The Home: New Products

THE HOME For dieters who do it the Metrecal way but were never wild about the taste, Mead Johnson & Co. last week promised some alternates to the old powder, liquid and wafer forms and to the old flavors (vanilla, butterscotch and chocolate). To be introduced across the U.S. this month:

Metrecal soup in three flavors (cream of tomato, clam chowder, and split pea with ham), each containing in one 8-oz. can a nutritionally complete 225-calorie meal. The soups will sell for about 39¢ each or $1.17 for a three-pack. > The two-way wrist radio (invented 15 years ago by “Brilliant” and “Diet Smith”) has saved Dick Tracy from many a nasty comic-strip scrape. Cartoonist Chester Gould now plans to move the contraption off the drawing board and onto the wrists of Tracy fans everywhere. The radio comes in two pieces—a 9-volt power pack with aerial that hooks onto the wearer’s belt, and a receiver-microphone for the wrist—and permits its owner to send messages up to 700 ft. Price for a single unit: about $27.

> The spike heel has made its mark on the U.S. ever since it speared its way into fashion, leaving behind a trail of dented vinyl, punctured Persian rug and pockmarked hardwood. But spike wearers complain that they are forever getting mired in asphalt, countersunk on lawns, trapped on escalator steps and sidewalk gratings. Now comes Heeleze, plastic disks that are to spike heels what snowshoes are to the boot. Heeleze are about an inch overall in diameter, now come in one size but will soon come in three, designed to fit most heels, and are being distributed initially by caterers who give them to lady guests at garden parties. Made by Bryant Chemical Corp. of Quincy. Mass., they will soon be available in shops, Price per pair: 35¢.

> Newest symptom of pushbutton living is the Feller-Matic Insect Control Unit, which is said to be death on flying varmints, harmless to people, pets, wildlife and vegetation. A network of copper or plastic pipe is laid around the garden, patio or swimming pool, with nozzles set inconspicuously at intervals. The plumbing is connected to a tank of water-base Pyraid insecticide; when the owner flicks a switch, a pump jets the lethal mist over the area. A two-minute spray is effective for about half a day, gives off a pleasant lemon odor. The device is made by Feller Chemical Co. of Woodside, N.Y. De luxe unit, adequate for coverage of a 5,000-sq.-ft. area: $295.

> Thrift Key is a plastic gadget, like the old key on the sardine can, that fits on the end of a tube of toothpaste, shaving cream, glue or anchovy paste, rolls up the bottom of the tube as the contents are used, and ensures that none of the product is wasted. Manufactured by Crawford Industries, Ltd., New York. Price: two for 29¢.