I guess you just have to hope your burglar doesn’t read Popular Science.

Icebox Safe Protects Jewels

A NOVEL SAFE for the protection of jewelry, silverware, or valuable papers in the home is built into a mechanical refrigerator. The metal strongbox, fitted with either a key-type or combination lock) is bolted to the inner face of the icebox door. Be-j cause of its metal construction and its position within the heat-insulated refrigerator, the safe is said to be completely fireproof. The safe’s position makes it unlikely that burglars would find it.

Ready-Made House Costs $500

Equipped with a stove, refrigerator, window screens, dining table, couch, and other home accessories, a new type of prefabricated house costs less than $500. Designed as a first unit to which later additions may be made, the factory-built structure includes living room, dinette, and kitchen, with folding beds for four people.

Icyball Is Practical Refrigerator for Farm or Camp Use

MAKING ice from heat at a cost of but two cents a day is one of the latest contributions of science for man’s comfort, convenience and health. The Icyball refrigerator, which operates on this principle, does not require gas or electricity and can be used anywhere.

The operation of this new and unusual refrigerator is simple. There is nothing to get out of order, no moving parts and no odor. It is absolutely noiseless and requires no oiling. The refrigerant never needs replenishing.

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Churn, Meat Grinder on Washer Lightens Wife’s Work

AWASHING machine manufacturer has found two new ways of lightening the | work of the housewife, especially on the farm. With the attachments shown in the photos at the left, she may now grind her mince meat, sausage or vegetables with power from the washing machine, and at the same time churn up the week’s cream for her butter supply.

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Remote Control Rocks Cradle
Rocking a baby’s cradle by remote control is one of the new and unusual uses for the “mystery control” now employed to tune a radio without being near the set (P.S.M., Sept. ‘38, p. 78). As pictured below, an electric motor is attached to a cradle rocker, with a metal arm that engages the floor, causing the crib to oscillate back and forth when the motor is switched on by dialing the control box from another room in the house. Other uses for the control include adjusting furnace drafts, and starting coffee percolators before arising from bed.

Bicycle Wheeled Chariot Makes Sport of Mowing Lawns

LIVES there a small boy who has not at some time or other dreamed of riding behind the lawn mower, guiding it like a dictator instead of toilsomely pushing it through the tall grass which should have been cut a week ago?

The long awaited day has at last arrived. Attached like a chariot behind a power lawn mower is a comfortable two-wheeled cart for the driver. The whole affair can easily be made at home, and wherever there are large expanses of lawn which require the attention of a power motor, the chariot will save miles of walking.

Blind Man Remodels Home
OVERCOMING the handicap of being blind, M. F. Jones, of Tampa, Florida, remodeled an entire house unaided. One of the features of the job was the removal of an enclosed stairway and the rebuilding of it on an outside porch. Before losing his sight, Mr. Jones had been a construction foreman.

Now that’s a niche product.

Compact Toaster for Marshmallows

THE latest thing in electrical household appliances is an electrical marshmallow toaster which toasts both sides of the confection at once. Ladies will find this little device useful for entertaining at bridge parties, as they permit the preparation of dainty desserts on the dining table. Six marshmallows may be toasted at once, and enough of the tid-bits for a large party may be toasted in a very few minutes.

I’ve never heard the expression “keep the wolf from her door”, I guess it means to avoid poverty? Or is the wolf something specific, like a bill collector?

Mail Boxes Keep the Wolf from Her Door

Forced to find some way to earn her living when she moved to California for the sake of her son’s health, a North Hollywood woman conceived the ingenious idea of building roadside mail boxes that are miniature reproductions of the homes which they serve. Turned out by hand in her own home workshop, the model-home mail boxes are made to order, following the lines and color scheme of any particular dwelling. Many of the unique mail boxes have been built for the homes of movie stars.

Corkscrew Puts Leverage on Stubborn Stoppers
Even the most stubborn cork is said to be tamed by the powerful leverage of a new corkscrew. Inserting the screw in the cork, by turning a winged key, raises a pair of geared arms to a horizontal position. Push the arms down again, and out comes the cork, under pressure applied through a flange that fits over the neck of the bottle. The two operations are shown in the pictures below.

All Comforts of Home Are Built into Bed
Clock, radio, bookshelves, telephone, storage drawers, outlets for electrical appliances, and other conveniences are provided in the novel bedroom unit shown in the photograph at the left. By raising her arm, the occupant of the bed can swing down a rectangular make-up unit that is supported across her lap by tubular arms hinged to the head of the bed. When opened, this provides a mirror and separate compartments for lotions, manicure tools, and other toilet accessories.

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Handy Aids for Homemakers

INVISIBLE GAS HEATER
Looking like the heat register of a hot air furnace, the gas heater shown at left and above, is suspended in a metal box beneath the floor. The burner, radiator, and air ducts are in this box and only the grating, through which the heat escapes into the room, is seen

CUTTER OPENS PAPER CARTONS
Discarded razor blades, set in an oak handle, which is provided with a guiding flange for cutting along the top of a carton, make a knife with which paper containers are readily opened

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