Making Tracks for a Special Toilet Seat

Lois Allen of Glendale, who is a collector of owls, hopes that the following request is not for the birds. She is trying to replace a toilet seat of a special design--bright red-orange with bird tracks on top and an owl on the reverse side. An exact copy is no longer available, she is sure, but if she could find a similar design with an owl motif, she would really feel flushed with success. Can you put Allen on the right (bird) track, or will you put a lid on her hopes by not giving a hoot?

Mrs. J. Rosemond of San Juan Capistrano has problems with a different sort of seat. Her husband is looking for a cane seat, the type the British use at Ascot (and other races). The handle opens to make a seat. Rosemond’s husband doesn’t like the ones available over here, which are made of canvas or metal. Are you able to help the Rosemonds with this cane problem, or will the horse laugh really be on them?

Alyce DeFazio of Westminster wonders if there is a place where she can buy a Lily of France or Marlene Foundation girdle, the type that zips up in front and comes with attached garters. Can you recommend a store she can zip over to, or will life be a tight squeeze for DeFazio from now on?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Two readers are in a sweat because they can’t find a particular perfume. Billie at (213) 541-5253 is looking for Shocking by Schiaparelli, and Barbara-Rose at (714) 882-3469 wants to find Golliwog, which comes in a bottle that is shaped like an African warrior. Please help give these readers the right scent-off. . . . Laura at (213) 645-1325 has been searching for years for Tupperware pie holders that can be stacked on top of each other to make a large cake carrier. Evidently the item has been discontinued for some time. Please help, so that picnics will again be a piece of cake for Laura. . . . Libby at (707) 786-4854 (evenings) needs the round, chrome headlight covers for a 1964 Mercury Montclair. Please help, so she won’t be left in the dark the next time she gets into her car.

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.

Pauline Gustavson of Torrance, who was depressed over not being able to find an aluminum-can crusher, need no longer feel crushed. Susan Brumer of Huntington Beach says she saw the can crusher at a Sav-On drug store in Sherman Oaks. C. B. of Big Bear City and Katherine Dodson of Fontana suggest Smart & Final ($12.95). True-Value hardware stores are another source. Bill Blair, a partner in the Grand Hardware store, 6410 San Fernando Road, Glendale, says the store stocks a wall-mounting type, and Mrs. Charles Bundy of Westminster says Plains True-Value Hardware in Huntington Beach also carries the can crusher. (Now if Brumer would only do her shopping closer to home, she might have noticed that one too.) Another hardware outlet, according to Dean Heinlein, is McVey, 9556 E. Las Tunas Drive, Temple City.

We also have some mail-order sources. David and Ana Smith of Port Hueneme report that their Amway Personal Shopper’s Catalogue lists a non-electric Jawz Can Cycler for $17.99. Nola Richards of Arcadia says Miles Kimball, 41 West 8th Ave., Oshkosh, Wis. 54906, has a can crusher for $12.98. And Walter Drake & Sons, Drake Building, Colorado Springs, Colo. 80940, is listed as a source for a $18.99 Can Cycler by six readers: Connie Metcalf of West Covina, Brentz A. Pearce of Canoga Park, Arlene Jenkins of Los Angeles, Mrs. E. F. Nickerson of Santa Barbara, Berte Herman of Buena Park and a Los Angeles reader named Helen. We also heard from two readers from whom we might be able to pry away their can crushers; if interested, please send a stamped, self-addressed envelope for the names.

For Edna O’Connell of Los Angeles and Thon Griffin of Costa Mesa, both of whom were looking for hair dryers that you tie onto your hair and thereby free the hands, we have a strand of hope. Three readers wrote that they have such dryers, and if either of these two women (yes, Thon is a woman)--or anyone else--is interested in the names, please send us a stamped, self-addressed envelope.