THE CANADIAN WOMAN

Evening Star, Issue 22539, 6 January 1937, Page 7

THE CANADIAN WOMAN

“CULTIVATING” LIFE INTERESTS OUTSIDE HOME “Looking back on a .world trip, I am inclined to rank the _ Canadian woman as the most interesting (states a writer in the ' Sydney Morning Herald’). Of. course, like the Americans, she is modern with many new ideas about things. But I liked her for that, and on acquaintance grew to admire her tremendously. I liked her for the expression on her face—a calm self-reliance —and for the things she talked about. I welcomed the hours spent in her quiet, poised household, where, everything seemed to proceed without haste, or waste, as if the management had been subjected _to much careful and thoughtful organisation. . “More than that, I admired her for the method she was using in an effort to cultivate life, as if it were her firmest determination-to make the best

of her lot. She knew that life did hold possibilities, but unless she set out to help herself existence wunild drift aimlessly by with little to compensate for the inevitable toil and monotony to which so much of a married woman’s life must be devoted. “To he sure, work is lighter and much easier with so many modern conveniences at hand—and she knows it and admits it. Still, she insists, there is too much humdrum and too much monotony mixed in with the daily routine to make the present-day housewife’s job a completely pleasant and interesting one. She argues quite a lot about the girl of yesterday. Still more, she questions the girl of to-day —countless thousands who leave school somewhere about 17, put some years in at office work, marry soon after 20, and then settle down to life in a villa or, more likely, an apartment on an income somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 dollars. “ The income, as a rule, is enough to live on in a comfortable way; and, except for .those who have bigger ideas and set about managing their small household on a grander scale than the average purse will justify, it is not the question of how to lay out the money as how to lay ■ out time that must concern her most. “ Naturally, on a smallish income, it will be a no-maid apartment. But in most middle-class homes in Canada, modern labour-saving devices are there in quantities—all'of which must reduce housework to a minimum and must go far to compensate for the lack of outside help.

OUTSIDE INTERESTS. “ Before the children come along, at any rate, everything around the house can be done long before the morning is gone. Then, with luncheon over, there remain five full hours before a final task of getting supper is put to hand —a meal by no means a formidable affair these days with such numbers of delicious, nutritious, and quite inexpensive tinned goods from which to choose, adding variety to the meal, besides making the preparation 10 times easier. “With all this time oh hand, how' did this pre-modern housewife fill in her leisure hours? What does she still do with herself all_the afternoon? “She did go visiting. She still plays, bridge, still sews or switches on the radio—pleasurable pastimes, no doubt, the ‘ new ’ housewife admits. But her own ideas about employing leisure time are different. Work and hobbies to her are quite insufficient without an external stimulus. ■ The standardised ‘ afternoon , tea V and ‘bridge party’ were'good in their.way if they only got you anywhere. But they didn’t. Neither did dressmaking repay when ready-made dresses were

so cheap and attractive. It was useless for her to spend tedious hours making them. Then, again, a large family was not expected of her. It took’too much money to rear the modern child in numbers. So her family was small. And with few encumbrances, so to speak, she does find time to spare. “ To-day the ‘ new ’ Canadian housewife joins the club. If she is a booklover, she becomes a member of the book group. According to spare time she chooses between one and two books a fortnight, but attends each review meeting held in members’ homes to share in criticisms and clarify ideas. The woman not so keen on reading finds a variety of other clubs from which to choose her membership. The arts and crafts group is popular with many who find pleasure in the expression of their artistic powers in making colourful rugs, Christmas cards, or even taking part in home decoration discussions. “ The programmes are neither dull nor highbrow, but provide the wife of modest*means with an opportunity to keep her ideas up to date and her interests' alive in everyday art, literature, and music. “ These club meetings are delightful experiences for the married woman, and taken so seriously in most cases that the omission of a single attendance is regarded as a real deprivation. “She is eager to make in each week a firmer, more lasting contact with the broader, larger, and.friendlier world outside th« narrow limits of her ‘ fourjvailed ’ home.” i