Thanks--For what?

Media

Part of Woman's Home Journal

Title: Thanks--For what?
Language: English
Year: 1938
Rights
Fulltext: WOMAN’S HOME JOURNAL Manila, January, 1938 “MY DEAR, you women of the Philippines do not realize how lucky you are. You ought to be grateful for so many things that are denied other women in many countries,” and elderly American woman whom we interviewed when she and her distinguished husband made a stop-over in Manila while traveling around the world last year, told us. “From what I have read and heard about you Filipino women, you enjoy a most enviable position not only in your homes but also in your communities. You enjoy the same educational opportunities as the men, all professions are open to you, and as I understand it, although you cannot vote, you exert a great deal of influence in politics,” she continued. She pointed out to us many other things for which we Filipino women ought to be grateful. She made us feel co unappreciative of them all. Yes, taken as a group, the Filipino women may be considered very lucky, especially last year. We were enfranchised (the women of Ecuador were in danger of losing their right to vote at the same time) ; our country was peaceful and comparatively speaking, prosperous, hence we women enjoyed a life of security and ease. We have only to think of the women in Spain and China and Japan to realize how lucky we were. Individually, what have our women to be thankful for last year? We interviewed women in all walks of life at random and the answers below which we have selected miy be considered representative. We always pass by Mrs. Eulogio Rodriguez’s store on our way to the bus station and always see her at her desk—very busy with papers and customers. We dropped in at her store one day and before she could excuse herself, shot the question at her. She thought a little and then said that she was grateful for everything that happened to her and her family last year but mostly for these: business was good (she is the proprietor of a firearms, munitions and sporting goods store and of a gasoline station); her eldest son was elected governor of the province of Rizal; and her children (she has seven) who had finished studying last year immediately found jobs. Mrs. Rosenda Villaroman Ocampo, attorney for La Estrella del Norte, was looking very wan and weak when we went to see her, also unexpectedly, at her office. She had just recovered from an attack of the flu, she explained. “But T got laid up after new year, so let us not include this illness among the things I do not have to be thankful for last year.” Among the numerous things last year, she is grateful for now, this one stands out: she did not get caught in the stock market “el-ash”. She considers this a piece of real luck, and it came about this way: her friends and relatives had convinced her to invest some money in mining stocks Mrs. Eulogio Rodriguez, wife, mother and business woman, gives three reasons to be thankful for last gear. Atty. Rose n d a Villaroman Ocampo is thankful she was not caught in the stock market “crash.” To The Question: “What Do You Have To Be Thankful For During The Year 1937?” Asked At Random, Representatve Their Answers — Women Give All Different. the stock market as and play in they were doing. However, before she became really interested, some trouble occurred in her department at La Estrella del Norte and it kept her very busy. Pressure of work made her sell all her stocks, with some profit, and give up her dabbling in the stock market. Then the ‘“crash” came. Needless to say she was grateful for the trouble which arose in her office. Mrs. Ocampo’s case may be considered exceptional, considering the fact that too many women had been unable to sell before the stock market slump and therefore lost much, if not all, of their investments. And this reminds us of a classmate we met on the Escolta to whom we shot the same question, “What do you have to be thankful for last year?” as soon as we got within her hearing. “Thankful? Nothing! In fact I have too manythings not to be thankful for last year. I gave up a steady job in a well-established firm for a supposedly' high-salaried one in a newly formed corporation which I thought was going to last, and now, after less than six months, here T am—jobless!” The newly formed corporation had gone pfft! like so man.v other corporations that sprung up like mushrooms after a thunder shower. She was lucky though, she said, that she got one half of the salary promised her while others got nothing at all. Mrs. Ly'dia Villanueva Arguilla, being a writer, is articulate (in writing) and sent us this list: I’ve never been a good accountant, especially of time. So I can’t be expected to turn in a complete balance sheet of the things Year 1937 brought me. However, I do remember a few and obvious things that came in for me last year: 365 days of added wisdom and experience (I hope), which included 52 Sundays, and extra holidays made rare and attractive for having been strategically sprinkled over 300 working days and more; My fourth year of living a tolerably pleasant man: One new friendship, and year’s mellowing added to an A playful puppy named Mr. Smith; A year’s crop of faint and fine little laugh and worry wrinkles that will show to better advantage (Continued on page 35) with Manila, January, 1938 WOMAN’S HOME JOURNAL 35 former capital of Nationalist China, supplanting the Chiang Kaishek regime. The “Autonomous Commission” is under the chairmanship of Tao Hsi-shan, a philanthropist, aged 61 years. The commission includes two vice- chairmen and eight members. A Chinese official statement from Hankow confirmed reports from reliable sources in Nanking that mass killings of civilians took place after the Japanese occupation of Nanking, including an invasion of so-called “safety-zones” for refugees. Christmas found no peace in China. Belligerents on all fronts continued tearing at one another’s throat. Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek and his wife who are Christians, spent Christmas day at army headquarters at an undisclosed place in the Yangtze valley. The neic gear began with the Chinese air force staging a comeback in Nanking. Chinese planes roared into action against the Japanese, destroying two grounded Nipponese planes. Five days later, twenty Japanese planes, inTH F Tangee’s Color-Change Principle jn gives them blush-rose beauty Orange in the stick, Tangee changes on your lips to warm blush-rose. Paris says, "No painted look with the new mode!" Tangee isn’t paint. Its cream base keeps lips soft and smooth and Tangee doesn’t rub off. Tangee Rouge, and Face Powder match Tangee lipstick perfectly. Thereis only oneTangee—don’t letanyone switch you. If you prefer more color for evening, ask for Tangee Theatrical. Painted Glaring Lips Tangee Glowing Lips eluding giant bombers and small pursuit ships, dropped 200 bombs over ITankow. Most of the bombs were aimed at the military field but did little damage. Only two old Chinese planes were bombed while aground. Japanese officials commenced last January 7th strict censorship of all radio and cable messages flowing in and out of Shanghai. The Nipponese embassy spokesman said the regulation was directed primarily at private messages, but press dispatches are also being censored. Premier Konoyc of Japan sought an understanding with the cabinet to continue the Sino-Japanese war for 4 years more. A four-gear reple-nishment plan is being prepared for presentation to parliament. The program demands the closest cooperation from industrial, financial and economic interests and stresses development of heavy industries. M Chinese government spokesman sharply denied the official Tokyo intimations that China had prepared peace terms for submission to Japan. The Japanese announced on January 10 the capture of the historic citg of Tsingtao without any resistance. The Imperial conference held in the presence of Emperor Hirohito drafted a China policy which was held in the striekest secrecy. It was, however, believed in authoritative quarters that Japan is bent on smashing the Chiang Kai-shek'regime in China. THANKS . (Continued from page 8) my later years; A box and a fan of sandalwood. a love letter, and a thin wrist chain with an agate heart being chased around by a tiny wire-haired terrier; A bad case of indigestion that set in well toward the last days of last year and is being carried on in the new; A nice new bankbook showing the initial, solitarv, munificent entrv of PIO; And a fresh batch of good intentions for 1938. How did an ordinary (we mean, typical) housewife fare last year? A mothei' of three children whoso husband is a government employee is grateful that her husband’s salary which was cut about two yearago was restored last year to its former level; her three children, her husband and herself were all in good health, and therefore, saved money which would had been spent on doctor’s fees and medicines; that all the needs of her family were taken care of without her having to stretch her husband’s income too much. The pretty salesgirl at the Philippine Education (second floor) who was serving us confided to us that she was grateful for the following: that in spite of difficulties she encountered in her job, she was able to perform her work to tlm satisfaction of the manager who took her in as an extra during the Christmas rush a year ago (now she is a regular employee); that her companions in the office had been good to her—helping her when she was new, that all her brothers and sisters found jobs—one in the army, one in an attorney’s office, one in a drugstore, so that their parents need no longer support them : that she was in good health. A lady physician was too busy to think of any particular thing she is grateful for—she is grateful for everything that happened last year, even for little accidents and misfortunes, which might had been fatal. She supposed she ought to be grateful for the illnesses of her patients but she was not, even if these people could afford to be sick. Lola, who celebrated, with her over-seventy-year-old husband, the golden anniversary of their wed ding, was very vocal about her gratefulness to God Almighty who had granted her one more year of grace on this earth. “Yes, I am very glad to have lived last year. I voted at the plebiscite for woman suffrage and then again at the last election. T never thought I would live long enough to witness the day when we women would vote,’’ she said. \Ye wish you could hear Lola express herself in the picturesque language of the old. We found one more reason why Lola was glad she lived through last year. It seems that somebody had told her that couples who celebrate the golden anniversary of their weddings and then have their pictures taken always die during the year when the anniversary is celebrated. Lola did not believe in this superstition and went ahead with the celebration and the picture-taking. And now she is still alive to tell that “scarer”, “I told you so....” We wish also you could heiv our lavandera when we put the question of gratefulness to her. “Ag, naku, po! God was merciful enough in His Heaven to protect us humble sinners during the last typhoon. It not for His infinite mercy, the winds would have blown away our humble dwelling of nipa and bamboo. In spite of the strong winds and the heavy rains which penetrated into the house, wetting us all, we refused to leave our rocking dwelling but remained in it, praying. Now I come to Ma nila every Friday and light a candle in Quiapo church out of thankfulness to the Nazarenc. And because of God’s mercy, we never lacked work last year..........” she went on and on enumerating all the mercies (which to this humble person were great) last year for which she is so thankful now. Thus, no matter what her station in life, every woman has something to be thankful for last year. Even the girl who lost her job; she is much wisei' now. All we interviewed, were thankful for enjoying good health—this being always the first they mentioned. M.ETS GET SOME . STAR MARGARINE? ITS DELICIOUS AND THE PRICE HASNpT INCREASED^ TH E wholesome, natural food properties in STAR MARGARINE bring that glow of HEALTH to your children. Nourishing and delightful STAR is truly the ideal “Centeirpiece” for any table