SO MANY people throw blue beer cans out their vehicle window that the roadsides are littered with metal confetti. The trail seems to start at the intersection of 12 and 12A South, continue along the road past the well field, past the old dairy and on into the sunset. Then we heard reports of these cans being picked up in the Rabbit Hollow area, the old Mill Hill area, Lover’Lane, and yes, on into the sunset. Everyday, there are fresh, shiny new ones lying at the edge of the highways. If one climbs down a bank while greening up, cans that have been flattened and mangled by traffic and cut into pieces by snowplows litter the fields. Come on people. Take your cans home!

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Russell Miller of Berlin brought us a moldy oldie to glean for this column. “The Farmer’s Wife, a magazine for Farm Women” was printed in 1922.

From it, the farmer’s wife could order, on sale at “irresistible values”, a pressed velour ladies coat for $4.98, a Manchurian Wolf Fur scarf for $3.98, men’s four-buckle all rubber artics (boots) for a buck ninety-eight. The bill, plus postage, was due on arrival.

The editorial, “Agriculture Out of Balance”, opined “the farmer is suffering chiefly today because 1) the purchasing power of farm products is too low as compared with the purchasing power of other products including labor; 2) exorbitant taxes; 3) he does not have the type of credit suited to his needs.” The writer blamed this suffering on the crash of 1920 because “We were the most extravagant nation in the world up to the fall of 1920”.

The magazine included essays, stories, national news, prayers, contests, full-page ads: “People everywhere are giving more thought to the relation of really clean clothes to health. As knowledge of this important subject spreads, the use of Fels- Naptha, the Sanitary Soap, increases.” (2010 Editor’s note: this soap removes most spills and spots on clothing without bleaching the fabric. It’s cheap too.)

The article “Convenience in a Shack” includes a photo of a small board and batten building. It reads, “Just because a woman happens to be wife of a man who is not well to do is no reason why her home may not be just as convenient as possible to make it. To the careless passer-by, the exterior of this humble home might express more or less shiftless poverty but a visit to the interior would be a happy surprise. In the kitchen there is a pump and a sink, a hot water pressure tank, a wood box to be filled from the outside. A hose and showerhead attached to the tank faucet converts the kitchen into a bathroom when necessary. There is a medicine cabinet. Drawers and shelves above, all painted white, make baking day less of a trial and more of joy. Towels have their convenient rack. And hanging about, in positions related to their use, are various and sundry small conveniences. Then there are the larger labor- savers: fireless cooker, pressure cooker, bread mixer, dish drainer and covered garbage pail.

“The inmates of this home will tell you that it does not require a large expenditure of hard cash when there is gumption and team work between husband and wife. We cannot all have fine houses but if we truly desire, surely nearly all of us can do as well as the owners of this little Kansas home.”