HAMPSHIRE COUNTY FARMERS' MONTHLY 



HOME MAKING 



WHAT A LOCAL LEADER DID TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY! TIME FOR SPRING HATS 



Miss Stella Duda of Easthampton is 

 what we call a wide awake local leader. 

 For two years she has served as leader 

 to her community, coming into Northamp- 

 ton and receiving training and then going 

 back and teaching the women in her 

 group what she has learned. 



Her work has aroused the enthusiasm 

 of so many women that she had more ap- 

 plications than she and her assistant 

 could handle. But they have always 

 managed to help the women who could 

 attend afternoon meetings. 



For some time there has been a demand 

 for help from the girls who work dui-ing 

 the day and from the young mothers who 

 cannot leave their children until father 

 comes home to take care of them. In 

 both cases the women would not be able 

 to attend afternoon meetings and special 

 arrangements would have to be made for 

 them. 



After Miss Duda attended the millinery 

 ti'aining classes last fall and had success- 

 fully carried on her own group, she de- 

 cided to make it possible for these other 

 women to have the same opportunity of 

 learning. 



AVith the help of Miss Donaghue, who 

 acted as assistant, a group was organized 

 and eighteen girls joined. They had meet- 

 ings every week and the class was con- 

 ducted as if it were part of the training 

 class. 



The report sent to the Home Demon- 

 stration Agent states that 26 hats were 

 made at a cost of $115.00 and valued at 

 $260.00, making a saving of $145.00 to 

 these women besides the educational value 

 it has been to them. 



True extension work is the passing on 

 of the information you have secured to 

 some one else who may benefit from it. 

 When one person takes the time and ef- 

 fort to pass the information on in detail 

 to eighteen people, outside her regular 

 group, we think she is a true extension 

 worker and are proud she is one of our 

 local leaders and county advisory council 

 members. 



Who Spends Most For Clothing? 



Answer. Contrary to the popular be- 

 lief about the amount women as com- 

 pared with men spend for clothing, 

 figures from a survey of farm families 

 in Livingston County, N. Y., show that 

 the home maker spent on the average 

 only $2 more a year on clothing than 

 did the farm operator. For boys up to 

 16 years of age costs exceeded those for 

 girls in the same age groups and after 

 that they ran about parallel. Even be- 

 tween 21 and 24 years, the peak of 

 clothing expenditures, the women spent 

 only $6 more per year than did the men. 



Important Problem Discussed by iVliss 



Tucker at Thinl Clothing Training 



Class 



An unusually interesting meeting was 

 held at the Extension Service Rooms this 

 month when Miss Marion Tucker, State 

 Clothing Specialist, met the ten local 

 leaders who are conducting advance 

 clothing groups in their communities. 



The work to date has been in test- 

 ing and fitting the guide pattern and how 

 to use it for the making of undergar- 

 ments. Each person taking the work is 

 supposed to use her pattern to make at 

 least one type of undergarment. 



The leaders reported having made 

 twenty-seven garments and there was a 

 fine exhibit of their work. The slip 

 seemed to be the most popular garment 

 and was made from white and black 

 percaline — a silk and cotton textile — 

 pongee, long cloth, lingette and nainsook. 

 There were night gowns made from crepe 

 and radium silk, step-ins, chemises, and 

 combinations. 



These garments were used for the dis- 

 cussion, whether it is better to make or 

 buy your underclothes. The leaders told '• 

 what the cost of their garments was and 

 how much time was necessary to make 

 them. It was found their time was 

 worth from twenty-five cents to seventy- 

 five cents an hour depending upon the 

 cost of the material used and its value as 

 compared to a similar ready-made gar- 

 ment. 



Miss Tucker had an exhibit from 

 Filene's Store, Boston, and it was unan- 

 imously decided that the homemade 

 articles had better material in them, were 

 made better, fitted better, were made in 

 the style you preferred, and consequently 

 would outwear the i-eady-made ones. 



The women who are stout have found 

 it is impossible to buy garments which 

 they can wear any length of time without 

 having them split and tear; therefore, 

 they think it is economy to make them. 

 Some of the leaders who are easily fitted 

 buy their every-day clothes and make 

 their best ones. Some of the others think 

 it is a waste of time to make but not hav- 

 ing a cash income, feel they must. 



Whether you make or buy your under- 

 garments is up to the individual to decide. 

 All of these things spoken of in the pre- 

 ceding article must be considered. There 

 is also another side to the question. Is it 

 worth while for you to add that extra 

 task to your busy day or should you take 

 the time for recreation, for reading a 

 good book, or enjoying your children? Is 

 it worthwhile from a money standpoint 

 for you to become so tired doing the ex- 

 tras that there are doctor's bills to be 

 paid? 



The precedure used last fall in conduct- 

 ing the millinery project will be used 

 again this spring. 



The first meeting will be held at North- 

 ampton February 11th and Miss Gertrude 

 Franz of Filene's Information Bureau 

 will speak on the New Spring Styles in 

 Hats. This meeting is open to everyone 

 as the lecture will be of interest to the 

 women who buy their hats as well as 

 make them. 



The last week in February the Home 

 Demonstration Agent will visit the six 

 gi-oups who are to take the project by 

 the training leader method. This meeting 

 will consist mainly of choosing a becom- 

 ing frame for each individual, planning 

 for the covering and trimming. 



The leaders' training group will be held 

 the first week in March. So the finished 

 hats should be ready to wear by the mid- 

 dle of that month. 



The six towns sending leaders to the 

 training class will be the same as last fall 

 with the exception of one ; South Amherst 

 is to take the place of Hatfield. It is 

 the plan to give both spring and fall mil- 

 linery to each group so the women will 

 be able to make any kind of hat they wish. 

 In the fall an entirely new group of 

 towns and leaders will be started and it 

 is hoped it will be either in the western 

 or eastern part of the county. 



KEEP YOUR OWN 



MACHINERY FIT 



Health Hints 



1. Drink lots of water. 



2. Regulate your body with food — not 

 medicine. 



3. Eat fruit and vegetables every day. 



4. Eat spai-ingly of fried foods and 

 pastry. 



5. Meat once a day is enough. 



6. Choose bran muffins and dark bread 

 rather than white bread. 



You know the model of your Car, 

 You know just what its powers are. 

 You treat it with a deal of care 

 Nor tax it more than it will bear. 

 But as for self — that's difi"erent; 

 Your mechanism may be bent. 

 Your caiburetor gone to grass, 

 Your engine just a rusty mass. 

 Your wheels may wobble and your cogs 

 Be handed over to the dogs. 

 And you skip and skid and slide 

 Without a thought of things inside. 

 What fools, indeed, we mortals are 

 To lavish care upon a Car 

 With n'er a bit of time to see 

 About our own machinery! 

 I —John Kendrick Bangs. 



