UE Bei, UCU IMO NO Un Meee MRE A Ue OU OO eC UL Ed WOMEN’S © news and views 18 eu WIL MM MMR MME TE Mean OE Potatoes are NOT cheaper itoes w hes are cheaper .. . Poun, but 4 : ' ty that doesn’t give housewives more money MSwer of the Congress of Canadian W: : °Wances, And that’s something every mother will “S these days—particularly with potatoes arm : ds. The government juggles the cost of living index @ Eddie Cantor’s once-familiar refrain . . - “Tomatoes are cheaper, ” has lost its meaning for harassed house- s around 10 cents a round. for groceries. The omen is to increase Family agree with. in va USUAL when I get my nose book everything goes to pot Until p : t a l've finished it. This week Witngetsteatian novel, Power . arrived Glory, by Frank Hardy, } ative at the People’s Cooper- r coulann estore so naturally i his 4 t resist getting a copy. tralian the story that had Aus- ready 4 big-wigs red-faced. and Bee 0 charge the author with i fs a exposure or whatever Pehl ey charge authors with Politic eae the truth ‘about the ed “ht Shenanigans of so-call- Spectable” politicians. Thaven't quite finished it yet ut ee are nearly 700 pages— “copy : Ould suggest you get your €fore they’re sold out, for ee will find it just as tainty as I have, and ie is Meh a pou much to pay’ for Priceless story. * * * tie DROPPED IN at the Hast- ot - Fi Public Library the about ay to find out something that eenots and I discovered Who i Kay Gardner is the gal D aa Tae busy preparing a © sho OW for the youngsters. rons eae us a couple of hum- Nak le characters ready to Ae debut shortly. It -tabdl this enterprising gal orking on this project ae 1 laa and has drawn § 8 together a little group who have modelled some remarkable hand puppets out of asbestos. She told me that they will be ready to put on a show very soon now. Young John and I picked up some of this powdered asbestos at the hardware store,and mixed it with water to the right con- - "V4 stituency when we got home. W e made figures and animals, pies and cookies, mountains and houses. In fact, it kept the en- tire juvenile population of the neighborhood out of mischief for a whole day. - Seriously though, it’s a swell way to keep children of any age occupied for it is very inexpens- ive, it doesn’t stick like plasti- cine, and the models can be _dried, painted and varnished to keep for posterity. Besides all youngsters love to “muck about” and get their fingers into some- thing squishy. With powdered asbestos they can mix it up as stiff or as gooey as they like and even if it does splash about, they can easily brush it up after- wards. So next time the chil- dren come in complaining of nothing to do, pack them off to the store for a couple of pounds of the stuff and I guarantee they _ won't bother you for the rest of the day.—BETTY GRIFFIN. STANTON, MUNRO & DEAN SUITE 515 Barristers - Solicitors - Notaries FORD BUILDING 198. E. HASTINGS (Corner Main & Hastings Sts.) MARINE oes ‘ 5746 s / NATIONAL INSTITUTION IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA Puppet theatres used fo train children - and instruct parents — THE ART OF puppetry, which is fast gaining in popularity in - this country, is today a flourish- ing institution in ‘Czechoslovak- ia. ‘There are reasons for this, of course. The Czechs people * found in their puppet theatres a means of expressing their na- tional struggle during the 17th and 18th centuries when these were the only theatres present- ing plays in the Czech language. It’s little wonder then, that puppetry in Czechoslovakia, with its popular tradition, appeals to- ever-wider audiences. The life and work of one of the best-loved figures in theatre life today, Professor Josef Skupa, spans almost the whole of the history of modern pup- petry in Czechoslovakia, He began work as a puppeteer in Plzen, in 1917, and there in the fall of 1920 his now famous puppet, Spejbl, made his first appearance on the stage, Spejbl soon became a byword for an all- too-familiar type of middle class character, self-satisfied and con- ceited, a storehouse of garbled information and muddled opin- ions on every possible subject. In 1926, Spejbl acquired a son, sharp-eared, sharp-witted little Hurvinek whose innocent questions and comments expos- ed Spejbl’s pompous ignorance to the intense satisfaction of audiences, Today the pair, mani- pulated by Professor Skupa and his wife, are still the core of Skupa’s. greatly-enlarged reper oire and have become a national institution, eee During the Nazi Occupation, Skupa did not abandon his strug- gle through his theatre, for a sane world. ‘His plays could not, of course, attack the Nazis dir- ectly but audiences immediately recognized the meaning in the seemingly-innocent stories. For example, Spejbl’s land- lady decided, to his intense dis- comfort, to reduce the sizé of his apartment. Over his protest she reduced his quarters bit by bit and finally claimed one of his rooms for her own needs. Of course it happened to be the room with a view to the East, and she had to pass through Spejbl’s room to get to it. It was not difficult for audiences to see the parallel between Speibl’s plight and Czechoslovakia’s, with her territory divided and swallowed piecemeal, cut from her only real friends in the East. In January 1943, Skupa was arrested and tried, but shortly before the end of the war he sueceeded in escaping from the Dresden jail while awaiting transport to a. concentration camp. After the war he was assigned the permanent theatre in Prague where he and his wife work to- day with their staff of 12 skilful puppeteers and-a huge cast of marionettes headed by the irre- pressible Speijbl and Hurvinek. esi * * TT ISN’T ONLY children who benefit from Skupa’s artistry. His present evening perform- ances for adults is a series of six skits which he sums up in the words: “Parents, take a look in the mirror and see what you are, and then don’t expect from children what you don’t do your- self.” The first of these is a Soviet playlet, dealing with the familiar theme of the father who calls his office to tell] them ‘that he will be late because he is going to the dentist, although he has no intention of doing so, and , then turns on his son in fury for telling a similar fib, admonish- ing him that a lie is the most unspeakable evil in the world. “Grownups can do everything, and children can’t do anything,”’ wails the boy. Finally the father is shamed into tellin® his wife when an embarrassing phone call comes: “Tell him I’m at home and J’ll speak to him.” A sketch by a progressive Am- erican writer, the late Mike Quin, is the basis for a third sketch. “Daddy, what is opportunity?” dl asks a small pent-house dweller, astride his toy. tank. Opport- unity is a chance to make some money, and the answer is, of course, by going into business. Can everyone go into business? Of course, Everyone in America has the opportunity. But if everyone went into business who would do the work? The work- ers, of course. But if the work- ers went into business? That’s impossible! But you just said everyone could go into business! off © FREE Soviet paper. read. cinating. author, \ @ Very popular, Packed with Soviet Union. All items are short, clear, easy-to- Now you can have an up-to-date Map of the Union! A brand-new 1952 map of the USSR, in color. It’s big: three feet wide, two feet high. Shows republics, cities, railways, etc. And for the first time here is a map that shows you the great con- struction works . . . power plants, | dams, canals, man-made seas! This map is not for sale! a This splendid map won’‘t cost you one cent. Just send in two subs to News- Facts, and we'll send you this map free. What is ‘News - Facts’ ? different kind of latest news -about Exclusive facts, authoritative, fas- Edited by Dyson Carter, well-known Only ane dollar for a full year’s sub. NEWS-FACTS sells itself on sight. YOU CAN SEND IN YOUR OWN SUB (OR RENEWAL) AND ONE MORE Print clearly name and address for each sub. Mark which person is to get the free map. Enclose $1.00 for each sub. $2.00 total. MAIL TWO SUBS RIGHT AWAY, AND YOUR > FREE MAP OF THE SOVIET UNION WILL BE IN THE MAIL TO YOU Send subs to: News-Facts, 479 Queen West, Toronto 2B, Ontario. PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JUNE 13, 1952 — PAGE Ill