Of Interest to Women

Southland Times, Issue 24599, 22 November 1941, Page 4

Of Interest to Women

Brighter Kitchens

In Invercargill, as in other New Zealand towns, the homely kitchen is the centre of the family life, and women have realized that this important room must be as well planned, comfortable and cheerful as any other part of the house. Surely it was a woman who first began the campaign for better and brighter kitchens, and surely we have women to thank for the success of the campaign. Gone are the days when the kitchen of the average home was the dingiest darkest room, with dull wallpapers which would not show smoke marks from the coal range, and small windows which looked out on the most unattractive section of the grounds, all too often the next-door neighbour’s wall. Today it is sometimes difficult to tell from the outside which is the kitchen, as the frilled net curtains so popular for bungalows are often used for all the rooms. Painted walls light papers, and painted woodwork and cupboards all help to make the modern kitchen light and airy. The newer ranges, coal, gas and electric, are made in lighter shades to match colour schemes, while sinks and benches are not only useful, but actually beautiful. No guest at a kitchen or pantry evening for a bride-to-be would dream of buying a gift without first ascertaining the colour of the room and purchasing accordingly. This is not difficult, as manufacturers are catering for brighter kitchens and there is a big range of accessories to choose from.

Our great-grandmothers would doubt the utility of the modern kitchen, with its air of shiny newness, but they would soon be convinced that not only is it made for beauty, but for hard wear and long life. Lace From Beer

Beautiful hand-made lace from the cottages of England’s country villages is the latest fashion among American women.

In the tiny Devonshire village of Beer, where lace-making has been carried on for 400 years, orders from the United States are helping the inhabitants to keep going in war time.

Many of these lace-makers, as skilful as any in the world, are more than 80 years of age. Mrs Ida Allen, who has been in the craft for 80 years, has made lace for the present Queen, Queen Mary and Queen Alexandra. An ancestor of hers made the lace for Queen Victoria’s wedding dress. It cost £lOOO. Side by side with the cottage branch of this industry, the great modern lace mills of Nottingham continue in spite of the war to create new designs for overseas. From the United States and Canada comes a demand for tailorededged, double-border curtains by the pair” in small, neat effects and fancy Tuscan grounds. Fisher nets, in a heavy combination weave, strongly woven, are being made for Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, while the Far East is being sent cheap coloured nets by the yard, mainly in cotton.

Mosquito and filet nets are made for Palestine and for Egypt, where there is also a big demand' for “tour de litis,” a cheap form of drapery used by the natives. Princess Elizabeth

In an airy upstairs room a girl sits v.’riting at an oak desk. Glancing through the window, she can see a stretch of lawn, the trees of a historic forest tracing a line against the sky. At her side is a case of well-used school books, one shelf filled with her own favourites—“Essays of Elia,” “Pickwick Papers,” and “Black Beauty” among them. The lessons she is doing are important; how she does them is a Cabinet consideration. For the position Princess Elizabeth holds as heiress presumptive to the throne of the British Empire is the most important ever held by any girl of her age. SPECIAL SUBJECTS Special subjects which she studies include the working of the American as well as the British Constitution. The increasing closeness of the Anglo-U.S. relations she follows with attention. Her studies are naturally designed to keep her abreast of what is going on in the world. She is taught of the causes of the events of history, instead of a series of dry names and dates. Hei’ favourite subject is English. History comes second, maths a long way down the list. Taller than her mother (sft 3Jin), Elizabeth is slim, long-limbed, straight. She rides well, dances Scottish reels and country dances, as well as modern style. Not over-fond of games, she plays a fair game of tennis, swims well. She has the long slender feet of her father’s family, he” mother’s soft-toned clear voice. READS NEWSPAPERS The Princess reads newspapers and listens every day to 8.8. C. news bulletins in English, French and German. Her portable set was given her by the King. At week-ends, on walks through the woods, she likes to talk with her father about what she has learned and read. Winter and summer alike, the heiress presumptive is called at 7.30, breakfasts at 8, is in the upstairs schoolroom before 9 o’clock. Princess Elizabeth is not shy, talks easily w’th strangers, and is genuinely delighted when in the Girl Guides she earns approbation or a badge by merit.