New Furniture 

 From Old 



By NELL FLATT GOODMAN 



V ^^ EFORE she learned about re- 

 ^-/^ finishing furniture, Mrs. E. E. 



_y y Elsbury of Lake county thought 

 of the "sometime" when she might buy 

 new chairs and dressers. Now after the 

 lessons learned at Home Bureau meet- 

 ings, she looks at her old furniture with 

 pleasure, and shows it to her guests with 

 pride. 



"Many articles in our home were 

 handed down," Mrs. Elsbury said. 

 "When I found a mark of real maple on 

 the back of a dresser I decided to use the 

 knowledge I gained at Home Bureau 

 meetings to see what I could accomplish. 

 Now I don't think of my furniture as 

 second-hand. The real beauty of the 

 wood speaks for itself." 



Using the recipe given for a starch and 

 lye combination for the removal of old 

 varnish, Mrs. Elsbury scrubbed and 

 washed until every particle of the dark 

 oak finish was removed from the maple 

 chest of drawers. Next sand paper, not 

 harsh enough to cut into the wood, was 

 used to take off any excess and give the 

 wood a perfectly smooth finish. After 

 this, a warm linseed oil was rubbed 

 thoroughly into the wood. Then using 

 the wax which she also learned to make 

 at a Home Bureau meeting, she applied 

 a finishing coat and rubbed some more. 



"Refinishing takes lots of time and el- 

 bow grease," Mrs. Elsbury assures any- 

 one. "But the satisfaction of work well 

 done is worth it." 



The mirror attached to the dresser was 

 removed, refinished, corners rounded, 

 and hung above the chest of drawers to 

 make a more pleasing effect. The candle 

 sticks and the utility box were rubbed and 

 waxed to be in keeping. The desk and 

 the antique chair and a small rocker for 

 the room were likewise refinished. Not 

 counting the smaller articles, Mrs. Els- 

 bury has refinished 14 pieces and has 

 several more in the process. 



Since her home has been electrified by 

 a utility company for demonstration pur- 

 poses, Mrs. Elsbury does all her refinish- 

 ing in her well lighted basement. With 



MRS. E. E. ELSBURY 

 **Refinishing Takes Lota oi Time and Elbow Grease." 



plenty of running water there, she finds 

 the work can be done with a minimum of 

 effort. 



With all the customary work to be 

 done by a farm woman, and with seven 

 children, some women might have 

 thought they were too busy to do any of 

 the extras. Mrs. Elsbury keeps open 

 house every day for visitors, except Sun- 

 day, attends Home Bureau meetings reg- 

 ularly, is county chairman of 4-H Clubs, 

 and serves as leader of a girls 4-H Club 

 of her own. 



"I do all my own sewing, and I used 

 to do the girls'," Mrs. Elsbury said as we 

 examined the electric sewing machine 

 under a window. "But, since the girls 

 have learned so much in 4-H, I believe 

 I'm losing my job! I don't mind though. 



because now I can look about for more 

 furniture." 



Not only refinishing but sonK up- 

 holstering has been tried by Mrs. Els- 

 bury. The broken down insides of an 

 old leather rocker were removed, springs 

 tied and bound — - she didn't buy the 

 tape, she made it — and the chair now 

 holds a very important place in the family 

 living room. From another small chair, 

 she took the ordinary comjxjsition paper 

 bottom, drilled holes in it with an elec- 

 tric drill and then re-caned it. 



Mrs. Elsbury doesn't think it requires 

 any special knack to do all this. 



"I'm sure anyone could do refinishing" 

 she said. "I learned from Home Bu- 

 reau and then added work and patience. 

 And I'm not ashamed of my 'old' furni- 

 ture now." 



(Continued from page 21) 



ings, the typ)e of light fixtures used and 

 other factors. Some farms can be wired 

 for around $100. Others requiring 

 more work and more materials may cost 

 nearer $200. 



Co-operatives require their members 

 to have an expert job done and ask that 

 the wiring be inspected for compliance 

 with the National Electric Code. This 

 is done to protect the owner against fire 

 hazard, possible breaks in service and 

 damage to appliances through improper 

 installation of wires. 



Four other electric co-ops are rapidly 

 nearing completion in Illinois. Wayne- 

 White Counties Electric Co-operative is 

 expected to complete 179 miles of line 

 in the near future. Construction work 

 is under way on 622 miles of line for 

 the Illinois Rural Electric Company. This 

 Co-op will serve 2,326 customers in Pike, 



Morgan, Scott, Calhoun, Adams and 

 Greene counties. 



In Henry and Whiteside counties the 

 Farmers Mutual Electric Company will 

 soon be ready to serve its 184 members 

 on 69 miles of line. 



An allotment of $1,000,000 has been 

 made by the REA to the Eastern Illinois 

 Power Co-operative for line building. 

 This, the largest project in the state, will 

 serve nearly 3,000 farm families living 

 in Iroquois, Ford, Livingston, Vermilion 

 and McLean counties. 



When electric power comes to a farm, 

 the standard of living for that family is 

 raised immediately. The more fwwer 

 they use to good advantage the higher 

 their living standard is raised. When 

 all of the present projects are complete, 

 more than 8,000 Illinois farm folks will 

 have all the conveniences of modem liv- 

 ing open to them. 



SEPTEMBER, 1937 



23 



