Your Pantry Shelves.
Banish Paper Bags.

Order in the pantry is as important to the housewife as is order among his papers to the business executive. The ever-recurring preparation of meals necessitates endless reaching for pantry supplies.

First it is necessary to decide which comestibles are most frequently needed (baking-powder, mustard, etc.), and which is the handiest position for them. Less-used commodities will occupy higher or lower shelves, mainly according to weight. For instance it would be foolish to keep cake tins or a large tin of treacle on a top shelf, which is the logical place for small supplies–spices, etc.

Having thought out the general arrangement of her shelves, the thorough housewife spends a day on a complete overhaul. She knows that, once her pantry is ship-shape, future cleaning need be done only a shelf at page 58 a time. On her “big” pantry day, she removes everything from the shelves. The shelves are scrubbed and allowed to dry thoroughly, after which white shelf-paper (usual price 10d. per pound) is folded and laid on them.

Many paper bags, some containing fresh supplies, and others with ends of sago, sultanas, etc., have probably been unearthed. The housewife wonders how the paper-bags managed to accumulate, and vows to put all supplies into jars or tins immediately on arrival in future.

She now studies the jars and tins at her disposal. Screw-top jars make excellent containers for all sorts of supplies—quart jars for icing sugar, rice, sultanas, etc., smaller sizes for herbs and spices, and tiny jars (of the peanut butter variety) for such things as cloves and caraway seeds. Glass is most hygienic, shows the contents without necessity for labelling, and indicates at a glance whether stocks are low.

Tins of varying sizes can supplement the jar supply. To please the artistic eye, tins can be painted a chosen shade (a simple home job) and labelled neatly. When labelling, print the name several times round the tin. A single label means that a tin has to be meticulously placed label to the fore, or else twiddled round to find out the contents.

A logically arranged pantry is a joy to the housewife, a great time-saver, and a guarantee against waste through “spoiling” and against running out of stocks. Incidentally, guests can find their way about in it (if the housewife permits) as easily as can members of the family.