"Own your own home!" a slogan so familiar in the twenties as to be almost meaningless, sometimes meant a new house in an established suburb, sometimes a house in a "development" or a "subdivision." But in those days, unlike the mass-produced housed of almost identical shape and style that we have seen rising near all the big cities in the last seven years, a home-of-one's-own meant a house different from one's neighnor's. Often the difference was merely in an architectural slip cover that went over the plan. Taste was a quality to be carefully strained, and the court of appeal on all such matters was first a peek into your neighbor's window and then a careful study of the women's magazines.
What does the author mean with "taste was a quality to be carefully strained" and "the court of appeal?"
Please help!
Cadzao