Handling Distress Call Before the Storm

This may not be the time to play “Stormy Weather,” but two readers have sent out distress signals about hurricane lamps. Joan Rice of Huntington Park is trying to replace 1 1/2-inch chimneys and candles for two lamps, but she can’t find anything that fits. And L. A. Trout of La Mirada is hoping to replace the glass fixture on his hurricane lamp. Can you hurry and help our readers before they raise up a storm, or will they wonder whether their search is merely a tempest in a teacup?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: So many people are looking for Featherweight Singer sewing machines made 40 years or so ago; the latest is Elizabeth at (213) 589-4557, who would like a Model 221K for repairing her husband’s clothes and for making window curtains. Please help, so that Elizabeth can do a better-than-sew-sew job. . . . Marty at (818) 901-6822 would like to locate several old-style upright steamer trunks with the drawers on one side. Please help, so Marty won’t be tempted to get “trunk” because he can’t locate his drawers. . . . Brooke at (714) 547-9064 needs some Omo silver-plating liquid (or a similar product) for his work on restoring antique clock faces; evidently the manufacturer of Omo has gone out of business. Please help before Brooke has to face the fact that the clock has struck midnight for him.

Note: The Reader-to-Reader Help Line is only for one-time items and for products that are no longer available in stores. And you must give us written permission to publish your telephone number, so that other readers may contact you directly.

Laurel Bellows of Santa Monica, who needs fruit-flavored toothpaste for a 3-year-old who hates to brush, can stop gritting her teeth. Joyce M. Parsons of J. R. Research of Salt Lake City, to whom Hugh P. Smith of Solvang forwarded our column, writes that her firm’s product, Fruit Paste, is available in Lucky, Stater Bros. and Vons markets, among others. It comes in five flavors: cherry, banana, tangerine, berry and grape. As if to confirm that letter, Jodi Vaught of Santa Monica writes that she saw the product at Vons on Wilshire Boulevard and Euclid Street in Santa Monica, which must be within spitting distance of Bellows. Others who saw Fruit Paste are Robin Anderson of Ontario, who spotted it in a Thrifty drugstore; Carol Silver, who saw it at Stater Bros., and Joanne Brause of Whittier and Judy Anderson Zetin of Santa Ana, who both saw it at Vons.

Judy Jordan of Etiwanda writes that Schmid Laboratories makes fruit-flavored and mint-flavored Looney Tunes Anti-Cavity fluoride toothpaste; she saw some at a Gemco store. Although we don’t offer any advice about brushing, urging you to seek your own professional advice, Janis Schull, a registered dental hygienist, writes from Mission Viejo that children under 4 should be encouraged to brush without any dentifrice, because, she says, many toothpastes are too strongly flavored for younger children. Using only the brush is sufficient.

For S. Morasse of Downey, whose aunt wears 10B shoes on one foot and 10EEE on the other, we shoe-re have good news. Joan Richmond of Claremont writes that in such cases, Nordstrom will sell a customer two pairs of shoes in two sizes for the price of one. So Morasse has nothing to lose by hotfooting it down to the nearest Nordstrom (probably in Brea Mall); the worst that can happen is that they’ll shoo her away.

H. Ballard of Arleta, who is looking for someone to replace a leather seat on a dining room chair, can rest--and eat--easy. Walter Greenes of Southern California Craftsmen, 4321 Matilija Ave., Sherman Oaks, (818) 907-7544 or (213) 477-5485, says they can do the work. They will also repair the baby buggy of Ellen Beresford (whose request we answered a few weeks ago), if she is still being bugged by that problem.

Herb Hain cannot answer mail personally but will, space permitting, respond in this column to readers who have--or need--helpful information. Write (do not telephone) to You Can Help!, You section, the Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053.