over with the half
of a lemon, then taking an old nail brush and some brown soap and water
and giving it a vigorous brushing. Then you should take heavy books and
lay them on the brim of the hat. An old pincushion or several towels
rolled into a firm ball, or a book which will fit exactly, should be
placed inside the crown. Allow the hat to dry, and do not remove the
weights until this is accomplished. You will find your straw as good as
new and the shape preserved. The writer has tried this with great
success.

Boots and shoes when not in use should be put on wooden trees to keep
them in shape. As trees are rather expensive, one can use paper and
stuff it inside the boot or shoe. This will not prove a bad substitute.
With patent leathers, paper or cotton stuffed in the toes prevents the
leather from wrinkling, and in this instance the very cheap material is
better than the more expensive appliance. Patent leathers must be
creamed and rubbed with a chamois cloth or linen or flannel rag after
all mud and dust have first been removed. This operation should be
repeated daily. Some men maintain that patent leathers should be
varnished as soon as they come home from the bootmaker, but I disagree
with them. A varnished patent leather has always a cheap look, and the
coat of veneer is only applied as a last resort, to hide the cracks.
Russet boots and shoes are treated daily with the special cream sold for
them, which can be obtained at any bootmaker's or shoe shop. The price
is small, and the stuff will last a long time. Russet boots, however,
can be very well treated with a little vaseline, but that product will
not give them the deep-brown color which is so fashionable. The soles of
boots and shoes should be painted black. When a man is obliged to kneel
in any ceremony, the sight of white or yellow gleaming soles is absurd.

In wet weather it is absolutely necessary to turn up the bottoms of your
trousers, to keep them from fraying.

I would suggest a general overhauling of clothes about once a month. At
the end of each season the heavy or light garments should receive a
final brushing and be stored away in a trunk, chest, or spare room with,
as I have already advised, newspapers between them, and some camphor or
moth destroyer as an extra precaution. Overcoats, which are in such
general use, may be hung during their season of service, but should be
frequently brushed and well shaken.

The economy of space thus observed