Keeping Clean And Neat (1956)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] class. This is John Anderson and Arlene Val from the eighth grade. They want to choose a boy and a girl from this class to be in their assembly. All right, put your hands down. They'll have to choose. Whomever John and Arlene choose, you can be sure of one thing. It won't be anyone who isn't clean and neat. That's because keeping clean and neat is something everyone is expected to do, and for a very good reason. It's important to your health and to the health of those around you. Don may feel that he looks neat enough and that he's clean enough. But let's go back to the start of the day and see what we can do. There you are, Don, back in bed this morning. First of all, form the habit of getting up in plenty of time. Keeping clean and neat is a matter of forming good habits and letting them work for you. Now, don't stall. If you lie in bed so long that you have to rush, how can you expect to be neat and clean? The most important thing, of course, is a daily bath in summer. Or in winter, when you're less hot and sweaty, every other day will do. Make it a shower or a tub, whichever you like. Morning or night, it doesn't matter. Just so you keep yourself clean. Remember your ears. They need a soapy washcloth. When you wash your feet, be sure to get between your toes and the bottom of your feet. And keep a fingernail brush handy for your nails. You're not clean if your fingernails aren't. Then rinse all the soap off. Learn to make good habits work for you by following the same order every time. [Music] And here's another habit. Wash your hair on the same day each week. Saturday, whichever day you choose. Use a good shampoo or soap, and rub in the lather with your fingers, not your fingernails. Lather up twice with a rinse in between. And after the second lather, when your hair is perfectly clean, rinse again, keep rinsing till every bit of soap is [Music] out. There. Feels good, doesn't it? Give yourself a good rub down with the towel until you're completely dry. Now, before you brush your hair, be sure your comb and brush are clean. Wash them the day you wash your hair. Your teeth, if you brush them well last night, they're clean now. Brush them again after breakfast, so they'll be clean again until lunch. One more good habit. Before you leave the bathroom, see that it's neat and clean, too. Towel and washcloth hung up to dry. Cap back on the shampoo. Bathtub clean. Basin [Music] clean. Yes. Everything is put away. Now your clothes. Your underwear should be just as clean as you are. Clean socks. But look at those shoes. They need to be cleaned and shined. What you need is a shoe shine kit. There you are. You can make one like this yourself, you know. That's better, isn't it? Be sure the top is back on the polish. Now, to finish dressing. Uh-oh. That's no way to treat your clothes. If they're clean enough to wear again, hang them up. Fold the trousers neatly over a hanger. Put the shirts on hangers, too. Hang them up in your closet. Look at that closet. Before you do another thing, get busy and straighten it out. [Music] Hard work, isn't it? But if you learn the habit of keeping it neat, you'll never have to go through anything less. Now then, a clean shirt and you're ready to take a look at yourself. Hair combed, face, ears, and neck all clean. Cuffs button, clean hands, nails clean and trim. Shirt buttoned and tucked in. Belt through all the loops, trousers buttoned or zipped, socks pulled up, shoes shined, and shoelaces tied. H, not bad. Not bad at all. Quite a bit better than the way you looked in class this morning. Now, how about you, Mildred? Let's see what habits will help you keep neat and clean. You need a weekly shampoo, too. Of course, girls have to wash their hair in the afternoon or evening, so there's time to put it up. Don't go to bed with wet hair. Putting up your hair is something you have to learn, and everyone does it differently. It depends on how you wear it. You may still need to get help from your mother on [Music] this. This is a good time to trim your fingernails. Make a habit of doing it the day you wash your hair. Boys like to use fingernail clippers, but girls can shape them better with an emey board. And see that little sore place where you pulled away the skin? Next time, ask your mother to cut it, and you won't have a sore place like that. Don't forget your toenails. After a bath is a good time to cut them because they're softer. Then cut them straight across and not rounded like [Music] fingernails. Oh, Meldder, look at your clothes. Why, that's as bad as Don was. Things that are dirty should go into the laundry. Things that are clean enough to wear again should be folded and put away. Make sure there are no wrinkles in it when you fold it. And that dresser drawer, you'd better straighten it out this very [Music] minute. There. If you learn the habit of keeping it neat, you'll never have to go through anything like this. And now that your room is neat and you're clean, isn't it nice to climb into bed in the morning? Give yourself plenty of time. You can't rush and be neat. Be sure your under things are clean. Your shoe should go on over clean socks. And take a look at your shoes. Are they as neat as they should [Music] be? Before you put on your dress, it's a good idea to brush your hair. Be sure you've washed your brush. Don't put a dirty brush on clean hair. Brush and brush and brush. At least 100 [Music] strokes there. Look how it shines. You did get all the soap out last night, didn't you? And now what dress to wear. Your dress has to be suited to the occasion. [Music] No, that's a lovely party dress, but it's too dressy for school. There, that's more like it. But would another color look better? As you watch colors, you'll learn what combinations look best on you. And now, how do you look? You can see what a big difference a little extra care can make in your [Music] appearance. Good appearance helps you get along with others. But much more important, keeping clean and neat is something we expect of everyone as a health measure for ourselves and for our community. It's simply a matter of learning good habits and letting them work for you. Don't you think you can do it? Heat. Heat. [Applause]