Transcriber’s Notes Texts printed in italics in the source document have been transcribed _between underscores_. Small capitals have been replaced with ALL CAPITALS. More Transcriber’s Notes may be found at the end of this text. CHEATING THE JUNK-PILE Cheating the Junk-Pile THE PURCHASE AND MAINTENANCE OF HOUSEHOLD EQUIPMENTS BY ETHEL R. PEYSER WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RICHARDSON WRIGHT Editor of “House and Garden Magazine” Illustrated by drawings by HARRY RICHARDSON and by photographs [Illustration] NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY 681 FIFTH AVENUE Copyright, 1922, BY E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY _All Rights Reserved_ PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA [Illustration: _Courtesy of Central Oil and Gas Stove Company_ BUNGALOW AND PALACE CAN BE FED WITH THE NEWER OIL RANGES WITH PLENTY OF SPACE AND OVENS] To “HOME AND MOTHER” The Experience of Both has Made this Collection Possible ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book cannot go on its way without acknowledging Richardson Wright, Editor of _House and Garden Magazine_, at whose request the chapters were written, as the source of it and as the stimulus to the gathering of the material. I also want to acknowledge the unflagging services of Celia Arbeit, his secretary, who at every point helped in collating the straying text and furtive photographs. I must not forget the manufacturers, who have supplied me with information, illustration, and enthusiasm, and also the several experts who were philanthropic enough to read every chapter (before they came out in _House and Garden_) to eradicate any technical or scientific anachronism that might have lurked therein. To all these and others who have helped I am very grateful. E. R. P. New York City August 1922 AUTHOR’S FOREWORD Ignorant buying is the junk-pile’s subsistence. This book is in no way intended to be a book on household efficiency, in the usual sense of the word--it is no religio-culinaris, no domestic Baedecker or home Taylor. It is merely meant to be a means to the purchase and care of the best household equipments and to be an instruction _before_ not after the purchase is made. Further, it is meant to cheat the junk-pile, by inspiring the buyer to get the maximum advantage out of every purchase of the thing he buys and by the proper care of it after he gets it. It is a book which conspires against the aspiring junk heap in the yard or in the store-room. There is so much in the market to-day in the way of household equipments and devices, that a book like this is necessary to give the home-keeper as much of an idea as to what to _eliminate_ as to what to choose. It is necessary, too, to give the home-keeper an idea of the maintenance of what she has elected to buy, as the proper care of possessions adds 100% to their longevity.