Friends,
My sister has a side job peddling antiquities and sometimes passes down things that don’t sell. This weekend we all met down in the desert for my Dad’s Week Before My Birthday Party and she gave me a real winner. The Better Homes & Gardens Handyman’s Book, printed in 1951. It’s chock full of the assembled knowledge of the Better Homes editors (who, apparently, also had their hands full with their other title, Successful Farming) and offers some great advice. Don’t believe me? Call the wife into the room (click the thumbnails to embiggen) and behold…
The little missus can be handy after all, eh fellas? Give her a broomstick and she can keep that new storm window from crashing to the ground. Put an extra dollar into the kitchen fund why don’t ya? She’s worth it!
…or a brick. This tip is strictly for emergencies. Should Homeland Security move the threat level up to Harvest Gold! then it’s entirely appropriate to wire a brick to a mop handle.
And here’s your dodgy tip for the day. Burning flashlight batteries to clean the soot out of your chimney seems fairly dangerous, but once you put up the screen everything should be perfectly fine. Or your entire family will die. I guess it’s worth it as long as you have a “well kept house.”
Right?
– bob