The Marketplace: New Products

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Improvement, it is said, is something there is always room for, and nowhere, it seems, is there so much room as in the kitchen—gadgetry's chief breeding ground. A triad of the latest kitchen improvements, more meaningful than most:

>A new ductless hood for the stove, just introduced by Puritron, uses electronics to cope with the smoke and grease that all too rapidly foul the usual hood's charcoal filter. A tiny ion tube of gold alloy releases a stream of negative ions when the hood is turned on, promptly attacking the positive ions in the air, around which the molecules of smoke and cooking odor gather. This precipitates the molecules on an easily washed aluminum filter—releasing fresh, clean air again. In three sizes and colors: $39.95-$69.95.

> Wall-to-wall carpeting is creeping into the kitchen—and making surprising sense there. The Roxbury Carpet Co. has developed a dense, shallow-pile nylon carpet in twelve colors, bonded to a three-sixteenths-inch sponge rubber backing that is so resistant to most stains that they can be easily removed with a wet sponge. Burned areas may be cut out and replaced without showing edges or a patched look. Eliminated are the hazards of slippery floors, the work of polishing to make them slippery, the breakage of any dropped plate or glass, and the fatigue of the stand-up kitchen walkathon on vinyl or linoleum. The price: $10.95-$14.95 per yd.

> For the man in the kitchen, draft beer has been a luxury involving cumbersome kegs, bothersome deposits, troublesome returns. Now Atlantic Brewing Co. and National Can Corp. have introduced a gallon can of draft beer and a dispenser called a Tap-a-Keg Home Tap for sale at retailers in the South and Midwest. The can, which is 6 by 9 inches, is disposable; the Tap-a-Keg, a spigot and squeeze-bulb device, is reusable. The beer is genuine draft, must be shipped and stored under refrigeration. Price for a gallon of suds: about $1.50; for the Tap-a-Keg: $4.50.