the library, 400 came
to special meetings of the Parent-Teachers’ Association, and hundreds of others parti-
cipated in other meetings and programs.
This extensive community undertaking cost the Committee only $160.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN 55
CLEBURNE, TEXAS
The Chairman at Cleburne, Mrs. F. R. Pettengell, reported very widespread co-
operation in the community. Cleburne won Honorable Mention in last year’s campaign,
and the Better Homes Campaign is an annual affair which interests the whole city.
This year’s campaign was conducted under the auspices of the Magazine Research Club.
The Committee began work on March 1. They secured the active support of a
builder who agreed to construct a house according to plans selected by the Committee,
with the advice of experts from the University of Texas. A seven-room brick house was
built, which cost $6,800. The furniture and interior decorations of the houses were
selected under the direction of the head of the Home Economics Department of the
university, and an art specialist in the department. All the furnishings and equipment
cost $3,000, a rather high figure, but this includes the cost of a grand piano, an item
which might well be omitted from the budget.
A large number of newspaper articles on the campaign were printed, and every civic
and governmental organization participated actively. So effective were the Com-
mittee’s efforts to interest the people that over 2,000 visited the house; 567 attended
in one afternoon. These figures are remarkable when it is considered that the population
of the city is about 15,000.
An unusual feature of Cleburne’s demonstration was the distribution of a booklet
prepared especially for the campaign, setting forth the purpose of the demonstration,
acknowledging the cooperation of all who gave their services to the committee, and
containing helpful suggestions on home decoration. Another booklet on household
budgets was also distributed as part of the educational work of the campaign.
ROANOKE RAPIDS, N. C.
Roanoke Rapids is a community of 3,500 people. Most of its inhabitants, as well
as those of Rosemary, a nearby village, work in the local, mills. The people of the
entire surrounding industrial district, some 7,000 in all, shared in the benefits of the
demonstration.
Mrs. F. M. Brown, the Chairman, began work on the campaign early in January.
She immediately enlisted the support and cooperation of Miss Bernice Allen, County
Home Demonstration Agent. Other prominent men and women consented to serve,
and a highly organized General Committee was formed, with numerous subcommittees,
each under a responsible chairman.
The most impressive feature of the demonstration was the house, which the com-
mittee borrowed and furnished. The actual cost of building was $4,000, a remarkable
Mr. J. E. Rainer, Tr., the owner of this house near Hattiesburg, Miss., built it with the
assistance of his father. The total cost was $175, which was spent on odd lengths of timber.
Mr. and Mrs. Rainer planned and planted the garden. The owner states that he received
his inspiration and encouragement to accomplish his task from the Better Homes movement.
56
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
Living- and dining-rooms in house of J. E. Rainer, Jr., near Hattiesburg, Miss. The
house was built by Mr. Rainer and his father. With the help of his brother-in-law, he made
most of the furniture, at a total cost of $25 for material.
figure when it is considered that the town has no sewer system or public water system,
and drainage and a water pumping system had to be installed in the house. These and the
central heating arrangement were included in the above cost. The house contains five
rooms wdth a hall, breakfast-room, and bathroom. It is well built, of good material. Al-
though all the rooms are on one floor, they are so arranged that the sleeping quarters are
separated from the kitchen and living quarters. The proportions of the rooms are gener-
ous, the living-room measuring 16 by 18 feet and the dining-room 16 by 15 feet. The
over-all measurements of the house are 36 by 41 feet. There is a cellar under the whole
house; the foundation is of concrete. While there is room in the second story for two
bedrooms, these were not finished.
In furnishing the house, the Committee kept in mind the requirements and resources
of the average family of five in the locality. The goal of the Furnishings Committee
was expressed as “comfort, economy, and good taste.” In the task of furnishing this
Committee saw an educational opportunity and ^jointed out that so far as possible they
used materials which were produced locally. Bed linen and materials for curtains which
are made in the local mills were used, and all furniture and rugs were secured from stores
in the community. The furnishings for the house actually cost $1,311.50. Great care
was taken in demonstrating the house to visitors to emphasize the simplicity of the
furnishings and the care with which each article had been chosen for beauty, durability,
and low cost. For example, hangings of quiet colors were chosen as being more likely
to last well than brighter ones.
Through its publicity measures the Committee succeeded in interesting practically
the whole community. A large amount of space was devoted to the campaign in local
and nearby newspapers; announcements were made in churches and schools, and four-
minute speakers addressed theatre audiences. The mayor proclaimed Better Homes
Week and the Ministerial Association endorsed the campaign. Every civic and social
organization in the community supported the campaign.
Although the house was the most important means of educating the community,
many contests were held to arouse interest in improvement of home gardens, kitchens
and other features; to encourage the building up of home libraries; and, in particular,
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
57
to get children interested in all aspects of home improvement. One of the most in-
teresting features of the campaign was a Community Sing attended by 700 people.
A Community Picnic was also held, with great success.
Over a thousand persons visited the Demonstration Home. That these people
carried away valuable lessons is attested by the Chairman, the County Home Demon-
stration Agent, and many officials and individuals in the community. Miss Allen wrote,
in commenting on the campaign, “People seemed to catch the spirit of the movement,
for they did not hesitate to ask questions about the house and its furnishings. People
in town and country have started rearranging and refinishing houses and furniture, and
building labor-saving devices which they saw in the Home. All I can say further is
‘It was a success and more than worth all time and effort spent.' "
The District Home Demonstration Agent, Miss Estelle Smith, wrote to the chair-
man, “As for the home, I can truly say that while I have had the pleasure of seeing eight
homes furnished by commercial firms as ‘Better Homes/ yours surpassed any in good
taste, simplicity, and practicability. . . . What a pleasure it must have been to those
mill people to view this daintily furnished home — so comfortable and restful."
GAITHERSBURG, MD.
The Chairman of the Gaithersburg Committee was Mrs. G. A. Chadwick. The
Committee began work on the campaign at the beginning of April; in the six weeks
between that time and Better Homes Week they arranged an educational project which
reached every person in the community. Gaithersburg is a small town, not far from
Washington, D. C., and although it is not a suburb, is to some extent dependent on
the larger city. It is essentially a town of homes, yet the Committee felt that the people
would appreciate the opportunity of learning of ways to own their homes and to make
them better. They also had in mind the people of the surrounding rural districts. Their
belief was justified, for over 800 persons registered at the Demonstration Home, and
many more visited it who did not register. The population of Gaithersburg itself is 800.
Being a small community, Gaithersburg has no chamber of commerce or other
organization of business men. The chief support which the Committee had was the
Women’s Club, members of which worked actively in the campaign, and which defrayed
the expenses from its treasury. The Better Homes Committee was organized in the
way suggested in the Guidebook; subchairmen were appointed for Finance, Furnishing
and Equipment, Publicity, and Programs.
A recently completed house was borrowed to furnish and demonstrate. It stands
upon a lot 64 by 240 feet, which contains fruit trees and plenty of space for flower and
vegetable-gardens. There was so little time between the completion of the house and
Demonstration Week that it was not possible to plan and plant the gardens.
The house is so situated that it is easily accessible to a bus fine and within walking
distance of the shops and railroad station.
The ground floor of the house measures 29 by 37 feet, and is well planned, with large
closets and no waste space. It contains an entrance-hall, living and dining-rooms, a
kitchen with a large pantry, and a breakfast-porch. There is also a generous front
porch extending the width of the house. Upstairs there is a large bedroom in the front
with four windows, which measures 20 by 10 H feet. A passageway leads across the
house just back of this, opening into the bathroom at the end, and with doors leading
off into two other bedrooms. One of these bedrooms was unusually interesting. It
was called the “Economy Room," and was furnished at an expense of about $10. A
small iron cot was the only new article in the room, with the exception of curtains and
draperies. A dressing-table, covered with cloth, was made of a packing-case and an
old piano stool which had been painted, formed the seat. Old kitchen chairs and a
tabouret were painted and completed the furniture of the room.
The furnishing of the house was done in excellent taste, but with the idea of sim-
plicity and low cost always in mind. The result was most attractive. The Committee
determined to furnish the house for $1,000, if possible; the total for which all the articles
could be duplicated was $986.25. The Committee on Furnishings issued a statement
showing the cost of each article, and the cost of furnishing each room of the house.
The Committee on Programs planned an excellent series of talks to be given on each
afternoon and on two evenings of Better Homes Week. The subjects announced were
calculated to interest those who owned their homes and those who hope to do so. There
is every evidence that much interest was aroused and that the lectures have resulted in
definite benefits to many families.
In addition to these lectures, there were musical programs every day during the
58
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
week, a service of dedication at the opening of the Better Home, and a contest to submit
the best practical suggestion for home improvement.
The schools of Gaithersburg, although there was no special work planned for the
pupils, had a share in the campaign. The children of the High School assisted with
musical programs, and the superintendent of schools gave his hearty support to the
Committee. Several teachers assisted by giving talks.
The Boy Scouts participated in the flag-raising and dedication exercises.
All the churches, through the efforts of their members, and by announcements,
supported and assisted in the campaign.
Finally, the merchants of the village cooperated enthusiastically, lending articles and
giving the use of their trucks.
There is no doubt in the minds of the Gaithersburg Committee that their demonstra-
tion was a worth-while undertaking for the community. One of the visitors to the house
said to the chairman, “When I saw how much time, effort, and trouble you were putting
into this thing, I questioned if it paid; but now that I have been here and seen the wide-
spread interest and influence it has created, and know the results, I know it did pay.”
The Chairman also states that three “economy rooms” are being furnished, a new
interest has been aroused in improving and enlarging gardens, and other minor improve-
ments have been made.
BERGENFIELD, N. J.
Mrs. Ruth Blazer, Chairman of the Bergenfield Committee, determined early in the
campaign to make her Committee representative of every organization interested in
the welfare of the community. She was successful in securing the support of all depart-
ments of the borough government, the public and parochial schools of Bergenfield, and
the high schools of Dumont and Tenafly, the clergy, newspapers, the Public Library,
merchants and builders, clubs, and the County Home Demonstration Agent. The
campaign was therefore a community project in a very real sense, and its success was
largely due to this fact.
In February, local builders were invited to submit plans for a house to be built
expressly for Better Homes Week. Plans submitted by Fred T. Eckes were accepted
and the house was built in two months.
The schools contributed to the success of the campaign by conducting poster contests.
The best posters submitted were widely used by the Committee as publicity. The
schools also joined enthusiastically in essay contests on subjects relating to home
improvement.
Throughout the campaign the Committee was able to keep its work in the public
eye by the generous attitude of local newspapers. Altogether, 36 columns and 6 pictures
relative to the campaign were published, in addition to a sixteen-page Better Homes
supplement issued by the Bergenfield Saturday Review.
The House
The merits of the Demonstration House influenced the Committee on Awards in
deciding to grant third prize to Bergenfield. Although the town is in the most thickly
settled metropolitan district in the world, where building costs are certainly as high as
anywhere else, it was found possible to erect a six-room house, adequate for a family of
five, for $6,800. The lot upon which the house stands, 50 by 100 feet, is valued at $700.
It may be fairly said therefore that this Demonstration House is within the means of a
family with a moderate income.
In order to keep the cost of building down, such features of the more pretentious
modern home as an open fireplace in the living-room and a sun-parlor were omitted.
It was recognized that while these adjuncts are desirable, they are not essential. If it
should be desired, they may be added without altering the plan of the house as a whole.
It is evident from this statement that the Bergenfield Committee set out to attack
the problem of home ownership in a very practical manner. Some quotations from the
statement of the Committee in the Better Homes Supplement, above referred to, are
interesting.
“The Bergenfield ‘Better Home’ is built on a concrete foundation measuring 26
feet front and 22 feet deep, and it sets back 29 feet from the street line.
“From an entrance porch 8 feet wide and 4 feet deep, the front door leads directly
into a living-room’ measuring 18 by 13 feet, 3 inches. A French door leads from the
living-room to a side porch measuring 10 by 14 feet. Placed around the sides of the
porch are four flower-boxes which also serve as a guard-rail for children.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN 59
“A unique feature of the living-room is a closet at the foot of the stairs for overcoats,
umbrellas, overshoes, hats, etc. The closet has been made sufficiently large to include
a window and is equipped with an electric light so that it may serve the dual purpose of
an accommodation wardrobe closet and telephone booth.
“The dining-room measures 11 feet, 3 inches by 12 feet, 4 inches and is laid out with
sufficient wall space to provide for the usual 10-piece dining-room suite. The living-room
and dining-room are connected by a trimmed opening 8 by 7 feet.
“The kitchen measures 11 feet, 3 inches by 8 feet, 3 inches. The kitchen equipment
has been placed to save steps. The refrigerator space is located at a point nearest the
service entrance. Over the sink is a window facing east. Directly opposite the sink is
the gas range, which is combined with a kitchen cabinet. The dish-closet is located
next to the door leading to the dining-room. In the far corner of the kitchen are located
a broom-closet and a clothes-chute leading to the cellar.
“The floor in the kitchen is of pine and has been specially treated with hot boiled
linseed oil under the supervision of Miss Helen Powell, Bergen County Home Dem-
onstration Agent.
“Stairs starting from a small platform in the living-room lead to a square hallway
on the second floor, with the bathroom at the head of the hall.
“The master bedroom measures 12 by 12 feet, 4 inches; the children’s bedroom,
12 by 10 feet; and a small child’s bedroom, 8 by 8 feet, 4 inches. Each bedroom is
equipped with suitable wall-space for a bed, two windows providing cross ventilation,
steam radiator, electric light, double electric base receptacle, and an ample wardrobe
closet lined with aromatic cedar. In the hallway there is a linen-closet and an extra
closet, both lined with cedar.
“The rear or service entrance enters upon a platform which leads three steps up into
the kitchen as well as five steps down to the cellar.
“The cellar equipment includes laundry tubs, clothes-chute, steam heating plant,
and hot-water boiler with the gas heater. A coal-bin is built on the service side of the
house to provide for six tons of coal.
“Another unique feature of this house is the ‘children’s garage’ — a space underneath
the side porch equipped with a swinging lattice providing a storage place for sleighs,
children’s wagons, scooters, kiddie cars, as well as garden tools.”
In addition to the house demonstration the Committee arranged meetings at which
comprehensive programs of lectures and discussions relating to home improvement
were held.
About 4,300 persons visited the Demonstration House. Since the population of
Bergenfield is somewhat less than 4,000, this is evidence of the success of the campaign.
The fact that the campaign cost was only $122 is proof of the generous public spirit of
the community and the careful and intelligent planning of the Committee.
OTHER CAMPAIGNS
The limited space in this Guidebook does not permit adequate discussion of the many
excellent local campaigns which won Honorable Mention in 1925. To illustrate the fact
that each of these had some feature of particular interest, a few are mentioned below.
At Danville, Ky., the Committee reconditioned a small house which had been in
bad repair. By planting the grounds and decorating the house inside and out, a neat,
comfortable home was made. Photographs of this house, both before and after re-
conditioning, are shown on pages 30 and 31. The committee at Bel Air, Md., had the
active cooperation of the County Home Demonstration Agent, and although the
Demonstration Home and many of the programs were held at Bel Air, the campaign
was made interesting and valuable to home-makers all over the county. Comprehensive
campaigns were held also in Orange County, Florida, and Dallas County, Alabama.
At Orlando, in Orange County, six houses were demonstrated, and a successful campaign
was conducted to encourage the cleaning-up and improving back yards and gardens.
At Wilkes-Barre, Pa., as in 1924, an effective demonstration was made by contrasting a
workman’s house which had been reconditioned and improved, and one which had not.
On pages 55 and 56 are photographs of a house built at Hattiesburg, Miss., by a
young man who was inspired and encouraged by the Chairman of the Better Homes
Campaign there, to build his own home and furnish it through his own efforts.
At Waltham, Mass., a two-hundred-year-old house was reconditioned as a perma-
nent demonstration home for the Girl Scouts. At Honolulu, Hawaii, a “Little-House-
On- Wheels” was built and taken from one community to another to show that houses
could be built for $1,000 which would be within the means of a native working-
man’s family. The demonstration at Minneapolis, Minn., was in charge of the Federa-
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BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
Courtesy of the U. S. Department of Agriculture
Dining-room in Demonstration House at Aurora Hills, Va., demonstrated by the Home
Economies Association of Washington, D. C., for the 1925 Better Homes Campaign.
The total cost of furnishing this room was $156. Note that the passway to the kitchen
has four shelves.
tion of Women’s Clubs, and a permanent Demonstration House in the heart of the
city was given to the community. At Utica, N. Y., Greencastle, Ind., and Stockton,
Calif., Demonstration Houses were built by school-boys. The campaigns at Albu-
querque and Carlsbad, New Mex., had unusually fine programs of lectures, as well as
demonstration houses. A very successful County Tour was conducted by the Commit-
tee at Corvallis, Ore., under the leadership of the Benton County Home Demonstra-
tion Agent, who was also Chairman of the Better Homes Committee. An interesting
feature of the campaign at Sacramento, Calif., was a demonstration of a grass hut,
an Indian tepee, a log-cabin, and a modern house, to show the historical development
of homes. At Dover, N. H., the Community House was used for a demonstration, and
was particularly interesting because of the antique furniture, and the original interior
decoration, which was interesting not only because of its age but because of its intrinsic
beauty.
SOME NOTABLE 1924 CAMPAIGNS
On the following pages are reprinted from last year’s Guidebook accounts of some of
the more effective campaigns in 1924. Kalamazoo was awarded First Prize in that year.
St. Helena Island, S. C., was awarded a Special Prize for the best demonstration of a
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
61
School Practice House. Albemarle County, Virginia, had an unusually valuable dem-
onstration of reconditioning an old farm house, and was awarded First Prize among
communities of less than 10,000 population.
KALAMAZOO, MICH.
The Kalamazoo campaign in 1924, was carried on under the leadership of Dr.
Caroline Bartlett Crane, who was Chairman of the local Better Homes Committee.
The demonstration found its most noticeable expression in the Better Home on
Westnedge Avenue, which is a through street connecting the Lincoln Highway and Dixie
Trail on the south with the Mackinaw Trail and the Upper Peninsula. But the cam-
paign had many other excellent features. Mrs. Crane called her first committee meeting
on March 3. Ground was broken for the house, March 12. On May 12 the house was
opened for demonstration and inspection. In this bald statement is a suggestion of the
effectiveness of Mrs. Crane’s leadership and the energy of her Committee. In that time
plans had been drawn by Mrs. Crane and prepared for the workmen. A contractor
agreed to build the house, waiting for payment until the house could be sold. A lot
was secured for $1,000, and the title made over to a member of the subcommittee on
Finance. Finally, the house was built and completely furnished, and the lot land-
scaped.
The financing of the demonstration was arranged on a deferred credit basis, on the
understanding that the house should be sold subject to a first mortgage loan through a
building and loan association. In case the best offer in a sale of the house and lot should
not prove sufficient to pay the creditors, the property was to be turned over to them,
who should vote (with one vote for each dollar invested) on its disposition. The indi-
vidual holding title to the lot was bound to turn it over to the creditors in this event.
These practical arrangements of financing, planning, and building required coopera-
tion of the most disinterested kind, and such cooperation was forthcoming. It is to
the credit of Kalamazoo that her business men and women were ready and eager to help
in such a work, but the Better Homes movement can assume credit for having elicited
such spirit and such energy even in a city where they were latent.
Community Participation
Preparation for the campaign had other social aspects. The whole community was
in it. Much publicity was obtained through generous newspaper cooperation, through
radio broadcasting, and through colored slides and announcements, shown at the
moving picture theaters. A large number of civic and educational organizations gave
active assistance. The Ministerial Association endorsed the campaign, and individual
clergymen supported it by announcements from the pulpit, and in sermons.
The schools played a role of first importance in the demonstration. The departments
of art, domestic science, and manual training made and exhibited articles for the home.
One school produced a play to illustrate aspects of house decoration and furnishing.
Demonstrations of home play and of a model playroom were made. An essay contest
was held on “The Advantages of Home-Owning.” The manual training departments of
both the city schools and the Western State Normal School made articles of furniture and
other equipment for the home. The high school band played at several meetings, and the
Vine Street Boys’ Chorus of forty voices gave three concerts. From the moment that
plans could be obtained until the landscaping, decoration, and furnishing were completed,
all the schools in the city made the Better Home the subject of detailed and exhaustive
study. Many attractive posters were made by school children, as well as pasteboard
models of the house and various rooms in it. These were exhibited in the special, non-
commercial Better Homes Exposition, held under the auspices of the Committee in a
public hall. The students in the domestic science departments of the public schools were
given training in planning budgets, with a definite family and the Demonstration House
in mind. Miss Beula M. Wadsworth, Director of Art in the public schools, in addition to
supervising the making of posters and cardboard models, also gave instruction in decor-
ating, using the Better Homes Demonstration House as a definite problem.
The parents of the school children were reached and prepared for the demonstration
by other methods. Men’s and women’s clubs were addressed on subjects related to
Better Homes. The Exposition, referred to above, was extensive, and enabled the
Committee to demonstrate many features which the narrow limits of the demonstration
house forbade showing there. Model kitchen and model library contests were held.
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BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
During Better Homes Week, lectures and programs of music were given at the Demon-
stration House and at the Exposition.
Thus the Better Homes Demonstration in Kalamazoo was a complex affair which
drew into its circle of interest and activity everybody in the city. It was an opportunity
to test the sense of community of its citizens. As it happened, the test turned out very
favorably for this town of some 52,000 people, but its significance does not cease there;
Kalamazoo has set an excellent example to other cities, larger and smaller.
The House
The Demonstration House was the center of interest in the campaign. It was in-
tended to be; that was the tangible goal toward which all these cooperative efforts were
directed. And the house justified the efforts. The actual cost of building was $7,483.71
(although a plan was drawn whereby economies could be effected to bring the cost to
$5,569). It is of a Colonial type and contains five rooms and bathroom. The outside
over-all dimensions are 22 by 29 feet. Thus it is a small house, but it is well built and of
good materials. It was planned for efficiency and comfort, with a family of parents and
five children in mind. It was demonstrated that such a family could be not only accom-
modated, but made comfortable and happy within these four rather snug walls. One
man who visited the house was skeptical, but when he left he called it “the biggest little
house for its size in Kalamazoo” and that name stuck.
The first floor of the house contains three essential rooms, bedroom, living-dining
room, kitchen, and the bathroom. A young married couple could five in the house with-
out ever going up stairs (an obvious economic advantage: the second story need not be
finished at first).
The designer of the house calls the downstairs bedroom the key-room of the house.
In the plan it is called the mother’s room, and it is true it was designed with her interests
in mind. Entrance to this room is through the front vestibule, in the middle of the
house. The room measures 10 by 11 feet. On the other side of this room are two doors,
one leading to the bathroom, the other to the kitchen, which also has direct access to
the bath. Behind the bathroom is a rear entrance hall, which contains the ice-box.
It will be seen that a mother, particularly one with a young baby, will find her work
simplified and made lighter by this arrangement. While she is at work in the kitchen,
the baby can be safely out of the way of harm and mischief, yet within easy earshot and
only a few steps away from the sink or the stove or the ironing-board. The excellent
closet provisions are better seen than explained. In particular, the reader’s attention is
called to the little coat-closet in the vestibule. Closets like this — even vestibules — are
rare in such small houses.
The other side of the house on this floor is one big room 11 by 21 feet. There is no
dining-room, but this room is big enough to set a table which will accommodate eight
to twelve people in the end nearest the kitchen without disturbing the usual living-room
furniture, and outside of meal-times the drop-leaf dining-table can be used as a study
table, and the window seat behind it, on which children will sit during meals, as a lounge.
This is an economy of space, and for some families a sensible one. Dining-rooms are
used, perhaps, two hours a day; at other times they are usually waste space. In a
house planned for a small income and a large family, such a solution of the problem as
is presented by this plan is admirable.
In the second story are two bedrooms, each with a dormer alcove and each with
windows on two sides, giving plenty of fight and cross ventilation. Opening from the
little passage at the rear is another dormer alcove, containing a lavatory and toilet,
which need not be installed when the house is built. Each of the bedrooms easily
accommodates two children and each has generous closet space under the eaves.
The cellar is divided into rooms by concrete partitions. One of the projects to econ-
omize in duplicating the house for $5,500 was to substitute pillars for the partitions,
but the division as shown on the plan is useful. The feature which is most unusual and
attractive in the cellar, however, is the shower-bath in the laundry — for the boys to
use on hot days or after hard work or play.
Between 17,000 and 20,000 people visited Kalamazoo’s Demonstration House during
Better Homes Week. There they were met by a corps of hostesses stationed in each
room who led them through the house in a carefully planned itinerary, and explained
the advantages of the arrangements. Although the house was planned and furnished
for a family of seven, it was pointed out to visitors that the uses of the house were many,
and that it was very adaptable. For example, a family of two might use the “mother’s
room” as a dining-room. A family in which there were two or three children under
school age might use it as a nursery during the day, and use the large rooms upstairs
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
63
as bedrooms for the parents and children. The advantages of having the children at
play conveniently at the mother's hand and yet out of the steaming kitchen could still
be enjoyed. Each hostess was assigned a particular room, and exercised her imagination
in explaining its possible uses in terms of the individual visitor’s needs.
Note. — Mrs. Crane has published a full description of the Demonstration House
at Kalamazoo: “Everyman’s House,” by Caroline Bartlett Crane. Doubleday, Page &
Co., Garden City, N. Y.
ST. HELENA ISLAND, S. C.
The decision to award a prize for the best demonstration of a School Practice House
was not made until after the 1924 campaign had begun. That the decision was made
must be cause for congratulation, because the demonstration made on St. Helena Island
demanded special recognition in a special class.
This island, 18 miles long and 4 miles wide, situated not far off the coast at Beaufort,
S. C., is inhabited almost exclusively by negroes. According to the chairman, Miss
Grace Bigelow House, there are approximately 5,500 negroes and only 50 white people
on the island. The negro population are stated to be descended from the first slaves to
be liberated upon Lincoln’s proclamation. There is no corporate government on the
island, the only geographical divisions beirig the boundaries of the original fourteen
plantations which existed long before the Civil War. There are organized churches,
and “praise-houses” are scattered through the island. The white people on the island
comprise bankers, merchants, and social workers. Most of the islanders are small
farmers and own their homes.
St. Helena Island won a prize in the Better Homes competition in 1923, and in 1924
set out early to prepare to better their previous record. The work was centered around
the students and teachers in the Penn Normal Industrial and Agricultural School, which
is stated to be the first school for negroes in the South. The plans for a School Practice
House were drawn by one of the boy pupils, inspected and corrected as to details by one
of the teachers, and finally approved, after minor changes, by a New York architect.
They called for a six-room, one-story cottage. It was desired to build a house which
would be practicable on the island, and the estimate of the cost of the house made by the
carpentry department of the school was $1,520.70. As built, the actual cost was $1,582.68.
A saving was made in construction by utilizing some old lumber taken from a shed which
had been torn down. A sentimental interest lies in this old lumber because some of it
was originally used in the first Penn School building.
The six rooms comprise a hving-dining-room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, nursery,
and laundry.
The erection of the house aroused the most intense interest and enthusiasm. The
registered attendance was 2,207, nearly half the population of the island. One old
colored woman declared that “dayclean” — the island word for dawn — had “sho’ come.”
Of all the rooms in the house, the bathroom and convenient modern kitchen were the
centers of interest and enthusiastic comment. They showed the inhabitants how much
pleasanter life might be made by a modern house, and the visitors all felt that they had
in this house a model of convenience and comfort toward which they might strive in
improving their own homes. The cost of the house, and how it might be financed and
built, was made clear, and ways in which a house might be beautified at small cost by
curtains, rugs, and chair-covers were explained. The result was to incite the ambition
in all who saw the house to make their homes like this one. Many of the chairs and
tables were home-made by the boys in the school, out of barrels and packing cases, and
these caused the greatest surprise and admiration. Anybody could make a delightful
chair out of a barrel and some bright cloth if he knew how; the Committee demonstrated
how it might be done.
In addition to the house, the campaign in St. Helena Island had many of the features
which marked campaigns elsewhere, such as sermons and lectures, contests, exhibits,
and demonstrations. One feature was original and very useful in the Better Homes
movement. A canvass was made of the island to note what had been accomplished for
better homes during the year since the 1923 demonstration, and prizes were offered to
the individuals or families who had made the greatest improvement in their homes. The
results of this canvass were very satisfactory, showing the distinct value of the Better
Homes movement. The man who won the prize was an ex-student of the Penn School
and a war veteran. He had built and painted a new five-room cottage, made and white-
washed a fence, made his own porch furniture, and planted twenty-five fruit trees. The
vunner of second prize had remodelled his home, adding four new rooms, besides planting
a new garden and twenty fruit trees, and buying new furniture. These examples of
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BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
improvement stood out, but it is recorded that the improvements on the island are
general and obvious to anyone who travels in it.
Although St. Helena Island has no local government, the endorsement of the Mayor
of Beaufort was secured and publicity was given to the campaign through the Beaufort
newspapers, so that visitors came to the demonstration from near-by islands and from
the mainland.
“As one goes around the Island he cannot. . . but see the great improvements that
have been made, and all is the direct result- of the Better Homes movement here on
the island for two years. On 14 plantations visited, there were 26 new homes, 171
families who had made improvements of some kind since 1923, and 998 improvements
made on and aroimd these homes.” (From the report of the Subcommittee on Publicity,
St. Helena Island Better Homes Committee.)
The Committee in ALBEMARLE COUNTY, VIRGINIA, in 1924, determined to
demonstrate what could be done in reconditioning a farmhouse. To this end, a house
was chosen in Charlottesville which, although it was not actually in the country, was
better suited for the purpose, because it was centrally located in the county. The house
chosen was seventy-five years old, had been abandoned, and had fallen into a bad state
of disrepair. Shortly before the demonstration several alterations had been made and
some of the rooms had been repapered. Before remodelling, the house had been bought
for $4,000. The house had originally been well built of brick, and was still in good
fundamental condition; the demonstration showed how a small sum of money, well
spent, might make a comfortable and attractive home of a house originally good which
had become dilapidated.
The story of the reconditioning of the house is graphically told in the report of the
Chairman of the Better Homes Committee:
“The work of the Committee and its assistants was to refinish walls, floors, wood-
work, fireplaces, and mantles, and to provide hostesses for the week, and practically all
of this was done by volunteer help of Agricultural Girls and women’s clubs, not by
professionals. The living-room and dining-room walls had been newly papered by the
owner, and since we had both limited time and money, the Committee let them remain
as they were. All the other six walls. . . were either papered or alabastined. The
women and girls also finished the floors, painted the woodwork, repaired and painted
the fireplaces and mantles, and made draperies for the whole house. . . . The actual
money spent for paper, alabastine, paint, and draperies was $75.60.”
The needs of a farm family were kept in mind in planning the demonstration. The
house was fitted with a farmer’s office and a workroom for his wife. The kitchen was a
large one and distinctly intended for a farm. The furnishing of this house was done in
exceptionally good taste, thoroughly in keeping with the style of the house, and follow-
ing the best American tradition.
The campaign had particularly complete community support. The city of Char-
lottesville, through its merchants and its organizations, cooperated, as well as the State
and District Home Demonstration Agents, extension workers, the State Editor of
Extension News, the Farm Agent, and such organizations as Home Demonstration
Clubs, and Boys’ and Girls’ Agricultural Clubs.
STATEMENTS FROM 1925 CHAIRMEN AND OTHERS
The influence of the Better Homes in America Campaign upon American standards
of building, furnishing, home-planning, and home-life, can, of course, not be estimated.
Several hundred chairmen, however, have sent enthusiastic accounts to National
Headquarters of the values and achievements of their campaigns. The following state-
ments from chairmen have been selected to show the range of results noted by local
committees and will, we hope, be interesting and inspiring to others who contemplate
undertaking a demonstration for Better Homes.
“The results were most gratifying in all instances. Personally, I know of people
who were stimulated to buy or start to build homes, especially several living in apart-
ments. It is still too early to tell how far-reaching the results will be, but we know that
they will be better than we had hoped.” — Better Homes Chairman at Tampa, Fla.
“One hundred two homes screened and remodeled; 82 homes remodeled and made
more attractive and convenient; 32 landscape-gardening projects begun and planned;
184 homes, emphasizing kitchens, made more convenient; 30 club girls’ garden- and room-
beautifying projects.” — Better Homes Chairman at Hartwell, Ga.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
65
“We feel that the practical problem for our home economics classes has been most
worth-while, and the comment I have received from the merchants and town people
has proved to me that the Better Homes Campaign in Ames has been a most successful
one, and will have its influence for greater development and improvement.” — Better
Homes Chairman at Ames, Iowa.
“Our Better Home was really a home for the people of the whole county while it
lasted and brought the rural and town people together as nothing else previous has
done. The week was a bigger success than any of us dared hope, as our committees
were so scattered. It all goes to show what can be done where there is real interest in
the subject on hand.” — Home Demonstration Agent at Bel Air, Md.
“From the questions asked, the comments and remarks, we know that the influence
of ‘Better Homes Week Campaign/ in Gaithersburg, has been widespread. For instance,
the people next door screened their back porch before the week was over and converted
it into a breakfast-porch. We also know of three ‘Economy Rooms’ in course of con-
struction, besides gardens improved and new ones started, old jugs resurrected from
attics and cellars and utilized, and many minor details too numerous to mention. We
expect to have more concrete results later.” — Better Homes Chairman at Gaithers-
burg, Md.
“The Better Homes Campaign, fostered by the Civic Department of the Woman’s
Club, is considered by both city and county to have been one of the very biggest co-
operative movements put on in Greenwood. I feel the effort has already paid a thousand
fold. People caught the. spirit and went home to rearrange furniture, pictures, and
flowers and then came again to compare and gain fresh inspiration. I noticed several
women who were contemplating building homes came several times to take advantage
of ideas of labor-saving devices in our home.” — Better Homes Chairman at Greenwood,
Miss.
“It is too early to report very definite results. It is believed that many individuals
are more carefully planning for their homes, and furnishings and equipment. Others
are planning their gardens a year ahead, some in anticipation of the prizes to be awarded
next April. Children have been reported, at least temporarily, more considerate and
helpful in the home. Several new backyard playgrounds and workshops have been
fixed up. . . Several builders have secured improved plans or taken plans to archi-
tects for advice before starting new houses.” — Better Homes Chairman, Santa Barbara,
Calif.
“During thirty-three years’ residence in Durango I have never seen a movement that
was supported so unanimously and with such a fine spirit by all the people, and you
certainly have reason to be proud of the interest you have aroused in community welfare
... I would refer to the sentiment you have developed in the community as one
which not only makes Better Homes, but makes Home Life Better.” — President of the
Durango (Colo.) Lumber Company.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BULLETINS PUBLISHED AND DISTRIBUTED
BY BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
1653 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D. C.
A. Bulletins published by Better Homes in America — Sales price
1. Better Homes in America Guidebook for 1924
Campaign (out of print) 10 cents
2. Civic Effectiveness 5 cents
3. How to Furnish the Small Home 25 cents
4. Plan Book of Small Homes 25 cents
5. Additional Suggestions to Local Chairmen (out of print).. . . .
6. Home Music and Home Play 10 cents
7. How to Own Your Home 15 cents
8. Better Homes in America Guidebook for 1925 Campaign 15 cents
9. School Cottages for Training in Home-making 10 cents
10. Better Homes in America Guidebook for the 1926 Campaign 15 cents
A copy of each of the current Better Homes publications fisted above will be
sent without charge to each chairman. Additional copies should be paid for.
A discount of 20 per cent is allowed to all members of Better Homes Com-
mittees.
If you send for any of the above publications, make checks or money orders
payable to Better Homes in America.
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BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
B. Bulletins distributed by Better Homes in America to its local committees —
1. Through courtesy of United States Department of Agriculture’
(а) Chimneys and Fireplaces.
(б) Home Laundering.
(c) House-cleaning Made Easier.
( d ) Floors and Floor-coverings.
(e) Well-planned Kitchen.
(/) Planning the Farmstead.
(g) Home Storage of Vegetables.
(h) The Farm Garden in the North.
(i) Home Gardening in the South.
O’) The City Home Garden.
(A*) Farm Home Conveniences.
(l) Farm Plumbing.
(m) Farm Household Accounts.
2. Through courtesy of the Children’s Bureau, Department of Labor:
(a) Backyard Playgrounds.
( b j A Brief Manual of Games for Organized Play.
Additional copies of the Government bulletins can be secured at 5 cents each
from the Government Printing Office at Washington, D. C. Remittance
must be made by cash, or by postal or express money order.
3. Through the courtesy of the Division of Building and Housing, United States
Department of Commerce. (These publications will be sent only on request,
as they will be of interest primarily to those committees which are demon-
strating a house, or which are endeavoring to secure zoning legislation.)
(a) Recommended Minimum Requirements for Small Dwelling Construc-
tion, Report of Building Code Committee.
( b ) Recommended Minimum Requirements for Plumbing in Dwellings and
Similar Buildings, Final Report of Subcommittee on Plumbing of the
Building Code Committee.
(c) Weatherproof Your House.
( d ) Safe Construction of Built-in Garages.
I e ) A Standard State Zoning Enabling Act. By the Advisory Committee on
Zoning.
(f) A Zoning Primer. By the Advisory Committee on Zoning.
( g ) Municipal Zoning Ordinances. By the Advisory Committee on Zoning.
SUGGESTED CAMPAIGN OF PUBLICITY AND SAMPLE PROGRAM
OF EVENTS FOR LOCAL BETTER HOMES CAMPAIGN
Below is a suggested outline of a campaign of publicity to be conducted by a local
Better Homes Committee, together with a sample program of events for Better Homes
Week. These suggestions are intended only as a guide: each committee will have
problems and opportunities peculiar to its community, and will meet them as seems
best in the circumstances.
PUBLICITY SUGGESTIONS FOR LOCAL CHAIRMEN
1. Publish program of events, bit by bit, as details are worked out.
2. Print photographs of the process of constructing the house and planting
of garden.
3. Describe local prizes which are offered.
4. Announce placing of signs on highways leading to the Better Home.
5. Conduct a Poster Contest and display of posters.
6. Publish interviews with members of local Advisory Council.
7. Give publicity to special features such as —
(a) Arbor Day planting.
(b) Laying cornerstone.
8. Arrange for five-minute talks at theaters, dinners, and clubs or similar gatherings.
9. Make slides for exhibition at movies.
10. Arouse interest and cooperation in neighboring towns.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN 67
Newspaper Publicity
Early local publicity in connection with the demonstration you have planned for
your community will bring forward offers of help in preparing the demonstration, will
encourage workers whom you have already enlisted, and will tend to arouse local ex-
pectancy to a point where you will have a maximum attendance during demonstration
week.
Better Homes in America is a strictly non-commercial, educational and civic move-
ment supported by private and public funds. It does not serve the interest of any one
group, but is designed to assist and improve the whole community. If you will go to see
your newspaper editor, explain the independence and purpose of the movement to him,
and give him the same mental background which enlisted your own services, you will
find that he will become an enthusiastic supporter. He should serve on your committee
if you can get him to do so, but above all he should be interested to give generous
space for the weeks preceding the demonstration and during the period of the demon-
stration itself.
You can help your newspapers to help you by giving them information opportunely
and in simple narrative form. Some vital points to remember are :
1. A meeting held on Tuesday afternoon is news only in the Wednesday editions of
the daily newspapers. If it is held early in the afternoon and there is an afternoon
newspaper in town its highest news value is that same afternoon. Do not send out news
two or three days after the event, but keep a steady and up-to-date flow of information
to the newspaper offices concerning important happenings in the campaign.
2. The press should be notified in advance of any important meetings, and if the
newspapers are interested enough to send reporters, these reporters should be taken into
the meetings, treated as honored guests, and asked for their advice, which will be
valuable. It is unforgivable to ask a newspaper reporter to sit outside a closed door for
two or three hours and wait until someone, who has no technical experience in judging
news, condescends to come out and give him his version of what has been taking place.
3. If your appropriation permits and your city has two or three newspapers, it is well
worth while to pay a local newspaperman a small part-time salary for work in his spare
hours in preparing stories for the local press. He can have for the asking a file of the more
important general stories which have gone out from National Headquarters, and to the
information contained therein he will be able to tie up local facts and personalities.
4. Very little real news happens in the world on Sunday. Monday morning papers
are always open to good material which reaches them early Sunday afternoon, or which
reaches them Saturday with a “release date” for Monday morning.
5. A Sunday morning paper begins to be made ready for the press on Wednesday
or Thursday. Some sections of the larger Sunday papers go to press as early as nine or
ten days in advance of the date of publication. Ascertain the closing hours, or “dead
lines” for your newspapers, and see that material reaches them in plenty of time for the
editions in which you wdsh to see Better Homes stories.
6. It is worth while to send copies of your local stories to newspapers in neighboring
towns. It will do your own city good from an advertising standpoint and will help
stimulate national interest in Better Homes in America.
7. Some suggested subjects for campaign news stories follow:
(а) City to have campaign.
(б) Chairman names members of her committee.
(c) Committee to have demonstration house.
( d ) Chamber of Commerce and other organizations endorse.
( e ) Mayor issues proclamation.
(f) Program for demonstration week.
( g ) School cooperation.
(h) Better Homes Sunday.
(i) Special features.
(j) Interviews:
1. Superintendent of Schools.
2. President of Women’s Club.
3. President of Chamber of Commerce.
4. Better Homes Chairman.
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BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
SAMPLE PROGRAM
Note. — This program is printed merely as a suggestion to chairmen; it is not intended
that it shall be followed strictly.
Sunday, April 25, 1926
Special Church Services with Sermons on Better Homes in America.
Dedication Exercises at Demonstration Home.
Monday, April 26
Afternoon: Special Club Programs.
Evening: Concert of Home Songs at Demonstration Home.
Address and Discussion at Demonstration Home or Town Hall.
Tuesday, April 27
Luncheons of Men’s Clubs on Better Homes Campaign and Local Demonstration.
Evening: Demonstration of Home Play at Home.
Wednesday, April 28
Evening: Lectures and Discussion at Demonstration Home or Town Hall.
Concert of Home Songs.
Thursday, April 29
Afternoon: Demonstration of Labor-saving Devices.
Evening: Concert and Discussion of Better Homes Movement and its Importance
to Local Community.
Friday, April 30
Evening: Program on the Value of Improved Standards of Home Life to the Nation.
Saturday, May 1
Evening: Concert and Program of Lectures at Mass Meeting in some auditorium.
May Day Program of Child Health and Child Welfare, with appropriate
demonstrations.
Award of Prizes to Winners of Local Contests.
QUESTIONNAIRE TO BE USED AS BASIS FOR REPORT
ON BETTER HOMES WEEK
(A copy of this questionnaire, on large sheets, will be sent to you during Better
Homes Week. No matter what the extent of your campaign, this questionnaire should
be answered as fully as possible and returned to National Headquarters not later than
May 22.)
The answers to the questionnaire should be supplemented by a less formal report,
in your own words. Other illustrative material such as posters, signs, family budgets,
furniture budgets, proclamations used in the campaign, and the work of school children,
will be useful to National Headquarters. It is emphasized also that photographs of your
Demonstration House should be taken and that photographs of the exterior and interior
of your Demonstration House as it was shown to the public be submitted with your
report.
Town State. . .
Name of Chairman Address
1. What is the population of your community?
2. Did you have a Demonstration House?
(a) Was it new or remodeled?
( b ) Was it borrowed or planned and built by the committee?
(c) Was it a School Practice House?
(d) Was it a detached house, a semi-detached house, or a house in a row?,
(Please send photographs of exterior and interior, and blue-print plans, if
possible. Also state name and address of photographer. Photographs are
essential if your demonstration is to be considered for mention by the
Committee on Awards.)
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
69
(e) How many rooms did it contain?
( f ) What is the construction? (Brick, stucco, frame, etc.)
(: g ) Was the house lot planned and planted?
(A) Was there a home garden?
( i ) What was the cost of the house (exclusive of the lot)?
(j) What was the cost of the lot?
(, k ) What was the cost of the furnishings and equipment?
(It will be helpful if you can give the itemized cost of furnishing each room.)
(Z) Was the house easily accessible to transportation facilities?
(m) What were the special features of the house?
(n) On what day did you open the house to the public?
What was the last day of demonstration?
(o) How many people visited the Demonstration House?
3. Did you have contests, meetings with special programs, exhibits, or other forms of
demonstration?
If so, please list titles of lectures, subjects of discussion, and kinds of demonstra-
tions held, on a separate sheet.
(а) How many people visited these meetings or demonstrations?
(б) Did you have a Home Garden Contest? No. of Contestants
(c) Did you have a Model Kitchen Contest? No. of Contestants
( d ) Did you have a Model Home Library Contest? No. of Contestants. . . .
(e) Did you have an Essay Contest? No. of Contestants
(List titles of essays on separate sheet.)
(f) Did you have a Poster Contest? No. of Contestants
( g ) Did you have a contest for the Best-kept House Lot?
No. of Contestants
(h) Were any other contests conducted? If so, give subjects and
number of contestants
(£) Did you have a concert of home songs or other home music on your program? . .
(j) Did you have actual working demonstrations of labor-saving devices?
(k) Did you have a demonstration of Home Play?
By what agency was it conducted?
How many participated?
(Z) Were there any special programs or meetings held? If so, please
describe. ( e.g ., laying of cornerstone, dedication, pageant, etc.)
( [m ) Did you have a home builders’ clinic? (If so, please describe it in your report.)
( n ) What other campaign features, mentioned in the Guidebook, did you carry
out?
(o) Were there any new ideas in your campaign not mentioned in the publi-
cations of Better Homes, either in contests, publicity, or arrangement of
the home, or any other feature? Please describe
them
4. How much newspaper publicity was secured? (Measured by number of columns.)
(A scrapbook of clippings is desirable.)
(a) How many pictures were published in the papers?
5. Did you have posters, signs, and other kinds of publicity?
riease describe
6. List the governmental, social, civic, and business organizations which cooperated
with the committee. (If necessary on a separate sheet.)
7. Was Better Homes Week proclaimed by the mayor or other official?
(If so, please submit a copy of the proclamation.)
70
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
8. Did the schools cooperate in the campaign?
In what way?
9. What boy and girl organizations cooperated?
In what way?
10. What sort of cooperation, if any, was secured from neighboring towns?
(List with each town the name of any woman there who might take charge of a
Better Homes Campaign next year.)
11. What was the cost of the campaign?
How was the money raised ?
12. How long did the committee work to develop the campaign?
13. What sort of arrangements have been made for following up the educational work
of Better Homes Week?
14. What improvements have been noted in your community as a result of Better
Homes Week?
Is there promise of such improvements?
(The answer to this question should be expanded into a supplementary report.)
15. If you held a Better Homes Campaign in your community last year what benefits
have resulted from it?
16. What created the most interest in the campaign?
17. Are you planning to conduct a campaign in 1927?
If so, what are your plans?
18. What week during the Spring do you think best for future Better Homes Cam-
paigns?
19. Have you any other suggestions?
Note. — A supplementary report, not based on this questionnaire, and in the words
of a member of the committee will be useful to National Headquarters. The chairman,
or some other member qualified by intimate knowledge of the Avhole demonstration,
should write this report. All reports should be submitted to National Headquarters
with plans and photographs of Demonstration House by May 22, 1926.
HELPFUL FORMS
MAYOR’S PROCLAMATION
1, , Mayor of the City of
by the authority in me vested, do proclaim and set forth the week of April 25 to May 1,
1926, as “Better Homes Week.”
The progress of a city, like the progress of a nation, is measured by the quality of
its homes. The better the homes, the greater will be the effort to preserve them.
I, therefore, recommend that the earnest support of the people of
be given to this campaign and that every family in the city seek an opportunity to see
and to study one of the Demonstration Homes being furnished and equipped by the
public-spirited citizens of this city.
Given under my hand and seal, this day of , 1926.
Mayor of
PROCLAMATION OF BETTER HOMES SUNDAY
Whereas, A Better Homes Campaign has been inaugurated in
to encourage thrift and home ownership, to give helpful suggestions regarding the
selection and building of a home, its equipment and management, and to emphasize
the importance of the home in our national and community life;
Whereas, The movement has the cooperation of Mayor and more
than civic, patriotic, commercial, labor, and educational associations;
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE 1926 CAMPAIGN
71
Whereas, This is an effort to strengthen and improve the home and family life
of ;
Therefore , We, the pastors of , in regular meeting assembled,
do heartily approve and endorse the movement and agree to make Sunday, April 25,
Better Homes Sunday in our churches.
(Signed)
President Pastors’ Association.
LOCAL ADVISORY COUNCIL RESOLUTION
Whereas, A Nation-wide Better Homes Campaign has been launched with the
endorsement of President Coolidge, other national public officials, and several national
civic, and educational organizations, for the purpose of emphasizing the importance of
the home in our national and community life, encouraging thrift and home ownership,
and giving helpful suggestions regarding the selection and building of the home, its
equipment and management ; and
Whereas, Similar campaigns in other cities have resulted in raising the standard of
living, stimulating business, and developing civic pride and community morals; and
Whereas, This movement will attempt to assist approximately
home makers in in improving their homes and has already secured the
endorsement of the Mayor and representatives of approximately civic,
commercial, and social organizations; therefore,
Be It Resolved, That enter wholeheartedly into the movement
and designate April 25 to May 1, as “Better Homes Week” in
That an educational campaign be conducted to promote the purposes of the
movement;
That a Demonstration or Model Home be selected, completely furnished and equip-
ped in cooperation with the merchants, which the public will be invited to visit during
Better Homes Week, and an interesting program of lectures, home economic demon-
strations, and other exhibits of interest to the home maker be arranged ; and
That an Executive Committee, representing the Advisory Council, with power to
appoint committees, be selected to cooperate with the chairman, ,
in the conduct of the campaign; and
Be It Further Resolved, That His Honor, Mayor , be respect-
fully petitioned to issue a proclamation designating April 25 to May 1, as “Better
Homes Week” in ;
That all civic, commercial, fraternal, and other organizations of the city interested
in better homes and good citizenship are hereby invited to participate in this city-wide
campaign and urged to give the movement every possible support; and
That we all heartily agree with President Coolidge that “The American Home is
the foundation of our national and individual well-being,” and we will therefore do what
we can to create “homes in which home life can reach its finest levels, and in which can
be reared happy children and upright citizens.”
SUGGESTIONS:
HOSTESS CARD
Keep room in perfect order.
See that no object is removed from room.
Answer inquiries to the best of your ability or refer to House Committee.
Urge people to make suggestions for improvement, to ask questions in writing on
the cards provided for that purpose.
OBSERVATIONS:
What questions were asked?
What were women most interested in?
What were men most interested in?
GENERAL COMMENTS:
Please sign your name and give memorandum to member of House Committee before
leaving. Thank you.
A word of explanation of the Hostess Card. There should be enough cards to give
one to each woman who acts as Hostess. Each Hostess should be sure to answer the
questions on the cards, and to make any comments suggested by her experience in
meeting visitors. These answers and comments may be very useful in making a final
report on the campaign.
BETTER HOMES IN AMERICA
MODEL KITCHEN CONTEST
Enrollment Blank
Better Homes Week, April 25 to May 1
Conducted by Model Kitchen Contest Committee
You may enter my name in the Model Kitchen Contest.
Name
Address
Kitchens will be judged on the following basis:
1. Arrangement of kitchen to save steps and labor.
2. Sanitation and upkeep.
3. General equipment.
4. Attractiveness.
(Any resident of or vicinity may enter this contest.)
(Note: A method of kitchen scoring is outlined in “The Well-Planned Kitchen” by
Kuth Van Deman. Copies will be supplied on application.)
If your community has a County Home Demonstration Agent, she can supply
additional information.
INDEX
Page
Agricultural Clubs 37
Agriculture Department 17, 66
American Home Department 31
Arbor Day 19
Atlanta 41-46
Awards 37, 40
Better Homes Week 7, 9, 68
Books 17, 20
Budgets 23, 24
Builders 9, 22
Building & Loan Association 29, 30
Business Organizations 29
Buttons 16, 36
Campfire Girls 11
Chairman 13, 14, 32-35
Chamber of Commerce 13, 29
Character Building 12
Child Health 19
Churches 25, 36
City Government 14, 46
Clean-Up 9
Clubs, “Service” 29,30
Clubs, Women’s 31
Colleges 10, 34, 35
Commercialism, Avoidance of 14, 23
Contests 18
Contributors 24
Cooperation 10, 13, 14, 29, 31
Cost of Campaign 24, 37
CostofHouse23,40,42,43,44,48,50,51,53,55,58
Dedication of House 25
Demonstration Home 9, 14, 21
Exhibits 17
Extension Service 10, 11, 34, 35, 64
Financing Campaign 24
Furnishings 23, 43, 46, 48, 49, 50, 52, 54, 56, 57
Furniture Budgets 23, 43, 49
Gardens 9, 18, 21,23
Garden Week 19
Girl Scouts 11
Health in Home 11, 19
Home Art 12
Home Builders Clinic 21, 46
Home Bureau 11
Home Economics 8, 26, 28
Home Demonstration Agent 10, 33, 35
Home Play 11, 17
Home Tours 34
Page
Honorable Mention 41
Hostesses 25, 71
Housing Problems 8, 10, 11
Housing Survey 30
Kalamazoo 61, 62, 63
Kitchens 18, 34, 43, 45, 53, 59, 66, 69, 72
Labor-saving Equipment 10, 17, 23
Landscaping 9, 10, 18, 21, 23
Lantern Slides 16, 17
Lectures 16, 17
Library 20, 50, 58
May Day 19
Mayor 14, 46, 70
Men’s Organizations 29, 30
Merchants 23, 30
Moving Pictures 17, 46
Music 20
National Headquarters 7, 14, 17
Negro Housing 11, 41, 44, 45, 46
Newspapers 16, 66
Organization of Committee 13-25, 32-37
Parent-Teacher Association 11, 32
Planning and Planting 9, 18
Plans 10, 18,22,42, 44
Plays, Pageants 19
Port Huron 50, 51
Posters 16, 36
Prizes 37, 40
Prize-Winning Campaigns 1925 41-60
Programs 16-21, 33, 35
Publications 38, 65
Publicity 16, 66
Purpose 7, 8
Questionnaire 14, 68
Real Estate Board 21, 29
Realtors 22
Reconditioning 7, 9, 22, 30, 31, 59, 64
Remodelling 7, 9, 22, 30, 31, 59, 64
Report on Campaign 14, 33, 68
Rural Campaigns 32-37,64
Santa Barbara 46-49
Schools 11, 15, 18, 20, 23, 26-29, 36
School Practice Houses 11, 22, 27, 50, 63
Small Towns 32, 37
Study Course 21
Subcommittees 15-25 ’
Sunday, Better Homes 19, 70
Women’s Clubs 31
j. Horace McFarland Co., Printers, Harrisburg. Pa.
LOCAL COOPERATION
Who Should Cooperate in a “Better Homes” Campaign
in Your Home Community
1. City Officials:
Board of Aldermen
Board of Education
Building Inspector
City Plan Commission
Council or Commission
Fire Chief
Mayor
Sanitary Inspector
Superintendent of Schools
Zoning Commission
2. Associations, Clubs, Etc.:
Advertising Clubs
Agricultural Clubs
Alumni Associations
American Legion
Association of Engineers
Board of Trade
Boy Scouts
Building and Loan Associations
Business and Professional Women’s
Clubs
Campfire Girls
Chamber of Commerce
Churches
Church Women’s Clubs and
Church Men’s Community Ser-
vice
Civic Associations
Civitan Club
Colleges and Universities
Community Service
Council of Social Agencies
Daughters of the American Revo-
lution
Employers’ Association
Exchange Club
Farm Bureau
Garden Club
Girl Scouts
Housing Association
Housewives’ League
Improvement Associations
Industrial Relations Associations
Kiwanis Club
Labor Unions
League of Women Voters
Lions Club
Manufacturers’ Association
Motion Picture and other Theatres
Music Clubs
Non-English Speaking Associations
Parent-Teachers’ Association
Pastors’ Association
Professional Associations
Publicity Club
Radio Club
Red Cross
Rotary Club
Social Workers’ Union
Teachers’ Association
Underwriters’ Association
Visiting Nurses
Welfare Federation
Women’s Clubs
Young Men’s Christian Association
Young Women’s Christian Asso-
ciation
3. Business Agencies Such As:
Architects
Banks
Builders
Manufacturers
Merchants
Newspapers
Real Estate Exchanges
BETTER HOMES
IN AMERICA
GUIDEBOOK
Better Homes Week
April 25 to May 1, 1926
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11