Copyright 1915 The Crowell Publishing Company Copyright 1916 The Bobbs-Merrill Company PRESS OF BRAUNWORTH & CO. BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS BROOKLYN, N. Y....

The incidents, the stores, the organizations and the individuals described in this book are real, not fictitious. At the time that this book goes to press, each one of the societies mentioned is actively engaged in the task of reducing the cost of living for its members. The National Housewives’ League has its headquarters at 25 West Forty-fifth Street, New York City. Mrs. Julian Heath, a real flesh and blood woman, is president of the organization. The Housewives’ Cooperative League is still wo

“ Luxury is attained through thrift. ” — H. C. OF L. PROVERB NO. 1. Mrs. Larry folded her veil with nice exactitude and speared it with two invisible hairpins. Then she bent her hat one-fourth of an inch on the right side, fluffed up her hair on the left and tucked her gloves under her purse. These pre-luncheon rites completed, she reached for the program of music. But, glancing casually at Claire Pierce on the other side of the table, she dropped the square of cardboard, with its Pierrot silhou

“ There is nothing in high finance more excitingly uncertain than just trying to get your money’s worth !”— H. C. OF L. PROVERB NO. 2. Mrs. Larry sat at the old mahogany secretary which had been Great-aunt Abigail’s wedding gift, her elbows planted in a litter of papers covered with figures and her despairing gaze fixed on a row of small manila envelopes. It was the second day after the lecture at the Kimbell store on “What Do You Do With Father’s Money?”. Mrs. Larry had attacked her account boo

“ There’s always a reason for high prices, and it’s well worth finding out. ” — H. C. OF L. PROVERB NO. 3. Mr. Larry , settling his stalwart shoulders into his overcoat, stopped and looked down with a smile at the pink-tipped finger peeping through the buttonhole in his left-hand lapel. He had come to recognize certain wifely signs. Mrs. Larry’s finger attached to this particular buttonhole indicated that Mrs. Larry’s gray matter was twisting itself into an interrogation point. “Well?” he prompt

“ A wise woman knows that economy in money isn’t always real economy. ”— H. C. OF L. PROVERB NO. 4. Mr. Larry tasted the second mouthful of lemon pie and glanced at Mrs. Larry. Then he plunged into the business of finishing off its yellow and white sweetness, just as if it had been Mrs. Larry’s very best brand of dessert. “Oh, Larry dear, don’t— don’t eat it . It’s simply fearful—and I bought it at the exchange, too. I guess she put too much corn-starch in it—or didn’t cook it enough.” There was

“ The housewife’s pocketbook can beat its owner at keeping thin. ”— H. C. OF L. PROVERB NO. 5. Mr. Larry lounged in the doorway, watching Mrs. Larry array herself for her next adventure in thrift. Lena, the young maid, similarly occupied, sat on the shirt-waist box with Larry, Junior, and his wee sister snuggling close. “The money for the milkman is next to the sugar can,” announced Mrs. Larry, settling her hat above anxious brows. “And you may boil rice for the children’s luncheon.” “There ain’

“ High prices do not necessarily mean high living. ”— H. C. OF L. PROVERB NO. 6. Mrs. Larry , her chin cupped in her slim competent hand, gazed at the toe of her bronze slipper. A smile played round her lips and brightened her eyes. Mr. Larry, leaning back in his favorite chair, studied her with the satisfaction of a man who has found matrimony a success, and is eager to blazon the fact to all the world. “Well,—and what of to-day’s adventure in thrift?” he asked. “Oh, Larry, it ended in such a m

“ Ignorance in the housewife causes dishonest prices in the grocery. ”— H. C. OF L. PROVERB NO. 7. Mrs. Larry and Claire really meant to be on their way to Dorlon’s by nine o’clock, but there were various delays. Lisbeth, coquetting in her bath, lured them for ten minutes. Mrs. Larry recalled that she must telephone her dressmaker. Claire remembered an unacknowledged dinner invitation and stopped to dash off a note. It was ten o’clock when their adventure in thrift landed them at Dorlon’s high-c

“ Living on less is only a question of individual methods. ”— H. C. OF L. PROVERB NO. 8. “Mrs. Martin’s magenta dress stood out like a beauty-patch on a sallow complexion,” commented Mrs. Larry, threading a fresh needle with embroidery silk. “A woman of her coloring and eyes should wear gray-greens and dull blues,” replied Claire, as she picked up the wee sacque which Mrs. Larry was embroidering for Lisbeth. “A-hem!” interrupted Mr. Larry, lowering his evening paper to study with amused eyes the