82 
House & Garden 
The Extravagance of 
Cheapness as Applied 
to Home Building 
T he important thing 
about any purchase is 
not what you pay, but what 
you get for the purchase 
price. The “cheappur¬ 
chase is often the most 
extravagant. 
If you are thinking of building, 
the chapter, “The Extravagance 
of Cheapness,” in '‘The Story of 
Brick'' will interest you. It pre¬ 
sents, simply and briefly, the rela¬ 
tion of flrst-cost to final economy 
in home-building investment. 
People generally concede that 
Face Brick is the most desirable 
building material from the stand¬ 
point of permanence, comfort, 
safety from fire, and beauty; but 
many still believe it is “too ex¬ 
pensive.” As a fact, the many 
savings in the Face Brick house, 
such as depreciation, mainte¬ 
nance, repairs, etc., soon cancel 
the slight difference in first-cost 
over less durable, less beautiful 
materials. 
‘‘The Story of Brick" is an attract¬ 
ive booklet, full of pictures and 
information that will interest every 
prospective home builder. You 
will probably be surprised to learn 
how little more a Face Brick house 
really costs. 
Send for your copy today 
AMERICAN FACE BRICK ASSOCIATION 
1121 Westminster Building, Chicago 
J A-F*B'A 
II USE FACE BRICKjl 
I —itPays I 
r 
Jliltilllliliiiiiniiiiiini 
AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT 
Concerning House Gardens Information Service 
T here is an old saying that “to 
stand still is to go backward.” 
This especially applies in the case 
of all departments of a successful maga¬ 
zine. In the march of progress continu¬ 
ally going on, no one can afford to fall 
behind. We must go forward, and to 
that end House & Garden, by enlarging 
its field and widening its appeal will 
prove of greater value than ever before 
to all owners of a house and garden. 
Every department is working to the 
limit in order to make up a perfect 
whole. There are inspiration and prac¬ 
tical suggestions on a large variety of 
subjects to be found in its pages every 
month. But often a problem comes up 
as regards interior decoration, garden¬ 
ing, building or equipment of all kinds, 
that has not been dealt with in that 
particular issue of the magazine. This 
does not mean the problem cannot be 
solved or that House & Garden has 
failed in its mission. There is a depart¬ 
ment that stands ready to do its share 
in helping people to have more beauti¬ 
ful as well as more useful homes and 
gardens—to get the maximum of result 
out of the minimum of effort—the In¬ 
formation Service. 
For many years this service was abso¬ 
lutely free, in spite of the constantly in¬ 
creasing number of inquiries received. 
The magazine felt that in putting its 
resources and personnel at the service of 
the public it was only living up to the 
ideals and plan of service it had out¬ 
lined originally and since followed. Now 
times have changed this. The willing¬ 
ness to aid is still as great as ever, but 
the increase in circulation, with the 
consequent enormous increase in the 
number of inquiries, necessitates a 
change of policy. That hackneyed 
phrase—the High Cost of Living—has 
entered into the magazine business, with 
the result that we are forced to make a 
slight charge for the Information Serv¬ 
ice. This does not include the Informa¬ 
tion Coupon that is usually to be found 
in the back of the magazine. On this 
coupon is listed a large variety of sub¬ 
jects ranging from bird baths to all 
kinds of building materials. We still 
send the manufacturers’ names and ad- 
jlresses with the request that they for¬ 
ward their illustrated matter to our 
readers, free. Also, questions relating 
to anything that has appeared in the 
magazine are answered free of charge.. 
This includes the names and addresses 
of manufacturers of articles illustrated 
in House & Garden and also of archi¬ 
tects. 
But for all other information sent oul 
from now on, there will be a charge of 
twenty-five cents a question. This does 
not mean twenty-five cents a letter, but 
for each question contained in the let- 
I ter and each separate item of desired 
information, the charge will be twentv- 
: five cents. 
For the clearer understanding of our 
readers we are quoting below some 
sample letters with the amount charged 
for the information rendered. 
“Gentlemen:'— 
' “Please furnish me with plans, proper 
dimensions and any other data you may 
have on hand for the building of a gar¬ 
den swimming pool.’’ 
This is one question and the charge 
for answering same is twenty-five cents. 
In addition to all the data, we sent the 
inquirer the names and addresses of 
five manufacturers of tiles with the re¬ 
quest that they forward to him their 
illustrated matter. 
The following is another letter we re- 
I ceived for which the amount of twenty- 
five cents was charged for the answer. 
“Gentlemen:— 
“Will you be good enough to send me 
the government formula for white¬ 
wash?” 
The next letter is quite a different 
matter and is a good example of the 
type of letters that come in every day. 
“Gentlemen:— 
“I should like to take advantage of ; 
your offer of assistance in the decora- 
tion and furnishing of a new house we i 
have recently purchased. 
“The house faces three exposures, 
north, east and west. The living room 
is IS' by 23' and has northeastern ex¬ 
posure with a stone fireplace and case¬ 
ment windows. The finish is Colonial 
both as to fixtures and white paint. 
The side lights and central fixture are 
silver. Can I use my brass girondoles 
on the mantle, and would you advise 
painting the bookcases white to match 
the trim or leave them mahogany? 
“The dining room adjoins this room 
with glass doors between. Should the 
wall paper match that in the living 
room, and if so, what style and shade 
would you suggest? What curtains in 
these two rooms should I use? The 
dining room rug will be a domestic one 
and will be selected after determining 
the rest of the decoration. What colors 
would you suggest? 
“My bedroom is puzzling me. I will 
use furniture near the Century mark, 
of apple blossom green with lines of 
gilt painted on it. I will have to use 
an old mahogany bureau which I wish I 
to leave in its present state. W’ill this } 
combination be in good taste? What i 
color rug, paper, window curtains and i 
draperies shall I use? I am enclosing ; 
samples of materials, any of which I 1 
should like to use in these rooms. 
Would you advise the use of the black > 
brocade or brown for covering, or can I ( 
use any for draperies for the dining j 
room? At present there is a chandelier ; 
of white enamel and gilt. I can ex- I 
change it for an indirect light if' I j 
choose. Which do you think is the j 
more effective? 
“I shall be very grateful for any 
help.” 
This letter nas twelve distinct ques¬ 
tions and the charge for answering it j 
is $3.00. i 
When so many questions are asked i 
we have found it necessary to ask the 
readers to number and paragraph their 
inquiries. Take the last letter as an i 
example. 
(1) With silver side lighting fixtures, 
can I use brass girondoles on the man¬ 
tle? 
(2) Would you advise painting the 
bookcases white to conform with the 
woodwork or leaving them mahogany? 
(3) What style and color wall paper 
would you supest for dining room, 
which adjoins living room? 
(4) Wnat curtains in these two rooms i 
should I use? 
(5) What color rug would you sug¬ 
gest for the dining room? 
(6) Will a mahogany bureau look out 
of place in a room furnished with old, 
apple green painted furniture? 
(7) What color rug, 
(8) paper, 
(9) curtains and draperies shall I use 
in this room? 
(10) I am enclosing some samples of 
materials I should like to use. Would 
you advise the black brocade or brown 
for covering? 
(11) Can I use any for draperies ? 
(12) Which do you consider the more 
effective, the present white enamel chan¬ 
delier I have, or some kind of indirect 
lighting fixture? 
This form, by being clear and con¬ 
cise, leaves no doubt on the part of the 
{Continued on page 84) 
